Interest Check Thread

Hosted Games Works In Progress
5735

Alright, so, I’ve been thinking about making an IF lately, and I’ve already done some writing/coding to make sure I can handle it, and I’m pretty confident I can. A little nervous, not gonna lie, but I figured I’d post my idea here and see what people think :grin:. Already have a list of ROs in my mind, just need to flesh out their backstories.

Current title is “City of Jade”. Genre is a ‘tropical fantasy / political conspiracy / mystery’ kind of thing.

Here’s the first-draft synopsis I wrote:

Welcome to Auresía, the City of Jade and Splendor…

…and capital of the Emerald Coast, a small maritime kingdom with a piratical past, renowned for its wealth and beauty. Countries and nations the world over run their naval routes through its bustling ports, ever astir and thick with commerce. A true realm of revelry and natural wonder, home to warm and sparkling seas of sapphire and cerulean, cliff-sides of black rock, with verdant and lush tropical greenery shading the boulevards and plazas, suffused with the aroma of spices and spirits. And when the sun sets, music rings throughout the streets bathed under the glow of lantern-fire.

And now, the city gears up for a month long masquerade, thrown for the betrothment of the heir to the Emerald Throne; a celebration leading up to a royal wedding.

But conspiracy comes for the City of Jade; plots and schemes are whispered behind closed doors, danger lurks in the shadows, daggers are grasped behind friendly smiles, and murder lurks in the masquerade.

Can you, walking scandal of the nobility and outcast in your own family, unveil the conspiracy before it’s too late?

And can you have a good time along the way? After all, everyone loves a good bash.

But do mind the party-crashers.

19 Likes
5736

Seems interesting. Question: will the unveiling of the conspiracy be on-rails (like, say, the Wayhaven “investigations”) or will it be more free-form with you having to make deductions and actually have to figure out the culprit?

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5737

Thanks for the question :slight_smile: , Currently my idea is that, as the story progresses, you’d have different leads and you’d choose which ones to investigate.

I don’t want it to be on-rails and I’d like it to be at least a little free-form (like “this person might be suspicious, go snoop around their home/office” or “the city’s underworld as been quiet lately, investigate the those rumors”).

And, ideally, the success of the MC’s investigation would influence how far the conspiracy gets in its plans.

edit: Might be a bit of an ambitious idea, but I think I could pull it off if I don’t unnecessarily over-complicate things.

6 Likes
5738

Ooooh, it’s been a while since a CoG game needed me to actually engage my brain. Since, what, Relics 3?

Is it possible to miss clues (or whatever) by random chance? E.g., you have three places to investigate, only one of them has the actual clue (or whatever), but you have no indication as to which is the right one?

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5739

I got another story idea and I wanted y’all’s thoughts and feedback.

Here’s a short summary of “The Bounty”:

The year is 1888. Following the American Gold Rush, a strange new mineral called Racoda has been discovered across the States. One out of ten thousand people have gained strange abilities known as “Racoda Gifts”. The newly formed Federal Bounty Association (FBA) now hires bounty hunters to protect miners, hunt down new supernatural monsters, and bring in empowered criminals. You, along with two fellow FBA hunters, are on a hunt to bring in the Burning Man- a mysterious outlaw with a huge bounty of $88,000. Traverse through the wild west, hunt down dangerous cryptids, and claim that bounty for your own.

I’m pulling inspirations from Hunt: Showdown, Red Dead Redemption 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and Darkest Dungeon.

Along the way, you’ll meet Teneca and Flechette Wells. Teneca is a half Native American and half white hunter who is always reserved, calm, and considerate, with a Racoda Gift that allows them to turn into smoke. Flechette is a masked bounty hunter with a hot-headed, fiery, outgoing personality. Flechette has a Racoda Gift that gives them an extra pair of arms. They’ll both be your companions, competitors, and potential RO’s.

Throughout the journey you’ll encounter plenty of wild creatures like werewolves and wendigos, get into plenty of standoffs and gun duels, and (unintentionally) raise havoc in saloons all across the west.

What are y’all’s thoughts on this?

19 Likes
5740

This sounds really cool. I’m a big fan of political intrigue, and the vibes of a maritime Kingdom with a pirate based past really appel to me.

Would there by any chance be swashbuckling and hats with feathers in them?

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5741

Sorry for the late reply @JBento (had to go to work).

But, that’s a good question and touches on something I have varied ideas for. Ultimately, how difficult do I want the investigative side of the game to be? And how would I control the difficulty? Should it be an “all roads lead to Rome” situation where branching paths meet back at a common point? Should there be multiple routes to unveiling the plot?

How real should the risk of failure be? My current thoughts are that all leads would give you something to work with or ‘clues’ or something along those lines, but maybe some paths give more than others :thinking:? And of course if that’s the case, I wouldn’t want to write any of these branches without giving hints as to which ones might be more fruitful. But ideally there wouldn’t necessarily be a ‘bad’ choice. Ideally.

Perhaps the first act of the IF could be a smaller self-contained aspect of the conspiracy which, once completed, opens the door to the rest of the plot at large. Sort of an “oh it goes deeper than we thought” thing.

