(WIP) Age of Heroes: Resurgence (Indefinite hiatus)

Hello everyone. After a year or two of trying to figure out Choicescript (still a work in progress) I’ve finally finished a demo. I’ve written novels before, not good novels, but novels nonetheless. And I wanted to get some experience writing Interactive Fiction before trying to write some of my more extravagant ideas.

With that backstory out of the way, here we are. This is the first IF project I’ve gotten very far in. I hope you enjoy it, though I’ll warn you, there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Demo (42K words)

https://dashingdon.com/go/8774

Summary

You’re a small-town journalist who’s a bit down on their luck. Until, one day, you witness the world’s strongest supervillain die at the hands of an unknown hero. Setting you on a path to St. Phillip, to unravel the history of a nigh unstoppable hero and a plot to create a new generation of supervillains.

Basically, it’s a superhero story where you play as a civilian. While you won’t be able to participate in most the heroics, if you’re smart, you’ll be able to crack a few mysteries, and maybe make a few friends with certain superheroes.

Features

-Branching paths for every major events of the book. You’ll be able to tackle issues in a few different ways.

-Join a prominent newspaper or strike out on your own with a blog.

-Brand a new hero with a cool name, or one that will make them hate you forever.

-Show up or be shown up by a rival reporter.

-Influence the reputation of heroes and prominent figures throughout the city.

-And maybe uncover grand conspiracies and secrets while you’re at it.

Characters

A list of some of the characters you’ll encounter throughout the story.

Main Heroes

Anomaly: A mysterious, nigh all-powerful hero that only you’ve witnessed. His exact powers are unknown, but extremely powerful.

Stalwart: The newest member of the Heroes Alliance. She’s an unfriendly, but heroic individual with the power of flight, strength, and self-healing.

Constable: St. Phillip’s own local hero, who soon finds himself overwhelmed with the new resurgence of villains. He has the power to charge up his attacks and speed.

Prism/Sparkle: A rookie hero who’s recently come onto the scene in St. Phillip. She wields bright, colorful energy into battle, that she can wield in a number of different ways.

Absolute Zero: A government employed superhero with ice-based powers and high-tech gadgets to compliment them.

Magi: A mysterious hero who appears and disappears seemingly at random. Her powers are likewise unknown but appear to be rooted in her mind.

Nightwatch: A member of the Heroes Alliance who’s come to St. Phillip to investigate the resurgence.

Villains

Bestower: One of the last great supervillains left alive. His only power is to give other people superpowers.

Whisper: A mysterious villain with equally mysterious powers. Partner to Bestower and his ally in bringing about the resurgence.

Other Characters

Melody Brooks: An ace reporter who’s recently arrived in St. Phillip. Are you her biggest fan? Her friendly colleague? Or her rival? It’s up to you.

Samuel and Penelope: Twins and your younger siblings. You were left with them after your mother died years ago.

William: Your grandfather and an old war hero. He’s allowing you to stay in his house at St. Phillip.

More may be added later.

What I need feedback on

Everything.

Okay, in all seriousness, while I appreciate all feedback on my writing. What I’m mainly looking for is help related to the COG format. Is there too few choices? Too many? Do you ever wish you could react some way that you can’t? Let me know. This is my first COG and is therefore very experimental for me.

I’m also trying to improve my prose and dialogue. So, if you have any advice relating to that, please comment below.

Tumblr link

https://samsonjbodney.tumblr.com/

The Not-FAQ

Questions that have, not, in fact, been frequently asked. But that I assume might be asked at some point.

Will there be romance?

Probably not, as I’ve never written it (well) before. Also because a lot of the characters will be either too old or too young for the MC. But that doesn’t mean the MC won’t be able to forge deep friendships and non-romantic relationships with other characters.

The focus of this story (in terms of character relationships) is bonding with, and being able to influence the actions of the various heroes in the story. This will change some of their behavior and even the outcomes of certain plot points.

I suppose I don’t want to 100% rule out romance either. Maybe I’ll attempt it once I get deeper into writing the characters. But in all likelihood, this will not be the case.

"How do skills work?

This is a narrative-driven game. So instead of leveling up different stats throughout the game, you’ll instead pick what your major skill is during the prologue. The two options are “People” and “Investigative.”

These will affect flavor text and occasionally unlock unique dialogue options.

"What are contacts?

Contacts are to add a bit of flavor to the story. Basically, you’ll run across people during your time in St. Phillip who’ll help you acquire information on specific issues. Each will provide you with the perspective of certain other groups in the world.

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I haven’t read it yet but I’m so very excited to be a civilian! I know that won’t be true of everyone, but I’m very interested in not being the Hero of the story.

