The Saga of Oedipus Rex (Released)

Alright, just sharing because I’m super excited that I actually managed to finish something :smile:

Unless I need to make major changes, it’s probably pretty much done apart from some headings/pictures, text editing and I still need to change the names to make sure they’re all definitely Greek.

It’s ended up with a little under 60,000 words, 3-4 endings (2 are alternatives but have their own epilogue) and averages about 19000 words/play through so actually a bit longer than I was thinking it would be.

Anyway, I’ll decide later and post about whether it’s open or closed testing for the full story. Thanks everyone who has helped get it done!

Edit- New link up, will make it a public beta. Any feedback appreciated :slight_smile:
Please note- the names still need changing to be correct for ancient Greece, I will get to this soon.

Edit2: I also just remembered I forgot to fix it so coins can’t go into the negative when buying things at the agora. Enjoy the shopping spree while it lasts :wink: , will hopefully be fixed tomorrow.

(Edit: Link in first post)

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File updated with a good many typos fixed. Hopefully all the names are fixed now as well (so some people you meet have had name changes to be better suited to ancient Greece.) Fixed the bug in the agora which allows you to buy things without money.

Not sure if it’s a problem for anyone else, but I’ve been having some caching problems where old files are showing up in the game. If this happens, opening the file in a private window will fix it :slight_smile:

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I’m loving it so far but I’m getting stuck at the Riddle because it’s so type sensitive. :sob:

Thanks @Rogar :smile:
I thought that might be a problem (was testing it on my phone yesterday and the rotten thing keeps defaulting to a capital first letter.) But it is fixable! I’ll change it so a capital first letter is ok :slight_smile:

My good lady and author out of curiosity how do you Imagine are good king and tyrant in the classical sense to look through different stages of their life?

FYI this is a vast improvement over wizard C

Maybe this command to capitalize every letter of a variable might solve your problem?

@Alexandra Thanks for that. I wasn’t sure if the *set variable !${variable} would stay as a capital letter without the ! in front of it when it gets tested later (as in *if (variable = “theanswer”) vs (variable = “Theanswer”))

Anyway if that works I can do that and make it easy, otherwise I’ll just set another correct answer with the first letter capitalised. (That seems to be the main problem with phones wanting to do that and messing up the answers I think). It’s actually easy to adjust for 3 out of 4, it’s more the first sphinx one has a few right answers, but in reality it shouldn’t be that difficult to fix one way or another :). I didn’t really want answers to be all capitalised as it’s going to look funny in the text later, isn’t it? Maybe? Or it could be fine. (Rambling now, I’ll just wander off and try it :slight_smile: )

@Rogar Thank you :slight_smile: Trying to improve.
I’m not quite certain what you’re asking with the good king vs tyrant though? Is this with relation to the alternative ending? (Because it might be a bit overly judgey, I just had to try and come down on one side or another as how I thought Athena might judge but it may still need tweaking.)

Well no tyrant is not necessarily a bad thing classical sense all it means is someone that came to power through the people/in legal means which is through the people there actually important stage for the coming of democracy in Greece. Believe it or not some of the famous tyrants also legendary sages.

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That’s the cool thing about writing something grounded in history. I keep learning more about it :smile:

Anyone else have any comments to add or would like to test this? I found a heap more typos and a few non-game breaking bugs that I’ll fix soon and can let the forum know when it’s updated if anyone is still interested in having a look.( I’m sure there’s heaps more, I’ll do a few more passes myself but would really appreaciate anyone who would like to help me hunt for them. I’m quite bad at picking my own typos up :confused: ). Otherwise I’ll try to tidy it up and submit to COG soon :slight_smile: .

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Ah, I saw this a while back and had been meaning to have a look! I really enjoy stories like this. I’ll read through and let you know if I come across any typos.

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Thanks @Asterisk!
(20 chars to post)

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Now that I’ve had a chance to run through several times, I have to say that it was really fun to read. I enjoy your writing, and the way you describe things makes the scenes easy to imagine.

I did come across some typos, and so I’ll send you a list shortly.

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There is a lot of typos… but can I ask you a question? (hah i just did)

Is there any ways that Oedipus could avoid killing his father?

Yes, I’ve decided they’re multiplying by themselves when I’m not looking. Seriously, I go through and fix them. Then look again and there’s still more.

As for the question, no. It’s a fixed point which is kind of required for the storyline unfortunately otherwise I’d make it potentially escapable.

Thanks to @Asterisk the files have been updated with a heap of typos fixed and hopefully some bugs as well.

I just thought i should elaborate a bit on the last post about the question as I had put a lot of thought into whether to leave it that way. Part of it is I wanted to tell a recognisable version of the original story, and splitting off at that point would result in something completely different to the point that it’s not anything like the original story any more. It would also likely double the word count, which while is not a bad thing on the surface, it’d also mean it’d probably get put into the pile behind at least Sea Maiden and Abysm’s veil and who knows when it’d get done then.

