Response Thread:
In response to @Dragomer :
No, Emmanuel is a masculine name. It is a name which means “God is with us” though I didn’t really put particular thought in the name’s meaning, it is not a traditionally female name.
In response to @Snowflower :
No, there is a separate planned route for friendship. Friendship is something I want to be valued equally to the romantic elements. I just wanted to know what character people would be the most romantically interested in.
I prefer option 2 and surrogates, if that is culturally or politically infeasible I hope my gay boy has some very good lesbian friends who might want to be queens and mothers, with the understanding they would both need to look for romantic love and/or sex (outside of strictly procreational and maybe not even that if IVF or similar magic is available) elsewhere.
Fortunately one perk of royalty is that separate bedrooms or indeed entire wings of the palace are very much doable.
Hi everyone!! While I have been working already a bit on trying to figure out how to code this thing, I wanted to check for interest to see if this would still be a worthwhile venture 
!!! I’m also brainstorming another IF which I may share soon!!
Working Title: Panacea
Genres: Post-apocalyptic, romance
Oh no. The day has come.
The zombie apocalypse, to be specific.
Never in a million years would you have thought your boring Monday would turn out like this. But here you are, running from living corpses across America.
(Maybe it would be easier if you thought of it as a cross-country road trip. Sightseeing! With Zombies!)
You’re no longer just an average high school student… now, it’s time to save the world.
Potential romances:
Once I post an actual WIP, I have a list of things I’ll need y’all’s specific feedback on. For now, any comments of interest would be much appreciated!! Thank y’all so much <33
Hi everyone 
I have an untitled game concept I’d like to share with you guys. I write a lot but this would be my first real shot at IF.
The story is a sci-fi adventure set in the distant future, where the whole galaxy is populated by humans. Our protagonist is living on Earth, but it’s considered a dump where only lowlifes remain. It’s loosely regulated by an intergalactic government, but it’s not very effective and rather lawless- very wild west.
The protag is a member of what is essentially a mercenary group, because they’re indebted to the leader. What I have at the moment is that perhaps this leader saved their life in an incident that got their parents killed as a teenager, so they agreed to work under him until they reached a certain age.
The plot would mostly consist of the protagonist having to complete a series of missions that the leader assigns them, connecting to an overarching plot. One thought I had is that it would be revealed that even members of the government hire them to collect debts, serve as bodyguards, and the like. But the focus would be on the protagonist’s individual journey, their complicated relationship with their boss, where they plan on going after the agreement expires, and their thoughts on the misfortune of being born on Earth.
Some of the stuff I’m wrestling with at the moment:
I initially had a set idea for the protagonist: name, personality, etc. But it seems that customisable protags are the most common here. Would it turn people off if the protagonist was fixed? Would a customisable name and gender but a more set personality work? (I see them as aloof, usually unbothered but partial to holding a grudge.)
Love interests. I don’t really see this as a story heavily featuring romance, but identified three characters who could be optional love interests by the very end of the story. I’ve written them as a man, a woman, and a non-binary person- but would it be better if their genders were customisable, even if the romance isn’t a big focus?
The subject matter. The protagonist is a mercenary after all. Would an emphasis on the violence and repercussions of it suit the story, or can it be glossed over a little because it’s just part of life in this world?
Any thoughts at all would be appreciated!
My personal thoughts:
I think it’s fine for you to define some broad personality traits that are inherent to the protagonist (such as being aloof) and work off of that foundation, but in general I’d want some variability in how they respond to or feel about specific people or scenarios—for example, whether the MC feels a loyalty to the mercenary leader or resents his hold over them, whether they feel tied to Earth (and why) or want to just get the hell off the planet, stuff of that nature.
As long as your coverage of different genders/sexualities is reasonably fair (which yours seems to be), my preference is to let the love interests have defined identities. Other people will want more customizability, particularly given the small number of ROs, but I’m personally of the opinion that doing that makes the characters feel less real. Up to you, though.
I don’t think the violence itself needs to be explicit (unless it’s important to the story), but I would be a little disappointed if the repercussions of the protagonist’s lifestyle were glossed over too much. Seeing how the MC’s actions influence the world around them is an important part of the interactive experience.
Keep in mind, of course, that mercenary work being seen as “just part of life” is itself a repercussion you can show. If the MC witnesses (or partakes in) something horrifying and the people around them are too desensitized to care, that’s a powerful narrative beat in and of itself.
