Turncoat Chronicle (political fantasy) - updated 24-APR-23

My two cents on the issue if failing is I am for it, might be interesting. Maybe even your Dad can stop you :stuck_out_tongue: That is just my opinion though!

I’m more interested in the reverse. Is it possible to push Morun in the consort role to the mc if we marry him?

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@idonotlikeusernames that reply is specifically in response to this:

Peep the achievement screen, it gives a fair idea of what sort of endings are available.

I have a small update in the works (version 0.2.1 if you will) so I’ll post more about that later today.

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wc_28_8_2018

Forty thousand word update. Without code, that is. With code, it’s just short of fifty thousand.

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I can’t use the stats button

@Hazel I still think this game needs to give a compelling plot reason for overthrowing the King. If need be, the MC could get to pick from a list of justifications the way Guen’s motives are probed in @jeantown’s Guenevere. As the eldest child of the King, the MC is probably already the heir so the MC has less to gain by risking betraying the King. There will also need to be a compelling reason given for not immediately betraying Morun and Crow if the MC chooses to side with the King.

If adoption of heirs suffices to grant royal lineage, then there also needs to be a plausible reason given for even bothering with a wedding instead of both the MC and Morun adopting the same person as heir.

“Precious” definitely does not work in my opinion because I suspect most people will not know what it means in this context. I suggest “bleeding-heart” instead.

I do agree that the MC should not be forced by the game to reveal to Teven the existence of the Kidia claimant until and unless the MC rejects Morun’s path. Until the MC rejects Morun’s path, Teven should not be told anything the MC cannot afford for the King to learn. Just by telling Teven about a claimant, it increases the odds of the King learning about the claimant and worse still investigating the claimant. So the MC basically is sentencing Teven to death when it was unnecessary to reveal such information so early.

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Without more information, I can’t help you.

If you can’t click the stats button at all, then that’s probably a problem with your browser.

If there is a specific place in the game where the stats button stops working, then I need to know where exactly that is.

True, there need to be more hints that dear old dad either plans to kill the mc or make Belinon the heir in two years, once that boy comes of age. Or, more likely both.

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Actually, that’s not really the vibe I get. He seems to be a “survival of the fittest” kind of guy, and in the events of a ruthless MC, is likely to approve - heck, it’s hard to say right now, but I suspect he’d be the first to applaud should the MC depose him in a coup… if he’s not dead, of course.

All in all, I’m really not getting a vibe of “he wants to get rid of the MC, you have to get rid of him first!”. He might find the MC not entirely up to his standards, but the fact that the MC is leaping at the first chance to murder him and take his place shows that daddy did indeed raise them “right”.

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This code is preliminary and subject to (probably many) changes, but take a gander anyway:

In other news, I’m getting ready to upload a new version of the demo, version 0.2.1. Probably tomorrow or Friday.

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Nice choices! The only real criticism I have is maybe adding a bit more to the “right thing to do” and maybe increase noble a bit for the “bad king choice”? Maybe also if you are siding with the rightful heir, have something about restoring the proper dynasty?

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@Hazel Those look good to me though I agree that there might to be a little more to distinguish the first and third options from each other. Thank you for considering them. I’ll look forward to the next update. Just out of curiosity, which editor is that?

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You know, I would’ve expected the noble/ruthless changes to be opposite. i.e. the “I hate it” options suggests to me the MC dislikes bloodshed on principle even when it’s needed (compassionate). The “bad king” one made me think the motive is a sense of honor and concern for the responbility of a ruler (nobility).
The manipulative option is tricky too. It seemed to me quite straightforward (“he’s gunning for me so just kill him first”). I sorta expected a manipulative option to be more about wanting to curry favor with your father’s enemies, some benefit/motive to his death that isn’t immediately obvious.

There’s definitly an overlap between an MC who thinks their father is bad for Koth, and an MC who thinks their father is a bad person in general. But here’s how I see it:

  • Compassionate MC - The king is strict and cruel, and while Koth grows stronger as a kingdom many people are miserable and hurting. Thus, removing the king is necessary to help people, a moral impertive of the MC’s sense of empathy. It might destabilize the kingdom but the MC thinks it’s worth it to help people who are struggling/end the king’s cruelty.

  • Noble MC - The king may be doing what he thinks is right for the kingdom, and he is not so evil as to deserve death. But Koth is weakned by what the MC considers ill-advised politics, so removing the king is necssary for the long-term benefit of Koth. It might be harsh to kill your father for being a bad ruler, but it’s part of your responsibility as royalty. A ‘greater good’ mindset, if you will.

I do agree with @Jeeshadow1, if turning on the current king is the right thing to do, the MC must have some opinion about whether the original royalty deserved to be usurped at all (and thus if Kidia deserves their support). A compassionate MC might think they deserve the throne because they weren’t to blame for their family’s corruption? And a noble MC could think Kidia could be a good ruler (eventually, with your help).

Obviously you know your own stats best, so I’m not expecting this to be copy-pasted into the code or anything like that. These are just my own intereptations of how the MC might be thinking, as a reader who doesn’t know the whole story yet. Both of these options are probably a tad too heroic, but it’s the general framework.

