Gotta say, I’m super interested in this WIP. There’s just something about shipping logistics I find facinating, especially since the logistics/management side is my favorite part of 4X type strategy games. Loved the demo and all the little details about shipping, even if I know very little about them. Super excited for future updates!
Also agree 100% with all your thoughts on the infinity saga, some of the greatest games I’ve played and stories I’ve read in my life
Yea? I play a lot of 4X too! Or at least I did before I started writing this. Have a couple thousand hours across some select titles, laughs in EU4 monopoly money. In all honesty, if I hadn’t been gaming so much, would probably have started on this passion project a lot sooner.
Aye, infinity saga what an epic trilogy, with a sequel to come too. Though not in the immediate future. You know, before I started writing I didn’t realize how damn difficult it is to produce these works that I was very happy to keep tapping and playing quickly before. It’s not only time that needs to be set aside, but an extremely high level of focus needs to be maintained to just sit down and write (and sometimes walking randomly around the park for inspiration).
There will be more to come, I need to see this through…
Welcome back after 4 years btw, haha.
I have to say I didn’t consider this at all, thanks for bringing it to my attention. I looked it up online and seems legit.
I guess there is only one solution then. No more WIPs until full release 
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JK. Emotionally it feels sucky but I can also be pragmatic when needs be. So what you’re telling me is that the downside is limited, whereas there’s a lot of upside for expanding access? If only that were the case with more of my investments.
I’ll think about what you said.
In the software community, you are very much encouraged to look at other people’s code and learn from it. In fact, some people here might even voluntarily hunt for bugs in your code.
Choicescript’s syntax is also pretty non-standard, so it’s very unlikely for anyone outside the community to have use for your code.
I don’t want to push your boundary’s, nor tell whether to let us have code access, I just want to say my thoughts.
Yes, giving easier access to the code makes it easier to steal. However, everyone already has complete access to your code. If it’s on CoG in anyway, it almost childs work to have the complete thing.
Yep. Someone that wants to steal, will just do it. While someone hoping to help might just stop at the door because you don’t want thieves.
This is almost completely true. Only the people her could use/even want, your code. And it’ll be obvious if a CS game shows up on something not CS related that it was stolen. And while speaking of the community, a not small part genuinely only play the game through the code.
Okay, now onto the actual IF; Love it! It was a fun play and positvely drips with lived hustle. But.. too quick for my taste. I know it just started, and has much more to come, but I think I’ll wait until a couple updates before trying again.
Mixed bag here: on the plus side, no one is going to steal your story to publish their own. The community would find it out and pillory them. They already rooted out the guy who plagiarized Final Fantasy X and had it pulled off the release schedule.
On the minus side, every single ChoiceScript story ends up stolen by various pirate sites. It’s just a thing. Best not to dwell on it. They’ll slap their own name on it and pretend they’re not evil because pathetic self justification blah blah blah. I tried talking to some of them once, but their rationale all basically boils down to Jeff Bridges in Iron Man: “You think just because you had an idea, that it belongs to you?”
Well yes, Jeff, I do. Every now and then a site like that gets pulled down, but another just takes its place.
Hello friends!
I want to do a weekly check-in and assure that this project is alive and well.
I have good and bad news for the next release.
The Good:
The Bad:
Cheers, and have a great week ahead.
Writing Executive
Hello @Doginacan , @AnonTheAnonymous , @hustlertwo ,
Thanks for the insights! I’ve decided for release 0.2 and onwards, I’ll open up the code for all to access conveniently via CoGDemos. Whether cometh the dour, or cometh the sour, it does not matter - for we shall have our hour.
@AnonTheAnonymous Yup that’s what I did as a gamer too haha. Just put the WIPs into archive until I see sufficient progress updates. It’s only when I started writing that I realized: Damn, even going from v0.1 to v0.2 takes 36 hours of unabated focus.
@hustlertwo I’ve seen you on the Reddit thread! Bizarre and bonkers, that’s me alright. My mind can be mercurial at times, and I channeled that into the in-game ladder.
I suppose having our work taken is just a corollary the arts business. Let’s hope it flourishes anyhow.
As anyone whose read my stuff can attest, I regard bizarre and bonkers as compliments.
I just want to say the rand function is an ABSOLUTE BLAST.
Be wary of where you do those rolls, though, because if not careful, you can force rerolls by going to the stats page and back to the story. This is fantastic for testing, but you’ll want to change it pre-release.
With important caveat: only If you actually like randomness. Otherwise it can be the single most annoying thing you either put up with, resort to stat editing so you don’t have to put up with it, or drop the game altogether.
This is what killed my first WIP 
I had 40k words before getting through chapter 1 haha, discovered I’d end up writing 15 books and not just one. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out how best to manage this!! Good luck friend
Thanks bud! A silent tribute to all the WIPs that never came to fruition.
All the best for your WIP too 
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Hello everyone, the dream is alive 
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Update 0.2 brings 35,800 new words for your immersion and at least four Easter egg paths to discover.
Wish you a great week ahead.
This was a very fun update! I’m looking forward to reading more.
May I ask what you have planned for romance? 
Hi @rozane , thanks for taking an interest in my work!
If you peek at the code, you’ll see I’ve already set up romance variables for two of the characters, so there’ll definitely be action going on at some point in the game.
A little teaser - the game already contains 2 (whirlwind) romance mini-stories! It’s hidden behind a highly specific choice and you’ll need to have the right stats for it too.
As for additional ROs, I’m thinking on that as the game development unfolds. I need to consider how much the game will deviate from canon (i.e. my life). I also need to consider if any of my exes would be looney enough to hunt me down if I write about them. That’s one way to not complete a story.
Will keep you updated ^-^
Hmm, something a little odd and not sure if intentional – the game allows the player to choose how they feel about Vivienne and potentially get her number, but only if you did poorly on the interview? Just doesn’t make much sense for MC who did well not to get similar consideration/opportunity.
edit: also, a minor error near the end, variable isn’t referenced and the game prints plain text instead:
Hello buddy, thanks for spotting the blip. I’ll correct it and send a mini-update by the end of this week.
That’s intentional. I’m still tinkering on the pace of main storyline relationship progression but it won’t be pass the interview + immediately score a relationship at the same time. Score a few points that’s for sure, maybe ~ a date down the line. Don’t forget this love interest will work in the same company as you! So that adds a little more subtlety in writing too.
If the MC made choices in a way to fail the interview, that eventually leads to game over so I’ve more liberty to direct the conversational flow. And that includes relating about hardships to Vivienne which resonates stronger with her - and also allows the relationship to warm faster too. Though ultimately, it’s just a little bit faster unlike the Easter Egg paths haha.
I have a general question for everyone.
How’s the pacing of the game so far?
I tried two playthroughs and ran into some mountains of text 
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Am working on breaking those up / improving conciseness now. Probably was too focused on churning out content and didn’t test the readability / presentation haha.
Happy Week 45 to everyone.
Small update for the week, about 4,200 new words.
I spent a lot of time polishing the presentation and (hopefully) improving readability. I also strategized how the story flow and gameplay might be like while you’re in the company (nothing written on this yet).
Progressed Chapter 2 further, and it’s nearly complete. You get a second choice to boost your stats, before starting work.
Cheers,
Writing Exec