Until The Dogs Come Home (WIP) [22.5k Words]

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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Hello everybody! I’m excited to show you all the IF I’ve been working on: Until The Dogs Come Home.

UTDCH is a dramatic romance book about war, though you play no part in it. Instead, you are the sole member of your hometown’s postal service, who must venture into fire and brimstone to bring the word of loved ones to the front lines. As the battle rages on and new truths come to light, your seemingly simple job transforms into a rescue mission, where the very lives of the people you were tasked to deliver to are in your hands. Will it be people or body bags that you return to their sender?

  • Play as Male, Female or Non-Binary - Straight or Queer

  • Deliver heartfelt letters

  • Get a dog-related codename

  • Uncover a government conspiracy

  • Create your own brand of humour

  • Romance a free-flowing pilot, a stoic corporal, an enemy soldier, the best friend you left behind, or the best friend you’ve come to save

  • Bring everyone back home

Right now the demo sits at around 22.5k words and contains the first chapter of the story. Play it here: Until The Dogs Come Home [Demo].

I’d love to hear your thoughts about the game including bugs and errors, thanks!

ROs

Mary “Molly” Harrow

Slightly frazzled brown hair, pale skin with a smattering of freckles and green eyes. When you look at her she sends a gentle smile your way.

Harrow is your kind, empathetic childhood friend who always seems to look out for those around her. One of the few people still in Kennel around your age, Harrow has been getting more and more worried about those who have gone off to war. She just wants everyone to be okay.

Daniel “Danny” Cork

Unruly short blonde hair, peach skin and hazel eyes. When you look at him he grins, something that comes as naturally as breathing to him.

Cork is about the most reckless man you’ve ever known. And you’ve known him for a long time. At age seven, your childhood friend learnt the word ‘rambunctious’ and has never strayed from its definition since. You assume he’s causing trouble on the frontlines. You just hope he’s okay.

Samantha “Sammy” Arrow

Impossibly neat ginger hair, peach skin and brown eyes. When you look at her she nods back, a slight upturn to the frown on her stony face.

Arrow was about the most diligent student you ever shared a classroom with, and as loyal to your country as she was studious. You haven’t seen her since she joined the war effort but you hear she’s now a high-ranking official. With your foray towards the front lines not exactly sanctioned, you hope when you meet her everything will be okay.

Diego/Diana Valeria

Luxurious wavy black hair, tanned skin and dark brown eyes. When you look at them they wink back, motioning for you to come closer.

Valeria is a free spirit, gravitating around your presence because with you there’s adventure. Hailing from a country not a part of the war, you can’t help but wonder why they are here and helping you. Still, without their excellent piloting skills, you wouldn’t be able to do your job. With them at your side, you hope it will all turn out okay.

Quan

Cropped black hair, dark skin and light blue eyes. When you look at him he appears surprised before offering an enthusiastic wave.

Quan is not what you thought he would be and nothing like what your country said his people would be, either. Your first meeting was not under the best circumstances, though he says he owes you his life and intends to repay it back in full. Your goals align and he just wants to make it out okay.

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Really excited for this. Very good demo so far. I did notice that the text still mentioned Harrow at Hawkins place even though I asked her not to come along.

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For some reason, the last names remind me of all the DC Robins

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Nvm, I realised it’s the bat fam

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Glad you enjoyed, I appreciate the kind words!

Harrow’s always trying to stick her nose in places she’s not supposed to, thanks for catching that, I’ll fix that up.

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Haha glad you caught that, I’m terrible with coming up with names so when in doubt, steal from the best!

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the premise reminds me a bit of saving private ryan

love war stories where youre not a soldier. mcs tight knit community and how much they care for each other is heartwarming, makes you want to bring them all back home to live happily despite the odds. looking forward to doing so!

and i gotta say, the humor choice is one of the best doggone things ive ever experienced, an absolute smorgasbord of puns and personality

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It’s good so far. It also feels like an experiment in how many dog references you can put in a story while having it still be coherent. Just to be clear, this isn’t a bad thing.

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The story seems great so far, but my favorite thing is probably the humor types. I love a story where I can be a sarcastic little shit one minute and fire off puns back to back the next.

Keep up the great work.

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I really liked the story so far. It reminded myself of another war story, although a much darker one: All Quiet on the Western Front.
I‘m curious to see where this is going.
My only (very small and personal, and I wouldn’t even call it, if not for the lack of another word, a) problem is since the country is called Bavaria and I’m German I expect other names.
But regardless great writing. Very funny.

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Oh I love all of this, the game’s concept is certainly intriguing :heart:

Appreciate that I can respond with witty sarcasm & dark humour in some scenes (my favourites).
And although I haven’t met them yet, I do look forward to interacting with the rest of the RO’s. I’m also curious as to how much MC’s injury will play a role later in the story.

