I’m also doing the same. I feel old remembering a time when games came in one core and an expansion or two which is nearly as big as the core game.
I don’t have a lawn so I can’t tell kids to get off them.
Anyway, now that I see people do like this, I’m going to have to work extra hard and not disappoint.
I’ve also been abusing the if/else commands.
I have to say I have absolutely loved this game so far. If this is just the intro, my mind boggles at what the rest is going to be like.
I abuse booleans in my game
I played threw and I like it. I found it to be fun it but why is compassion and wisdom opposing stats?
well there are ninjas in there that can Assasinate people. Havnt really seen assassin geishas. But maybey thats because i never really finish a game. I play on Legendary and when i take over a couple of towns i usually get smacked in the face by a more powerfull clan…
I think that dropping the kanji altogether is for the best. Even if perfectly encoded, some people’s computers/other devices still won’t render the characters, simply because they can’t.
What you mentioned is your new approach to handling foreign words/concepts is one of the better approaches. Using the wrong word is a quick way to alienate your ‘core’ fans (the ones that already love your setting). Calling a naginata a spear is cringe inducing at best. As for dropping suffixes, seriously, how do you translate the difference between the PC talking to Jiru-kun and the man from the village talking to Jiru-sama? How do you translate the cold feeling of a man who talks to his brother as -san? Always using ‘Mister’ to refer to your brother in such a way is near nonsensical, and conjures up an entirely different ‘meaning’.
Might I recommend though, that rather than using such unwieldy terms as ‘naginata spear’ you refer to them somewhat more like: ‘…the naginata, a wooden pole twice as tall as you, topped with a blade half again the length of the pole.’ (I seriously don’t remember you mentioning a naginata at all, so I can’t give it context.) or ‘blah blah blah… nodachi. It was not unlike your father’s katana, except that it was nearly half again as long.’ It’s a case of show, don’t tell. A naginata is no more a glaive than a samurai is simply a knight. They call up distinctly different images, with details and histories all their own and to refer to one as the other is to call up the ‘wrong’ history.
(Also: *else is the red-headed step child in my writing. I don’t use it unless I have basically no other option.)
I loved this game! Keep up the good work!
The game is pretty incredible. I think my game suddenly ended, but I can’t tell… anyway, I really enjoyed it, and, not trying to be knit picky, but here are some grammar and spelling errors:
“If the Lord haven’t ordered me to join General Ishi’s campaign, I’d be fighting you already.” Should be hadn’t instead of ‘haven’t’.
When you pick your own last name, it should be apologize with a ‘z’, not an ‘s’.
"One of them is a tall woman named Omu Tomoe, Many praise her sword skills, to which your parents are no exception. " Many should be lower case.
“I apologise,” he says. “I am currently occupied with training as you can see, and so should you.” Again, apologize.
And , I don’t know but, (I’m assuming daiymo is a proper title or noun of some sort) shouldn’t daiymo be capitalized?
“His opponent si now at a disadvantage with several pieces lost.” si should be is.
Lovely game though~
No, any grammar and spelling error MUST be pointed out.
Also, I write with an “s” instead of a “z” because I’m using British spelling.
As for the daimyo and capitlisation, I choose to use lower case because the characters use it more like an occupational noun, instead of a personal noun. So to them, he is their daimyo, but his name is Shinsei Michiyori, Michiyori-sama, or the Lord.
Also, by ending suddenly, did it happen after choosing your master?
EDIT: To answer appleduck’s question, Compassion and Wisdom are even there because of Zen philosophy. Zen is an important part in a samurai’s life, and in Buddhism in general, compassion and wisdom are considered two important qualities. One must have them in balance, but it is easy to go one way and neglect the other.
Compassion and Wisdom will only play one part in the game, but it will be an important part. I’m planning to have a compassionate, wise, and balanced character to all have different positives and negatives when that section is played.
Ah I thought you were saying they were opposites not something that need balance it makes more sense now.
I’ll find a way to explain it in the game, preferably during the next chapter.
Okay, I’ve been thinking more about using Japanese terms. While the current approach (which is calling a naginata "naginata glaive’ and ashigaru “ashigaru foot-soldiers” for the first few times) is the most middling solution, I still get the feeling that it is a little awkward to read.
I’m seriously thinking about defaulting to simply using the Japanese terms. Firstly, my core audience is for people who want to play in a samurai fantasy, but either don’t mind or prefer a setting which is safe for those who aren’t male and heterosexual. I think that they will probably already know what the terms mean. And if they don’t, I like to think that they’ll appreciate learning about them.
Also, I completely agree with Reaper about words having meanings which conjure a very specific image. I believe in that strongly, which is why I didn’t want to pay too much attention to how exotic naginata are. I also feel that describing them is both awkward and patronising. Awkward because the player character would know what they are, and patronising because I feel that it might be insulting the reader’s intelligence. Even if they do not know what those words precisely mean, they can derive from the context easily.
Well, what do you all think?
