Dunno about guides, but you can imagine yourself a detective and do some codediving here to see how your choices affect the story.
It’s pretty impactful. If you fail the corruption check, you’re getting possessed. It adds more FuN sTuFF to the narrative and sometimes your MC can’t resist doing the said FuN sTuFF like taking that inviting elevator. And to fully answer your last question about possession - high denial can also lead to possession as well as certain choices (e.g. looking into red trailer window).
In chapter 3, so you can start with flirting for now or maybe tsundere-ing（ΦωΦ）
Afaik yes, but maybe that 404 thing is already doing stuff in our heads so we’re sort of familiar? Not that we’ll get confirmation in chapters 1-2 though.
It’s pretty good and interesting so far but the tone is trying too hard to be quirky, which especially clash with the start of the game that clearly was trying to go with a more scary and oppressive vibe. It’s a bit hard to feel the tension while going around the house chasing after the noise when every other option is a wacky joke.
I’ve done several playthroughs at this point, at least through chapter 1 so clearly I am having a great time. I, for one, am in support of serial killer MC.
I also realized that you allow me to make a changeling who was abandoned as an infant and has heterochromatic eyes so I had to make my Pathfinder character and, extra hilariously, going on an RV trip to stop the apocalypse through magic politics is surprisingly similar to her actual campaign plot: going on a caravan trip to overthrow a shitty government.
I did a playthrough specifically to get as little corruption as I thought I could (-2), and then I also did a playthrough with an MC I thought Adrian would be fond of (ended with an 86% relationship stat), but this one Cuckoocloudlander!MC I made on a whim who I decided to have flirt with Adrian because I thought it would be funny (it was, it was also delightful to watch Adrian desperately try to get Cuckoo!MC to elaborate about, you know, their cursed arm and haunted apartment, instead of werewolves), beat out both of them. Adrian is down horrendous for this MC with a 91% relationship stat and calls them my love during his interlude and they ended up with -3 corruption. 10/10.
I am but an amateur code reader, but I located a bug and I think also what caused this particular bug:
I love this, although I’m making sure to reply it over and over with different options but how are we able to click the choice, ”i just got molested by a tentacle monster, how do you think I’m feeling"!? Also the option to pull out your polo mallet or step protectively in front of Adrian
I’m not entirely sure if this is working as intended or not, but I’ve decided to point it out just in case.
*if (((corrupt >= 7) or (denial >= 13)) and (will < 13)) or (corrupt >= 13)
This line of code is used several times to determined whether the MC gets possessed. If I’m reading it correctly, the three requirements are as follows:
Corruption of 7 or higher
Denial of 13 or higher and Will of 12 or less
Corruption of 13 or higher
As such, the last requirement is redundant. Of course, if an MC with 7 Corruption is meant to be automatically possessed, the code is working as intended, but if the threshold is meant to be 13, the first requirement should be removed.
Because I’ve been thinking way too much about this game today, and am armed with enough Arthurian Cycle knowledge to be dangerous, but not necessarily effective, I’m gonna throw out a theory.
I did my first all-cuckoolander response MC today (see above post) and finally got Adrian to a ridiculously high relationship level (101%… thanks again @greendaisy for this breakthrough lol). I believe this is my sixth time playing (yes I really like this WIP) and never come close to that level of relationship with Adrian, in spite of trying my best. To be clear, I am super excited for all the ROs (especially Arthur) but always focus on Adrian cuz he’s really the only one we get much time with, and def will do an Adrian route with every update. That being said, Adrian’s always been a somewhat tough nut to crack.
Now knowing he prefers the cuckoo, and from a few other minor hints in that run, I think Adrian is Percival. It’s my canon guess for now lol.
My evidence: Percival was always a bit tetched in the head. A bit off, which explains his love for a fellow cuckoolander. Second, he is often one of the “chaste” knights, like Galahad. Would explain his romantic demeanor with an MC actively flirting with him. He wants to but can’t. Third reason (this one holds a lot less water because it comes from film rather than medieval text) but Percival is often portrayed wearing glasses (like Adrian). Just a wild theory because I have too much thinking time today but I can’t wait for the big reveal when we learn who is who in the Camelot world. Who do you all think he is? For that matter, who do you think/hope you are?
