What is timing’s initial value? If it starts at 0 or 1, there’s a problem. If it starts at 0, it will increase to 1 after the first choice is made. If it starts at 1, or if it is increased to 1 from 0 and it’s the second choice, then it looks like it will never increase. It also appears that there would be no choices if timing were ever 4.
3 Likes
You might have overcomplicated it a little.
*temp timing 1
*label loop
*fake_choice
*hide_reuse # @{timing Wording A|Wording B|Wording C}
*if (timing = 1)
A
*elseif (timing = 2)
B
*else
C
*hide_reuse # @{timing Phrasing Phrasing Phrasing C}
*if (timing = 1)
A
*elseif (timing = 2)
B
*else
C
*hide_reuse # @{timing Alternative A|Alternative B|Alternative C}
*if (timing = 1)
A
*elseif (timing = 2)
B
*else
C
*set timing +1
*if (timing >= 4)
*page_break
*goto next
*else
*goto loop
You’re trying to adapt the flow of the conversation depending on the order on which the questions are selected. I’d adviae against this as it’s very difficult to test and easy to mess up. However, if you really want to do it this way, I recommend using booleans instead of numbers and being descriptive about what it is they represent, e.g.
*set discovered_you_are_adopted true
...
*if (discovered_you_are_adopted)
(variation that references this)
10 Likes
It starts at 1 which is why I added a check not to add to it if it was at 1 so the first one is always 1.
Yeah that’s my concern at the moment. It’s my most annoying flaw I tend to overcomplicate the code, get caught up into making it work which stalls my progress.
5 Likes
My goal for July is to rewrite portions of my first chapter because the character creation and intro sections are exceedingly lackluster. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback that my MC feels like a side character and a blank sheet, so I’ll also have to figure out how to fix that too.
9 Likes
If it will make a compelling story arc then go for it. Just be careful to offer enough foreshaddowing so readers who only want good endings pick someone else. Speaking as someone who appreciates a good tragedy/doomed romance.
I find writing a compelling MC to be one of the hardest parts of IF writing, but it helps me to focus on what aspects of the MC are needed to make the story work as well as asking myself why am I using this MC to tell this story?
11 Likes
Impulse, you say? Jot down some notes for it and keep them somewhere you can easily find them. Then set it aside and don’t look at it for at least a week. In a week, if the idea still seems compelling, go for it. If, by then, you’ve moved on to the new hotness, it was just an impulse.
11 Likes
I mean, everything regarding me trying to figure out how to fit romance in this particular story is currently an impulse.
Including thinking of making the person you’re trying to catch an RO so that you can’t use the RO status to gauge who’s guilty.
9 Likes
Ah, yes, that I like. Not saying it’s gonna be a popular decision, necessarily, but I think it’s quite clever. Also, it pre-empts the opposite type situation that often arises, where readers beg to be able to romance a villain because you accidentally made them too charismatic.
8 Likes
I’ve got other things to prioritise, at least until late next year probably, but I keep doing the distracted-boyfriend meme at a potential future project. I’m probably going to outline it in more detail so that I can exorcise it until 2028. (Which was sort of how The Earth Has Teeth came about - I had a similar idea several years ago and then revisited and changed it up this time around.)
16 Likes
I think @MoonlightBomber and @Hazel hit the nail on the head with this one and just wanted to thank you for the flashback to Fallen London’s Mr. Eaten.
Mr. Eaten’s questline was the first time I’d seen a game like, full on record-scratch stop to point blank inform the player that this questline is to fulfill the fantasy of failure. I’d never encountered this idea in a video game before. Good stuff.
12 Likes
Here’s hoping I’m up to the task, then. If I do my job right, readers will want them to go down before I’m done.
9 Likes
Thank you for the advice! Yes, it’s really difficult for me because I’m not sure how to strike the right balance between giving the players total freedom (enough to the point they can self-insert) and giving them a meaningful, strong personality. I know what to do in theory—leverage the MC’s perspective, write unique reactions, give choices that actively push the plot forward, so on—but I find it hard to do in practice. My story’s protagonist is also of lower status than the other NPCs that have more institutional power over them. How do you give a low-status MC agency without making the world feel unrealistic? It’s a struggle.
