Variables and stats screen help

Game Development Writing and Content
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Hello everyone! I am trying to create a smallish kinda game, in which i just try the whole set of different possibilities i can achieve with choicescript.

But unfortunately, i encountered a tiny problem, what do i do with the stats screen.

First of all, i do not want to get deeply involve the stats or their percentage. But, i will be using them as something like - ( if something is > 65 then you will have an appropriate expression or comment or something small) e.g. Samurai of Hyuga.

Then, i wanna make the stat screen something to have a porpoise and have to some degree an effect on your playthru.

And second of all, i dont even know which other stat i should include except strength, wits and diplomacy. Plus, the whole thing to try to increase them seems kinda complex, i can’t even explain how.

So, any of you have a suggestion of what or how i should approach this?

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I just do it like that

*create gender “”

*choice
#Boy
*set gender “boy”
“You have a beautiful baby boy”
*goto a
#Girl
*set gender “girl”
“You have a beautiful baby girl.”
*goto a
*label a

Others that i can think of.

*if gender = “boy”
“My lord, you have a beautiful
baby boy.”
*elseif gender = “girl”
“My lord you have a beautiful
baby girl.”

*if speed > 30
“You were not able to catch him.”

*if speed < 30
“You were able to catch Jim.”

Another one more easy and fast.

In the stats screen
Gender: Boy

In the scenes
“My lord you have a beautiful baby ${gender}.”

And there’s that thing called the *temp command but i dont know how to use it.

${gender} should display the gender that the readers pick. And dont forget the indentations.

Hope this helps and i’m a noob too XD

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Oh i know these, my problem is more in the stat screen, what i should include and how i could make the stats more meaningful.

But thanks for the advise!!

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In addition to skills, you can track other variables like personality traits, morality, and relationships. You can also keep track of the MC’s profile (their name, gender, physical description). If it’s relevant, you can have a health bar (or track health in another way). You can also include information about the world and your game–backstories, maps, etc. Without knowing anything about your game, I can’t offer more specific advice. Take a look at the official tutorial as well as the stat screens for some of the games and WIPs you like for inspiration. The stat screen, in my opinion, should include any information that’s useful to the player without overwhelming them.

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In my current WIP, I use the stats screen as an, ‘any time, any place, all-access do-as-you-please’. The stats screen gives you the opportunity do many things that aren’t considered ‘canon’, like you can access your quests, view your relationships, your skills, it lets you take notes as you please, edit the game mechanics (i.e. enable/disable flavour text, adjust difficulty, change the character gender, re-allocate investments, etc.).

I think that the stats screen can be viewed either as part of the narrative world, or as a pause button that takes you out of the game. I interpret mine as a ‘take pause an view where we’re at in this crazy world’ kind of thing.

Regardless, I think it is important to consider that your stat screen is essentially a menu - if your player wants to change their gender, get a recap of what they’ve been doing, want to view their inventory, or anything that doesn’t necessarily have a natural place in the actual narrative, the Stat Screen is the easy-access go to, similar to hitting the pause button on a game.

If you’re feeling adventurous, it’s always interesting to have the stats screen actually affect the game in small ways. If you’ve read another character’s bio in your stats screen, maybe you can gain the upper hand by unlocking a choice option in the narrative.

As for which stats you want to use, that’s more a personal choice. I prefer to keep all the specific mechanics hidden. I don’t show percentages, or numbers, but I give general indications of things.

I hope this helps somewhat to inspire you.

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I thought there was a persistence issue using the stats screen to change things?

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I haven’t encountered any issues with changing stats while in the stats screen.

As far as I know, however, the ‘show stats’ button essentially suspends the game in whatever stage it is in, and creates, so to say, a second layer of play. Exiting this layer from anywhere by hitting the ‘Return to Game’ takes you right back to where you left off.

As for registering changes, I believe they are immediate and behave as if they were in the normal play through. They only won’t register on the page from where you hit the ‘Show Stats’ button, as that page is already loaded. Any choice or event which reloads the page will register the changes on that page.

I would not recommend navigating scenes from the Stats page.

I hope I’m not mistaken.

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I was really considering this too. Not showing percentage but just describe what kind of character you are from your choices. I do love this kind of description way more than the percentage showing, and it engages and immerses you more, also if you do this with relationship you get clearer picture of where you stand with some nps.

But to be honest, i am also a little bit scary of it since my coding skills are not that good and that it will take a huge amount of time. But! I will totally gonna try this!

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Here’s what I use. *if statements don’t really need fallouts or go-to’s when you use them on their own.

*if skill_level > 0
	*set text "a very weak mage"
*if skill_level > 10
	*set text "a weak mage"
*if skill_level > 20
	*set text "a capable mage"
*if skill_level > 30
	*set text "a formiddable mage"
*if skill_level > 40
	*set text "a powerful mage"
*if skill_level > 50
	*set text "a very powerful mage"
*if skill_level > 60
	*set text "an incredibly talented mage"
*if skill_level > 70
	*set text "an unrivalled mage"
*if skill_level > 80
	*set text "an immortal mage"
*if skill_level > 90
	*set text "a God"
You are currently considered ${text}.
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