I feel that so much!! When you’re so into writing that you add details you forget about and when you reread them you’re like “dude. remember this pls???” but you never remember any of those details…
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Ah crap, I got a third idea. (Brain please stop now, I can’t take much more of this.) The MC is a small-town detective who needs to deal with FBI unit who rides into town because there’s a serial killer on the loose, but the culprit is actually a magical creature, which the agents have no idea how to deal with but the locals do, so the MC needs to solve the case while trying to keep the agents alive.
Might actually work with the masquerade one; maybe the supernatural is known only in a limited area, so the townspeople know about it but the agents don’t. Might even work with the reality warper one; maybe the MC is the cosmic creature, and the town is the way it is because they made it so.
And now I actually want to write that one.
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Holy shit, it’s a Half-Reverse Wayhaven! I’d tag EvilChani to come look at it, but then she’d probably threaten you until you wrote this, so I better not. 
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Speaking of memory, I was very pleased with my past self who wrote down some bit-part characters’ names so my present self didn’t make up new ones that were wrong (which almost happened, and has happened before and was fortunately caught 
)
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Update, the negative feelings are gone. They might come back, as they usually do, but it’s normal and human I think. Thank you to everyone for their kind words, I appreciate you!
I finally have some free time to write and wow, I don’t think I’ve ever written so much in one sitting? The words just come out like they have a mind of their own, it feels great.
I’m also very happy to see everyone reach their goals on here, keep up the good work!
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Thats a deep cut lol. That game was nuts- you could legitimately get dough, drop it by an oven and then it would rise and bake and turn into bread 
in real time- you could leave cheese out for rats and they would come and eat it and be your little rat friend 
. A crazy magic system and a legitimately interesting secondary world where humanity has had to flee underground cause the surface is screwed.
It was also, completely and absolutely busted. The magic system never worked properly, you could crash the game doing just about anything. It wasn’t quite Arcanum levels of busted, but it was close.
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I will not hear slander against my beloved Arcanum on this thread. :^)
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I’m actually really intrigued by that game now.
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A little late, but my main goal is to get a demo I’m comfortable presenting done this month. This is my first time writing something long like this, so there’s a lot of trial and error.
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That sounds like a really fun idea!
You should go for it. It sounds like you’re onto something great here.
I used to make up wrong names a lot too. Lol. Last month I decided to make an idex of all my minor characters, so everytime I introduce a new one I add them to the index with a short description to keep them all straight in case they ever come up again.
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I have finished all the scenes I needed to! In fact I buckled down real hard today and added a couple things even and I now have a 36k word project that includes a prologue and two chapters and ends on a cliffhanger! This was my target point, guys! I’m gonna do some bug testing, waffle back and forth on all the titles I’m real iffy about, sit on it for a little while, and then I think I’m actually going to post this demo. Hot dog! 
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A goodbye announcement, of sorts.
I’m planning to take a break from the forum for a while. Being part of this community is fun, but it has put my brain on overdrive and I probably need a lot of time away to perform a mental reset. I’ll still work on my games, but I’m taking some time away. I’ve locked both my WIP threads while I’m out. Anyway, if you need the link for Dragon of Steelthorne 2, or need to ask about something else, feel free to DM me and I’ll respond by the forum email to DM system.
I’m going to lose the Devotee badge, but whatever. Badges are for losers. I put up the Omnibus analysis in the public areas of the forum as that was on my todo list before leaving.
First, some numbers, since prospective writers and people in general always seem curious about that. If this can be helpful to anyone, I see no need to hide it. Dragon of Steelthorne sold about 2.5k copies in its first month and made about 1.7k in royalties. Not very impressive numbers, but the game should have paid for its publishing costs by now, even with the steam release, and anything after would be profit for HG. So I can now throw my main worry off my back. Anyway, I still plan to update the game. It probably won’t lead to a surge in sales, but eh… I’m here to entertain people (preferably not with forum drama).
Also, after some hard discussions again and the latest round of updates on this WIP thread, which had disappointing levels of interest, I must ask, do you people still want me to finish Scarlet Sorceress? I was planning to ask if HG could release this as a free-to-win game, and I wasn’t expecting it to make a ton of money. But sometimes, it feels like I’ve gone from being an exciting high school crush to a boring and predictable boyfriend after becoming a published author 
. I’m still having a hard time trying to figure out what really gets people excited for a WIP on this forums (other than arguments and drama, which I’d rather avoid, of course). I’m deciding again if this is a sign to abandon the game… I don’t know, what do you think? Want me to keep going, or move on?
Also, if I’ve upset or offended anyone here, my apologies. I’m human. Put me on the internet, and I’ll invariably do stupid things. If anyone wants to express some… honest opinions, feel free to do so. (Or do it when I’m away and unable to reply )
I won’t be able to like all the comments here while I’m gone. Could someone help to do this in my place? Thanks!
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Having a hectic week, couldn’t sit and write but only add few notes of continuation.
After each update its a new challenge to keep going I guess. Even though I know what pieces I need to write, I feel like there is an unseen block asking me or requiring from me to wait a bit.
Like the rechargeable batteries.
I am planning to keep working on this afternoon after done with the last bits of the stuff prevented me to focus.
