wow your demo got me hooked keep up the good work 
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I love that you can have a crush on both Ansel and Alex and the game actually acknowleges it. So few games do that. If you can you should do a poly route with those two. Though this is just me not wanting to choose because I love them both.
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I need to put in more of these attraction-to-multiple-people acknowledgments! I’ve been slacking!
Poly routes are most definitely something I want to explore, but they are very unlikely to be featured in this book because I feel like there just isn’t enough time to explore them organically. If there are multiple books in this series, though, which I’m so far planning to have, then I’m hoping poly routes are something I can get around to.
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The game has been updated!
This update would normally have come tomorrow, but I finished a little bit ahead of schedule and decided to get it taken care of now since I will be very busy as the weekend approaches.
The transitions between scenes are rough, especially at the end of the chapter. This is a first draft, so I know I should be easier on myself than I am, but I’m not entirely happy with it. Part of the issue is that I’m an absolute plantser. I know the big checkpoint spots this story needs to reach to get where it’s going, but I just kind of let the shit in between happen, and that’s why stuff gets rough sometimes. In that kind of world, anything is subject to change, but there aren’t likely to be any huge chapter or scene revamps while I’m still writing the first draft.
Same as always, a changelog can be found here.
A New Development for Those Following this on the CoG Forums
I made the decision at some point during the last month that I will be transitioning this project to Twine for reasons I would prefer not to discuss on this forum.
What this means:
For a while, nothing will change. I plan to keep writing Ninelives in Choicescript for the time being, and I will continue to update this thread as long as the project is still in Choicescript. Eventually, however, the project will be moving completely to Twine. I will give fair warning before that happens, and very likely I will keep the DashingDon demo up for a while even after that transition happens. At that time, I will stop updating this thread. If you would like to keep following development of Ninelives after the project has shifted to Twine, I strongly recommend following my Tumblr, which you can find a link to in the topic post.
For now, feel free to keep following the project through this thread as I will still be monitoring any communications made to me on these forums.
Thoughts and Known Issues
- There is currently only one spot where the variable that determines if you’ve had a crush on Alex for a long time is used, and that’s an issue considering the content with them in this chapter. I will fix this later.
- I’m undecided whether or not the possible confession scene with a certain RO near the end of the chapter should include an option that locks people out of the romance if they choose not to pursue it here. I also have a placeholder WIP choice representing a choice I’m not entirely sure I want there.
- There are variables and a placeholder WIP choice for choosing not to tell Cherry and Lucia about the MC’s ability, but none of this has been completed or implemented yet. This will likely be updated next month.
- I have an option that should logically allow the MC to choose what drink they prefer, but I have not put the drink options in there yet. This small choice subset will be expanded upon when the game is shifted into Twine as the variable is rather small and unimportant right now.
Looking Forward
I have very much shifted my focus to completing plot before anything else, and that’s because there’s a lot that is likely to change in terms of coding when I move the game over to Twine. I’m still focused on choices availability, but the accuracy and balance of stat increases or decreases is much less important since many of them will change. Revision is also a lot less important right now than it has been before because it will be much easier to tackle that after transitioning to Twine.
One big thing in particular that is probably going to change down the road is the personality stat list. I picked the personality stats that are available now with the Choicescript opposing stats feature in mind, and some personality traits that I absolutely needed had to have logical opposites. In practice, though, certain stat comparisons (ex. Open and Sincere, Open and Confident) have too many overlapping connotations to justify keeping track of all of them. Since I won’t be using opposing traits in Twine, I will be able to cut out some of the personality traits that aren’t needed and focus more on the ones that function best with the story. Since the passive stats rely on personality stats to get certain bonuses when they increase, the passive stats will be revamped in response.
The goal for next month is to update with however much of Chapter 6 I’m able to get done.
I hope you enjoy the new update, and have a nice weekend!
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shot in the face 
wow time for the government mad scientist to slice and dice
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"What are you gonna do? Shoot m-" - famous “last” word
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Old saves don’t work, do they? 
Nvm, I’m an idiot.
This is SOOO GOOD. This WIP should absolutely get more attention. The flow is really smooth and you’ve done a great job making a game remember our choices and playing style. The story is really engaging, can’t wait for next update.
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The update has been awesome!
