Journal/plot notes

I noticed in Stronghold that on the stats page, along with your stats and relationships, there are notes about particular ways you’ve progressed, such as particular secrets you’ve discovered or plots you’ve investigated. It made me consider making a points-of-interest list on the stats screen with major plot points you’ve covered, so if you’ve had a break from playing, you can keep track of what you’ve done and what you might be currently pursuing - pretty much like a Journal in a CRPG.

I don’t think it would be massive in detail, but I was thinking it could keep plot steps in the players’ mind if it’s a particularly complicated or long game, and also gently flag that certain things are important or Good To Remember.

Have you played CSGs that do something like this? What did you like or dislike about it? Any particularly effective ones you’ve seen? How can I avoid having a whole essay on my stats screen? Enquiring minds would love to know!

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I haven’t played a game with this feature, but it sounds great. After having played several games over and over again, it would be so helpful as a reminder.

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Choice of Magics does a chapter recap highlighting key events and choices you’ve made.

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I thought so! Alas, I haven’t had time to play it yet - does it add to the stats screen as you play each chapter? Or is it a recap that just happens between chapters?

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I recall Tin Star set a gold standard for this…

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Ooh! You know, I’m not sure if they pop as you make the choices or if you finish a chapter and get the synopsis – my reading partner (we read out loud and make the choices together like the dorks we are!) and I will continue our playthrough tonight and I’ll confirm for you. I do know it keeps a running list of what is in your inventory, as you gain new and important items as well as listing your students, your pets, and people who have died. (Luckily none yet in my playthrough!)

This is where I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never played through the whole of Tin Star :sob: … It’s one of those classics I haven’t finished! This is a good impetus to play it once and for all!

I do really like the inventory and notes about your character in Magics!

On a sidenote, that is so awesome!

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I think Silverworld also did a great job in such format…
In the main stat page, there are options to view scientific journal and current progress of your village …

In scientific journal, there are records on what type of photo you captured or what type of drawing you manage to draw… which make an enjoyable read like an achievement …

In the village progress , i think it is much more detail than stronghold … because not only it will update every structure you build, it will also update whether the structure had been destroy in the previous attack by enemy … to the extend that it will explain how the structure of your choice affect the lives of the villagers…

This is actually one of the key attraction of Silverworld , in addition of the Keimia Romance :slight_smile:

Edit :
Great Tournament 1 & 2 also apply such mechanism during war preparation, in which every turn… the number of units we had train or the decision we made earlier will be updated … especially in Great Tournament 2 the rations we consume will also be keep track …
If i am not mistaken, the diplomacy result we made earlier , what type of outcome will also be keep track in a journal

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Together with the legend points, it’s kind of like epilogue that consists of many paragraph pieces that tie the loose ends. IIRC, most characters, your town, the States, your sheriff mentor guy, and your own life got their own pieces in the “epilogue.”

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I actually had a passing idea about this as a core feature of a game where the main character slowly loses their memory and the player has to remember things for them or their reality will essentially be erased.

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Please make that game.

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Evertree Inn has a clue system in the stats screen, and as you gather more information, the description of each clue that you find changes to reflect that. I really liked it; I didn’t need it to remember the clues, so much, but I had fun watching how the descriptions changed after different scenes and trying to divine which bits of information the author thought were important and which were actually herrings.

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@HannahPS — I’ve confirmed, in “Choice of Magic’s” your choices do pop up individually on the summary page as you make them, rather than a single recap between chapters. :slight_smile:

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