Last Date Standing (Prologue & Chapter 1- OUT NOW)

[Iv_R]

Hi all! I’m Rage and this is my very first project I’ve been a long time IF reader and have always thought about writing one myself but only recently got the confidence to start. Warning: I really want to take it slow with this project so that I can make sure it lives up to its full potential. I appreciate any feedback or ideas (even criticism). I can’t wait to start this journey with y’all and I hope you enjoy it

Also I’m not 100% sold on the name yet. XD Feel free to drop some ideas in the comments!

“Does true love exist? Can love conquer all? These are the questions we seek to answer on the hottest new reality dating show ‘Last Date Standing’. Week after week, 16 singles will couple up to complete a variety of complex and tough challenges. The last couple standing will walk away with $250,000 and ultimately…true love.”

You have been selected to join the cast of a brand new reality dating show called ‘Last Date Standing’. Find love and walk away with $250,000. Sounds simple enough. But when you arrive at a luxe estate in the middle of nowhere, you find that in this competition, getting eliminated can have permanent (and deadly) consequences.

genre: thriller, romance, suspense, horror, comedy

inspo and comparisons: The Hunger Games, Danganronpa, Squid Games

Features:

• Customize your character! Choose your background, customize your appearance, and shape your personality. Are you here for the right reasons? Or are you in it for the clout and cash?

• Choose between four different romance options. Will you couple up with the incredibly sexy influencer, the tall, dark and mysterious surgeon, the chic and (slightly) neurotic biochemist, or a genuine (and absolutely gorgeous) photographer? Your choices will determine whether your relationships end in love or betryal.

• Interact with your fellow castmates. Forge bonds or make enemies. Determine who lives and who gets…eliminated.

• Win (or lose) a variety of challenges based on iconic love stories. Your performance will decide whether you and your partner earn immunity or end up in the bottom two.

• Solve the mystery of the game and maybe, just maybe, get out alive.

• Explore a sprawling mansion filled with traps, games and hidden passages. Find a way out or meet your end.

Romance Options:

David Hatch, 28 (m)- Photographer. Lives in Hackensack, NJ. Loves to: get lost. Friends would describe me as: A genius, a scholar, exceedingly handsome, and most of all, humble. Looking to make a real connection with someone who’s up for an adventure.

Description : 6’2 male with alabaster skin. Has piercing blue eyes and a grecian nose. Short, curly brown hair that looks almost golden in sunlight. Wears short, well trimmed stubble. Muscular and well built.

David has a charming yet sincere personality. Is very capable. Is deeply loyal and will do anything to protect those he loves.

Veronica Billings, 26 (f)- BBO/ Influencer. From Kingston/New York. “If you don’t like something, change it.” - Maya Angelou. Loves to: Make men nervous Im down for anything as long as my time isn’t being wasted.

Description: 5’6 woman with rich ebony skin. Has expressive brown eyes and an easy smile. Is always put together and never wears the same outfit twice. Has an hourglass figure. Wears an insulin port on her left arm.

Veronica is very self-confident and ambitious. She is intelligent and good at reading people.

Aoife Brennan, my age is not important (f)- Biochemist. Located in the UK. Doesn’t smoke. Drinks ocasionally. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS ONLY. NOT DTF. If you’re a dirty rotten liar, or your name is Rian, just stay away from me.

Description: 5’2 woman with ivory skin. Has assessing, wide brown eyes and a pointed chin. Mid-back length, straight brown hair. Is small and lean.

Aoife has recently gotten out of a long-term relationship. She is very slow to trust, but is a hopeless romantic. She is intelligent and intuitive.

Chandra Kumar, 29 (m)- Surgeon at Avalon Medical. From the Ottawa suburbs in Ontario. I work hard but also know how to have a good time. Kinda new to this whole love thing. Sports Fanatic. Reach out.

Description: 5’8 male with chestnut brown skin. Has focused, hooded amber eyes. Is toned and has defined cheekbones. Has short black hair and a black beard.

Chandra has an air of mystery about him and carries himself with an intense focus. He doesnt open up to others easily. He keeps calm and really shines under pressure.

