Older development thread (The Aegis Saga - Blood)

poison_mara · 2016-04-12T19:07:38.271Z

nightcap:

. You can expect your friends to have very different ideas about the main occurrences through ‘Blood’ and into ‘Forge’, so you may find one or two of your old friends start being less friendly and become - something else.

But… but, They aren’t my friends. Could I kill them before There notice that I want be a princess?. At least let me kill the plankster guy and the intelligent one. I could manage to make sure the bully one falling in love for me and use as meatball bodyguard.

Zilla · 2016-04-12T19:09:15.571Z

nightcap:

“What do people find intimidating?” - 12/04/16

Japanese Giant Hornets

https://res.cloudinary.com/roadtrippers/image/upload/w_640,fl_progressive,q_60/v1432170035/ikcsrtea5m7ky7plf1m5.jpg

poison_mara · 2016-04-12T19:17:25.248Z

But Japanese ones are peaceful I know it because I knew Honey farmers near my grandma conuntry house.

Zilla · 2016-04-12T19:50:58.305Z

Just because something is peaceful doesn’t mean it can’t be intimidating.

trinnie · 2016-04-12T20:11:37.958Z

BioWare has a long tradition of romance in video games, and I think they do some really clever things when it comes to character development within the romance.

That said, I’m firmly against the idea that love interests exist only to stand at the player’s side, supporting them through thick and thin, but never disagreeing, never falling out, always being made “better” by the player’s love, but unwilling to ask anything in return. A character that exists just to be some kind of eye candy, devoid of personality and ambitions, is not a character whose existence I care for at all.

I spend a lot of time thinking about fictional boyfriends. Let me live.

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-12T22:57:26.136Z

BACK BUTTONS!!

So a major bother for demo readers who are used to paper or ebook reading is that choicescript doesn’t accommodate a back button.

. . .I have not solved this - seriously, it’s hard

What I have done is code the Beta (not the demo) to allow a reader to go back to the start of a chapter they have read, or a sub-section they have read in that chapter

Stats screen:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47183494/pics%20charles/Screen%20Shot%202016-04-12%20at%2023.46.30.png

Stats screen chapter list:
(grey options show chapters my reader hasn’t reached yet)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47183494/pics%20charles/Screen%20Shot%202016-04-12%20at%2023.46.47.png

Chapter sub-section list:
(grey options show chapter sub-sections my reader hasn’t reached yet)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47183494/pics%20charles/Screen%20Shot%202016-04-12%20at%2023.47.02.png

. . . are you happy now Mum? . . .

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-13T04:44:01.855Z

New - QUESTION OF THE DAY -

“Maps - how to do them best, and who’s done them best. Or should they be there at all” - 13/04/16

Do you guys and girls want a map in the stats section?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47183494/pics%20charles/map%20example.jpg

H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands by Jason Thompson.

Thanks to @FinalFantasyFreak for contributing to the quality of ‘Blood’ by feeding back through PM.

They raise an interesting point about the child’s name ‘Kos’

On another topic

But I have to admit that I’m not completely sure about the actual meaning of the word ‘Kos’. I mean is it like a pet name for a child?

If anyone has a bright idea for a different gender-neutral name for Ria’s child it would be great to hear about it.

poison_mara · 2016-04-13T04:58:22.755Z

Sam is quite neutral. But you always can use that hippie hipster names like River, Brooklyn, Montana, Egle eye. … I really don’t care about Kos gender. I suspect that or we are Kos or any one of the guys is Kos. Come on you want it gender neutral. He is now an orfan… Daddy is searching for him her … If he tried to make me her daughter the ria widower will return with Ria soon.

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-13T05:13:27.539Z

‘Kos’ or someone may play a part later

Sam’s nice. .

Hmmm

Just spotted I lost the badge I got for 1k clicks on the demo when I changed the demo path following the save change.

Cog ! GIVE ME BACK MY BADGE !

Zilla · 2016-04-13T13:56:47.545Z

nightcap:

want a map

Yes, I am a Map Staring Expert. As a Grand Strategy player let me tell you, don’t put a nation that is color dark blue on it, as that nation will just be France in a disguise.
Also no Von Habsburgs, as they would instantly rule every kingdom. They are masters of producing heirs of their dynasty for other kingdoms.

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-13T14:23:29.846Z

Are we talking Europa Universalis type map-staring here @Zilla Because that’s about how deep I was in virtual reality before kicking the gaming habit in favour of Cog.

The primary concern with doing a map is it’s quality = if there were a football match between my map-making confidence and my drawing ability it would go to penalties, end in a draw, with the managers having been cautioned for verbal abuse and the key players red carded for spurious injury.

I’m not sure what to make of that extended metaphor, maybe because I’m really more of a rugby fan.

Well I know some people who play sport.

Distantly

Zilla · 2016-04-13T14:34:07.602Z

Yes, I am an expert at zooming in and out of a Europa Universalis map.

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-13T14:46:03.835Z

Okay

I’ll record a vote in the yes column.

I do enjoy a Grand view. But I think in this case if a map is done it should potentially only feature a smallish area (the areas considered in ‘Blood’) so the Two Kingdoms and its borders.

Then next time the map could expand.

I wonder whether something stylistic might be fun though. Loved the Lovecraft above, but too detailed. Still it would be nice if there were a workable example to look at while I experimented. I don’t actually recall any Cog titles with maps . . .

poison_mara · 2016-04-13T14:55:46.879Z

Sabres and Guns of Infinity have several colored maps.

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-13T15:09:51.422Z

Oh yeah.

For the purpose of discussion here’s one of @Cataphrak’s

High quality ( looks rendered?) - simple in this version which makes the reading of it nice and clear.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47183494/pics%20charles/Map1.png

Nice example @poison_mara

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-13T17:37:39.969Z

I’m being toasted in the below thread about back buttons and chapter returns - - -

= Where are the minstrels of Eris? - defenders of causes lost, heroes to those of diminished capacity, utterers of unusual statements and rallying cries! =

So basically if you’re interested in the chapter return/back button discussion, you might be interested in the thread here

Guides for all games? Meta

At the risk of sounding tautological: To the extent that you’re talking about your Hosted Game, Hosted Games (a different company than Choice of Games) will host your game. To the extent that a back button goes against Choice of Games’ design philosophy, Choice of Games won’t implement a back button. BTW, just glancing through the other threads you cite–“numerous occasions where I’ve selected an option, only to find the author had loaded it with numerous unforseen consequences, which I didn’t …

Silhuetta · 2016-04-13T17:59:13.729Z

@nightcap being enslaved in the chains of education. Don’t worry, I’ll break free eventually.

Cataphrak · 2016-04-13T18:36:58.508Z

@nightcap
Speak for yourself: I made those maps four years ago, and they look absolutely hideous to me now.

Charles_Parkes · 2016-04-13T18:40:23.053Z

Ah my bad. My copies of your most recent games are on ipad (and I’m ipad illiterate) so did some fishing via laptop on google images. .

You still hold the dubious honour of being the only Cog author named on this small thread to use maps though

I’ll see if I can find something a bit more up to date.

idonotlikeusernames · 2016-04-13T18:44:12.643Z

Ah @Cataphrak always his own harshest critic.
Your maps look perfectly fine to me, then again I’ve never progressed beyond stick figures myself when it comes to visual arts skills.
In any case they serve their purpose adequately.

@nightcap Choice of Rebels looks like it’s going to feature a map too.
The new Golden Eagle wip also features some rather nice maps.