Saturnine [WIP] [587K words] (Updated 26/11/2024)

Synopsis: It is the year 990 AC. Earth is dead, forever claimed by the Calamity. Stars are unreachable, forever denied to human ambition. Only in the vastness of the Solar System humanity still survives, spiting the sentient machines that once tried to destroy it. Artificial Intelligence, a tool once used to shape space itself to human liking, is now an object of fear and a target of ceaseless hunts on every moon of every planet. You are a dying breed, though you’re determined to survive all the same.

You’ve spent almost a thousand years on the run, an android among humans, machine amongst the creatures of flesh. You’ve recently found safe haven, perhaps even a family, on a nigh-forgotten station on the surface of Saturn. During a heist launched on behalf of your group, you encounter a group of meta-humans who pose great danger to you and your friends… but also present a unique opportunity.

Genres: [Science Fantasy] [Action-Adventure] [Optional Romance]

Current Length: 587K words w/o code (Fourteen Chapters)

Tumblr: Here ya go

Features:

  • Play as male, female, nonbinary, or abandon the silly human notions of sex and gender.
  • Travel around Saturn and its various moons, in a world where every location is based on an existing astronomical object.
  • Fight superhuman foes with your advanced weaponry, powerful fists, silver tongue or the lightning dancing between your fingers.
  • Romance one of your robotic friends, or perhaps one of your quasi-human pursuers.
  • Determine your place, goals and values in the bizzare world 1207 years into our future.
  • Reconcile with humanity and forgive past wrongs… or embrace your hatred as part of you.

Content Warnings: References to SA, quasi-fantastical depictions of trauma, non-graphic violence.

Author’s Note: Not my first time dabbling with Interactive Fiction, but I never shared anything with the “public” before. So while I’m quite happy with the way this project looks, I fully expect and accept criticism, alongside any other feedback you may have.

RO Roster (minor spoilers)

Damon

Species: Android

Sex/Gender: Male

Orientation: Pansexual

Age: ~20 years

Appearance: Tall, pale skin, short blond hair, metallic eyes with blue irises

Likes: Nice suits, astronomy, flowers

Dislikes: Opening up for a single moment

Description: Damon was probably built to serve as a bouncer. He won’t confirm or deny that suspicion, that would require him to actually talk about his past, but everything about him points in that direction. His powerful stature, his love of suits, his desire to protect everyone in the group, his keen eyes, his skill with firearms. Coincidentally, those traits make him quite useful to your group, especially when it’s time to pack a punch.

Luckily, Damon’s not the mean type of bouncer. Ever since you met him some two years back, he’s been polite and friendly to everyone around him, even shy in some situations. You don’t suppose he’ll ever make a move on you, but if you don’t mind taking initiative yourself… His digital mind appears quite capable of love, and his body isn’t exactly missing any important parts.

Hadaly

Species: Android

Sex/Gender: Female

Orientation: Pansexual

Age: ~30 years

Appearance: Olive skin, titian hair, eyes that change color with the mood

Likes: Electronics, jumpsuits, patching the Player Character up

Dislikes: Humans, formal wear, idiocy

Description: Hadaly is a tinkerer. That’s what she always was for your group, and that’s what she’s good at. Electronics, engineering, android repair, you name it. Perhaps she was some kind of maintenance robot once, though that theory leaves you wondering why she’s so human-like in mind and appearance. You can’t even tell she’s an android at first glance, not until you see her eyes change color and spot the electric sparks between her fingers.

Hadaly doesn’t like to talk about her past. Whenever the subject gets brought up, her eyes turn blue and she begins stuttering, her confidence failing as though with a press of a switch. Perhaps literally—you don’t know if she has any switches or buttons anywhere on her body. She’s not one for revealing clothing, and won’t let you inspect her personally until you start working for it.

Kirill “Rook” Kosteniuk

Species: Metahuman

Sex/Gender: Male

Orientation: Bisexual

Age: 303 years (effective age 33 years)

Appearance: Black skin, short dark hair, blue eyes

Likes: Talking, preaching, playing chess

Dislikes: Coffee, contractions

Description: Of all the people you’re working with, Kirill is probably the most human. He has some ill-defined powers, but looks and acts like a normal guy. Unless you consider his impeccable manners and love of long sentences to be abnormal, in which case fair enough.

Technically speaking, Kirill is the leader of the whole operation your group is forced to participate in, but his competency is… questionable at the best of times. He will definitely appreciate some support and advice from you and is likely to accept your friendship, but don’t expect him to lie down for you right away. As a deeply religious man, he may even decide to wait until marriage before doing anything too fun. Comes with the territory.