8 Likes
This is definitely a balancing act we’re still learning as well! From the perspective of someone who tries to maintain a more neutral-leaning MC between choices, it can be hard to create naturally flowing dialogue between the MC and NPCs without accidentally making the MC feel too passive.
There are many takes on it, of course, but when the MC is more of a blank slate in those in-between-choice sequences, there’s a risk that the player feels like they’re playing more of a bystander than an active participant. I think this is especially tricky with a lower-status MC, because their agency can’t always come from openly challenging people with more power, for example.
One thing I’ve seen other authors do which I found interesting, is essentially ‘stat-checking’ the MC’s personality traits during interactions and using that to write unique reactions/observations/responses/internal dialogue. It would definitely take more effort, and realistically it might be tedious to implement in every interaction, but implemented here or there (or for meaningful or pivotal scenes of course) it could be really effective. It can let the MC perhaps feel more defined and reactive without necessarily making them feel out of place?
9 Likes
A little late to this thread as I had to wait until things were official, but I’m coming on board to help another author finish a game. Just like I helped finish Star Crystal Warriors Go, I’m working with Kim Berkley to finish Shadow of the Curse-Eater! I sent in a 15K Chapter 7 last week, and my goal for July is to finish a 30K-word chapter 8.
This game has 7 different ROs, so my main focus is going to make sure each of them has a meaningful scenes, around 3-4 choices each. This is a dark chapter (dealing with a lynch mob) and can start with 2 ROs dead and end with 4 out of 7 of the ROs dead at once, so there’s a lot of variability.
The long-term goal is to get 10 chapters and an epilogue, and go back and add extra content/balance early chapters, and my hope is to be done by Q1 2026. So accomplishing my goal of 30K in July should help! I’m up to 6K so far and averaging about 6K a week, so I might not be able to make it, but I want my goals to stretch me.
Last time having a thread like this to report him really helped keep me on track, so thanks for organizing this!
22 Likes
That’s awesome! I’m really glad that your work will help the games go out into the world. I’ll look forward to seeing it once it’s ready!
14 Likes
Not sure if this helps—I tend to write options where I can roleplay multiple MCs. In other words, when making choices, I think, “Can I play a Cold!MC here or Sweetheart!MC or Calm!MC?” as a baseline. I also try to have a minimum of 4 choices to encourage me to make more diverse personality options. Never more than 8 as most readers get overwhelmed.
I also use preset backgrounds that almost “force” some traits and narrative on the player, but they can choose which background to choose from. Each background hints at the narrative arc at play.
The best advice, though, is play-test. Lots of play-testing.
Sometimes, I forget to select certain options, so I fail to see character inconsistencies. Other times, I get pleasantly surprised to see how well the game tracks my personality. Most often, I playtest and notice inconsistencies or rigidity. It’s nice to make a first draft with some rigidity and then come back later to give the choices more freedom.
Ultimately, I often think, “If my RO/NPC can do this, why can’t the MC?” when navigating player freedom and things feeling fair. If RO/NPC gets interrogated about their backstory or pasts, why not the MC? If RO/NPC gets to cheat and steal, why not the MC? I do this so long as it’s not too much work (I recently had to cut two more elements on my game to avoid scope creep, for example).
13 Likes
I had a very productive day of watching Star Trek, which I can chalk up as research! given my space opera project. (I also got ice cream and saw a three-legged dog, but those were just things that happened.) It was great.
9 Likes
It doesn’t have to be every interaction, but it can be extremely impactful when being used to colour important parts of exposition. Those expository passages explain the story to the player, and they can help push the player to making certain kinds of decisions by prejudicing them towards thinking of certain concepts in a certain way.
I do this a lot in the Dragoon Saga, partially based on personality scores, but also simply based on the societal position the MC inhabits. That place in society comes with assumptions, and I weave those assumptions into the narration and the exposition to help the player see things the way the MC is taught to.
20 Likes
Adding Dragoon Saga to my case studies!
8 Likes
I take breaks whenever it doesn’t feel fun to work on the project. When I sit down, if I’m not raring to write, I leave it alone and go do something else. Could be for a day, a week, even a month. To me, writing should be something rejuvenating, not draining.
I haven’t been as active on the forums because my project is around 75% complete and I don’t need any more feedback or testing. I still enjoy reading everyone’s thoughts!
12 Likes