Overall, I really like the idea! It should be interesting
For your idea, I think having a starting personality can definitely work. Then the players choices can slowly change the character over time. I would definitely recommend the gender and name be customizable, unless it has a big impact on the story
Like I said with the MC, I strongly recommend characters with a customizable gender and no set sexuality unless there’s a narrative reason for it to be set. It allows more freedom and more replayability for the player
As for the romance itself, as long as the love interests aren’t just there, and the romances evolve over time, you can place as much attention on them as you want.
If it’s a part of the plot, you shouldn’t shy away from it. But you shouldn’t throw it in where it doesn’t fit
Hi. I’am sorry for not publicise a demo. I hope in dec a demo can be ready. I all so start a q&a thanks for the your patience.
This time I’m throwing another fun idea out there, but it’s a lot less concrete. (I know, a lot of ideas, not a lot of public demos lmfao. I am just puttering about some different genres internally to see what sticks.) I was rewatching the show ‘The Boys,’ and with ‘Fallen Hero’ and ‘Mind Blind’ swimming around in the recesses of my mind…
You have always wished you were one of the great ones, given the ability to fly, to wield the forces of nature or read minds. You were told from a young age of your own potential, but when you were tested and told you would be completely normal you could scarcely believe it. That in and of itself was abnormal, most people had some variation of power, small and undescriptive but uniquely their own. Most common would be very minor forms of telekinesis or mild manipulation of the core elements, but to be completely powerless.
It would be funny, were it not your life at the brunt of the joke. Enamored with the work of heroes and villains alike while being uniquely unable to participate in it at all. Those with weaker presentations could have their powers augmented or enhanced using technology, but having no innate ability to draw from renders such inventions not only inaccessible but unusable.
However, one thing that this revelation cannot take control over is your own resolve, and you have figured you can serve heroes in another way. You went through years of self-discovery in addition to the rigorous training and background checks in order to ensure you were no threat. No, you may not be able to be a Hero, but you can certainly lead their paths.
For you see, no hero is omnipotent, and in any given moment there are hundreds of elements for a Hero to consider. The Hero may focus blindly on fame, or on helping the civilians, or any other number of things, but what you are there for is to help the Hero help the world. You are their operator, the only sign of your existence being the small, concealed earpiece they wear as they go on missions.
The main character has an assessment period after being officially hired. During this time, they are introduced to a group of heroes, barely befitting of being called a group at all. They bicker and argue more than helping one another, and you are tasked with coordinating them on the wild fields of the city. My idea for the romances would that they be among these heroes, a romance option featuring a fellow operator, and a romance option that is a superhero who is from the Operator’s past. I think adding a villainous romantic option would be very valuable though, or a vigilante. Not all who are heroes wear capes, or rather stick on the ‘hero’ side of the conflicts.
Note: If you read this whole thing I would love if you would vote for the poll and leave a comment on your thoughts! If you don’t want to I understand, either way thanks for reading!! 
I know some people are sick of superhero stories, but I think this one has a unique enough of a twist to be pretty compelling. Are there other superhero stories where the main character themself isn’t a hero?
Hey everyone, I’m pretty much still on schedule to release a first look at the story this year, my next post(s) will confirm the actual date.
As I get ready to upload the initial demo within the coming weeks, I’ll probably be putting a hold on the polls until January but before that, there’ll be one more:
What level of interactivity/freedom do you prefer for an MC?
Note: This is more in respect to things like personality, behavior and dialogue than things like physical appearance and gender.
What I’m really asking is, do you prefer to just make decisions for a character that’s not you or do you essentially want to become the character?
0 voters
There are things that need to be predefined for the plot to work (ex. a spy game needs an MC that can kick ass. But it doesn’t need an MC to have a particular personality). Figure out what those necessary things are, let the player know in the description of the story, and give the player freedom in things that aren’t necessary to be a specific thing
I have no clue why, but I have a totally random hunch that you picked option three
Of course, for the sake of the story, some decisions have to be pretty much made for the MC. I was really talking about the personality. I’ll edit the post again, to help clarify this.
This is the second time you’ve sent me a direct reply, I appreciate the support.
I totally picked option 3 
! But I honestly wasn’t even thinking about appearance. I think my advice pretty much works with anything from backstory to personality (and yes, even appearance)
Alright, fair enough. Your advice is perfect.
I’ve already made a lot of decisions for this story and the MC, but this question is particularly important to me because I’ve always wanted a flexible story that can be molded in some very unique ways by the reader.
