Not sure if it might have something to do with my security settings, but ironically, I am awful at using other people’s software, so not sure why it’s doing it.
But thank you, I’ll give LibreOffice a try. I appreciate the suggestion.
4 Likes
@mexbrush I think it’s good to have choices every so often so that the player can feel involved. It can feel a bit of a drag to have lots of pages of text in a row in which the player isn’t interacting. So I wouldn’t worry too much about choices feeling intrusive.
@Zodac01 Word has been becoming increasingly weird to use for me. I second LibreOffice - as far as I’ve found, it has all the functionality I want for writing.
11 Likes
I’m using Libre 
a bit early explorer with a free mind over internet. So hate subscription based programs. Either I purchase or not, not falling to cloud and or other sill stuff as individual user.
Only free program I really like from MS is VSCode 
@Zodac01 thanks for the answer. What I did was adding some fake_choices with questions or actions (actually a couple are already triggering a side event) so readers/players can shape their character, those choices shows how the MC perceives issues and also how it’s stats effected.
8 Likes
Writing update: I’m actually enjoying writing this part I’m currently working on, sort of. Rambling about interactive fiction is fun.
9 Likes
Writing update: I hate writing this part I’m currently working on. Not because of its actual content, but because the chapter got so damn long and is approaching 70k words as we speak. I’m really tired, the code gets arduous to navigate and the IDE is lagging, but I guess that’s the cost of getting an update ready before the self-inflicted deadline.
16 Likes
The last chapter of The Mage’s Adventures was 70k words long, and writing it felt like being stuck in purgatory even tho the content was very dramatic and exciting 
11 Likes
In July, I only wrote 8k words, and I didn’t post Chapter Four because it turned out to be a lot longer than I expected. Even though this month was tough behind the scenes, every month seems that way, so I’ll be adjusting my goal to 10k words per month going forward.
10 Likes
Done! I also managed to get the final draft of FoA sorted out and back to HG, so now I’m just holding on until September’s release for that one. I still have no access to the Diaspora scene I was adding to, and I can’t really go anywhere without that, so… we’re a bit stuck on that one for now. I may eventually have to suck it up and redo all the changes I’d already done, but I’m hoping that won’t be necessary.
Anyway, I’m overall quite pleased with how the month has gone, even if it’s far from the most productive one I’ve ever had.
15 Likes
Goal 1- achieved
Goal 2- Extended- I’ve set up the code for this section and am 90% through the writing. I may finish it all today and will test it tomorrow.
Goal 3- nope
Met my main goals. Have been getting used to dividing some attention towards fleshing out my new Patreon. Since I am providing early access to updates there, I am trying to balance out what to release, for a month or two, and the updates on Hosted Games will lag slightly.
Written a lot of words and am moving towards a pivotal moment for next month.
It was a productive month despite the madness of the world.
Wishing you all the best!
EDIT: Just realised, I have a section in the new section still to do so it won’t be done today or tomrrow. In a few days, perhaps. Eek.
13 Likes
It was not foolish hubris, I did it! (and managed to write 99% of my cheats and hints as well!) I feel really proud.
Well done to everyone who’s been writing this month, and to those who have been taking time to rest/recuperate as well. I’ll try to put up the update digest later today 
19 Likes
Congrats, now after revisions it’s time to chill and enjoy the flow ^^
About cheats? Why we have cheats in the game? By cheats you mean walkthroughs?
I didn’t have an ambitious target for July, was a bit tired after rushing and working over for 5-6 hrs , sometimes 8hrs (at the weekends/day) a day. So gaming, series watching, reading and being idle helped for rejevunating.
I did write near 5K for chapter IV and feel content about it. Passage of time gives me some different perspectives on writing some characters.
Also drawing small doodle like pieces for another idea, probably start drawing for current game too.
7 Likes
With some of my other games I added a little DLC which enables you to change stats without stuff breaking, and has detailed achievement walkthroughs plus a little bit of author commentary. I’m doing that again for Honor Bound as people have liked it before 
Congratulations on the chapter progress! Love those drawings!
7 Likes
Thanks! I see - yes cheats and advised gameplay paths can be added. After save game I think it’s another joy killer but for those with limited time I understand.
For art& illustration ; I bought this course a while ago and liked what he said in the introduction (Even Amundsen - Domestica course Concept art : Character Drawing & World Building / have another Udemy course for some tips and theories : Character Art School by Scott Harris ).
He said he had a drawing a day after work to chill. He did for a year and he had a great volume of drawings and with a friends suggestions they wrote stories - ending up with high quality illustrations & fiction 3 volume set. Liked the idea so trying to draw each day to warm up, also while drawing discovering some tech points and stuff is fantastic.
But probably will start doodling over my football game neighbourhood a bit.
It’s interesting to find out ideas while drawing. I’ll use them to spice up the scene changes later.
Even Amudsen link
Udemy - Scott Harris
7 Likes
Success 
All that’s left is to gnaw on my laptop screen while I anticipate the release of the halloween jam theme 
I can’t wait to write spooky stuff.
