I’m confused? How does an achievement mentioning something that happened on page spoil the next section more than, well, seeing it happen on page did?
4 Likes
Because it pops up the millisecond the page pops up. You make your decision, then instantly the achievement pops up, before you’ve had a chance to read a single word on that page, so if it says something like I said then you know what your decision has done before you read a word of what it’s done
8 Likes
Simple solution: set off the achievement on the next page.
10 Likes
I’m with you on this. A mistimed achievement can turn an awesome bit of story into an anticlimax.
7 Likes
Feeling good today. A reader said she liked the Katie subplot because it was a realistic portrayal of autism and she really identified with it.
Most readers don’t know this but most writers like receiving compliments!
10 Likes
I mean, sure. I just don’t see how that follows from what I was originally asking. It’s not like automatic progression achievement must be mistimed.
4 Likes
That’s a pretty funny concept to think about. Like a popup appears:
Achievement earned! Destroyed the portal of doom!
Then you read the text:
You draw in a quick, ragged breath. No time for more. Sweat stings your eyes as you raise your arm. It trembles, your grip tight and dead.
“Severance.”
You whisper the word of power. Ancient energies course through your veins. Your spear glows, red, then yellow, then white, the white of the blinding sun.
A final prayer. Then you throw it with all your might at the jet black portal. It seems to fly in slow motion. You hope that all your preparations, all your plans, have embued the spear with enough power to finally cleanse the land of this cursed object.
The tip of the spear touches the inky surface —
[Next]
7 Likes
Almost every one I’ve read, the achievement pops up immediately after you’ve made a choice. Giving away the upshot of the choice rendering the text on that page basically just explaining how you got to what you already know.
Am I making sense? Sorry if not, I’m autistic so spend most of my life feeling misunderstood and I then go overboard trying to be understood 
5 Likes
I know how that feels. No worries.
I did understand that having the achievement pop up at a wrong time isn’t good, but there is no reason why it has to do that. As Cataphrak said, you can just put it on the next page instead, it’s just a coding issue and not an inherent property of the achievement. So that would be a cause to make sure they fire at correct places, not to get rid of them completely (which was what your original response seemed to be advising to me).
(Also second part of my confusion was that I meant “section” as “a group of chapters separated from other groups of chapters”, that could also be called “act”, “part”, “episode”, etc. and as such, I was wondering how having, say, an achievement called “Cake Is A Lie” granted at the end of episode 1, where you discovered that the cake was an illusion, would spoil the episode 2, that would be about something else. But if that was about what’s happening on the page where the achievement appears, it was just a case of different terminology, which, fair.)
7 Likes
I find myself researching the weirdest things. Like, “when were playgrounds invented?”
7 Likes
same. I realised earlier that I didn’t actually know what oats actually were. There’s 20 mins I’m never gonna get back 
5 Likes
Today’s random issue: I have this scene where the MC is viewing security footage, and I can’t figure out what kind of choices there should be.
5 Likes
Got an email about the IF Short Games Showcase 2025. It said that for some reason it’s not listed or searchable on Itch by any regular methods, just by direct link, so the organizer has been emailing past participants to get the word out.
6 Likes
It doesn’t! I was responding to Morkai’s observation (on which I have an opinion) without reference to the question you’d originally asked (on which I don’t really).
On further consideration, the closest I can come to an opinion is that I’d rather the author found some description more plot-specific than a mildly immersion-breaking “Finished Act Two” for the achievement. E.g. if Act Two ends with the Battle of Pants, describe the achievement as “Fought in the Battle of Pants.” I care more about that (i.e. slightly) than I do about the visible/hidden status.
If there are no good descriptions other than “Finished Chapter Eight,” then I’d vote hidden to minimize my exposure to them. And if the only plot-specific descriptions are spoilers[1], then definitely hidden. So OK, guess I’m leaning toward Team Hidden.
You fight PANTS??!! ↩︎
7 Likes
Ah, I was just being confused as to where it was coming from, not demanding you to answer my question!
(I want to see the Battle of Pants.)
4 Likes
#Fast-forward to the bit where something interesting happens…
#Go and make a cup of tea
#Delegate the task to someone with a longer attention span…
#Destroy incriminating? footage
7 Likes
What does the security footage do for the plot? Is it connected to an investigation, or is it just another part of the MC’s job?
4 Likes
Just wrote a little conversation for the Shadow of the Eagles prototype where there are two ways to get the worst outcomes - you either tell your interrogator what he doesn’t want to hear and simply be relentlessly hostile, or you tell him precisely what he wants to hear but in direct contradiction to your previous actions and stated opinions.
16 Likes
I might give it a shot. I wasn’t thinking about it initially, but I’ve been writing a few short visual novels for game jams lately, including one which I blazed through in less than a day.
We could set up a thread to advertise the event on the forums. 
8 Likes
Sounds fun.
Right, that’s probably relevant. It is part of an investigation (that is part of the MC’s job).
Here's the whole situation:
Some fifty years ago, a ship in your space navy disappeared. A small group of survivors, led by the ship’s second officer, was later recovered; they told the ship’s first officer (who was conveniently absent) had mutinied and killed everyone. The ship, nor the accused, was never found, and the latter was sentenced in absentia.
Until now: you’ve suddenly ran into the officer (they’re a long-living alien) and have them captive on board, but they refuse to say a thing about the mutiny. Then you run into the ship, and it is just drifting abandoned in space. So your captain sends you to investigate what actually happened there.
6 Likes