Update 1/3/25: Fixed code and some grammar issues. Posted chapter 1.

Demo Link: CoGDemos

AI Disclosure:

No — This project does not contain the output of Generative AI
Yes — This project contains the output of Generative AI

[ChanceOfFire]

Bonus points for being able to skip character customization if that’s not your thing.

It’s still pretty short as of now.

There are two stats, Charm and Charisma, but it’s not clear how one is distinct from the other. Both are linked to endearing yourself to people and winning them over.

Another note. If you’re doing this as a couple, are you supposed to split the $250k if you win it?

[GenericUsername]

I’m not able to access the demo for this one. I get a ‘too much recursion’ error.

[myeraland]

@GenericUsername

I get a ‘too much recursion’ error.

Firefox gives me this error. So I have to shift to Microsoft Edge to remove that message.

Whether or not it’s Firefox, that error is probably a browser incompatibility issue.

@GenericUsername

Weird that it’s only this WIP that causes the issue though.

If I may, I’ve made many CS games on COGDemos where I use multiple files and gosub routines. COGDemos dislikes complex or recursive games! It’s why I also publish to itch-io. Firefox in particular errors with recursive games. Edge, Chrome, and Safari seem to handle it within reason.

Briefly looking at the game’s code, it’s very recursive. I hope this kinda helps explain things.

[Iv_R]

Thanks for the feedback! Maybe I should adjust the charm and charisma stats. Charm is supposed to be more like persuasion, whereas charisma is more like raw attraction. One is a natural energy whereas the other is a honed skill. When I made this I was so lost in the code my head was spinning lol That’s something I’ll fix in my next update.

As for the prize money, that’s something that would be split between the “happy couple”. However as everything unfolds that may be subject to change…

Thank you for your kind words! Im still figuring everything out but I truly appreciate any feedback.

[Iv_R]

Im so sorry to hear that! Im going to work on condensing and perfecting the code in the future so hopefully that will be fixed no matter what browser you use. I know when I exported the project it was through chrome so maybe thats where the issue is.

[GenericUsername]

Ah, I do indeed use Firefox. Weird that it’s only this WIP that causes the issue though.

[myeraland]

Reality show games are always so exciting.

typos i saw

As you listened to the gentle hum of the engine, reality begins to set in. — Is this a tense error? The full passage from the first page seems to switch from present, to past, to past perfect tense.

Cyberpulse,huh? to Cyberpulse, huh?

”Alrighty,dear. to “Alrighty, dear.

a real braniac to a real brainiac

feedback

I love the love you’ve put into this. Genuinely very excited for this WIP.

When I read Feona (“Like Leona but with a F! Weren’t my parents so ahead of their time?”), I was unsure if it were your or Feona talking. Is it okay if you could add a small indication that it’s her?

Next, when choosing my personality, I noticed some of the choices aren’t immediately intuitive (such as “a real brainiac” vs “sharp as a tack” or “smooth talker” and “smooth as a cat”). I assume each choice is a one to one for the STATS screen—actually, I’m not sure! Sometimes authors add in a response feedback screen with an explanation of what the response means.

code advice

• I noticed you use multiple separate files, which could be causing the recursion error.
  • This may be because the ChoiceScript starting tutorial makes it seems like you make a separate file for everything (which is what I started to do when I first learned.)
• It may be helpful to place most of your files in one .txt file and then redirect the player to each label (where you normally would place goto_scene filename it becomes goto filename and the filename is pasted into the document as a label).
• I believe .txt files have a limit where beyond 200000 words in one file, CS can’t handle that (roughly).

what this looks like

*comment this is all one file (declared in startup scene_list)

*label job
[Scene where Feona speaks to the player.]

*choice
	#Response A
		*set value +5
		*goto attraction
	#Response B
		*set value -5
		*goto attraction
	#Response C
		*set value +5
		*goto attraction


*label attraction
[Feona speaks again]

...