About foreign words, I (obviously, as I have already said it) agree with you in that doubling up the terms sounds/feels, unwieldy. However, @HoraceTorys does bring up a very valid point. There are people who would enjoy your writing, but would be scared away by the number of terms that they do not know, or may actually be unable to follow it without extensive use of Google (and seriously how many people are going to read a story where they have to look everything up), simply because of their lack of knowledge. While just ignoring the problem is one solution, it is rather limiting. That’s actually (as far as I can see) the reason you’re using a gender equal alternate setting. There is no reason to replace one limit with another. Hence, I’m arguing in favor of short descriptions.
As for complaints about describing things that people already know, I don’t think too many people will complain much about a single extra sentence when foreign words are first used. This can be further reduced by doubling the use of descriptions. Don’t just mention the physical form of a naginata, use its description as a way to remind the player that they are a child, barely measuring half the height of the people around them. Use the description of ashigaru to remind the player that they were not the composed and refined image of a samurai, but instead were rowdy and rough soldiers. When ‘The wooden shafts of the naginatas, even slanted in such a way, are still half again as tall as you, meeting at a height just above your own.’ and ‘They are topped with brilliantly shining blades, each longer than your arm, which look as though the closest they have come to use is the occasional, accidental clash as the guards raise and lower them.’ many people may not even realize that you just told them what a naginata is. Not only does this add descriptions that help those who are less informed follow what is happening, it adds color and imagery. Those are no longer just simply guards, they are guards who’s gear are kept to an immaculate appearance befitting the Emperor, let alone a daimyo. There is no reason to mention naginatas as ‘exotic’ in any of that, just as plenty of ‘detail’ of the naginatas are left out (such as the hand-guard, or that the blades are much the same in appearance as a katana).
As for people still insulted, well no matter what, someone will be ‘insulted’ by your work. Someone’s going to be insulted by “the way you just don’t understand that there was a reason for women not being warriors”. (After all, ultimately men are expendable when it comes to maintaining a population, while women are not.)
For the record, I do understand population and expendability.
Hmm, I’m going to try your suggestion out now.
I just remembered that I did plan a segment where the player character test out weapon types. I think I’ll just keep it the original way for now, and then see what happens when I am finished with the weapon training montage. Preferably set to Eye of the Tiger, because that’s the rule of rocked out montages.
Sorry, I came off very critical. I was passing on things learned in fiction class, and generally what I observe my favorite commercial writers doing. Nothing was meant as absolutes, more as an outside perspective.
I still think of it as a valid observation, so no worries. I still have a solar system worth of room to improve on.
Looking forward to the update
Okay, thanks for clarifying me on anything I missed/ messed up. And yes, it did end after I picked my master, but then I read a comment where you answered that question, so I understand though. And I see the whole ’ apologise’ thing now. Totally forgot about that… like ’ gray’ and ’ grey’.
It’s still a terrific game though~
And, just my opinion, I think it would be cool if some point later a ghost of someone you knew or of an ancestor showed up and talked about your destiny and such. You know, kind of like Mu- Lan XD. But now that I think about it, is that more Chinese than Japanese? I don’t know… anyway, just a suggestion.
It didn’t come off the way I intended, but that last sentence was supposed to be written as the ‘standard arguments’ against gender equality in fictional settings and was not an argument I was trying to make (that last quotation mark should have extended all the way to the end of the paragraph), nor was I implying that you didn’t understand those concepts.
Actually, as far as I can see, the percentage of deaths from military conflicts is usually incidental when compared to civilian casualties from the same. Added to the way most societies have treated widowhood and orphans (badly, to say the least), and the whole concept of fewer men being necessary in a given population is basically thrown out the window, as most societies wouldn’t allow woman any real lively hood without males. Essentially, the way many (real) societies have been structured, females became non-reproducing once their husbands died anyways, so the exact person who died (husband or wife) would be a non-issue in accounting for population growth. After accounting for those factors, women becoming warriors would probably have a marginal impact on population growth at the most. And that’s entirely discluding the sociological impact of a society understanding women as being capable of combat (a reduction in violent crime against women would encourage population growth).
(It’s one of the conceptual world building discussions I’ve repeatedly had with a friend of mine, mostly in the line of how magic would affect the world.)
On the subject of describing Japanese words, I think that Reap hit it on the head. That sounds like a great idea. Although I’m not sure that would work all the time. In the case where adding a description like that would still make things seem unwieldy perhaps adding a roughly equivalent English term in parenthesis would be a good solution.
Another point one could make against arbitrary sexual equality in fantasy, is that it removes a large amount of potentially interesting culture from the game. Women have had to fight long and hard to get what they have now in the real world, and there are still all sorts of issues to work out. Just saying that Sexes are equal, and the same, except for specific arbitrary differences takes most of that away. Don’t get me wrong. I not in any way trying to suggest that you should change your whole setting and idea. I’m just trying to continues the discussion, which is rather interesting in my opinion. Actually, maybe this should be continued in a separate thread.