SoS: The Mortal Coil (WIP)

@Dae-kalina, so I’ve got a question about the mortal shells our Gabriel… makes? I’m honestly looking forward to seeing how that happens, actually. Anyways, I’m curious about the extent of customization you plan to allow when it comes to their shell. It may or may not be totally unrelated to the fact that I can completely see my Gabriel getting some very ironic tattoo(s) of wings along his back and arms. Kinda like this or this.

And… now I made myself curious as to how Iain would see them considering he’s from an Irish Catholic family. :smile_cat:

1 Like

You’ve talked about Iain (and Alice) regarding metabolism and body-type.

How will it function with body-type, metabolism etc for the MC? I mean, we get to choose/design our own mortal shell, but we’re still and archangel with a lot of power inside a “shell”. Will that have any effect on the metabolism/body-type/health of the shell? :slight_smile:

Also it’s going to be hard to choose a RO for my “main” MC. You’ve sold them pretty well. ^^ I mean I’m already so split between Iain or Ramiel, and I haven’t even “met” them yet.

This so much. How do you deal, when coming from that background, with finding out that your SO is, not just an angel, but the archangel Gabriel (along with the whole Heaven/Hell, and tons of mythical beings sort of do exist.) :confused:

1 Like

I would definitely say it depends on how much of what he was raised to believe actually stuck around, yeah? Personally, I would be flattered if a being of such magnitude actually took interest in me. Hopefully he’ll also feel that same way, but I’m just being a hopeful guy. :sunglasses:

@Lithophene @Ventura
Iain is Catholic in the sense that he holds onto his Catholic guilt, tries to remember not to eat meat on Fridays during Lent, attends Mass on Easter Sunday and midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Occasionally he goes to confession, and on the even rarer occasion may go to Mass on a normal weekend.

As to how he reacts to finding out who Gabriel really is, it depends on the way he is informed/it is revealed to him. He reacts worse if he finds out accidentally/from another source, but no matter what he finds out he has a little bit of a crisis. (There’s an easter-egg of sorts if you choose to have your MC keep the name Gabriel/Gabrielle.) His initial reaction after his freak-out is to proceed by largely ignoring the fact that you are Gabriel. Gabriel can choose to let him proceed like that or talk to him about it, and they can go from there… but I don’t want to spoil too much…

The shell: So customization currently extends to skin color (pale white, cream, peach, tan, light brown, mocha, dark brown, ebony, midnight black), hair color(limited to white-blonde, blonde, dirty-blonde, light brown, brunette, dark brown, black, red, salt-and-pepper, strawberry-blonde, auburn), hair length and style/texture (short–pixie, crew-cut, buzz-cut, short, bob, relaxed; shoulder-length–afro, ponytail, bun; long: cornrows, weave, beaded, bun, single braid, french-plait, pony-tail; texture: wavy, kinky, straight, wiry, frizzy, curly, knappy), eye color (grey, blue, green, brown, hazel, black), height (very tall-6’6", tall-6’2", average, 5’8", short, 5’4", very-short, 5’), and musculature build (skinny, lean, lanky, toned, hulking, runner, swimmer’s build, pudgy, round, curvy, boxy, petite). Mustache options and goatee will be available for men (No full beards, against the police office regulations).

There are limitations for two reasons: A: Sabriel does not want you to attract to much attention. B: You will be working as a police-officer. Your hair must be above your collar, either pulled back or cut to that length. To add on to that: no visible tattoos, and Sabriel will not permit you to have tattoos initially. This goes for piercings as well. This is also why there will be no custom colors. Essentially what Gabriel does is fill out a form and the body is created for them. ((If there is something you want to see added, go ahead and mention it as this is for the next update after the one I will be posting a little later on tonight.)) You will have the opportunity to get some tattoos and piercings during the story ((maybe I’ll let you dye your hair after the end of part one…))

Gabriel does have to eat as a human shell, but generally only a normal amount (~2000 calories a day) to maintain their strength. The more Grace they try to use in their human form, the more food they require. They can control their metabolism to a limited degree (i.e. they do not gain or lose weight unless they want/need to for muscle mass or other reasons). In general, Gabriel’s shell has excellent health (they can get sick, but this is usually after they overuse powers/do not take care of the shell by eating and sleeping).

12 Likes

Huh. So I can’t help but wonder: does it become an option because of the fact that Gabriel has, by that point, been spending time among humans and, in turn, become a little more… autonomous in how they are? I kinda figure it’s like suddenly being presented with free will to an extent. Expression of the self is one of Humanity’s greatest traits after all - and something I imagine that’s pretty lacking among angels.

2 Likes

@Lithophene
More or less. The angels who create the shell for you lack in imagination so adding ornementation is something they cannot do. Also, they fail to see the point. Sabriel is trying to do this as quick as possible and does not want you to do anything that would go against proper appearance for a police officer, so she declines to present any choices.

In particular, Gabriel does not have extensive experience with tattoos and piercings and can gain an appreciation and desire to get some piercings/tattoos through character interactions (for the tattoos, the werecats are some of the key characters to interact with)

6 Likes

Now I just want Gabrielle to have a big back tattoo of a karp.

2 Likes

Hee, well I can’t wait to explore all that you’ve got to offer in time. :smile_cat:

I just hope that I’ll be able to squeeze enough time in my Gabriel’s playthrough to interact enough with the werecats for the tattoo options while still keeping on track with Iain’s romance. Sounds like they might be just a wee bit divergent paths, but what do I know! All I know is that I’ve already got a fancast for my Gabriel lined up 'cause he just honestly wanted a face claim.

3 Likes

@Dae-kalina
If we stick with the name Gabrielle in our shell, will some people/coworkers call us Gabby?

