Too Different Discussion Thread

Is there an advantage/disadvantage to being more human-like or being more warped?

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Iā€™m noticing an increasing trend of starting a story with people I care nothing about who clearly arenā€™t my character. This really takes me out of the game before it starts. Tell me whatā€™s going on. Donā€™t just launch into a story about other people and expect me to interact with it. Give me a reason to care or start the story somewhere else.

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@kckolbe Little weird to care nothing about anyone who isnā€™t your character. Why even read a story then? If it started with no direction/explanation/backstory someone would complain about that too.

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This starts with no explanation. It just asks me to same some guy and starts a conversation between him and someone else. And itā€™s not weird to not care. This is a CYOA. Choose YOUR OWN Adventure, not Read About SOMEONE ELSEā€™S Adventure. Itā€™s not what I am here to do. A CYOA should start with your char and branch out into the world and characters around.

Maybe you are different. Thatā€™s fine. I didnā€™t claim that no one would care. But calling me weird because you approach these stories with different expectations is not cool. Iā€™ve had posts removed for less.

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@kckolbe Apologies, I wasnā€™t trying to offend! Just to understand.

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I get it, and it might be an age thing. Iā€™m 38, and grew up playing a lot of simulation games, light story more about overcoming challenges, with my own imagination to fill in the details and flavor/fluff.

However, whether you prefer this style of storytelling or not, expectation management is a skill that has been lacking lately. I recently tried to play Dragon Racer, which failed horribly. You see the name ā€œDragon Racer,ā€ and you think this is gonna be a fun romp, riding a dragon. Then you get the game and create your char and choose your dragon, and you pick your strengths, which include combat and magic, so now I am looking forward to racing a dragon while I kick ass and cast spells. I finish creation, and the very first scene is the death of a dragon and then a womanā€¦a pretty drawn-out one, really unpleasant.

This story is nowhere near that tonally dissonant. Right off the bat, the title and description let me know that this is a more character-driven story, and it is written pretty well. But with any CYOA, I do believe that characters other than your own should be tied to the MC before being explored. For example, say the intro says my character is born in Year 357 (randomly chosen). The story starts with the title ā€œYear 356.ā€ I then see a researcher and an alien of some kind. I am gonna figure out these are probably my parents. Cool. Letā€™s learn about them. Just like that, Iā€™m on board.

Without that, I spend these whole scenes trying to figure out who they are. Iā€™m not caring about how they feel, because I am too pre-occupied with solving a mystery, a mystery I wasnā€™t expecting to be thrust into.

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I think the beginning of this story is handled quite well actually. Yes it starts off telling the story of a man who is not your character, but it never tries to cast you in the role of that character. Mostly what it does is give you back ground information on the story.

There are a few choices you make along the way, but theyā€™re really choices about your character to be. Choosing your last name, your race, your fatherā€™s name, so on. Then when this little introduction is over you step into your actual characterā€™s shoes, and it is instantly demonstrated how your character knows every detail of that story so you donā€™t even have the problem of having knowledge that your character doesnā€™t.

I agree that perspective shifts almost always ruin the immersion for me, but in this case Iā€™m hooked right from the start, and I stay that way right until the demo ends.

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That depends on how you value advantages and disadvantages. There are no right or wrong answers, but for example, you will not be able to use some of your warped powers to their full potential if you have cut that part of yourself out of your life. Also, it greatly influences the choices you are able to make in regards to the four different species and humanity (i.e. high humanity unlocks dialogue that raises your W.A.R.P. reputation status, and high warped does the same thing but with the other species).

Iā€™m not sure if I understand which ā€œtrendā€ youā€™re referring to, to be honest. I started this project a year and a half ago, I believe.

Thatā€™s what prologues are for, in some ways.

I wouldnā€™t expect you to interact with the prologue much, anyway, considering it is not your story. Itā€™s your fatherā€™s.

It would be a terribly boring beginning if I halted the narrative for a while to tell the audience everything that is intended for them to gather through context clues and optional supplementary information. In most writing, the plot and the dialogue are the explanation.

It doesnā€™t have to be your own adventure. Personally, I think itā€™s quite fun to read about background characters.

Mine does, though?

If you have criticisms about that game, then please voice them in the designated thread. I would prefer to keep the discussion in this one just about my WIP, please.

Thank you!

The father is tied to the MC because he is their father.

Thank you very much.

I love this game itā€™s super fun!

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Thank you for your kind words, I am glad you enjoy it! (:

I just wanted to note that you should FINALLY be able to play through the Waxies part, at least as far as Iā€™ve gotten in them, both for if you are half Waxy or half whatever else. I did some playtesting on a whim and it turned out that, like, 20,000 words of content was waiting behind a bad *label or something.

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I completely reworked the system by which the game checks which levels you have been/have not been to, and because of this all content is available regardless of an MCā€™s chosen mother. More specifically, say you are half Were and playing the Waxy part in the demo. In the full game, you will automatically go to the land of your motherā€™s people first, and so (in the given scenario) you would have already been to the Wereā€™s land and met your uncle, cousin, and family. For obvious reasons, you will not have a Waxy uncle, cousin, or love interest (because you are half Were and not half Waxy). So, in order to let you explore the Waxyā€™s land anyway, you meet some tertiary character(s) who guide/allow you to learn more about where you are.

Iā€™ve also changed some things that didnā€™t make sense continuity-wise.

Thanks for reading! (:

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Little bugs at this part :beetle:

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I think I fixed it! Thanks for pointing this out! (:


Also, new update! Day one of the mummy chapter is complete for all MC backgrounds!

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And now the base mummy chapter is totally complete! (:

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hell yeah just waiting for the ghost

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If you want that to be next, then Iā€™ll work on that one next! : D

yeey ^^

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Looks great so far, I look forward to reading more, although I am not 100% sure, i chose the fangs, but in some parts of the were land I felt like I was occasionally treated as a half-were rather than a half-dead/vampire. Especially when on the hunt.

Sorry canā€™t give you a screenshot of the exact place but I am reading this on my mobile.

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That is strange! I just looked over the code, and Iā€™m not seeing anything that would cause it. By any chance, do you remember which choices you made throughout the story up to that point? If I can go through your path, Iā€™ll probably be able to see the error better. ( :