I think you may have parsed it wrong. (I think) it’s corruption of 7 or greater or either denial of 13 or greater + will of 12 or less or denial of 13 or greater + corruption of 13 or greater. Denial is tied to two stats, but if your denial isn’t high, you only needed the corruption or 7 or greater as the deciding stat.
Thanks for all the stats, bug reports, and comments everyone!
Quick Progress Update: Things are definitely… going. Currently at Line 6000 of 8000+. I started with less than 7000 lines of code, so we’ll see where that ends up.
Yeah, the Fencer MC calls it out a bit more bluntly than the Polo Player MC. Regarding the Mage Background… that got pruned because it just diverged too much from all the other backgrounds. The first chapter would’ve probably been over a million words if I included it. (Also who’s going to play a normie when you can be a mage?)
Good news! Fencer MC can faceplant multiple times in this route! Also note to self, including more Halloween references.
No one’s written a guide at this point. Maybe one of the code readers will eventually? Since I know everything, any guide from me would be major SPOILERS.
Corruption is the main variable that determines if you pass/fail the possession check (and the demons take over the MC’s mind). Someone actually posted the code to the possession check itself a few posts down now.
First sex scene with Merlin will probably be either the end of Chapter 2 or beginning of Chapter 3 depending on where it fits the plot better. Merlin is hungry so they’re definitely waiting.
You can stop the sh!tty government by apocalypsing and killing everyone-- oh wait. Also apparently the Cloudcuckoolander MC is just built different. (Also glad that Adrian’s continuously nagging if you refuse to bring up the serious topics didn’t come across as too annoying/boring in that one branch.)
Otherwise…
The Monster-Under-the-Bed bug…
It’s another one of those bugs that I fixed (like expresso/espresso only much worse) that somehow got rolled back during the last update. After I finish checking the code for the Fencing Club route, I’m really going to have to go back and see what’s going on there.
Luckily I remember how I fixed this last time. It’s initiating and then failing the luck check that causes that. There should be some “u failed!” flavor text there before it shuffles you off to the choices for fighting the monster.
Since that was kind of a game-breaking bug, I went ahead and pushed a hotfix for it already.
The X-files typo… I must’ve read through that section dozens of times and it still got through. I think I have Mulder on the brain or something.
The Lady of the Lake stat check… your MC either had a photographic memory as their talent or they otherwise passed the intelligence check because that’s the flavor text for someone knowledgeable enough to recognize what a ‘mari-morgan’ is. (The Arthurian expert can do it too)
%@$% I forgot to turn off the background in the CRACKING pic and I don’t have the files anymore, so I had to redo from scratch. I usually test the game in darkmode, so not sure how that got past me.
The mute MC speaking with the paramedic is a bug, the possessed one is just tripping balls.
Merlin’s pronouns won’t match the MC’s choices in other people’s dialogue. That’s a clue to what’s truly going on with Merlin’s appearance.
For the adrian_mad screenshot, the (kidnapped) version will start off with a linebreak as the paragraph is running long in that variation. I could’ve used…
*if (kidnapped)
*line_break
instead, but I heard that the linebreak code tends to mess with screenreaders for the visually impaired, so I try and force a normal paragraph break whenever possible instead.
Otherwise, all the other bugs & typos should be fixed with the next big update.
For the tentacle monster option, the only thing that locks it off is having really, really, really low health. At that point your MC is kinda too busy dying to make snarky comments.
For protecting Adrian, the option is grayed out if your MC failed the fear check. (And if they failed that, a whole bunch of options are now grayed out because they’re too busy flipping out at the moment
And -4 Corruption to boot. Cloudcuckoolander MC really is built differently.
I see that Choicescript’s forcing variable checks to come in pairs (and all the nesting parentheses that causes) is being confusing again here. To simplify it, it’s…
((corruption >= 7) OR (denial >= 13)) AND (will < 13)
(corruption >= 13)
Basically willpower can’t help you anymore once your corruption goes past 13.
