Hey everyone! Been a few weeks.
First off, check the character bios for some new additions. 
I’ve been working on writing a few new characters. All I’ll get into is that one of them is romancable, but isn’t part of the crew. Well, he doesn’t rob banks. I feel you guys’ll really love him when he comes in.
Second, I’ve finished the stats overhaul. I’m now implementing said stats into what story there already is, as well as what story I am currently writing.
My plans going forward
I honestly don’t have an ETA as to when Chapter 1 will be completed. With that being said, I will not allow this project to die out. Along with finishing Chapter 1, my biggest goal at the moment is fully drafting out the story. Despite its non-linearity, I’m going in writing this rather blind, if I’m being honest. I have Chapter 1 mapped out, and the set and heists for Chapters 2 & 3, but other than that, I’m kinda just writing as I go. This is NOT something I want to do, as it will lead to plot holes and an overall weak narrative structure.
That’s honestly been my hardest head thumper. It’s drained my time, thinking “okay, but what’s going to happen next? How does this event lead to another?”
No, I need to have that mapped out, so all I’ll be doing with this story is transcribing it, revising aspects, adding roleplaying elements with variations, and going into greater depth. It’ll save a large amount of time in the long run, and will give me a clear and concise goal, likely increasing work flow.
Long story short, I’m a poor planner. I should’ve had this from before I started, but it was really just a “let’s see where this idea goes”. That’s not necessarily bad, but in the case of sight-writing a full fledged interactive novel, it is.
Now, I can’t leave you guys empty-handed, right? Here’s something I wrote up yesterday featuring a female MC’s not so futile attempts at being friends with a curious creature.
Rabbit Short Story
“You got any extra chips?” I say.
I sit rested in the beanbag chair of Rabbit’s small, and cozy room. We’ve been hanging out for about 30 minutes now. We’ve started to become decent friends since D.C., though she’s still yet to open up about… anything, really. Unlike everyone else, she insisted on sleeping in one of the crew rooms, a small, compact room with nothing but a bunk bed, dresser, and a tiny bathroom. It’s very… odd… but Ahab obliged. The ship only had 11 crew members anyway, so one of the rooms was empty.
After getting the room, she took out the bottom bunk and slid in a computer desk along with all of her equipment. On the opposite side of the wall, only about 4 feet out, she mounted a TV. This meant that when she wasn’t on her computer, she could be laying in bed, watching TV. Add some strips of purple LED lights, a bean bag chair in the corner, a rug, a mini fridge, and a dresser, and she’s got quite a cozy little place. Still, what is it with her and small rooms?
Here I was, sitting in the beanbag chair in the corner watching a movie while Rabbit was, I don’t know, modeling something on her computer? Hacking and 3d modeling? What’s next, music production?
Before I know it, Rabbit opens up a cabinet at the bottom of her desk, and pulls out another bag of chips. I catch a glance of… damn, like 3 bags? She has snack cake boxes strewn about down there as well. The bag she pulls out is a large bag of Crinx’ Sour Cream and Onion chips. Not bad, even if the bags are 60% air.
“You got Barbecue?” I ask.
Rabbit looks at me confused, looking back at the cabinet. She begins putting the bag back in before I stop her.
Chuckling, I add, “N-no. No. It’s alright, I’m just screwing around. Here.” I raise my hands in preparation to catch the bag.
Rabbit looks back at me with the bag at hand, and a smile forms around her face for a moment, following one of those “nose-air” laughs, clearly amused by my “joke”. She contemplates throwing the bag, but then just awkwardly stands up and walks it over to me. I say walks, but she barely even takes a step. You know, the small room and all.
She then grabs another bag for herself, a bag of popcorn cheese puffs. As she rests back into her chair and returns to her work, I begin to dig in. The salt and flavored powder dissolves onto my tongue as I take a bite, leaving a satisfy crunch in its wake. It is as it is, sour cream and onion. Less sour cream though, and more a salty-milky taste leaving a warmth in my mouth, with the onion tang complimenting it. The flavors are overwhelming, however artificial they may be. Then I eat the next one, anticipating the same taste. No, not quite as strong? I eat another chip. Good, but it could be better. Maybe this one just didn’t have as much ‘flavoring powder’. Let’s try another chip.
Before long, I’ve downed 80% of the the bag, and I’ve barely even reached the movie’s climax. The constant taste of chips now lingers in my mouth, and I feel like my breath can melt the ice caps. W… It’s only been 10 minutes!?
My stomach begins feeling queasy after realizing just how much fat and sodium I’ve eaten. I look up at Rabbit, who’s still at her computer, eating cheese puffs and sipping on a bottle of water. Well, at least that’s healthy.
She does not look like the type of person to eat this obnoxiously detrimental diet, with her slim frame and all.
“How can you eat so much and not gain weight?” Damn, me, that was rude.
Rabbit glances over at her bag of cheese puffs, and then looks over at me quizzically. She shrugs her shoulders and murmurs an “I don’t know” before continuing. Maybe high metabolism? She’s so hard to talk to.
After about half an hour, she finishes her project. Looks like she’s designing something for a 3D printer, stored God-knows-where on the ship. Now… to print, I assume. She swings her chair around, kicks her legs up on her dresser, and begins watching the movie. Funny enough, she has quite a lot to say about this one. For one, she’s nearly a mute, and two, she’s an actual hacker.
Her groans and stifled laughs during the movie’s hacking scene are just so endearing. I can only imagine her screaming at the television with no one present.
“Why is the computer beeping?”
“The fuck is a cybernuke?”
“Why are there so many colored boxes?”
“Quit telling him to hack faster!”
I doze off as the second movie begins to play, her attention now being diverted to some action-rpg from 2003 that she boots up on her laptop. Well, she’s not the worst host I’ve had. What else am I supposed to do out here, anyway? Hang out with Juno? Eh, well, actually…
“Shit!”
I hear someone yell in a high pitched feminine voice, followed by a loud bang. It sounds like it’s right next to me. I open my eyes and find Rabbit booting up her computer, her leg shaking intensely. She turns on the monitor, all three of them, and begins tapping her finger against the desk. Did she punch her desk?
“What happened?” I ask. Only moments later do I notice the TV booting back up, indicating a power outage.
“Th-the… fcking power.” She says, pointing at the microwave on her mini-fridge, the clock being reset to 00:00. She’s so angry, she doesn’t even fully pronounce the vowels in her expletives. Only in her lapses of anger do I notice she’s now more outgoing, actually bothering to reply to me.
After her computer’s OS has now booted, she rolls out her chair and storms out the room, exiting to her left. The chair bumps into the wall, all 5 feet it had to clear to do so. Then I notice where she’s going. The engine room? As I stand to follow, Nord peers into the room, his room being only two doors over. He looks at me, then towards the engine room. I meet him at the door before he backs his way up, preparing to head back to his bedroom.
He chuckles, and says, “That’s not something you see everyday.” before heading back to his room.
), but there will definitely be some reserved options. When it comes to approaching crew members for their side missions, I’ll give the option for not being outgoing. For example, being approached by them instead, or observing what they’re doing and then causing a conversation.
as many cool looking games do. I was wondering how many chapters you were thinking of doing, in a rough estimate. Also loved the snippet. Good Luck!