441

Silence would be a very ironic name

442

Heh! And yet Silence! would be apt. You’d keep yelling it at her so much she’d think it was her name.

443

+1 for silence!

444

I’ll add it to the list, and with a comment next to it if you pick that name. :slight_smile: Actually, I’m so tempted to have it as the default name, just so I can make comments about it and other people’s reactions when you call out Silence!

I’m having a small problem of trying to integrate the whole feed/play/teach/nest scenarios. They feel disjointed and have little impact. Now, I could have them have impact, to keep track of some sort of dragon statistic that may give you a bonus.

But really, I don’t want to balance resources. I don’t want to say “you have 100 silver. Woodworking tools cost 50 silver, a fishing rod costs 30 silver, meat costs 10 silver, vegetables cost 5 silver. How are you going to feed and build a bed for your dragon?” I really don’t enjoy that level of detail. However it does, at least, provide balance. It’d make sense of the shopping trip you want to go on. Maybe I could limit you by weight instead, and how heavy everything you want to carry home is. Or just give a set amount of items you can buy before your dragon gets impatient and starts causing trouble.

I get the feeling I should have a resource tracking your dragon’s contentment or something. But writing five dragons is complicated enough. Writing five dragons that each have three variable mood states is even more complicated. It’d be Happy/Normal/Sad in some cases, Irritated/Annoyed/Angry in others and in one case it’d be Happy/Happy/Happy.

Maybe I’ll just track it and do nothing with that knowledge, apart from an achievement, or something at the end. I suppose if the stat’s too low they can just not help you in places.

445

Maybe I’ll make the scale Obedient/Independent instead. With a high Independence meaning that the dragon will often go off and do its own thing and ignore what you tell it to do. Whereas highly obedient it’ll listen to you, stick with you, but also not act of its own volition, so you’ll miss out on some funny stuff.

446

You’re the only one with a baby dragon. You are special like that. The first draft had several endings which had your romantic interest getting a baby dragon too. (Often to their horror.) I’m not sure if I’ll go with it this time around though.

There are two other dragons in the game, which you have a chance to meet, as well as one dragon expert.

Then there’s Dill who has stories of dragons, Sorrel who knows them from a magical perspective, Bellium who knows about slaying them, and Sage who’s read books on them. So you can ask for help. But no there’ll only be one baby dragon, and they’re influenced by the person who hatches them, as well as their environment.

So Sage, for instance, would likely hatch a bookwyrm, since they’re very scholarly.

In the first draft:

Rose got offered an egg as a wedding gift, with the suggestion that it may hatch into a gingerbread dragon.

Sorrel refused the egg and said, “no, no, no” and was quite adamant in their refusal. I suspect it would have hatched into a black catlike dragon, a bit like Toothless since all witches need a cat familiar.

Dill went running in the other direction, which makes them smarter than Sorrel. Dill has little desire to have anything even remotely resembling responsibility, for all that a dragon might be fun. I imagine if the dragon egg had hatched the poor little dragon would be chasing after Dill, who’d keep trying to avoid it and pretend it belonged to someone else.

447

Will you be the only person raising a baby dragon? or will you encounter another person taking care of another baby dragon. say if you have chime then another will have sparky and you can exchange ideas or experience in raising the dragons… just wondering.

448

Would you be able to like ride the dragon once it’s an adult

449

The game’s only encompassing a few months. It’ll take the dragons a lot longer than that to grow big enough to fly. Which isn’t to say there’s not an option in there to go flying on dragonback, there may be. But not on your own dragon in this game.

If I can actually get this finished though I do have vague plans for Scales&Tales: Dragon Riders though.

450

That sounds cool.

451

Ha! I am failing NanoWrimo. I’ve not written anything in a week. I’ve tried and I’m just feeling frustrated with my writing skills, or lack thereof. I know I can still complete this if I persevere. I just wish I was better at writing and had a greater grasp of description.

@Storm Thanks

452

I’m contemplating stats again. I keep changing my mind about what sort of stats I’ll have.

I’m almost set on the idea of having a Wild/Tame Feral/Pet Independent/Clingy meter. Although I’m not sure what I’ll actually call it.

The intention is to have, on one end, a dragon that’s self-sufficient, who doesn’t need you, who doesn’t obey commands and does what it pleases. It still sticks around since it considers you its pet. This dragon will misbehave quite a bit, but it’ll also act on its own initiative, which can be helpful in some places and doesn’t need direction.

The other end the dragon will adore you, it’ll look at you for food and love and attention. It’ll do what you ask, like being around you. It won’t misbehave (as much) but it may also be a little less fun.