The people on Tumblr seem to think Adrian is Lancelot (with Mordred coming up a few times). Adrian appreciates your Percival recommendation much more.
Chapter 1 is basically Adrian’s chapter. Most of the ROs will get a chapter focused on them when they first appear (except Merlin & the Camelot ROs who get a bit of focus sprinkled throughout the game). So, you’ll have to start seeking him out more after this.
Edit: Edit the edit the edit the edit… I only notice the typos once it’s been posted.
so this is my second time around playing this game, since about when it was first posted to ifcomp. didn’t have much to say then, but i totally do now!! the story, worldbuilding, and humor are all great, and i have suddenly developed a keen interest in arthuriana-
the extensive character building/choice lists are a bit of a slog to get thru, but i’m happy it’s actually referenced in the text a lot. i can’t imagine the work u go thru to put in all those variations but damn if it doesn’t make me that much more interested in reading every lil detail.
and the charactersssss omg they are all so real and 3-dimensional. merlin is so sus but also they are also cool funny magic man i like their words. arthur speaks to me once and suddenly my mc is suddenly infused with the spirit of chivalry to go save him. and adrian ;( he got me daydreaming, twiddling my thumbs, kicking my feet, the works. perceptive!mc is going to drink so much copium romancing him. i will make sure of it.
round of applause for the cloudcuckoolander responses because they are so awesomely infallibly me i love em
i’m def gonna be dropping my manic crackhead theories here in case i’m not completely off the mark with the mysteries…
i’m a +1 for suspecting adrian is gawain like that one other poster way back said. i’ll add that it’s unclear whether his vague moaning and groaning about what’s happened in his past is actually pertinent to the 2nd circle or his experiences as gawain. i think he’s already awakened well enough, judging by the kick to the vending machine. he should be at least familiar with the 2nd circle i think, because he already knew merlin and their name. also i really like gawain and i really like adrian so they obvi the same person duh
i’m also a bit miffed no one’s noticed the absolute bombshell merlin dropped in their own guide entry ://
Just simply keep in mind that it’s impossible for any of the people I’ve just listed to be reincarnations of you and our other allies, because all of them are me.
like y’all am i trippin or did they, like, take all the excluded people’s souls or sum- i might just be misreading it but they are an incubus and they did witness the deaths of all them people, or at least the 2nd circle
one last dumb theory, i think mc is just a touch clairvoyant. might just be tied to the cloudcuckoolanders tho, tracking with merlin’s explanations about the wisdom of the fool. we’re able to mention being stuck in a museum to shaggy dude in the elevator, then we say we can’t wait for the museum. cassandra’s intro post dialogue has us caught in a museum (i guess to steal some artifact weapons). so we def goin there
btw author, just a few things i wanna clarify. does the infiltrator get a reincarnation necessarily? and also where do you get the lore for the book? you mention sourcing from the original canon only, but i really have no idea where i would find that.
exceptional work yo. will be obsessing over this for the next few months at least
(Since there were bugs reported throughout Chapter 1 & 2, your current saves are probably going to reset to the beginning of each section of the game)
Additional Word Count(Sans Code): 120,000+ Additional Word Count(With Code): 155,000+ New Total Word Count(Sans Code): 614,000+ New Total Word Count(With Code): 833,000+ Average Playthrough: ~60,000 words
Note: You can view the game code on my site the same way you do on Dashingdon just add /scenes to the end of the URL.
Next Update
Merlin’s Guide to Minor Enemies
A bucketload of owed texts & e-mails to the MC
Decisions of great import… just where are you sleeping in that motorhome?
Take part in your first multi-user spell! (Potentially depending on the length of the gas station stop?)
Meet the next Harbinger - RO #4 (Potentially depending on the length of the gas station stop?)