EDIT: Okay, I really like it so far. I think you’ve given us quite a good number of choices with different personality options. I’m super curious what Overlord was planning to do with us and excited to meet the other characters.

I would recommend elaborating on what kind of relationships we can have with other characters. Totally fine if you aren’t going to include romance, but I’d put that information out there because people will for sure ask, probably repeatedly, if you don’t.

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Thank you! I’ve always been interested in superhero stories written from the civilian perspective. I hope I don’t disappoint.

Again, thank you. There’ll be more than just the three characters I’ve posted. But, I don’t want to share too much information about them right away. Mainly because MC will be meeting some of their civilian identities, and I’m curious to see if I can write them in such a way that my readers won’t instantly be able to tell who they are.

Good point. I should elaborate a little on how character relationships will work in the OP. There probably won’t be romance, as I’ve never written it (well) before, and a lot of the characters would be either too old or too young for the MC.

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Is this game similar to Loren The Amazon Princess, where you play as a side character instead of being the main character of the story?

If so, I like it because it would be refreshing to play as a side character and helping the superheroes, instead of you getting all the attention xD

That’s also what I’d like to see, more games where you play as a side character, while you can choose to intervene in what the main characters do or betray them for the villain, etc.

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Yes, this game is one where you play as a side character. You won’t be the one to save the day, but you’ll be able to influence the various superheroes. Thanks for the comment.

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Huh, playing as Louis Lane, this seem like a new idea. I am intrigued .

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Lois Lane, except she’s the one from a small town, lol. Thank you. I hope you enjoy it.

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Very interesting WIP :))
I like that we are not the “hero” of the story just a side character.

Sorry, but their probably won’t be romance in this book. I put my reasons in the Not-FAQ, and trust me, you really don’t want to see me try my hand at writing romance. Lol.

Thank you. Glad you’re finding it interesting so far.

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You’ve got a very captivating writing style which increases my interest in the story. It’s not bland not to spicy. I like the immersion as well. I couldn’t make an impression on the pacing of the story becuase there’s not much to go off on but I hope in future it’ll be alright.
Not every plot has to be about MC saving the day and a romance trope. It’s quite liberating to see a wip situated out of the daily monotonous categories of romance and per se “MC is the chosen one”.
I wish you luck and keep up the good work :beers:

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you’re liking my writing style so far, I’m trying to be descriptive enough that the reader can picture what’s happening, without spending too much time on description every time.

Hopefully, I’ll give a better idea of how the pacing will be next update. Where things will slow down a bit so that the reader can get a better feel for their PC.

I agree (obviously, since I’m writing this lol). I like playing the great hero or the chosen one as much as the next guy, but I think IF also has the potential to write stories about side characters, mentors, ect. And how they influence the plot. Hopefully, I’ll do a good job with this one.

Thanks again!

This is very short but good. Is there a chance MC might get seriously hurt or die in any situation?

I know, the demo’s a little on the short side, at the moment. Hopefully, I’ll be able to add to it soon.

The MC won’t be able to die, I personally just don’t like it when that happens in IF. My basic plan going forward is that, if you fail stat checks or make a poor decision, the MC will be a bit of a “damsel in distress” trope. Meaning they’ll be captured, fall off a building, or be otherwise put in peril. Some of these may include the MC being injured, but none of them will result in death.

If you succeed at stat checks and make smarter decisions, the MC will both avoid needing someone to save them, and actually be able to help the heroes. Not by straight-up joining them in battle, but through other means.

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No worries it’s perfect and on point.

I absolutely agree. It’s refreashing as well as interesting to see what unknown territories we can venture into with IF and this is right in that ballpark.

Great work :beers:

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I always love stories told from a perspective outside the heroes, so I’ll definitely keep a eye on this one! Very interesting for the first few chapters.

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so will we be able to design are MC

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, you’ll be able to customize the MC’s appearance. Probably not all at once, but over the course of the story.

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Well, color me very interested!!

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I really enjoyed reading this story so far! I just have couple of questions I’m dying to ask. Why did The Overlord want the Mc to wait for him when he went into the vault? And will you write a other book when this one is done? Because I thought it was a lots of fun to read and I wont mind reading a other book if this came out as a series.

Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying the story.

As for the question, that would venture into spoiler territory. The only thing I’ll say is that it wasn’t because the MC has some secret superpower or anything like that.

Thanks again. Although you may be praising this book a bit prematurely. I’m still figuring out how to write IF properly.

I might break this story into two parts if it turns out to be long enough, but we’ll see. After that, I don’t know. I may write another story set in the same universe as this one, since I’ve already come up with superheroes and supervillains for it. But I’ve also got other ideas for stories, so I might choose to write one of them instead. I really don’t know.

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