September 2024's Writer Support Thread

Game Development Writing and Content
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Everyone. You are the best nice chat group ever. I love all of you.
cool-fun

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586

It looks more like half a barrel full of apples?

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587

10 gallons or roughly 31 kilograms.

I have a conversion request from feedback on my todo list … since “90% of the world is on metric” as the feedback states.

Just one more thing on my million thing list to do before I can release my WiP demo.

:sob: .

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Personally, I don’t really mind seeing imperial units in stories, since the exact lengths/weights of things rarely matter anyway. However, I absolutely dread the idea of ever using those units in my writing; Having to calculate something like lightspeed lag with units like “miles” or “feet” sounds like torture. If I ever do it, it will be for a quick comedy scene where the characters are forced to work with these incoherent units and decide it’s less painful to just crash their ship instead.

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589

I don’t mind seeing them either, but I hate picking character sizes in units I don’t understand.

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590

I mind or not based on the importance. I tried to read several Jules Verne books and I simply cant pass the measurements.

They are integral to many scify and all that.

If your game will have metrics management is key known what the metrics are I screwed it in several zombie survival games because I couldnt grasp gallons and milles and all that.

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591

I think authors should avoid exact measurements, when they can. So instead of picking an exact height for the MC, we could pick between short, average, and tall, as an example. I think this would minimize confusion, since someone’s always going to be using a different system.

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I think it was Diane Duane (of “Young Wizards” fame, among others) who had a whole Tumblr post about the evils of using exact measurements in writing. Something something, “siren call to pedants”, as I recall.

I’ll try to find the link.

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I think it has its place - imagine you’re writing about an engineer’s thoughts when they’re doing their job…

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I fucking love her tumblr posts. She’s amazing. I tried to find that post, too, but I can’t find it on her tumblr blog.

And now imagine the backlash you’re gonna get if you get it wrong.

This month has been… trying. I am gonna try and work on the game today, but It’s gonna be hard. TAT

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595

Well obviously don’t do it if you’re unsure, but that’s not a reason to never do it under any conditions.

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It depends on your delivery and the setting. I did the most bizarre Janitor super heroe and several other jobs totally twisted ans nobody batted and eye and people laughed their asses off or something like that I got in feedback.

But it is because a story clearly bizarre, highlighted as dark humor and all setting is on par to that

If you try to do the same in a romance or a serious real world story of course people will complaint as they should.

Characters and narrative should be CONSISTENT WITH TONE AND PLOT WORLBUILDING

I think most complaints come from a very bad highlight and presentation about what games genra and overal plot and style are.

There are wips I don’t want give names, that highlights has absolutely zero to do with game text at all.

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597

My parents were supposed to be in town this weekend, but surprised me my showing up on Tuesday which was my birthday. The early arrival really cut into my writing for the week, and my brother brought a virus with him. I was only able to write one day since Tuesday which is unfortunate, but I hope I can rebuild some momentum going into October.

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598

Avoid explicit measurements seems like dubious and wildly impractical advice to me, but I suppose it depends on the genre you write in.

Personally, I couldn’t do it.

“Detective Smith, when you arrived at the scene of the accident, how would you describe the location of the defendant’s car in relation to the road?”

“Off.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Further than I can get after nine beers, but not as far as I can get on crutches being hunted by a Siberian tiger.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“No.”

“Other than the car, what did you observe at the scene of the accident?”

“Negotiable American currency.”

“How much?”

“A lot.”

“More than the defendant would need for ‘a quick trip to’ Larry’s Consignment Spatulas & Fly Swatters & More: If You Like It Flat, We Can Do That on the corner of Market and Fifth?”

“Objection! Calls for speculation.”

“Sustained.”

“Did you observe anything else?”

“Cartridge cases.”

“How many?”

“Many.”

“What caliber?”

“Objection Your Honor, foundation for expert testimony.”

“Your Honor, the Court has already established Detective Smith as a venerable member of the NSPD’s forensic ballistics task force. This is well within his area of expertise.”

“Overruled.”

“Detective Smith, in your professional assessment, how would you characterize the caliber of the firearm that left the cartridge casings at the scene of the accident?”

“High.”

“How high?”

“Very high. The most high. The very highest. So high—”

“When you last saw the defendant on the day of the accident, how many legs did he have?”

“He had an above average amount.”

“Thank you Detective Smith, no further questions.”

So far I’ve only implemented a Choice of Measurements in one game, where I had Imperial (default), US Customary, and Metric.

US units differ from Imperial, especially in the volume category.

Imperial for flavor and because I think it’s fun for characters to talk about length in barleycorns and poles and furlongs, the others for people who don’t want to be mystified by the measurements.

Who doesn’t love difficult conversions and non-decimalized currencies?

Look at this great chart:

(And yes, I know these are technically the old English units, not Imperial.)

Sunless Skies has a place called The House of Rods and Chains; I always thought it was mysterious and vaguely menacing sounding, but turns out it’s about as menacing in universe as The Department of Yards and Miles would be to Americans.

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That reminds me of my “On the scale from ‘must be Tuesday’ to ‘end of the world as we know it’? I’d say Thursday.”

(Also: argh, jumping through hoops to find out what’s my actual degree title in English because of course my papers tell it in Finnish, and my paperwork needs it in English. I hate bureaucracy.)

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So as per my usual it is the second to last day of the month of September and per my usual fashion here I am with an update! :

  • I’m currently working on my cover art for my COG page and my Tumblr. I am creating my own art for right now, I intend to commission other artists for the RO’s. And my official pfp and cover art.

  • The first book is entitled "Beneath a Blood Red Dawn: The Awakening

  • Book 1 will focus on your MC discovering their powers as a chronomancer and beginning to learn to hone MC’s new founded powers.

  • Book 1 will also have 6 ROs technically, 2 are gender locked and 2 are gender choice meaning that players can choose if they want that character to be male or female.

  • All ROs are bisexual

  • I will be unveiling the first RO on my COG page and on my Tumblr hopefully in the next couple of weeks

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Here's for the last day of September

“It’s not a barrier, not really,” Sparkgap says. “It’s more like… you know, when you light a fireplace, there’s nothing physically preventing the smoke coming inside, right? There’s nothing blocking it, it’s all just air. But if everything works properly, the smoke goes to the chimney anyway. The barrier is like that. And sometimes the draw is stronger on the wrong side, and then the smoke comes in. And then you’re in a lot of trouble, because suddenly your kitchen is full of eldritch abominations, and then you’re trying to cram them back into the fireplace, and then the reality starts breaking all around you.”

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Just a friendly reminder:

Tomorrow I will be incorporating this list into the October Writer’s Support Thread, so if you have not tagged me with your WiP thread you wish to be included in this list, please do so now!

I hope everyone has a good day to close out this September.

See everyone later.

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I would like to include mine in the list. (I meant to say something earlier but some family things needed my attention this week.) Here’s a link for it: Guardian of Time WIP (Updated September 13, 2024)

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I actually took your earlier post as indicating you wanted your project included and was going to send a dm to confirm later. So, thank you for the follow-up post :revolving_hearts:

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