Have a nice day all ^^
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Good luck with it!! 36K words, I’m still at only 15K and already posted the demo Don’t know how you guys are doing it, but maybe I’ll join you in a month or so… Remember that if you got this far, it means you have what it takes to see the project through! 
Edit: I wrote quite a bit yesterday, but I’m not really feeling up to it today. Still, I feel like I can do it if I try, so I once again write this to hold myself accountable! At least 1K words today, let’s go!
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Oof i’ll miss Scarlet Sorceress, otome genres in choice script are rare.
Take all the time you’ll need, though! Take care
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To all aspiring authors: please don’t beat yourself up with worrying over whether your game will pay for its publishing costs. That’s on CoG/HG; if they decide to put your game on Steam, they’re the ones responsible for that judgment call, which they’ve made on the basis of reading your work. The actual sales of the game are beyond your or their control.
Chance: you’re a terrific community member and author, and you’re welcome back whenever you feel like you’re in a better place. Your audience (existing and potential) might not read the Writer Support threads, so I’ve taken the liberty of popping up messages on your closed WIP threads linking to this message.
Given that the potential audience for your games might still not be reading these messages, I’d encourage you to base the decision of what projects you continue on what gives you joy to write – not on whatever feedback does or doesn’t come in here. You can pitch a game at an imagined audience, based on what’s been successful in the past, and still miss. I still think your best bet for satisfaction and (both less predictable and less important) sales success is to write what you enjoy, and write it as well as you can.
The forums are a noisy place with more writers and WIPs than ever; it’s easy for a WIP to get lost in the noise. As fun and energizing as it is to have lots of WIP engagement, I don’t think that’s the only way to have a successful game – and I certainly don’t think anyone should interpret lack of forum engagement as a sign that they’ve insulted anybody.
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There is a seat by the fire for you in the Writers’ Support Thread when you decide to return to the forum.
A writer is a writer, whether they have active WiP threads or not.
Leaving aside my opinion about “hard discussions”, especially the “hard discussions” related to game making often found here, I will answer your question here, open and honestly.
Scarlet Sorceress, as you know is not for me, for reasons I gave you in your feedback.
With that said, there are several good reasons I want you to complete and publish this game.
First, you are attempting to make a cross-over game which has the potential to:
- show other authors that otome elements can work in CS games.
- widen the audience of CS games for everyone
- and inspire others.
Secondly, even if the game is not for me, I still enjoy your writing and would find value in playing your game, even in storymode.
Unfortunately for the majority of HG authors, the WiP thread and the (lack of) responses an author gets from that thread is not only misleading, but I feel often amplifies vulnerabilities such as a lack of self-belief and imposter feelings. By making and publishing this game, you show those of us that have such vulnerabilities that they too can do the same.
Last, but I feel most importantly, for you to make this game and publish it, you would be adding another successful chapter onto the story of the small indie developer, something that all the rest of us share along with you as you travel this road.
May your self-exile heal, rejuvenate and re-inspire you.
. 
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Actually I have a question to ask, when I was here 4 years ago games seemed shorter. 200K - 250K were regular length I guess. In time they became more and more, so the chapters as well.
As a technical eye, having 20k chapter scenes and code is actually something I would strongly suggest refraining from. I checked a wip and the scene is 1000s line.
So how come having long - single files became the general practice? 
Instead of that isn’t it better to divide your chapters to smaller pieces, editing and fixing will be easier. My chapters are still short compared to many but I am not limited by chapter numbers since can update as many files as possible to dashington.
This is how I started to keep track of stuff with booleans and their notes as event paths (mouse over cell notes seen as red squares, cut piece to avoid spoilers)
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I don’t think it has?
Some writers have large files, but others do not.
My personal practice is to cap (as much as I can) each file to 10,000 words, which I find is both light enough to load well on old tech and small enough that I can work on the material with both efficiently and productively.
You are not alone. Editing is my least favorite part of writing as well, and there are others that feel the same way we do.
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I need to know if I’m the only one who physically cringes when reading over my work. Editing is my least favorite part of the writing process. Writer me is like a wide eyed positive freshman with big ideas and editor me is a tenured professor who’s quite frankly done with life and will jump out a window if she reads one more cheesy line that sounded better at 3am.
I feel like I’m being a bit extra neurotic about updating and whatnot because I did not expect my niche story to strike such a chord a garner the type of attention it has. I don’t want to disappoint anyone with the update and it feels like the longer I wait the better it has to be. I’m intent on finishing it at my own pace but I’m also very aware that my “pace” is like if you give a snail sleeping pills. I’m very much a “write when I feel like” type of person, but now that I’ve actually put up a demo and gotten a response I feel like I should constantly be on the go? Like this should be my part time job now? I need to keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be a fun hobby. I’m writing because I like to write, and I have a story I want to tell. Maybe I’m being neurotic about this also.
Anyway, something I’ve been trying out as an aspiring plotter is scene outlines. I basically write out what the scene is about, sequence of actions and characters involved. It’s proven to be very helpful to have a list of characters that will appear in the scene, their goals, personalities, motivations and most importantly, what happens next all in one reference sheet, especially when you’re dealing with like, eleven people having a conversation.
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