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TURNCOAT CHRONICLE Update Schedule

  • Version 0.2.1, an updated version of chargen + chapter 1 with new features, will go up later today.
  • Version 0.3, including the first three or four scenes of chapter 2, will go up in a week, two weeks at the most.

Features

Included in version 0.2.1.
  • Added a feature to the stats page that explains the meaning of each stat.
  • Choose pronouns for a nonbinary MC: he/him, she/her, they/them, Spivak, plus the ability to input your own neopronouns.
  • Genderfluid option - experimental, not final, subject to change.
  • Genderfluid MCs will be prompted for ID and pronouns at the beginning of each game day.
  • The MC’s current ID and pronouns will appear in a blurb on the stat page.
  • I have tentatively uncommented chargen appearance options.
  • It’s possible to ignore appearance altogether, or to choose a condensed description based on one of the MC’s parents.
  • Added a few physical descriptions of NPCs.
  • Tweaks, stat rebalancing, odds and ends.

Version 0.3 will appear no later than Sept. 15th.

To be included in version 0.3
  • For the Kidia route: the first power-sharing conversation.
  • For the Lux route: a conversation on maintaining their true identity a secret.
  • Makeover! Meet the most talented couturier in all of Madara, he’s a blast.
  • An (optional) tour of the royal palace: the gardens (pretty, but safe and boring), the music hall (for some extra backstory), the battlements (if you like living on the edge).
  • Some bits of fun backstory.

Some things that won’t be included in version 0.3:

Left out of version 0.3

The main chain of events in chapter 2 involves a series of pre-plotted meetings with Kidia/Lux, based on which route you selected. Here you get to know them better, gain their trust and perhaps friendship, and sculpt your MC’s personality.

Eventually, these scenes will be interspersed with special action menus that let you attend to other business. For example, if you’re cultivating Lux, the action menus will let you meet with Kidia on the side, to prepare for when you’re ready to take them down. These will also allow some more optional scenes with either Sheyer or Consort Harim. Later on, some of them will give special options, like for dealing with Crow, or checking in with Lux’s trust levels.

Because these scenes are more dynamic and complicated, they’re taking longer to write and program than the relatively linear main thread of the narrative. The next main plot scene is actually already written – it’s a scene where you take your princeling to meet some feisty young gossips. I lovingly refer to it as “the social gauntlet”. But, because there’s that complex action menu in between this and the palace tour, I’m holding this scene back until after I’ve whipped the menu into shape.

If you choose not to tour the palace, that’s okay. You will get a second chance at that, about three weeks later. That scene, however, is very far from finished.

Please hold while I update DashingDon…!

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The new demo is up. Link remains the same, scroll to the top to find it.

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Note that the main reason I am not replying to posts regarding King Orust’s morality like @Jackrabbit’s and @Talyrion’s is because I’d rather encourage you to debate among yourselves. A lot of the information regarding the Suthis reign is sprinkled throughout the story, implied, or otherwise ambiguous. This is deliberate, naturally. Also, it’s worth remembering that your narrator is King Orust’s child, and therefore neither omniscient and reliable.

In fact, the very first choice statement in the game is meant to remind you of that…

After multiple bouts of playing and some inner squealing at the added character descriptions, I have come up with a tentative version of the main characters, Papa, Noni, F!MC, Morun and Teven.

I usually play as Princess Eldis Suthis, talk to Morun and Teven, and have her resemble her parents in hair and eyes but not skin and height. No Sheyer yet, haven’t decided what they might look like, and obviously the boy up top with the cocky chin and beige linen is Morun!

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This is so exciting, my first ever fanart.

RATIO’D!

I’ve been running Quicktest rigorously at the end of every coding or writing session for weeks. Now that chapter 2 is finally starting to take shape, it’s time for me to be messing with Randomtest. So I looked into some of COG’s guidelines on the subject and ran a hundred iterations with full text, to get an idea of the game’s current ratio.

Full WC with code is now roughly 52K. Length of 100 random runs is 2 million and change. That gives a ratio of 0.38675953559… just kidding. A ratio of about 0.39, when COG recommends between 0.2 and 0.4. So… not doing too bad!

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One of the small, fun things that I decided to add to chapter 2 was the ability to choose the MC’s personal seal. Now, at the time I just put in the first options that came to mind, plus the backup ability to just use the MC’s first initial, if none of the symbols were to your liking. Now I’m considering opening it up to player feedback.

What sort of symbol would you want on your MC’s personal seal?

For reference, the seal of the Kingdom of Koth is a winged lion holding a sword. Orust’s personal seal is a gryphon. Harim’s personal seal is a sphinx.

  • General: a mythological beast
  • General: a natural plant or animal
  • The hippocamp, a half-horse half-fish mythical being
  • The lily, a six-petaled flower
  • The tower, symbolizing the city of Kantul
  • Your first initial, embelished
  • Write-in: some other common heraldic device
  • Write-in: something totally original

0 voters

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