New Game: New to ChoiceScript, Help Please

Hello, new user here, I would like to talk to who ever worked on this ChoiceScript program: I’m looking to expand on a few features with it to suit a game that I’m working on using it as my base (I’m not a JavaScripter). Alternatively, anyone who has worked with the program in general: help please.

To summarize what I’m working on:

Its a 14th Century, Science-Fiction piece that was in the form of one of my books and I have been converting it into a game but ran into some scripting issues with things I want to happen. I’m trying to make it a Free-Roam with decisions making a vastly bigger consequences. I’m looking to add “Back” buttons to allow scenes to play out and then return to certain areas and grey out options that were visited. In Heroes Rise, I’ve seen this happen to a small degree and the whole thing seems clunky and linear to me. When I say “back” I mean I don’t want all of the decision you make End the Chapters until you progress through the Storyline at your own pace.

General help:

http://www.choiceofbox.com/sub1/a-basic-tutorial-on-name-relationship-and-gender-variables-by-fairygodfeather/

And that’s all I can think of for now :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
Just mess around with it it a bit, and if you run into any problems feel free to ask more specific questions.

And on the ‘Back’ button, that has been requested many times before, and you can probably implement something of the sorts, but for me it doesn’t do the fun-ness factor any good. I want my choices to have consequences, and that’s not going to work well if you can just return to before the important choice you made just because you didn’t like the outcome.

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It’s not as cut and dry as you make it. I’ve worked on a game called Corruption of Champions (+18) that utilizes the functions I’m looking for but they want an exorbitant sum for their source. Not sure if you know what I’m talking about But needless to say, I want players to decide their fate better and have replay-ability. Story can be good, but the way to do it is the important part. I’ve actually posted this on the front thread but I will put it here too in spite of “I prefer to have my choices to have consequences” :stuck_out_tongue:

Prepares sales pitch by clearing voice:

Born into a hostile war torn nation turned into a nuclear wasteland with enemies closing in on them, you are the test subject to the US’s last ditched effort to turn the tides on history as an experimental program pits 12 subjects against each other in order to take a valuable briefcase of some importance to a destination. The prize of escaping the shackles of your timed bomb collar and returning to the future await you but the journey and your actions along the way will determine what future awaits for you.

Play as:
•A Survivalist, a doomsday fanatic who lived through the United States civil war and.
•A Terrorist skilled in guerilla warfare and fugitive enslaved by True Patriot to do their bidding.
•A Battle-Hardened Psychopath with two split personas and a raging obsession for war

And MORE!

Traverse the 14th Century Europe and as you navigate and fight your way through countless enemies, sex-up partners in ways you never thought before, destroy EVERYTHING that stands between you and the goals you set. Learn about what it takes to escape your shackles of servitude and become a King of your own Nation and a God! Set the world ablaze in your never ending quest of world domination, finish what you set out to do and return home, or Advance the pinnacle of human evolution 1000 years into the future with your knowledge of the future and the past!

Coughs from deep epicness

Point one, I didn’t state it like that.
Point two, the no back button thing is my personal preference, you’re free to do whatever you like.

Of Course! I’m just pointing out that it is a free-roaming experience, I mean you can still do a follow through and still get a Bad Ending and start all over but I’m expressing that why do that when you live with that decision and it appears in a series of scenes as consequences and results! It would be an absolute bore if I let someone shoot a traitor in the face and then hit a Back and return to the previous page. In Heros Rise, I read through the trilogy and noticed that it is linear in terms of story as most of the Psy High was. What if I wanted to enter a building knowing something inside needs to be done but I can’t leave to pursue another building to ready myself for the coming event and return to this building at a later time? Purchase items in a Store, fight, return to Store, trade items, it’s all decision, decision, decisions!

I didn’t mean to offend even in the slightest, I have a showmanship way of careening people.

I wish I had brought my dictionary along so that I could actually figure out what that means :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: (and I’m too lazy to google it)

Anyway, please watch out with giving the player too much freedom. It makes things spin out of control really fast (in terms of sheer amount of work), and is also the reason why most WiP’s never make it to the publishing stage. (my first one died too, and I’m now on my more linear second attempt)

Hahahahaha! I did that exact same thing myself for my expansion for CoC. I worked forever on the damned game and then eventually it turned to mush because of interest. It does sound like a very large (believe me when I say I’m avoiding such an occurrence) issue but the thrill and my motivation is rock hard like the smut I write for eager players looking for their next fix. I’m theatrical in such a way I can blow people away, go over their heads, or cause some misinterpretations - happens all the time.

I can assure you that, although I haven’t seen any in action, ChoiceScript is capable of what you seem to seek. Having played a few of Fenoxos, I do see what you’re saying. Many CS games that are published have stuck with a less open approach simply due to the sheer amount of work it creates. I know myself, but I am sticking with a completely open world to explore in text form for my WIP. It is time consuming and becomes very tedious, but that’s the way it is. Sorry if I’m taking the topic the wrong way, but what features or functions are you trying to implement into ChoiceScript?

