Chronicon Apocalyptica! Which is actually a game I like and wrote a positive review for on IFDB, but which has sold poorly judging from number of ratings.
Ah, that’s one I haven’t read yet, although, judging by the plot description, it sounds like something that was cooked up in a lab to appeal to me specifically - elven changelings, the Green Children of Woolpit, and a bee with a mysterious past? also, a “Grammarian” stat.
Yeah! I’d definitely try it then
Oh, it’s not a question of “if” but “when.” You’re not the only completionist around here. ![]()
I did the copy editing on Chronicon and I must say it was a delight to read through. I thought the close-to-life Medieval British fantasy setting was lush, refreshing, and clearly well-researched. So if the gameplay starts to bother you, you might enjoy a code dive.
The setting and plot of Chronicon is great, but the comment is spot on about its problem.
Arguably, it’s a consistent problem with a lot of games throughout the years, I’ve seen that complaint come up a lot
Right, exactly, that’s what my essay is about.
Oh what I wouldn’t give to have WIP reviewers break things down this thoroughly
This is generally why I try to keep attributes as minimal as possible. At the most, I’ll try to divide those attributes into “sets” of three or four, which means that players should very rarely feel overwhelmed by the number of stat choices and feel more overwhelmed by the particular choices on offer.
Just popping in to say that that book I mentioned has been (self-)published now and is available here:
The ‘learning’ ones are APA format and the ‘chicago’ ones are Chicago format but they are essentially the same. Only one chapter is directly about Choicescript games, most are about IFComp and the XYZZY Awards.
Downloaded. Thanks for sharing!
Too bad you’re not selling print copies, I would happily pay for a signed one. ![]()
@Mifga, I think you’ll be interested in this.
That would be fun! Fortunately I already got paid for this; the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation funded a microgrant for the book, which gave me time to complete it!
https://www.iftechfoundation.org/committees/grants/past-grants/2024/
Oooh, I see Felicity Banks is on the list too - you’re in good company! If you haven’t played her IFComp entry yet, I definitely recommend it.
i’m really looking forward to this! loved the writing you ready completed and shared for this topic!
I spotted this and meant to post about it before life caught up with me - congratulations and I’m so looking forward to taking a proper look at this! Fantastic work!
Wow! This was an amazing read, you’ve given me so much to think about, and there’s so much great advice here. Thanks a ton for taking the time to write it all out! It’s already given me a bunch of ideas for things I can fix and improve in my WIP.
Just came across this (a bit late, I know), but this was super helpful. I really appreciate the time and effort you’ve put in writing this! Tons of solid advice, and it’s actually helped shake me out of a bit of writer’s block.
