I think any combination can work as long as it makes sense within the world you create.
If the story interests you I’d say go for it 
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@The_Lady_Luck Combos are fun. You have to focus early on in mechanics and in make a clear story lore to not confuse players.
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I agree with those saying absolutely it would work!
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So, I’m not really asking for support or advice here, but just out of curiosity… have you guys ever found yourself despising a character you created?
Like, I just finished writing a long heart-to-heart conversation for my game, and my burning hatred for one of the story’s central NPCs is getting brighter by the minute. I made that guy so despicable, pathetic and loathsome it takes active effort not to write “and then a planet fell on him” just to get some catharsis out of this project. And I didn’t even plan for that; My original draft featured that character as a fairly sympathetic, if flawed figure, and now I find myself having written 3K words about how his existence makes the world a worse place for everyone all in one sitting.
My guess is that it’s semi-common for writers to hate their villains like this, but I’m talking about a love interest here. Can anyone empathize here? Or at least claim to have felt something vaguely similar at some point sometime?
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I despise even one of my protagonists, and readers should find him at least partially sympathetic in theory.
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Oh, yes and When that happens I am really happy.
In Spanish culture a villain is respected and people loves the feeling of hatred a villain and a well written villain you hate is a praise to the writer.
Any character that makea you feel something strongly is a well written one.
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I have created a character using every icky and questionable trait of an archetypical Victorian Age robber baron “Scrooge” who is a love interest in my Patchwerks project.
I don’t despise my character in the sense I can’t write him or find it hard to give him face-time.
My readers have had the full range of reactions to him. Some want to kill him and loathe him and others are actively asking to romance him already.
Having such a range of reactions from my readers really surprises me because it seems he is either loved or hated with very few readers expressing neutrality or mixed feelings toward him.
It is surprising because his counterpart, and equally constructed counterpart, seems to be universally hated by my readers without a single feedback stating they want to romance her.
I can empathize, but if I experienced actual hate for a character, I am not sure how I would handle it, or even if I would be able to do so.
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I love all my children equally. 
I think I can sort of empathize, though. One of my NPCs has become more and more envious of another character throughout the story, and as the writer it’s been like watching a crash in slow motion. Now I’m about to reach the point of him acting on that envy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some readers did hate him after – I know I’m going to hate him while writing it, because he’s potentially (if the player lets him) harming a character I’m fond of. But still, I can’t help but love and pity him, because I know he’s letting his flaws control him.
Although I will say, if a character’s flaw is that they bore me, then I’ll go planetary destruction mode and wipe them out of the story (like the saying goes, the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference). Your NPC might be despicable, but a character whose very existence causes trouble doesn’t sound boring at all.
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It is trully interesting how our cultures shape the way we see literature. Once in the college I stumble into a book. with translated tales of Babylonian and Egyptian origin. Of course the similarities with old testament were noticeable. But still, there was a fascinating way on how they describe people and actions, emotions.
What we see on them is not what they saw at all.
Reading some of the Classical hispania Latin writers you can feel hate towards character actions that was perceived as positive and good guy choices in Rome.
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I’m just trying to settle on how I want the player to set their initial stats. At the moment it is simply a looped choice where you pick your primary talent and then it loops to choose the next one and the next one. This offers a major boost to 2 of the 5 stats and a minor boost to the remaining 3.
However, I feel it is too game-like and I feel I need to make it more natural and threaded into the story.
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Is there a way to contextualise it? Can you put the player in a position where they need to think about how their character problem solved in the past?
Speaking personally, making stat choices only disrupts my immersion when the work very plainly announces the selection. It doesn’t need to flow perfectly, just be something other than a menu.
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Yeah. Originally the first stat choice basically saying how magic is intuitive and despite losing your memory you at least remember where your magic talent lied
That was followed by a choice of how the ones who caught you bypassed your magical defense which set your second best talent.
I had trouble thinking of a way to do a third one so I ended up coding the looped choice but its obviously the wrong choice to me so I’m rethinking what I want to do.
The original way sounds pretty good honestly. If it’s still early on then perhaps rather than having all the choices back to back, the third selection can come in slightly further into the chapter with another contextualised scenario, and you can just code it so that the two highest stat options can’t be picked?
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Oh literally only started a couple of days ago so it will be pretty easy to change
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Feeling a little better about Vampire’s Kiss, now. Two weeks on, and the big question is whether to go for a sequel (or write something totally different, or swear off IF altogether…).
I am actually finishing edits to some non-fiction, which has to be the priority. But then… does NaNoWriMo call?
Btw, I recommend Sri Lanka to anyone interested. Lovely place.
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Related to my Halloween Jam entry: Through the Looking Glass, I had a fan of the entry give me two art pieces related to the story. I thought both would be candidates for concept art if I decided to work on the project further, and I thought I would share them with everyone here.
First:
and second:
Here is a little poll for those who have read the entry to have input on which they like best:
- Concept Piece One
- Concept Piece Two
0
voters
I hope others enjoy these as much as I have.
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This is awesome! I mean I dont have to be proud but I am that my jam has not only being the impulse for your game that also have caused these amancing art. My favourite is the second, is like one of those cathedral style glasswork
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I’m having a really hard time focusing on the work enough to actually write anything this week. Between the stress of studying for a licensing exam, and trying to keep myself together while our finances are falling apart, I’m kind of… I’m losing it. The magical something that lets me put work into my game. Energy? Attention? Focus? I dunno.
I keep opening the program, trying to find some way… But I don’t know why I can’t.
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There’s nothing wrong with taking a break when your head is too full of other things to be able to focus on writing. Better than to keep trying when you can’t, and either burn yourself out or create writer’s block.
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I’ve had a really nice weekend at AdventureX going to some talks, which should be up online at some point, playing exhibits, and chatting with lots of games-writing folks! It was very fun and lots of food for thought. I planned to write on the train but that isn’t likely to happen… Still, it was a great trip. When the talks go up I’ll post links, as a lot of them will be relevant to writers here!
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