Indefinite Hiatus. The Amberwood Series (WIP) (Read Post 409)

I mean yeah thats a mood but I’m curious enough to ask about books most of the time, even if I’m dying on the inside

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In rewritten version I think I like Nyx better. At first he came off to me as douchy, but now since he pretty much does nothing and is polite to everyone mostly me tho I like him better.

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Nyx :clap: is :clap: still :clap: a :clap: baeee, first or second one :tipping_hand_man:t2::heart: I can’t wait for more interaction with him and thank you sm for working so hard :heart:

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@TheBlast
I’m glad you both like the changes to Nyx! I love the sort of brooding or somewhat…hostile characters that are mean to everyone but their love interest/MC/loved ones. Having that wall up is makes them interesting. Or maybe it’s because they’re relatable to me on a personal level???
But I also knew I was writing Nyx to be a litttttttllllllllllllle too mean. If he’s gonna be douchy, it’s because MC keeps asking for a damn donut >_>

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Hello everyone! I’m hoping Chapter Two can come this week, or at the latest, next. Once it’s released, I can jump immediately in Chapter Three!

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I saw your query about skills, and I wanted to ask a small counter question. What exactly would we run into that requires extra focus to manage?

Would we need to ‘git gud’ at lock picking to sneak in some place to investigate the mysterious happenings taking place? Or would we need to be able to turn on the charm to get people talking about things they’ve heard, or noticed?

In terms of practical skills, what we come up against in the narrative should have some potential hold on what we can, or should be able to do. Of course, if we’re talking magick then it should come as no surprise there’s a few differing branches to specialize in. Elemental attacks, healing, defensive wards… Just to name a few that might work. :thinking:

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I’ve asked myself more or less the same thing. I think, sometimes, it could wait until book 2?? But at the same time, I want people to be able to define their MC a little more beyond personality. Like… for example, there’s a place only Vampires can go into. Do you follow the rules and not go in, or do you disobey and see what’s inside? (Of course, depending, if i did that, I’d might make it so it would affect MC’s overall standing with the Vampires. “Oh, they’re not so trusting of you because you broke a rule” kinda thing. Which I have thought about doing sorta).

I don’t want to do anything where it blocks people from doing certain things, such as some stories where you need an ungodly amount of strength to kill a beast efficiently, but you can’t get that strength unless you choose all strength based/specific choices.

I just want it so, yeah, maybe you could be nosy but it wouldn’t have a great effect on the story, it’d just be a tidbit of information, another scene. Or, like i said, to further define MC.

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TL;DR: Aside from percentages that affect the flavor text of how the mc might respond in dialogue with other characters, hidden tags can be put in place like a delayed explosive for carried over saves. :blush:

Setting hidden stats to be used later on in sequels is a pretty advanced bit of planning.

Still, it’s definitely been done before, so it can work–you just gotta keep track of the tag names, among other small important details. :slightly_smiling_face:

It’s one of the ways you can add flavor to the “continuity” of the plot. Like–just for the sake of a relateable example–say the mc broke a few things in the Alstad’s home…that could set a hidden tag that carries over into the sequel from the save of the first game should one or more of the Alstad family make a later appearance. If the mc didn’t, then no tag needs to be set that needs additional flavored interaction.

Hidden stats/tags/variables can do wonders for in depth world-building technique, but the thing to keep in mind is that it balloons very quickly. And get’s more cumbersome with each successive sequel that doesn’t tie the usefulness of the tag off early. Each sequel can also clean up the tags unneeded for the next book to reduce the clutter in carried over saves.

Finally… Those Sims pics are adorable! Definitely take down time whenever you need it, and don’t forget to have fun imagining what we get to discover next about Amberwood’s world. :hugs:

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That was a bit mind bending- I should probably avoid it, at least for now. :joy: i just feel like the personality stats/relationship stats aren’t enough, you know? I needs something, I just don’t know what.