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The short answer: CS is simply not the best choice for a room based system, where you go to one place and do action X, Y or Z. It can be done, it just would be a major pain to code. CS is primarily designed for more story based games, with each choice coming up in only one real instance. So, there’s two real options: 1) Reconsider your approach. Think if it’s necessary to build your game as a series of rooms or if instead it might be possible to build it as a series of instances. or 2) Consider a different system (Rags is probably the go to for something like CoC). Aside: The forum’s policy on certain adult content is currently a little more stringent than may be indicated in the FAQ. If you want to talk further on either of those last two instances, shoot me a PM.

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Although CoC implements a room based system, I’m using the CS source as a base to create a linear story but have the players be given the option to choose how they want to go about their adventure. The story I wrote that I’m converting has the main character make a series select a straight path or take detours along the way that leads up to the storyline to make it longer and open up a broad selection to end tasks. For instance:

Malak, the Survivalist, is given a S.P.E.C.I.A.L system like you would see in Fallout 3 but the Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intellegence and Agility play a bigger factor in terms of opening up scenes and successful completion of certain tasks geared for that specific build. Say I have a high Intelligence status, the scenes would display the possible scenes you have the option of using. #1 Prepare traps around a castle to prevent a government coup from swarming the outskirts of the fortress. #2 Train imperial soldiers to use their weapons more effectively and utilize special Walsh Siege crushing tactics to prevent enemies from entering the main gates and the surrounding of the fortress. Or #3 Prepare the imperial soldiers for a defensive strategy that would allow the enemies to enter the castle but capture them and use them as hostages for a foreign delegation. But this is just one instance of using but one Stats, if you have other Stats that match the criteria, they would also prompt up their own options of the approach such as Charisma which allows a emissary and negotiation approach to the coup. This grants multiple outcomes of the battle that you will be apart of.

And when i say that your personas ultimately change the entirety of the game, i meant it. If you were to play as Krieg, the bloodthirsty psychopath, you would have different actions to this battle than you would as a Survivalist. If the Psychopath has a 10 Intelligence, he would be give: #1 Prepare the medieval war machines for combat, take the weaklings out from afar! #2 Band the marauders from the tribe clans you united earlier to help defend their lands from the ensuing civil war and fight within the castle. #3 Strike fear into the hearts of your foes by crucifying live hostages on crosses as a warning to prevent entering the castle. This is not a death or gore scene, just living people tied to poles on the castle walls. However, if you have a high enough Insanity meter this scene can change to where they would be killed if foes approached the castle. The Insanity meter is something else I’ve been working on for the Psychopath to allow Bad Ending to scenes that would normally work in your favor but they turn sour and have mixed results. Charisma scenes for Krieg would be summed up as: #1 Die or Surrender, #2 Join the Horde, or #3 No Mercy for the Meek, send in the troops!

After your decisions, the choices on your approach affect the overall game mechanics. Malak the Survivalist used landmines to fend off the coup and the soldiers now know how to use mines and make their own in case they would need them later. Having helped the government with the coup, you can persuade the King to grant you leniency for your “witchcraft” and possibility recruit a small group of soldiers who look up to you as a formidable leader. You gained followers and you can make your own Mercenary Band who will follow your orders in martyrdom. The consequence of this is that you just helped an aristocracy gain favor and power over other countries vying for control, they know how to make mines which is a major disadvantage for the other countries and the people you helped will change the course of history in the upcoming power play. After sometime with your Mercenaries, you can return to that Faction and destroy anyone with that knowledge of weaponry and absorb their country and make it your own, effectively liberating the country and turning it into your own kingdom if you so choose. Alternatively, you can use other Stats that change this outcome and the story shifts into a different fashion:

You don’t help the government, you instead watch as the coup take the castle and allowed history to play out as it should be and kept the balance of the timeline. Having kept this balance, the history of that country will either succumb to another country and form the Hapsburg Empire or they are removed from history and be remembered as a footnote of what could have been. Hapsburgs are allowed to become part of the old world and will become another obstacle for you the meddle in when the time comes. Choose to meet with the Hapsburgs later, the same Stats will show up and you can decide their fate and your approach again with the freedom of choice and whatever resources you’ve picked up since your last encounters from the previous kingdom.

It’s a slow pace game but the possibilities are endless, worthy of any reader and storyteller.

My game employs a sort-of free-roam system. Here’s the link. The first two chapters’ explorable areas are slightly restricted, but from the third onwards, they’re more explorable.

I actually enjoyed that very much. Though the combat system could be worked around a little bit but that’s just my opinion, curious if the wiki might have a random generator for scenes like it did with character creation. Do you have the skeleton for your game? I would like to take a look at the Chapter 3 and afterwards sections. I would much appreciate it, I promise not to infringe on your work, I’m only after the parser segments to allow openings and returns.

The first two chapters were actually made in Google Forms* before I moved to ChoiceScript, so they’re in dire need of being revamped. As soon as I finish the whole game (which I’ll do some day, hopefully), I plan on expanding them and making them longer and more interesting.

You can have a look at the code, certainly. I’ll PM you.

*- long story.

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