The Update Also Includes…
Summary
Calmly letting Merlin into your apartment after escaping the monster-under-the-bed no longer removes the mute flag
Fixed Adrian literally calling the MC as “MC” in the pub
Fixed expresso back to espresso AGAIN stares at it* *
Fixed the phil_status 2 bug AGAIN (Somehow I must’ve reverted a bunch of bug fixes in Chapter 1)
Fixed bug where MC’s name permanently changes to their pseudonym if the player tried to back out of the renaming screen
Fixed the “On second thought, let me try a different fake first name…” option so it only asks the player to change their fake first name (as originally intended)
Fixed some dialogue with Adrian depending upon your clothing choices in the polo club branch
Fixed the Adrian text messaging bug. Again. Hopefully third time is the charm.
Fixed bug where your current job being your dream employment wasn’t triggering the positive job attitude flavor text
Fixed bug where the mute flag was being toggled off when interacting with Adrian regarding your fancy outfit before the polo club meeting
Choice where Lucid Dreamer MC talks to Modern Arthur about Merlin’s dreamwalking advice is now set to toggle only when the MC speaks to Merlin in the Camelot dream sequence
Fixed bug with the user’s input option for Business Casual outfit
User’s choice option for Business Casual & Business Suit now toggles pants or skirt variable
Fixed bug with the Cracking text effect in darkmode
All piercings & scars now available in one choice during customization.
Fixed bug (AGAIN!) when Lucky MC fails the luck check to escape the bed monster
Added reactions to Camelot-affiliated names belonging to inanimate objects.
Fixed *set ag2 2 -1 bug in Camelot dream sequence (I wonder how that didn’t trigger QuickTest)
A Bit More Info on the Update Mechanics
The decision on which club you join is one of the first questions in Chapter 1, so players will have to restart from pretty early on. However the fencing club flavor text will continue to run throughout the rest of the game (including in the Camelot dream sequence with the Courtyard branch for the Lucid Dreamer MC).
Otherwise this current update does not progress the game further into Chapter 2.
Also
I’m currently coming down with something (Covid test says not that, so maybe just the flu?) so I’ll be taking a bit of a break after this.
Polls
What happened to Zain?
He’s fine. The MC knocked down all the sword shards.
He’s fine. He was protected by his fencing mask.
He’s fine. Adrian tackled him.
He’s not so fine. But Paramedic MC might’ve saved him?
No one saved him. He ded.
0voters
Length of Fencing Club Route Versus the Polo Club Route?
About the same
Too Long
Too Short
0voters
How Interesting Was the Fencing Club Route Versus the Polo Club Route?
About equally interesting
More interesting
Less Interesting
0voters
Is the MC Currently P̵o̴s̷s̷e̸s̷s̷e̸d̷?̴
Y̸e̸s̷
No
You mean the MC can actually get possessed?
You mean the MC can actually avoid getting possessed?
0voters
Sounds legit. Thanks for all the comments! The infiltrator (and all the non-Merlin Harbingers are supposed to be reincarnations. If they are all what they’re supposed to be remains up for debate.
This is the link that Merlin will send to the MC if they complain about reading Merlin’s Guide. Although that only has a couple of the stories.
Also, here’s a listing of the Matter of Britain which is usually accepted as the OG lore for Arthuriana (as opposed to the many, many reinterpretations floating around). But unless you’ve got a high tolerance for ye olde text (“His sconken he helede mid hosen of stele.”) you’ll want to find a modernization of the text.
A lot of them have free translations available online. Like here is Culhwch and Owen which is one of the oldest Welsh stories available. And here’s a list of a bunch of them available for free (but some of those are the equivalent of encyclopedias with 2 lines dedicated to King Arthur).
Also most dialogues are one & done, but there are a few conversation hubs available that have timers attached to them where the conversation moves on after 3, 4, 7, etc turns go by.
Added it to the stuff fixed in the newest update, thanks. I’m a bit surprised that neither Quicktest nor Randomtest picked that up.
(Also who’s going to play a normie when you can be a mage?)
I forgot to turn off the background in the CRACKING pic and I don’t have the files anymore, so I had to redo from scratch. I usually test the game in darkmode, so not sure how that got past me.
