Hello writers. I’m still very new here, but I’m interested in what everyone’s working on. I ought to read a bunch more CoGs.
I’ve been having a very hard time with my most recent chapter, thanks to a tough work schedule. I thought I might have to put it on hold for a while…
but not yet! I got my second wind. The writing comes hard but it comes. I’m on the fifth part of a ten-part trial. It takes a few days to do one part, so in theory I’m 15 days from completion plus editing. We’ll see how it goes.
Chapter 4 has taken a year to write. I am not being very efficient about this.
The what now? Well, I guess I can find something from the new chapter…
Player meets with their idiot client
This is it, Lycus’ cell. You step up to the bars to see whose life is in your hands today.
He’s extremely hairy, with cloven hooves and a pair of nubby horns. Curly black hair frames his bare face as he sits on the cell’s stone bench, eyes downcast.
He notices you and leaps onto his hoofed feet. “Finally going to let me out? You should have known, you’ll never suppress the will of the people!”
You notice he’s wearing a dirtied MOOM vest. “I’m not a guard,” you tell him. “But I’ll see what I can do about getting you out. I’m ${name}.”
“Huh.” He considers this. “That’s the name of the undead Dendara’s been talking about.”
“Yeah, it is.”
He thinks a bit harder.
“Wait, is that you?” He leans in to inspect you through the bars. “You’re kind of… small, aren’t you?”
You don’t know how to respond to that.
“Well, thanks for coming to bust me out of here,” he says, going to sit back down, “but you don’t need to bother. They usually let me go after a day or two.”
You frown. “I’m not sure that’s their plan here.”
“Why not? It’s what they usually do.” Lykus leans back, hairy arms behind his head. “Dendara picks a spot to protest. We all go out there and make a big fuss. The guards throw me in here after a while. I promise not to do it again and they let me out the next day. Easy enough.”
“Let me get this straight.” You watch him on the stony seat. “You think you’ve been arrested for causing a disturbance?”
“Yeah, of course. That’s what I was doing before they grabbed me.” He gives you a funny look. “You feeling okay?”
“Lykus,” you tell him. “You’re accused of murder.”
“No I’m not.” He looks away again. “Why would I kill somebody? That’d be dumb.”
“The chef at BBQ Bill’s was found dead,” you explain patiently. “And you were seen there that night, acting oddly. It’s in the newspapers.”
He furrows his brow.
“So what you’re telling me is,” he ventures, “they haven’t let me go because they’re getting ready to execute me for murder.”
You nod. “That’s exactly right.”
“You gotta get me out of here,” Lycus stammers, holding onto the bars with both hands. “I take it all back. I never did anything wrong my whole life. You can tell them that, right? Please!”
“This is a big change from the ‘will of the people’ stuff you were saying earlier,” you point out.
“Look, I don’t care actually about any of that MOOM stuff.” He picks at his worn vest. “I just thought if I went along with it, Dendara would go out with me.”
Real class act you’ve got here. “First of all, that’s scummy. And second, she’s dating Jelid.”
His eyes widen. “For serious?”
“Seems that way. It’s not like they’re subtle about it.”
Lycus crosses his arms and tilts his head to one side. “I mean, it’s still not completely out of the question.”
“How about we go back to the important part?” you suggest. “The part where you’ll be declared guilty and put to death unless you give me the information I need to save you, right now.”
“Okay,” he agrees. “I can do that.”
What a coincidence, that’s what mine is! Although I’m only three cases in and I’m not making great time. Maybe wait for chapter 4. It will be ready any minute now…
That also means I gotta check these out to see what real CoG writers have done with the concept.
I’m still a little insecure about my lack of choices in-game. I address that a little in chapter 4, but the game will have a linear structure no matter what I do. I’m interested in doing a proper CoG next where the player can pick lots of stuff. Preferably an adventure game of some kind. Maybe I will even start something as a break from Evil Justice if I need it, as suggested in the thread.
I hope everyone meets (or exceeds) their writing goals! This stuff is great.