[Iv_R]

Ty so much for the feedback! I want to make this project the best it can be, and I truly appreciate it. I’m completely new to coding and writing, and was pulling my hair out when it came to coding the startup info. lol I’m planning on reworking some of the grammar today. I definitely want to condense the code so that Firefox users can access it. Ty so much again!

[Lanc]

This idea is amazing im so excited for when you are able to fully release. I have always wanted a story like this

[Aoyama_Blue_Mountain]

Tramp stamp? Yes please!

[Iv_R]

Ty so much for the kind and encouraging words! Please stay tuned!

[Iv_R]

Lol fr! Ty for the encouragement and feedback! Hopefully that’s fixed now.

[Iv_R]

Hi all! I wanted to make this update to

1. Thank all of you! I’ve recieved so much encouragement and kindness since I’ve posted the demo. Despite the coding being somewhat of a disaster, you’ve all been so patient and helpful. I’m so grateful. Thank you.

2. The demo was only the prologue and mostly customization. As a result, it was pretty short. I wanted to give you guys a little more to look forward to. I’ve just completed Chapter 1. It’s still pretty short but it leaves off on more of a cliffhanger. I’m also hoping that it’s alot less buggy than the prologue. (Sorry about that!) Again, please don’t hesitate to give feedback! I’m getting more confident at this and it’s all thanks to you guys. <3

Go ahead and check out Chapter 1 !

This upcoming week, I wanna do a q&a with you guys to shed more light on the game and where it’s headed.

I’m super motivated right now. I’m gonna keep working on chapter 2 any chance I can.

Again, thank you all! <3

[Jonyxtion]

Ok, so, so far i like the customization options and the premise, tho i do have some questions i’d like to ask.

1: During the customization, i feel like the hair options, could be put together into one choice, so you click like hair and it takes you first to the color, then type and then style maybe, something like this, so the whole page looks less “messy”

2: Also i am kinda missing the option of our eye color. Will we be able to pick one further along?

3: Also part 2: I think it would be nice if we could see how we look(so our appearance) in the stat screen

4: I am wondering, but it feels like the mc does have a somewhat set personality at the moment, so i wanted to ask if you could tell us a bit about the mc/mcs personality?

5: A bug that i noticed, when picking ear gauge as a cosmetic option, it takes you to the tattoo style choice screen.

That’s all for now, but i am looking forward to what you create with this story in the future.

[Iv_R]

Thank you for the feedback!

1. Great point when I was doing the coding for some reason I just loved to make things harder for myself then necessary lol today im planning on working on some of the coding for the prologue and grammatical errors for chapter one.
2. Idk why but this completely slipped my mind and I cant believe it. Gonna add that feature pronto.
3. I do too! I attempted to add those things in the stat screen but at the time I felt like I was making everything worse. That’s something I definitely want to figure out, so I’ll be working on that too.
4. So as for the MC personality, there is a general outline for their background per se. All MCs will have some sort of mysterious secret or tragic background that the player will eventually be able to decide in a later chapter. These first two chapters are pretty short and mostly meant to introduce you to the story and set the tone. However depending on your customization choices in the prologue, there are some extras and additions. Throughout the story though, you will be able to make decisions that will shape the MCs personality. Betrayal, kindness, cockiness, etc. these are all things that you will able to choose as you interact with more characters and the story develops. Im sorry if this was rambling and made no sense lol tldr; you will get to make more choices regarding personality as you interact with more characters.
5. Ty so much for pointing that out! Ill get on that today.

Again, ty for your feedback and kind words. Hopefully this shed more light and didnt make you more confused lol

[Anna_B]

This has been a fun game so far! My one comment would be on the hair customization. There was no option to just wear your hair down. Other than if you have short hair (like the bob option).

[Iv_R]

Ty so much for your feedback! I’ve just updated and changed some things to do with the customization. A loose hairstyle is now an option. Again,ty!

[dorayaki]

I really love the MC optimization, and I also agree with the previous comment about the choices for the MC’s hairstyle, eye color, and personality. Overall, even though the story is still short, it’s super enjoyable. I can’t wait for the next update

[Iv_R]

Ty for the kinds words! I’m working on mapping out chapter 2 now. Can’t wait to share it