The second, and more important reason is actually due to why it has to happen that way. In Ancient Greek society, what Oedipus’ father did was considered really terrible on a number of different counts. (The info for this is in the alternative ending.) There would have been no excuse for it, and the original curse was actually leveled at him primarily by the gods themselves. The rest of his family including Oedipus were just collateral damage, which was done because they wanted his father punished by destroying their whole family in a particular way. (Although the curses to continue to multiply due to other things, but the original one that set everything else off, was on his father’s head).

So yeah, pretty much he has to die for the story to hold with the times. If he doesn’t die then, the Greek gods would have made it happen one way or another. It also makes it far harder to write a satifying ending as you either end up with something similar to what is already there where the father dies later, or a situation where you can no longer realistically work out what’s going on and have the pieces slot together. There is precedent for Oedipus and his mother to get off the hook however found in the Orestes myth due to mitigating circumstances involved in a murder of a parent so I’ve used that to potentially allow you to escape at least part of the original fate.

Anyway, not sure if anyone is really interested, but just thought I’d drop that in there as I had a good think when I was writing it about what I could and couldn’t realistically do while keeping to the setting :slight_smile:

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I quite liked this! PMed a stack of feedback for you…

It was very enjoyable to play in an ancient civilisation (especially a different one to the one I’ve been staring at for months now). The prose was quite nice, too! And it’s fun to have a read of something rather different, both in style and in subject matter.

My favourite part is that first wagon ride, though, I think. Before the beginning of the end, where I’m just having a highly awkward conversation with the wagon driver…there was something really delightful about it.

The permutations were interesting, too, and the definite endings. And I agree with @Asterisk, your descriptions are very vivid. Good luck with finishing it up and submitting—I hope it does really well. (:

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Question for everyone who has played this :slight_smile:

Spoilers ahead

Just curious, how do you feel about the option I’ve put in to not marry Jocasta. Do you think that’s ok/like the choice? Or do you think it weakens the story compared to the original too much. Would it be better to require the MC marry as a political marriage instead? Walking a fine line between trying to make a story with impact that stays relatively true to the original, and overly limiting player choices. Thanks :slight_smile:

  • I think you should have no choice not to marry. Just a choice with how far the relationship goes.
  • I think it’s ok to have a choice and feel more comfortable with this/like having a choice.
  • No strong opinion.

0 voters

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Personally I feel that option not to marry makes the story interesting, by allowing the player free will and partially escape h his destiny, tricking fate. If the option isn’t there then you remove choice from player, and these games are supposedly about choice (we could get philosophical about things at this point, destiny Vs free will in choice of games!)

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It’s Oedipus.

The first playthrough we should experience the “tragedy” side of it and require the marriage and the killing of the father. Get achievements for the uneasy things.

Here’s my twist:

On subsequent playthroughs, if the achievements is already there, then a new set of options will appear in the choice tree, including an option not to get married, an option not to kill the father, and an option to fulfill your fate without fulfilling your fate.

The third one is a bit hard to do. I’m thinking something like… if fate cursed you to marry your mother, then you can “marry” her, but not in the literal sense… work with figurative meanings to find a way to fulfill fate but not in a terrible and gross way. For example, I think the dynamics of attraction need to be greatly expanded and worked through; give the MC choices that allow him to think about WHY he is attracted to her. Some of this is already there: reasons of power, or control, etc. Those type of reasons need to be supplemented with a “well, I don’t really need to become her actual husband, I can just become her chief advisor and rule from the shadows.” That sort of relationship is intimate enough to be considered a marriage because you would become entrenched, so to speak, in the work. There should also be several options that allow the MC and his mother to get to know each other better, non-sexual options that explore and nurture several different kinds of attractions based on what the player chooses. Perhaps the love or admiration the MC has for his mother is something that, through a series of choices, the player can “untwist” or in other words, either break free from the curse, or reveal the true strings of fate that have been woven for Oedipus.

Dealing with the father so that he doesn’t die…, huh? Alright. For that, if you have the achievement from last playthrough, you could meet him in that dream sequence that shows him when he was younger but this time you could actually talk to him and, depending on what you say, alter the events of the past. If you make a strong enough case that you have no choice but to fulfill your fate and then somehow mention that it feels like you already did fulfill your fate in another life (talking about the achievement without breaking the 4th wall) then perhaps you can get another god to sponsor you and actually allow you to change the past through the dream. I’m thinking Nike, goddess of justice, would do well here.

Doing something like this would allow you to be true to the original, and also allow you an opportunity to redefine the tale for a contemporary audience.

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