The Wayhaven Chronicles: Book One (WIP)

I loved the final demo, but that cliffhanger killed me. I hope you would not torture us any more like this @Seraphinite.:joy:
Also, will you release it on Hosted Games? Just asking.:no_mouth:

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girls (and kids) always planning ahead… aaaahhhh :joy: you remember me of myself when i was a kid, already planing that i would marry a cute blonde girl and live happily after that :smirk:

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Finally got through all 1000+ posts! I’m super excited about the upcoming game!

I really love the range of actions/reactions that the character has and how we can define some of the relationships with others in the game (i.e. how close we are with our mother or what our background is with Bobby). I also really appreciate the diversification of the MC; they can be good at their job or just kind be a bit clueless and try to rely on the group if they like (or not). Even the option to define how we feel about being a detective and how we came into the position is awesome. I think all of that gives a lot of replayability with the story.

As for the setting, I love that it takes place in a smaller town as opposed to a big city. I think a smaller town makes it more challenging for supernaturals to blend in, so they would have to be more careful with what they do. It’s not quite easy to get away with weird things in a place where everyone tends to know everybody’s business–no matter what power(s) they possess. Also, the dynamic between the hospital and police department is great. I’ve worked in places where pettiness has gotten in the way of the general welfare of others before, and as someone who has worked in various fields (warehousing, retail, teaching, etc.), I can assure people that no matter where you work, that type of immaturity is alive and well. Thus, it was nice to see that reflected in the story as opposed to everyone getting along and being the best of friends. Anything that can add more drama is a good thing.

A small note about the choice presentation: I truly appreciate the fact that the lines spoken are noted in the choice selection. As an avid game player, I have been burned so many times by paraphrasing that did not accurately portray what was going to follow after the selection. (I’m looking at you Mass Effect!) By having just enough of the dialogue in the choice selection, it really cuts down on the stress of making sure I am picking the correct option for my character, especially as the option to save and reload is limited.

As I am new here, I do have a question. I noticed some errors (wrong words, a few grammar things, etc.). What is the best way to report that? Should I take a screenshot or would typing out the line here with the scene context be enough? For instance, in Mason’s route during the scene in the town square when they are having their moment with the MC, it says, “A flush of colour blooms on the Detective’s cheeks, and Mason only just holds back from pressing the Detective against her completely, to try and evoke an even stronger response from her.” Obviously, unless he’s named a certain body part “Detective,” something should probably be fixed, like taking out 'the ‘Detective’ or replacing the pronoun ‘her’ with Detective. :grin:

One last thing… Mason is BAE! I love him so much! I thought Adam as going to be my favorite, but Mason snuck in my heart and lodged himself in there pretty well. :heart_eyes: His smoking is a huge turn off, so I’m just pretending it’s cigarette candy and that he has a sweet tooth because kissing smokers is nasty. Other than that, I’m really excited to see how his route plays out.

Thanks for all your hard work @Seraphinite!

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I like this a lot, great work, @Seraphinite. :grinning:

And Nate is my snuggle [vampire] bunny(…), we share similar values. :relaxed:

Still, I also try different routes, to see what make the others… tick. :grin:

Nicely done. :thumbsup:t4:

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How can I hate a person who’s done nothing to me so much? I know it’s because of the cliff-hanger, but it is surreal! Emotions sometimes are surreal! Ugh.

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That cliff hanger was pretty evil. It’s the perfect place to stop and leave us wanting so much more.:smile: Just think of it as incentive to try all the different choices.

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@Anubhab_Khanra - Yeah, I will be releasing it on Hosted Games :slight_smile:

@spunkycatninja - I’m so glad you enjoyed it :smiley: Any editing help would be much appreciated! You can either post it here (typing it out and putting the error in bold, like you’ve done with the example would be great, I find it easier to process that way for some reason!), or if you want to send me a bunch in PM then that’s fine too :slight_smile: Whichever is easier for you!

@Hakai_no_Megami - Mwahahaha! :wink: The demo was only going to be six chapters long, but I liked that cliffhanger so much I put in the extra chapter just to use it, lol.

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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Wow, that felt nice.

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I just finished the demo and i’m really at the edge of my seat. i can’t wait to read the first book and the rest of series!