Anyway I think I’m rambling here, but if you any thoughts on my rambles here, please do let me know :grinning:.

And yes @Blunderbutts (excellent name btw), where would we be without big fancy hats? And I think duels and swordfighting would be a favourite past-time of the city. There should be plenty of opportunity for swashbuckling :grin:.

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5742

I’ve been working on a story idea for some time and wanted to know if anyone would be interested in it (i might end up writing it anyway regardless, but if it’s something that people would want to read, i would make it public)

The set is, of course, medieval fantasy, yes another one.
You as the heir of Ita, on your travel through your country to Riag, where you will be married off to a prince you have never met. It’s your first time seeing your country, as you have been locked away for most of your life in your palace, and you find your kingdom at chaos, plagues, famine, rebels, not to forget that for some reason, everyone born from your birthday on, is incapable of using magic.
You would travel your country for the first half of the book, the middle would focus on the marriage itself, and the second half would focus on finding out what happened to your kingdom and what to do about the whole “magic refuses to work” situation.
Even tho, yes, you will be married, there are a total of 7 Romance options, and 3 (might chance) poly options.

This might be medieval times, but you have the option to be trans and queer, BCS through magic and the ability to change ones body, transitioning is just a part of humanity.

The main focus is on character interactions and the state of world you find yourself in, meaning it will rely heavily on your connections to your companions and everyone around you. Ah, interpersonal drama, my favorite.
I do plan on giving the mc lots of sassy and gremlin like options, BCS i am the drama, although you can play as however you see fit, of course.

I do have already the prologue and chunk of the first chapter finished, but wanted to know if anyone would even be interested in the first place, before i might end up making it public.

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5743

I’m DEFINITELY interested. I love arranged marriage stories, magical mysteries, and character focused stories. And if you’re sure you can handle 7 ROs, then I’m definitely good with more options

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5744

I have pretty much most of the story already outlined, with all RO in mind.
I am an angst and horror writer so, you won’t be happy much, but you for sure will have conflict with everyone.

1 Like
5745

I’m seeing the words ‘heir’ and ‘prince’, please tell me I’d have the option of an heiress married off to a princess?
It doesn’t matter how political the marriage is, if there is a male anywhere in that equation I’ll just keep walking.

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5746

You can play as any gender you want, male, female and non-binary (and a secret fourth thing, where you can customize your pronouns). But sadly it looks like you’ll be walking away since the prince is not gender selectable. It might help knowing that you do not have to be romantic or even platonic towards them, even aggressive or disapproving and unhappy about the whole situation, but if not, that’s understandable too

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5747

It’s your choice but I’m dissapointed.

While that is the least I would expect I’m still going to pass.

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5748

I was thinking about writing a “lost space traveler must find their way back to Earth” kind of story. I’m still not sure if want to make it a hosted game or a traditional novel. I know sci fi isn’t the most popular genre in the COG community :pensive:

Nothing is set in stone right now but my premise goes something like: Thousands of years after an apocalyptic war you wake up from cryo-sleep in a distant star system and have no way to find your way back to Earth. You can’t establish communications with Earth and you don’t know if humanity even survived. Your only chance to find your way home is to enlist the help of the many strange aliens you’ll meet in this far-flung corner of the galaxy.

Some ideas for characters I’ve got:

  • posh, arrogant, matriarchal insect aliens
  • drunken pig aliens who like to fight
  • super-intelligent mold
  • environmentalist robots
  • space pirates, because space pirates

Is this a story anyone would be interested in reading?

32 Likes
5749

I love this idea! I hope you decide to make an IF instead of a traditional novel. In my opinion, we desperately need more scifi IFs.

5750

Still in the early stages. But thank you!

1 Like
5752

hello friend ,
i am jaydeep from india.
many of you might know me or not, from last one year i am working on my game, i haven’t completed it yet, i want somenone from india who can help me to complete my project.

5753

Hello everybody
So I was mulling about an idea for a CoG, but there are two ways to write it and I want some input on which version people like better :))

  1. The hero gets hurt in a fight and drags their way to the villain’s door, “For whatever it’s worth…I trust you.”

  2. The villain gets hurt in a fight and comes knocking on the hero’s door, “I didn’t know where else to go.”

  • The hero gets hurt and seeks out the villain
  • The villain gets hurt and seeks out the hero

0 voters

The two versions are very similar I know, and yet I see them branch out entirely different. Let me know what you think!

The characters and their dynamics

Right, I want to muddle the characters’ differences as I feel a lot of superhero vs villain stories are very black and white. These characters are… not that different after all, living in a morally grey world where they’ve come to some sort of understanding. It’s why the hero doesn’t immediately turn in the villain when they show up, why the villain seeks out the hero for help…because the rest of the world only sees black and white and they see each other as just tired people.

I haven’t decided yet on appearances and physicalities like that.

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5754

Would we be playing as the hurt or the other one?

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5755

I wanted to write it so you can play as both (one at a time ofc, and the other character that isn’t being played in that playthrough would then be preset except for gender) but if it’s the villain or the hero that is hurt is what I need to determine!

It’s kind of like a play on perspectives :))

2 Likes