1 Like

I second this (I think’s it’s a cute nickname. <3). Maybe Daniel would call us that. And Gabby is a nickname of both Gabriel and Gabrielle. So it would work for male, female and nb MC’s.

6 Likes

@Dae-kalina Hi! I’ve been playing the demo for quite a while now, and I thought it was about time I gave some feedback. :grin:

I love what you have so far. I like the in-universe lore you’ve created, and it’s great that it doesn’t pertain to a specific religion. It makes it easier for me to enjoy the story as simply another work of fiction and not a heinous blasphemy. (Struck-through phrase intended for poor joking purposes only.)

I absolutely adore Lucifer, by the way. To me, he comes off as somewhat affectionately brotherly. Sooo looking forward to cute Lucifer scenes! :blush: That one time he’d saved my Gabriel – in more ways than one, I might say – had turned her into an all-out Morningstar fan (even more so than before, that is) which is one of the reasons she is positively heartbroken about his fall.

The premise of the completed game is interesting and sounds like it would be lots of fun. Allying with various deities sounds particularly exciting.
CAN I TEAM UP WITH LOKI?!?! :heart_eyes_cat::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::joy:

Also, I found a continuity error! It’s in the scene after you choose this reaction to Lucifer saving you:

That was kind of impressive. At the very least, I owe him a thanks.

The third paragraph contains this sentence:

You shudder, having to agree; the idea of those rows and rows of serrated teeth closing around you make you tremble on the platform.

However, Lucifer doesn’t conjure a platform until the seventh paragraph, shown in this sentence:

Casually he waves a platform into existence and alights on it, beckoning for you to join him.

That’s all I’ve got for now. All in all, great job, can’t wait for more! :wink:

3 Likes

Love these kind of alternate Fiction stories, as well as the world you have created, fantastic work!

Believe it or not, I made an account just to comment on this :slight_smile:
So keep up the good work. I can’t wait to play more of this.

…Actually did the same thing, XD except a few weeks ago

Maybe just a nickname option in general, it would give the world a more realistic feel I think :slight_smile: or maybe each character has a different nickname for the mc, not based on their actual name to make it easier to incorporate.

Got to say not bad so far. Is the main character gonna get cast down to earth to live like a mortal (except with wings)? Cause that would be a really interesting plot twist.

Erm, hey, not dead. Yet. Just trying to finish the last two weeks and graduate T.T

That being said, fingers crossed, not tempting Murphy, there will at least by a small (ish) update by Friday. I say smallish because it might not be the longest on a single playthrough but has quite a bit of width. (I.E. there are five battle approaches. For each approach there is a different dialogue with Israfel based on your weapon choice. Then there are at least two different dialogues for each approach based on your wing color. And then there are four different responses based if you chose to extend your senses or not and what you did if you did extend your senses. So… 5x14=70 unique dialogues, though some may seem quiet similar. This in conjunction with implementing flat stats vs. dynamic stats. Oh, and a rudimentary save system. Because, yea, testing this without saves is not a good idea for anyone’s sanity.)
I wanted to have a larger update for y’all, at least in depth, but with the impending craziness of graduation that may not happen. We’ll see how things go.

Secondly, I tend to try and test each branch pretty thoroughly before posting it. I’m not doing that as much with this portion (which based on feedback I may or may not do again…). A. You guys are great at spotting errors, and I may blatantly abuse the power of multiple pair of eyes over my own. (@CrayFoPottah In the next update the continuity error should be fixed. Hopefully the last one for the moment, but probably not the last… thanks for the catch!) B. I could probably sit here and keep finagling things and never actually post anything…

Okay. Replies.
@Lithophene
While this part is not fully written out yet, the idea is that you will be able to meet with them without compromising, in this case, Iain’s romance path/story. I kind of feel bad about a certain event I have planned… all I can say is when the time comes, don’t hate me too much? Most of the main cast of characters will be met without any divergence, but the amount of time you spend with them will diverge some during the first part. The second part is where the largest divergences occur, mainly because this is where you start to recruit allies for whatever side you pick and picking allies also means that other factions become your enemies. Characters not on your side will likely have to be killed or dealt with in a similar manner. The usefulness of an ally does partially depend on how well you know them. And can I just add that I’m really excited about seeing your Gabriel’s face claim?

@Zilla @Ventura
Nicknames are actually something I already have variables for. There’s a general nickname, a nickname you can have Daniel call you (which can change as he ages), and a nickname from your romance if you choose. Subsequently, yes, you can be called Gabby when your name is Gabrielle/Gabriel. Oh, and people, start throwing out some ideas for tats if you want to see them. However I’m going to limit them rather than having write-ins (unless people really want write-ins…) so that each tattoo will generate unique dialogue with characters.

@CrayFoPottah

Yes, you can team up with Loki.

@matt_smith

Potentially.

17 Likes

Cool. (Bla black black got to fill 20 f___in words

Phew, well that’s a relief! :sweat_smile: It would’ve been a shame if I couldn’t get my MC tatted up while romancing Iain, but I would’ve managed to cope… after a while. /sniffles dramatically/ Anyways, please, I can take whatever it is you’ve got planned for… well, what I’m assuming is going to be an event in Iain’s path? I live for angst. Just ask @Moreau. Unless you plan to make me watch Iain die. Then I’ll cry.

Ehe, I tend to go out and find some face claims for games/stories that really draw me in~ I like being able to have a clear, solid image of my character, yeah? I know some people are able to build that with words and imagination aloine, but I’ve always found finding a face claim to be all the more satisfying. :kissing_closed_eyes:

2 Likes

Its true. My game used to be about a group of rowdy but well-meaning teens working to save their community centre. Now the main character gets minced and fed to a robot before the end of the prologue…

All @Lithophene’s fault.

8 Likes