Replay value and Interactivity are very important to both me and this concept, but story branching can get completely out of hand quick (I have another random hunch you know exactly what I mean), so I really need to know what the audience wants before I go the extra mile with some parts of the story, you know?
I’ll definitely keep your advice in mind going forward though. Thanks for taking the time to write to me.
I think it’s generally good not to predefine personality because the most fundamental form of freedom is the ability to interpret our own condition. Just as in the game our characters must follow the plot, in real life we are often not as free to do exactly what we would like to do as we would like, but the one power we retain no matter what happens is the ability to think about what is happening to us and decide what we think and feel about it (as long as we’re conscious, anyway). Predefining personality and internal responses to events in the story is the thing most likely to shatter the player’s illusion of the character being ‘theirs’ in some sense, whether or not they are the type to fully self-insert.
Of course, there may be exceptions where the predefinition is what makes the game’s story work, but on the other hand, I think it’s a lot easier for that predefinition to go wrong and just make the whole thing less appealing.
Some of my favorite games are predetermined, personality ones, so if that’s what you’re aiming for, go ahead, you’re going to get people who aren’t going to like it, but sometimes it’s actually the better option over more of a blank slate main character
For one of my WIP’s, I was thinking about trying out a sort of “personality trait” kind of thing. At the start of the game, you would pick a personality trait (or multiple traits) and that would affect the text (ex. you chose shy, the romance scenes would be different than if you chose bold). You would have all the same scenes and choices, but they would be written differently. Does this sound interesting? Any suggestions?
I think @Phenrex had a similar idea on a different thread, so that’s kind of the inspiration for this
I think that sounds really cool as an idea. It would however be a lot of work to rewrite entire paragraphs at times to keep it consistent and flowing well enough. And doing it could easily double the total word count for a work.
I know this is interest check, this is following the Operator idea. If some powers were selected as an option for the Operator to have, what would be interesting superpowers for the Main Character to have? Any suggestions or specific interesting ideas people wanna toss in (right now the only ideas I have are therianthrope / empath / powerless and I’m not really attached to any).
It’s funny, because I very quickly filled out the powers for the main cast of heroes, but the Operator themself has more factors to consider since any super-power would change a lot depending on what it is. So there is just more to consider there.
Reply to @CavusRex :
Yeah, I’m not doing it because it’s easy, but I want to do it because I think the experience would be better. I wasn’t really recommending it for anyone else, just asking for input when I brought it up. It’s what I am going for though myself because I am a sucker for punishment.
Reply to @LiliArch :
Yeah, I think considering the role of the Operator, their powers should be not physical in nature. The ability to slow time to perceive events more clearly, to communicate telepathically or to clearly remember events would be good. Not sure the memory thing on it’s own would really be a super power though. (I worry with Telepathy because I really don’t want to step on Fallen Hero’s toes lol). Also, that coincidence is funny, but the Operator is a position/role rather than a codename (Operators are assigned to each group or superhero for active missions, their responsibility is in assigning positions and actively monitoring the situation to ensure that the heroes don’t act irrationally and the like.)
I’d say that depends on what direction you’re going for with the powers (perfect pitch? Ability to read the minds of goldfish… but only in zero-G? Okay don’t take that, it’s one of my favourites along the perfect RGB vision) but I’d think telepathy or eidetic memory could be useful?
…I’m actually a bit unnerved now, I have a character going by the codename Operator 
Yeah, that’s a bit of a joke from the codename department’s part, due to the fact that the character in question has a superpower palette of three powers starting with “tele”.
Howdy everyone. I’m Frank (not really but, it rhymes with Tank), and I’m quite new to ChoiceScript. So I was thinking about making a game, but a shorter one, that you could complete in maybe, thirty minutes? Think “To the City of the Clouds” length, or maybe “Thieves Gambit”? Not sure if I’m remembering those two correctly, and of course those are far from the only shorter COGs. Happen to be any interest in that sort of game? It would have all those fun things you need like a plot, characters, bad guys, etc., but they’d be a little simpler and it would all be wrapped up a little earlier. I just don’t want to start writing some epic when I’m still stumbling my way to the (possibly nonexistent) point where I don’t break everything whenever I write code.
I’ve got a few ideas for a plot for a shorter story. Simply put, I like horses, so I was gonna write about horses. Specifically, the Tennessee Walking Horse, which has a special sort of gait (a speed, for you non horse people) that, unfortunately, can be forced through abusive and painful techniques. This is depressing, but think about horses in general. Anyone want a story about horses?!
Anyways, there ya go. Thanks for any feedback!