Lilac starts at the Tame/Pet/Clingy side of the scale. Sparky starts on the Wild/Feral/Independent side. The others are closer to the middle and easier to get to go either way. Or that’s the current plan.

Getting an independent Lilac likely means being mean to him, giving him a good amount of tough love, and not molly-coddling him like he wants. Getting a tame Sparky, probably means bribes and discipline and getting scorched a lot.

As for your own stats, I’ve considered personality stats. I’m currently considering just career stats. So Entertain, Scholar, Magic, Heroics, Crafting. I suppose I could tweak those into also being personality stats.

453

That sounds like it’ll add a fun and interesting dynamic to the game. I know that I’m going to be one of those dragon owners who molly coddles their dragon, and Lilac is my favorite! Oh no! But I really like the idea, especially if your dragon can misbehave sometimes and give you a little puff of hot air when it’s feeling ornery at you, or bath you in dragon kisses when they’re especially happy (eww!) :))
And your career/personality stats sound fine. I can easily see those as a reflection of your personality along with your focus of specialization.
I’m sure whatever you finally set your mind to will be fantastic.
Keep at it! Hugs! >:D<

454

I cannot make myself be mean to lilac :-(( but I’m going to have fun disciplining sparky :stuck_out_tongue:

What does Heroics stat do? :-/

455

I’m not sure yet what Heroics will be. :slight_smile: I’m still fiddling around with everything. I may actually have a Heroics vs Villainy opposed stat instead. With the understanding that it’s cinematic heroism/villainy.

So if you lie, cheat, steal candy from babies, kick puppies and perform various selfish or mean acts, decide to dress all in black and laugh manically, you’ll be racking up the villain points.

Whereas if you’re always nice, do lots of good acts, play fairly, tell the truth, rescue people for no gain at all, and in general act all noble, you’ll rack up the hero points.

With getting a high enough Villain score unlocking the various Villain endings, and getting a high enough Hero score unlocking the Hero ending. Or maybe I won’t make them an opposed stat and you can actually earn both, and become an anti-hero. Or have the main Hero and Villain fight over which of you gets you. as their sidekick. I’m still playing around with ideas.

The story is a coming of age story. You’re at your point of greatest potential, and the story’s about finding out what you want to do with your life. This translates into the game as unlocking various endings. I’m hoping to implement a lot of endings, and since a number of them are career based that’s what I was thinking of for stats.

The endings sort into roughly, Magic-User, Crafter, Scholar, Performer, Adventurer, categories. With there being other endings which are reliant on different factors, such as who you’re romancing, who your dragon is, and how you decide to resolve the central plotline.

Now this said, I realise I’ve a contest for Performers, for Crafters, and for Adventurers (if you use a bow). I don’t have anything for Scholars though. I suppose I should try and think up something fun, a contest that they decide will be a fantastic idea to hold during the lead up to the wedding. I guess the traditional thing to do would be a riddle contest. But I don’t want to use the same old thing for it. I want the truly smart character to be able to break the puzzle. Like training their dragon to walk on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening, and declare that that answer makes far more sense than the man one. I just love the idea of a protagonist who can out-think the whole contest in order to win.

@Toxi Swampy will want to kiss you all the time. Fortunately you’ll build up a tolerance to acid saliva and poison breath. Not that it’ll ever be pleasant. Oh that actually reminds me, I forgot about the tolerances that the dragons imbue on you. All dragons grant immortality of the non-ageing kind. Swampy grants immunity to acid and poison. Sparky immunity to the effects of fire and smoke. Aqua gives the ability to breathe water, see beneath it and otherwise swim. Lilac immunity to all plant toxins, as well as regeneration.

Chime, oh I suppose Chime’d be immunity to her loud shrieking, which I guess isn’t as spectacular as the others. Maybe perfect balance on top of that, with an inability to get dizzy.

456

Do you have a rugth estamate of when this game will be finished, becouse its realy fun.

Also, if you make a sequal, you could make it your a disentent of the main chariter.

457

The rough estimate is about a month from when my brain starts working again, unfortunately. I love the game, I do want to finish it, but the antidepressants that gave me the sudden burst of creativity have stopped working and my brain is back to being a barren desert.

I have a notepad filled with scenes and outlines and descriptions of all the characters. It’s just that I’ve no attention span just now, no ability to concentrate, no creativity and no ability to write.

Whine, whine, whine, I know.

458

Then I hope your condition improves soon @FairyGodfeather.
I for one would love to see this game finished.

459

Wish you the best of luck !

460

Sounds awesome