I have nothing to report that wasn’t in my previous feedback, so I’ll simply repeat just how awesome it was.
I really love how many tone choices you give in order to allow all kinds of MC’s, including ones that are very shy and/or unconfortable with new people, and the amount of custom flavor text depending on personalities is crazy.
The talk with the girls was very nice and sweet, especially Cherry’s shy reassurances.
And man, even if he wasn’t really present in this update, aside from MC’s thoughts, I’m more and more in love with Teagan every single time I replay! 
With that being said, I’m not gonna lie, I’m VERY nervous about the upcoming transition to Twine. It’s very irrational, really - it’s because my only experiences with Twine games so far have been very bad and now I’m kind of expecting it’s Twine that ruins any game, which is totally stupid and I know it’ll be just as awesome as CScript, if not more since you consider it to be a more appropriate tool 
While you don’t want to talk about the reasons for the transition, and I understand, is it okay for me to ask which stats will stay and which will go? If you don’t want to tell or if you don’t know yet, that’s perfectly fine! I’m just curious!
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Nothing is really set in stone. I know that the Confident and Timid stats will stick around as they are both pretty essential to the experience of the story. Taciturn will also because I always wanted to make sure there was a distinction between being timid and not being talkative. Sarcastic will stick around too, but I may change the verbiage on that one to something like “Flippant” or “Glib” since it isn’t necessarily about sarcasm and more so about not taking things seriously (at least outwardly). Skeptical has also turned out to be pretty important since the first half of this story has largely to do with receiving and learning information, some of which might be accurate and some of which might not be.
I would like to also keep the Melancholy and Cheerful stats. So far they haven’t played as big of a role as the others, but, as someone who struggles with depression, Melancholy in particular means a lot to me personally. I have an extremely difficult time relating to MCs who display regular cheerfulness or optimism when I’m reading interactive fiction, and I can only imagine that other people feel the same as I do. They may take a secondary role to some of the others, but these will not be cut.
That leaves Open, Sincere, and Trusting, all of which play almost no part in the story other than changing the MC’s tone, and even then the tones are too similar to justify the three of them. I’d like to combine these three into one stat that encompasses them.
I may or may not also add a stat that tracks how often the MC lies. Although this kind of stat would not play a big part against the Big Bad of the story, it has the potential to play a big part in how the MC interacts with all of the characters, Sungjae in particular.
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So conflicted. The editor in me says the men in black shock was too abrupt and could be brought in slower (either them being hinted at before the big grab or the scene just playing out over a longer time) and the stranger at the door could use either more relevance and context (like a neighbor) or a few options to be like “who the hell are you/I’m not letting you in my house/not going anywhere with you.”
Meanwhile my love of mysterious men in black went “yes reveal them now I’ll go get my popcorn”
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I see! Thank you very much for indulging me!
I like basically everything you said, honestly!
Special mention for:
I like playing both cheerful and depressed character, depending on the game, but I feel that more games allow for cheerful ones, so I’m really on board with that!
And yes, my character is Open, Sincere AND Trusting, and I don’t always really differentiate between them, so I also agree combining them would make things neater.
Anyway, thanks again!
Honestly, that has reassured me about the transition to Twine, since it doesn’t seem so “alien” to me anymore! 
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Oh you’re absolutely correct. Like I said in the update notes, transitions are super rough. I’m a diehard planster and always have been, and that means some elements of the plot are more prone to change than with thorough planning. Tbh, the Big Bad of the story is completely different now than when I started writing, so the foreshadowing just isn’t there at all. I know exactly how I plan to fix that, but it might not make it into revision for a while. As for the stranger, let’s just say I have plans on how to foreshadow him a little bit and make the urgency of the encounter a bit higher, but the abruptness of his arrival is deliberate considering what he’s been up to (which will be addressed in Chapter 6).
It feels really vindicating to hear you say that, because I’ve been wrestling with those three stats basically since I started writing Ninelives. There are a lot of places that change text based on personality, and, in the majority of these places, those three stats are ridiculously similar. In some places, they are so similar that I just went ahead and made them all fall under the same conditional umbrella. It’s awful, and I want to change it.
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Progress Update!
Hey, all! Here’s the update on how things are going with Ninelives!