Definitely looking forward to future updates!

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Thank you to everyone who has read and responded so far, it’s always a relief when people view your work and enjoy it! I’m grateful for all the feedback, especially about all the humour choices, it’s one thing to think you’re funny but doing it in multiple different styles had me wondering how well I was doing on that front.

As for the future, my next main focus is providing some content on the rest of the ROs. The first part of the story may feel a little slow and Harrow-focused but have no fear, the rest of the ROs will be properly introduced in due course. Until then, I’ll provide a small snippet of the first time you meet them in the story in the next update along with a small part of chapter 2 (which has some Cork and Arrow content) so you can get a feeling for their characters.

Thanks again and I look forward to sharing the next update when it’s ready!

Responses to Feedback

Saving Private Ryan was one of the inspirations behind the story, so I’m hoping a bit of the magic behind that can seep into my work via some form of narrative osmosis.

So glad you enjoy the premise and the feel of the writing, this was exactly the kind of sentiment I was trying to get across in the early going of the book. I appreciate your feedback!

Haha, this isn’t wrong, I’m aiming for most shoehorned-in dog references per paragraph. Glad you enjoyed.

Thank you for the kind words! I always liked the idea of being able to mix and match humour so it’s good to see other people like it too.

All Quiet on the Western Front is fantastic, though I must admit I’ve only seen the film and not read the book. It’s nice to hear my story reminded you of it, as I aim to provide more of a hopeful or bittersweet feeling to the concepts surrounding the reality of war that the two stories share.

Thank you for bringing up the point about how close Bravaria and Bavaria are. Funnily enough, when I was first writing this up I realised how similar the two were and wondered if it would cause confusion and if I should change the country name to Bravia instead. Since the intention of the story is to provide a completely fictitious war and history without any real-world inclination, I think I will go ahead with the change. I appreciate you mentioning it and kind words!

Thank you for all the kind words, I’m pleased you’re enjoying the story! It’s good to know that dark humour is a favourite, it’s not my strong suit in writing so to see it getting some love is great.

I’m glad you’re excited to meet the rest of the ROs, it’s my main focus at the moment to jump ahead a little bit in the story and provide some introductory content for them so people can get acquainted with them. As for the MC’s injury, I’m afraid I can’t divulge anything juicy though it definitely will come up in some important events in the future.

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I really like the creativity for our personality stats!! (Almost made me believe that I’d be playing as a dog lol)

Love the way Molly’s character is fleshed out, with how her OCD (atleast I think it’s ocd) is portrayed, her walking song, and the banter with our MC is an absolute delight!

And the premise is also really cool. It’s rare to see a war story told from the perspective of the hometown of the soldiers, and how much of a ghost town it becomes really drives home the bleakness of it all. And yet we also get to have different types of humor, which helps in dealing with the gloom a little. (Can’t believe I’ll get to make dark puns lmao).

Overall, I really like what I’ve read so far, and looking forward for more. Thanks for this story.

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I started to twig what you were doing at Grayson and knew at Wayne. I had to tell you I loved it! Had to pull out a random number generator because it was so hard to pick. And then I fully lost it at the first names. With that and this being a post office game I think you read my mind! This game and I are going to get on really well

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I really like the story and everything who-let-the-dogs-out-style xD the humour is puntastic and the characters are sweet and fun. I’m looking forward to more :grinning:

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This Demo is Fantastic! I can already see this be one of the greatest. Or at least very high quality when it releases.

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Ooof this is great, definitely gonna be one of my faves. The scene where you’re heading to the door with your news and how you can feel everyone looking through the curtains, hoping that you won’t stop and walk through their front garden gate like some sort of grim reaper is great. And I know that’s what my mailman thinks.

Also love the chance to play a mailman, the premise to me makes for an interesting mix of Klaus, Fallout New Vegas and the movie 1917 where a letter has to be raced to the Front to stop battle that’s been compromised.

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I was on a doggo rampage and seeing this title, yep, gotta read it! While I am stuck with doggos on my mind. Might clear my mind of doggies?

Maybe not with Dougie there.

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Ok. Stopped with him. Once picked name and decided first option, he says ‘boy’. Had to exit for now, its men, women and enbies? This right?

Kid, you better listen!

You know how things are, kid!

Sex/Gender not a choice before this moment. Probably should be before he says that?

Or child can also become as derogatory as boy/girl too.

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Thanks for bringing that to my attention, he should be using kid and child now, that’s my bad that I missed that. If there are any more of those mistakes please bring them up so I can fix them as soon as possible, I appreciate it!

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