13 Likes
My drawing skills have stagnated so badly, it makes me sad and frustrated every time I try to practice. I think I might actually have gotten worse…
Will just have to push through it, I suppose, but it’s still a shit feeling.
And it makes me very hesitant to put any effort into my plans of one day selling some of my paintings, to help fund my creative hobbies.
It’s somewhat the same with my writing, except I never reached a point of feeling I was good at writing, so stagnating doesn’t hit as hard.
10 Likes
Month’s end complaint: do you know what’s the worst part in adapting my existing stories into games? I have way too many POVs.
9 Likes
I can’t imagine mapping a linear story to an interactive narrative - I’ve seen people mention that they do it, but it must be a massive amount of work!
8 Likes
Here’s my monthly release and update digest for July. Congratulations on everyone who’s written something this month, and if you’ve shared it, thank you for doing so! As ever, let me know if anything is missing or incorrect, and enjoy!
Choice of Games Release:
- Restore, Reflect, Retry by Natalia Theodoridou
Heart’s Choice Release:
- These Thieving Hearts by Raven de Hart
Hosted Games Release:
Expected Releases Next Month
- Bootlegger: Moonshine Empire by Drew Morrison (CoG)
- The Ghost and the Golem by Benjamin Rosenbaum (CoG)
- Halls of Sorcery by Saba_Tchanturia (HG)
Current Full Game Beta Testing
- Bootlegger: Moonshine Empire by @Drewber
- Ink and Intrigue by Leia Talon
- The Ghost and the Golem by Benjamin Rosenbaum
New CoG WIP:
New HG/Hobby WIPs:
- Blue Shades by @Sherlock
- CyberHaven by @Kaya
- Darkness Reborn by @Doremimimi
- Dragon Kin by @Dubs3
- Eschaton: The Rebirth by @Kirumototep
- Heavy is the Crown by @haveanicelife
- Ice and Ember by @levviathan
- Lies and Legalities by @Fable
- Prismatic by @Pinks
- The Ascendant by @William5738
- The King’s Veins by @tmaty
- Wake to Weep by @aventurine
CoG Updates:
HG/Hobby Updates:
- A Shriek of Ash and Fire by @NumberedEntity
- Agents of Lucifer by @PrismaticSpace
- Apartment 502 by Nik
- Dawn of Heroes by @Dvalor53
- Dice and Dungeon Masters by @Zodac01
- Digital Dog by @Cain_Abel
- Drink Your Villain Juice! by @izzily
- Duskguard by @Rainstorm
- Echoes of Kingdom: The Last Stand by @YHGS
- Eldritch Tales: Inheritance by @Dariel
- Era of the Archdemons by @Sylents
- First Bull Run by @Dan_Rasmussen
- Forsaken Duality by @Domeztik
- Heroes and Heretics by @Reiner
- In Plain Sight: Operative by @GrayCipher
- Last Dream by @Gilbert_Gallo
- Laws of Passion by @CC_Hill
- Lost in Your Eyes by @Silly_Cat_69
- Obsolete Stars by @Chichi
- Oh Mother, Where Art Thou? by @Fable
- One Knight Stand by @Unregistered
- Path of Martial Arts by @NickyDicky
- Pillars of the Light by @lliiraanna
- Remember, You Will Die by @bruisedsoldier
- Ripples of Blood by @TheDrunkenGamer
- Saturnine by @Omeg
- Shattered Eagle by @Azan
- Song of the Fallen by @Left4Bed
- Soulmates Inc by @len
- Such Happy Campers by @girlfromthecrypt
- The Bakshi Family by @Kii00
- The Brightest Stars by @Dawn_1000
- The Catalyst by @Rhea_Johnson
- The Game of War by @Basketball_Fanatic
- The In-Between by @Daleko
- The Thousand of Us by @Ivan_WM
- Thicker Than by @Barb
- Vice & Virtue by @boklenhle
- Wake to Weep by @aventurine
- Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven by @JimD
New Steam Pages:
- Message in a Melody by Tyler S. Harris (HG)
- Scales of Justice by Julia Owl (HG)
Author Interviews:
- Benjamin Rosenbaum for The Ghost and the Golem
- Drew Morrison for Bootlegger: Moonshine Empire
49 Likes
End of month update:
My goal was to finish chapter 9 and revisions for chapters 7 & 8. Goals accomplished!
I’ve started to receive beta testing feedback for Ink and Intrigue and am super excited about the improvements that I know will come with this phase of the game.
I feel that. The next game I want to write would be an adaption from a manuscript I’ve written. It’s only dual POV but it will be a fun task to translate it to IF. On the other hand, I took TMP and turned it into a novel (as yet unpublished) with multi-POVs and that was also difficult and fun.
13 Likes
Game of war is going well. I’m writing lore books at the moment for players to really feel immersed in a vibrant world. Which is funny because the first chapter likely won’t be completed for another few months, but lore wise we’ll have over 30k by the end of next month I predict.
10 Likes