Regarding the CS demo of the game, there will be no update this month. Unforeseen life circumstances cut down some of my work time, and there is not enough content in Chapter 6 yet to warrant an update. However, I am very excited for when we get to that point! The choices at the end of Chapter 5 and some key choices at the beginning of Chapter 6 can make the opening of the chapter quite varied. I’m excited to get to some more branching paths! I am hoping to make an update to the CS demo at the end of July.
I have also decided on what the new personality stats will be, which I talked about last time:
- Assertive
- Timid
- Taciturn
- Friendly
- Skeptical
- Flippant
There will also be some new stats tracked.
General stats:
- Outlook - A new status that combines the melancholy and cheerful stats. This will informal player tonality.
- Corporis - A “health bar” of sorts, which tracks physical well-being. This can inform how the main character navigates physical challenges.
- Mentis - A “mental health bar” of sorts, which tracks mental well-being. (Not to be confused with Outlook.) This can inform how the main character reacts to stressful situations.
- Honesty - How honest the main character is with others. Whether you are consistently honest or dishonest, certain characters are bound to notice…
Active Skills:
- Technology
- Athletics
- Persuasion
The Passive Skills already in the game will remain the same.
These new stats will not be updated to the ChoiceScript version of the game, but you will see them reflected in the Twine version.
I have launched the public Twine demo of Ninelives. For those interested in testing it out and seeing the changes, refer to my Tumblr, which is linked in the topic post.
Hope everyone is having a great year so far!
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Is there still sense to play the CScript version, or should I simply switch to Twine? 
I really don’t like Twine, but at the same time I like the “new” stats and skills way more 
And also, is there any new content in the Twine version right now, compared to the latest CScript update?
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Until further notice, I will still be updating the CScript version of the game as I write the story content. At some point in the future, this will change, but for now you can absolutely still play the CScript version!
The Twine version of the game implements the new statistics. Accordingly, some of the choices and variations resulting from those choices are different. I am also doing some revisions to the story as I transfer it into Twine, so the Twine version may have new scenes that are not in the CScript version.
In addition, I have made some of the initial character creation a bit smoother due to some of Twine’s unique functionalities, so Chapter 1 a la Twine is a bit a different from the CScript version in multiple ways.
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I see… I guess I’ll check both out?
Do you mind if I give feedback for both in a single post here? Well, for as long as you update the CScript version of course!
That’s perfectly fine! As long as I am still updating the CScript version, I will still be active here. 
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I really, really love this WIP! I think the characters and character interactions draw me in the most and I have to say as a transmasc person I love Ansel.
I’ve been thinking of doing both CS and Twine versions of my projects myself, and I was wondering how the process has been for you so far?
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I’m so glad to hear you are enjoying it so far! Thank you!
Using Twine is definitely a learning process if you don’t have a strong grasp of CSS, HTML, and Javascript. (I have knowledge from my teenage years, but I have lost most of it, so I’m more or less a beginner myself.) Luckily, there are a lot of great resources out there to self-teach, and there are communities that are more than willing to help.
However, the way that variables work between ChoiceScript and Twine are similar enough to make that part of the transition easier.
If it is something that interests you, I would recommend playing around with it and familiarizing yourself with the program!
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Ninelives has been updated as of 7/27/21
(and I very nearly forgot to make this post)
We have ourselves the first half of Chapter 6!
It feels like a long time coming, but I finally slugged it out.
In this update, you’ll get to:
- escape from a hectic situation
- find out that you don’t know your best friend as well as you thought you did
- officially meet the 6th and final RO, Rene
- learn a little about your mysterious pursuers
- witness all of the ROs in the same room for the first time
This update brings the total word count to 105k??? I’m honestly shocked that I’ve made it this far. It feels weird but awesome to be so committed to a project after struggling to commit to writing for so many years.
It should be noted that, because of some of the changes being made as I transfer this over to Twine, there are some variables that may feel a little neglected going forward. C’est la vie.
Total word count (with code): 105k Playthrough word count (with code): about 41k
To read, please use the same link as in the topic post!
In the next update, you can expect:
- a much needed serious conversation with Alex
- some one-on-one time with up to two characters of your choice (besides Alex)
- a retroactive update to add in some WIP scenes in Chapter 5
- the conclusion to Chapter 6, if I get to it
It would be a good idea before the next update rolls around to create a save at the beginning of Chapter 5 if you don’t have one already.
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