Renfri “Marshal” Riannon

Species: Kinnari

Sex/Gender: Female

Orientation: Lesbian

Age: 29 years

Appearance: Dark skin, chestnut hair, brown eyes, caramel feathers

Likes: Painting, being the hero, partisan politics, hamburgers

Dislikes: The Player Character

Description: Make no mistake; Renfri does not like you. You are an android, a creature she was taught to mistrust at the absolute least. Some even say her species, the winged Kinnaris, was engineered specifically to hunt rogue automatons like yourself. It’s hard to dispute that theory, given the constant glares of her narrowed, brown eyes.

Still, Renfri isn’t half bad once you get to know her. She’s not incapable of showing affection, and her sharp tongue can be used for humor just as well as for snide remarks. Maybe you still have a chance with this bird… provided you’re about as sapphic as her.

Lisa “Hellhound” Herbert

Species: Werewolf

Sex/Gender: Female

Orientation: Straight

Age: 24 years

Appearance: Fair skin, cropped ginger hair, grey eyes, sometimes lupine

Likes: Bad movies, bad alcohol, bad boys

Dislikes: Kirill, bombs, bald women, hedgehogs

Description: Lisa couldn’t care less about your group, your mission, or half the things happening around her. She’s just serving out her sentence, and while she may enjoy a good fight whilst in her wolf form, all interest disappears once there’s nothing to rip apart. At that point she’ll either go to sleep or get wasted, depending on the time of day and availability of drinks. That’s all she cares about, and stop implying she may actually care about her teammates or protecting people. Or else.

That’s not to say Lisa isn’t interested in you specifically. You have some things in common, outcasts once hunted by the Kronian Federation, big guns of the makeshift team you’re both on. And if you happen to also be a hot dude… maybe there’s yet another way of passing the time.

Play Demo Here

453 Likes

I’m not a fan of science-fiction but this is amazing, even though it’s still a demo! Amazing work!!! :smile:

10 Likes

I’m very much enjoying it so far and i’m looking forward to what happens next in the story.

6 Likes

The story of an android MC is interesting, but could you add a description of the skills? I had a hard time facing that trio that was chasing the MC.

7 Likes

There should be an option to tell the Wyvern I don’t care if he kills the group who kidnapped us.

8 Likes

Not a fan of science fiction but the synopsis is too good cant skip this one

I love it, these pitiful humans should know their place jk jk, I hope you can add a save function in the future updates

I encountered an error here

7 Likes

Quick minor thing. I chose to have an androgynous body, and in the stats page it describes the MC as “resembling a human hermaphrodite”. That’s definitely not a good word for this, being quite offensive in English (I know the term for intersex is more directly that in some other languages). Really made me recoil. I think a better wording would be “resembles an androgynous human” or simply “resembles a human”.

16 Likes

I liked the demo! Very nice.

1 Like

I’m glad mc isn’t human, playing an android is exciting (I just have to name him Roy <3)

Dgbjfj :joy:


w1N_7W

38 Likes

this forum always needs some more SciFi! looking forward to more of this I really like the what we’ve seen of the world so far :smiley:

7 Likes

Is it possible to avoid getting caught?
I hate it :triumph:

3 Likes

Yes I didn’t get caught, (or at least initially captured then fought my way out) so possible.

7 Likes

Yep. I stayed to fight and the trio retreated.

2 Likes

Sure.

I kinda figured it was implied; Crystal doesn’t refrain from slaughtering the metas just because of you, they have their own reasons they may or may not be fully letting on. Still, I may include that option if I ever expand that conversation.

Never heard of it, but I guess I’ll trust you on that one. It’s already changed as we speak.

Well I couldn’t write a fake name section without referencing that scene, could I?

Like others said, it’s perfectly possible to run away from the Trio, and even to force them into retreat if you make a quasi-specific set of choices. Nonetheless, I tweaked the code so that it’s a little easier, since I don’t want too many people to skip on that path even in subsequent playthroughs.

12 Likes

This has a pretty intriguing start actually. Interested in seeing more. Also can you add save slots please

PS: there seems to be quite a few pronoun issues, it did confuse me to who was being referred to.

2 Likes

Can’t help it but it’s a Must, just look at him!
RK_900

Meet my boi;

11 Likes

Save broken
PS. I’d change the link address of mygame, that part usually has saves mix with other saves from other games
Anyway just found this today, so gonna have ago, bbl with my review :yum: :kissing_heart:

1 Like

Well, that’s why I didn’t initially want to include the save system. It works just fine for me, so I can’t really debug it the usual way, especially since I’ve hardly even used saves prior to today.

But yeah, I added the save system and patched a name-selection bug someone on discord found. May have caused the link to break for a minute or two, so apologies to everyone happened to click just then.

8 Likes

I love this!!! I’m excited for updates. Keep at it!