The personality stats are cumbersome enough as it is because I’ve picked the intervals to use, but even knowing it adds up over time, I’m like “I should increase the intervals.” lord…

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A perfectly acceptable response. It is mind bending because even if you don’t fully map out what goes on in the nitty gritty of the series, keeping track of that many layers of nuance can be more work than anyone bargains for.

To be fair, there are published games that have even less, and are very well received CS titles anyway. A few of them forego having a stat screen entirely, for that matter. Less can be more when done well. :wink:

By your words, you seem pretty concerned with “doing it right”, when it’s okay to step back and let your first instincts how you’ve designed your stat system so far guide you. Feedback threads like this exist to potentially inspire a new angle of thought to help you find that “something” if it’s out there, but there is something to be said about the better (imho) saying “the customer is not always right” because it’s true that the advice of others–myself included in this–is not always useful, helpful nor even strictly correct whenever we’re prompted to share what we think. :woman_shrugging: :grin:

Anyway, if the player still gets to determine their MC’s magickal aura, and choose a preferred mode of dress (friendly points for Nyx if neither of these completely burn his eyes? I think he’s the only one persnickety enough to be bothered by these customization traits… If he’s got a problem with me calling him out like this, he can fite me! (ง’̀-'́)ง) it could have an impact on character interaction, but that typically ends up being more flavor text variables.

Usually one-off per interaction with a new character, though if an RO likes it more than a differing choice the player could make, then maybe that would be something? I mean, would you want to say something oddly specific like “Ileanna likes when you wear yellow”?

At this point I’m just waffling on, so I’m gonna leave it here. :sweat_smile:

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lmao all I could think of was Life is Strange and you decide on whether or not to water the plant in Max’s dorm :joy:
I need to live by that rule that sometimes less is more, in every aspect of my life. Especially creative.

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Chapter Two coming this weekend!

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in that day I was cry here those words chapter two is coming!!!

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Alrighty! Hello everyone! This took a bit longer than expected but here is chapter two! This one I’m actually more nervous about for a lot of reasons;; I might have to take a teeny break and do some reading and such before I go into the third chapter.

Thank you for waiting and I hope you like it!

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I added a few choices to chapter 1 that were suggested by @CitrusTabby!
EDIT 2: Someone on tumblr kindly pointed out some errors, so I fixed them and reuploaded chapter 2.

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Just done playing the demo. Lol you don’t write horrible action scenes no worries. Looking forward for more! Still can’t wait to meet Ileana!

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Thank you! I’m excited to just introduce Ileana! Hopefully I can get chapter 3 done in a relatively timely fashion, but I’m glad you enjoyed it.

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:slight_smile:Slight Update!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you guys know what’s going on with Chapter 3. It’s highly possible, although not set in stone, that this chapter could be short. I’m considering taking this chap. into the investigation scene in the first demo, only with new/different clues. However, I don’t want it to feel so long that it drags forever, especially with my wordiness. So, I’ve considered taking into a new scene entirely that originally wasn’t going to be shown until chapter 4.

I want to warn you guys in advance because either way, I’m worried you may not feel satisfied after the wait. Although, I’ve been told I update faster than a lot of writers(???) so maybe I’m doing okay. :woman_shrugging:

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when here update run full way back home

@Takashi_Shin But is that an impressive feat, or just something ordinarily expected of you? :laughing:

Oh, I am totally looking forward to meeting Ileanna so we can have “girl’s nights”, and settle in to gossip, and hot cocoa.

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I’m new to forums, but wanted to write a comment on this demo. I like the way you write, it helps to really fit into the story for me. I read the old demo and I see progress in writing, it’s clear that you did a good job.not all characters have been entered yet, but I already love them all (I read all their reactions in your blog to tumblr).besides this i like the world that you created, it feels more fresh and interesting to me :slightly_smiling_face:(sorry for any mistakes, english is not my language)

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