Jahari

Hello everyone I am back to share a new project entitled Jahari written exclusively in Choicescript.

Dreams are a large part of our nature as humans. Some people do not remember their dreams, most only remember them on occasion but the point is that we all dream, all the time. We rely on it, it keeps us sane. Like dreams, anyone can write a story. Some choose to share and others might choose not to. What we cannot choose is death. When it comes you go with it. With Jahari I drew inspiration from classic poetry and modern surrealist art. The goal was to have the waking world dance harmoniously with the unseen. To dance with the realities we can only experience, the indescribable. Ultimately, I wanted Jahari to be beautiful in its own respect. This interactive-fiction game is a blend between what is real and what is not. Jahari is imaginative-fiction like all fiction.

Overview:

You are an apparition. One who treks the sun and stars in search of whatever it is that completes you. The afterlife is not without its flaws though. The world you live in is somewhat of a blur. Clouds hover as close to the ground as dandelions do when blown too softly. But it is also a land where those well practiced in the arcane arts rule with the ability to force the landscape. Alas, you are no simple mage. This world willful dances to your touch. The world around you is alive but you are not. A world where the dead dwell endlessly in what feels like a dream.

Note: In regards to Epoch. That project is currently being rewritten and illustrated in html5 in a collaborative effort. With the surplus of games featured in the “steam-era” I felt the concept was tired. Eventually the thousands upon thousands of lines of code and notes began serving purposes outside of gaming. A fun fact though, if you choose to journey into the waking world in Jahari, you are essentially visiting the timeline Epoch took place in with only slightly altered text and script. Even encountering the same characters featured in Epoch when it was still under Choicescript.

I figured, why let the html go to waste. Jahari is currently up all by itself at the old epoch site. This site is temporary but functional. Please feel free to report any bugs and typos you may come across. Also this particular build is much less technical in terms of additional programming.

This release is meant to serve only as very brief look into the world I am (you will be) building. Enjoy and thanks!

http://www.epochgame.webs.com

Alternatively

http://epochgame.tk

“your father is among the charred bodies of his comrades” should have a capital.
�Awake, child of stars and put out your… has that weird thing.
“keep frolicking, I do not even want to know what’s inside” maybe should have a capital, considering the other choice does.

Excellent thanks

No probs, hun.

I like it. More?

@Antitorpiliko It’s comin’

Its not nearly as insanely ambitious and other things I’ve done from a technical perspective. For this I’m focusing much more on the feel and imagery.

Where does the name come from?

Ok cool, Well I dont really have anything to add. It didnt have any errors, that I came accross, so. *encouragement!*

Thanks!

@Mardam the term comes from a theory of perception called the Johari Window. So I pretty much just altered the word. There are some terms I did use in the game that have mythological significance. Those are used for the Alignment stat specifically.

To everyone, the stats will be re-tweaked to balance out more. So far I have not had too many problems with over distributing those.

Restlessness - Low points in restlessness decrease the chance of you going insane. What that entails is entering an entirely new plane of existence. One much more chaotic than the one you begin the game in. This is loosely considered losing the game.

Solace - The goal is to find peace. That can be done either by realizing that you were a maniac in the waking-world. Or by coming to terms with particular events that may have occurred in your mortal life.

Alignment - Determines what circumstances your magic is most powerful but that only applies to the waking world adventurer. There are two exceptions to this rule, the Morbid and Dreamer labels. These two are set only to underline the plane of existence you dwell in. Yes you will have the opportunity to to phase into the opposite at some point.

the game has been edited.

  • Additional scenes and expanded descriptions.

I encourage one playthrough as you would normally do, and another just to find all the hidden paths and conflict clues embedded in the dialogue.

http://www.epochgame.webs.com

There are spelling/grammar issues, but I enjoyed the whimsy and uncertainty. Surreal is fresh. It’s currently a bit inaccessible, but artistic nonetheless.

Some of the imagery is awkwardly rendered, especially for the first impression: “You once dreamt of warm white sandals sitting patiently by familiar drapes swaying hastily.” This is too glutted by adjectives and adverbs, and it wants commas.

While other parts are inspired. I particularly enjoyed: “Clouds hover as close to the ground as dandelions do when blown too softly.”

@kakistocracy

I was just as unsure about that piece, some parts need to be toned down. Admittedly, the entire thing is poetry inspired so the awkwardness has been noted, thanks I’ll go pop the hood.

Jahari is based on old poetry and short fiction pieces I wrote back in high school:

http://alternate-e.deviantart.com/art/Serenading-the-Sea-of-Faces-308687528

That’s a lovely poem, smooth and sleek and lilting.

In the context of poetry, I also better comprehend what you meant to do with that line. I think the idea’s a little lost when it’s written in prose form though, without all the white space to give it the appropriate pauses and sighs.

The poem you linked is amazing, but the prose/story in the main post… you seem to be focusing heavily on the elements of surrealism, but not the purpose. Yes, it’s surreal, but it isn’t Surrealism.

Surrealism uses irrational and nonsensical elements to challenge preconceptions and communicate a rational truth. Without that truth at the work’s core, it’s just random, wannabe esoteric nonsense. Where’s -your- truth? I can’t find it, and yet the author’s primary duty as a writer is to communicate it to me (the reader).

Communication trumps even entertainment, especially when a form of art was developed to effectively communicate, as Surrealism was. If I wanted to take an aimless stroll through Strangeville, I’d sleep and dream, or take acid.

Your poet spoke to me, but your novelist wandered past, lost, a gibbering madman.