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That sounds EXACTLY like my kind of series! :grin: I’ve replayed the demo countless of times, tried out every RO… Frankly, I can’t get enough.

Adam definitely is my favourite RO though. Ever since welcoming Marcus Kane (The 100, anyone?) into my heart, I can’t seem to get enough of those shady men-in-black guys who seem all tough and rough past and all, but are really a puppy once you’ve managed to peel off a few layers. Even though I once swore I never would fall for that type of characters, but here I am. :roll_eyes: In any case, I built the typical enemies-to-lovers scenario for Adam and MC and I’M! DIGGING! IT! I mean… You can practically stab that sexual tension with a spoon.

I’m very much looking forward to the full version of the first book - and all the other books, of course! I’ve rarely been excited for a game like this one. :smile:

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I just finished the full demo and… well A is my favorite now, damn it. I’m a huge sucker for scenes with a lot of tactile imagery like the jacket. Hnng

What I liked best is that since the previous demo there was a lot of development to the characters that fleshed them out in ways I didn’t expect. N most of all giving off a vibe of possibly being more clever and deceptive when necessary was interesting to see. Same with M, they’re growing on me for exactly that reason. I kept expecting the usual secret gap moe but they generally seem like a pretty cold and closed off person. Those are the most fun shells to crack. Oh and you could be so catty and inflammatory with them, that made me smile.

Getting to read from the POV of each character while retaining the player choice was really fun. I usually strongly dislike POV switching since it removes agency from the PC but you handled it quite well, especially with how differently they all react to certain bits of teasing :>

And that cliffhanger! Ahhh… I’m so curious to see how it turns out. Rescue? Near death experience? I imagine Murphy was quite surprised to see that his target just drove out to his cover and shook his hand.

Anyway weeks back I mentioned painting some of the ladies, but then I got swamped with an interview and art test for a job I applied for. Now that that’s over I got back to painting :smiley: Thanks for all the kind words from people in the thread! I’m glad ya’ll are liking my art. And thanks to @Seraphinite for writing such great characters that inspire these little downtime portraits <3

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Wow, that looks awesome.

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I scream praise from the mountaintops.

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I’ve played quite a few Choice of Games, but I made an account just to say that this was a really good demo. I was really impressed by how good the pacing was, and how well the characters were developed in a relatively short time. Can’t wait for the rest, keep it up!

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@Bootsykk - :open_mouth: OMG, that’s awesome! The expression, the colours… everything! Aah, so cool :smiley: Thank you for sharing it!


Thank you for the lovely comments, guys :slight_smile: Not much of an update to give at the moment- still working on plans, which is seriously no where near as fun as actually writing, but probably more important in the long run!

Hoping to get the planning stuff finished by the end of this week at the latest though, then it’s back to full on writing.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend :slight_smile:

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Just finished the demo looking forward to the release date :grin:

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you know i kind of find that A is more like a drunkard than a blushed / embarrased A :smirk:
(but nice art by the way :blush:)

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The way you depicted her makes it seem like she was in the Armed Forces… But in any case, this is great!

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Question: you’ve mentioned you’re planning on seven books in the WHC (no small feat omg), that the player can “lock” their LI at chapter fifteen, there’s currently (I think) five chapters in the demo, and you’re almost to chapter ten. So I guess my question is, how many chapters are expected for each book?
(also sorry if this has been asked before)

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That is a good question, lol!

At the moment- as it’s planned- Book One will have 21 chapters. These vary in size though, as some have varying scenes (different love interests, or branching due to choices- Chapter Nine is pretty huge to write because it has two variations that a very different depending on if the MC chooses to go out or not). There’s not as much major story branching in Book One, as certain things need to happen and things put into place to set up the rest of the series- but for the next books there will be more variation to the story lines dependant on MC choices and relationships, so that will also play into how long chapters are and things.

For the other books, I currently have no idea! :smiley: They probably won’t all be a certain length, just because I’d rather give each book the size it needs, rather than trying to constrict it or drag it out to a certain size. Also, my plans tend to go a bit haywire when I actually come to writing the book. There’s some chapters which are condensed and some which get split, etc.

That wasn’t much of an answer, sorry. But throughout the whole process- for all the books- I will be sure to keep you guys regularly updated! :slight_smile:

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