There appears to be one possible happy ending, but most are bad. Not sure if it applies to the Ash path or not, but it appears the “team” can have a happy ending, whether your MC is a hunter or savior. I’m guessing that, with Ash, you’re screwed if you go the savior route, though, which is what my MC did (and the only path I’m interested in is Ash’s).
Yeah, Ash’s is the only path I play too. Of course with a savior MC, surprise, surprise. Our MCs will be heartbroken together. Maybe they’ll open an Ash’s fanclub or just continue jumping through the universes until they find another Ash
FIRST POST-HIATUS WRITING UPDATE WOOHOOO [not a chapter update]. Also I need y'alls help!!
over the past years of total and utter silence with this project gone through a never-ending hiatus, I have gotten alotta more confident(yay) yet no-where to put these skills of mine into, as my struggle in real life right now is the fact that I can’t find a proper game design job where I can flourish - I decided to try and keep said skills sharp and fresh by writing stories. so here we are again. I have been quite busy rewriting and re-defining the overarching story, and I cannot wait to have everyone see the eventual endings.
the chapter is going to be a BIG one. I am at 91k words, fully written out and basically done aside from one (1) path remaining. WOOHOOOO NEARLY THERE running towards the finish line, hence the teaser. Anyway –
***Feedback form! Help me reach the finish line!!***
I need your help c: for anyone who still has their saves or new players who have reached the end of chapter 8, I like to know what your stats are! I require this for proper balancing in chapter 9 as this is the chapter where the story gets split into many paths depending on some of those questions. Thank you in advance!!
*** What can you expect from the next update, coming up SOON?***
91k wordcount so far (total, all branches, excluding code)
19k words for one single run
Romance lock-ins with Ash and Ha
consequences of your past major decisions/Character personality traits starting to finally catch up by taking the players onto whole different branches and locations altogether.
trigger warnings: implied mental and physical torture, determined character deaths
Some additional flashback sequences across chapters 6, 7 and 8 to see things from companions’ POVs
The story of RBU is dark. This game has a dozen “bad” endings planned, but it only has one ultimate “good” ending for each individual character/MC and the main story in general. It’s not for just the sake of drama and shock value, as I want this game to reach a very specific plot point which effect will be taken away if everything ended in a too-good-to-be-true way. Just a gentle warning!
main story lock-in!! Coded out some branches already for the next chapters. Chapter 10 will be the end of part 2, and part 3 will be more of a 2-chapter endgame with a chapter dedicated to an epilogue afterward. So we are really getting close to the end if I keep this up, and will stop updating the public link once reaching part 3. Will be making an announcement for private betas by then probably, but that’d be like… when I am on my deathbed at the age of 92, most likely.
I really hope you guys will be enjoying the absurdly long chapter. Did a few bold moves regarding the direction the story is going towards which I had been planning and iterating for since the very start of RBU regarding final revelations, hoping some puzzle pieces will be satisfyingly falling into place.
RBU is really about regret and acceptance regarding our decisions and mistakes, and how different types of people deal with it (badly)… so there are no “good” or “bad” endings or choices, really. BUT there is always a “worse” and “worst” so beware :')
***Looking for a paid/voluntary editor!!***
To help with the reconstruction of weird sentences, taking out grammar mistakes, eliminating the bad spelling, and bonking teenage-firefly on the head for her bad storytelling. plus points if you could help with the phasing even, perhaps like some kind of a beta reader- yet not too focused on it right now, as I'm just wanting to make the old chapters flow nicer.
shoot me a message if you want to help out! Either as a private message here, or over at my tumblr, or shoot me a DM! as I am @fireflyy on the COG discord server.
For the sake of consistency, I am hoping to get help from one available editor for now. so please do let me know of your experiences if you are wanting to help out!!
You shall be credited within RBU’s main screen
anyway- See you all soon <3 and a happy new year!! The next update will be the actual new chapter update, soon. Welcome back to old readers, and hello to the new ones. please grab a mug of hot cocoa, don’t mind the weirdly phased chapter 3 written by teenage me, say hello to Mona Lisa the bobble-head, go play clue with the celestial creature brooding in the dark corner there, and enjoy your stay.
You don’t know how happy I am that this game is still going :') I was there the first time it was posted, and I really hope it will be continued because it’s one of my favorites.
@TaysukiSensei
Im aware, thank you c: ive moved everything over to cogdemos.ink, and will share the link soon once I’m done tidying the monster of a chapter up. Altough keeping the dashingdon one up as well until the end of the month for the sake of saves
5 endings at 3 different locations you can end up as your companions all split into different sides.. getting lost. Metaphorically or quite literally? What decisions have you made in the past to either bring chaos or calm into your so-called hideout..? Who will celebrate to see the long-awaited dawn, who will weep at the rising insanity of the leader carving down a bloody road to victory, and what painful truths will you finally discover?
Where will you end up, who will you save, and who will you be in chapter9?
133 303 words in total for ALL branches!
Between the 18k and 21k for a single playthrough!
Romance lock-in scenes for Ash and Ha!! Although they are locked behind one of the three exploration branches.
Specialize in your essence! If you are strong enough and are within the right branch for it, you can pick one of the few elements to focus on and develop your essence further.
Death
Angst
Depression
Screaming and crying people all around
Lily with a lighter
“Who gave Ha a gun?”
Two new annoying little brats to look after
The chapter is split between three different greater exploration areas, and you can end up depending on various variables and choices. Only one path contains all the companions while the other two may differ depending on decisions made.
That. Was an unbelievably long road. This chapter is easily the most branchy one. A few WIP scenes are locked, but they are nothing big and I may still decide to scrap those before the chapter gets too overwhelmingly brancy. Aside of that, some more balancing I might have to do still regarding personality traits and stats, but I want to delve deeper into that once I’ve got more results in on my online feedback form, so right now you may not really notice alotta stat changes throughout chapter 9. But yes. Here it is!!
Feel free to report bugs in the forum thread c: and I shall try and fix them asap. Also whenever you suspect of the game pushing you into the wrong branch by checking the wrong variables, or if you see any typos and misgendering.
Have fun c: I am hoping to keep this flow going for chapter 10 as well, seeing as the end of RBU is nearing and 10 won’t be a very long one. Here is hoping I may actually reach the epilogue before I slip back into a 50 year long hiatus <3
@M_M it’s a standalone c: For now, that is. Meaning- I haven’t planned anything other than the ending(s) to RBU. Although the entire IF is split into two story parts.