yea
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A fun tumblr post that you guys may be interested in or not:
(Originally a question about how the author started to write DYVJ)
As a writer I’ve kind of always been the type to seize on a basic premise that sounds cool and then go ham on writing something. The negative is that having only a premise means that momentum eventually stalls out because you need to construct a story around it; I spent many years writing like 20-40k words of an idea before falling apart because I hadn’t thought about where stuff was going in the long term. Meant I got a lot of practice putting words on the page though, so that helped.
This explanation gets long! I’ve mentioned some of this stuff before, so forgive me if you’ve heard it already.
DYVJ specifically is the third or fourth incarnation of a superpowered story that went through a couple of different plots and revisions. (I don’t remember if I poked at a smaller idea between incarnations one and two) The first version focused a lot more heavily on the commercialized side of superpowers and bounced between a rookie trying to get a hero license and an established hero who was stuck in celebrity hell having to play a persona for the media. That was an example of having an interesting premise (heroes as celebrities/an industry) but lacking a ‘midgame’, as I didn’t really know where things would go from there.
The next incarnation looked a lot more like DYVJ, and a lot of that story went into villain juice itself. The DPR originated there, and so did Alderbrook and many of its details. That premise was ‘character wants to keep a low profile after being burned by the system, gets dragged back into the superpowered life for the sake of those important to them’, which definitely had legs, but ran into the roadblock of my momentum slowing because I wasn’t sure how to do the recruitment for the protagonist’s team and then I started second-guessing my own writing.
For DYVJ, I had just emigrated and had time on my hands to write since I had obviously left my old job. I felt like I’d have no better opportunity to make a real go of the whole ‘being an author’ thing and sat down to seriously commit to a project. Interactive Fiction was on my mind at the time as I’d finally read Night Road after owning it for ages (and then revisited some COG titles I’d previously read), and I really wanted to give the DYVJ setting another shot because I’d enjoyed creating it and felt bad about letting it lapse. And idk, I guess writing something interactive just felt intriguing to me, especially paired with the idea of a character who didn’t fit the mold of superpowers. (The “Everyone knows there are three kinds of powers, and everyone is wrong.” is kinda the premise that got me excited)
I didn’t want to adapt 1:1 because the start of the older story was too on rails. On top of that, the original protagonist of DYVJ was both a bit too rigid in personality and had too many similarities to Sidestep of Fallen Hero; they existed before I read Fallen Hero, but the overlap was undeniable. It felt right to make a brand new MC, and they needed a reason to be involved while keeping to that same ‘doing this because they have to, not because they want to’ type of vibe, and that’s how we got Paradigm, leashed to the very thing that gives them their powers.
I like rambling about characters so as a quickfire thing:
Vantage, Arcade (the best friend and fake boyfriend of ‘celebrity hell’ protagonist) and (versions of) Wil and Teddie were from the original incarnation. So was the character that became a composite part of Beth, but they didn’t have much in common.
Dion, Alice, Ranger, Mis and Hit, Rocket, [SPOILERS], and Scour were all from the second incarnation. Mal was actually the deuteragonist, but wasn’t from that story. This is where the ‘Beth’ character acquired the ‘somebody [protagonist] used to know’ role, but again, wasn’t actually Beth.
Also, as entities, but mostly not their members, that’s where I created the Altruists, Glory Hounds, S.C.U.M., Shreds, and Businessmen.
(I have some posts about origins of some characters on patreon. I’m holding back on some because it would be flagrant spoilers though, haha ^^)
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What power fits the stealth theme the most? I’ve only been using mutation because the nodes don’t sound interesting to me and the carapace is cool but I want the body horror.
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mutations cuz its slippery and gross like an octopus on land ehehh
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The powers aren’t designed specifically to key into the skills mostly for reasons of my sanity. There’s an off chance there will be skill + specific power related stuff at some point but uhh that’s a lot of combinations so maybe not. You should feel free to select whichever and if you like the body horror the mutations are the most body horrorcentric even though those elements are there for all specialities.
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After the new update I have more questions regarding Mal’s ability. If some are spoilers and you can’t answer that’s okay.
- If Mal can’t feel pain, can they have bone protrusions like Teddie?
- Can Mal make a mini flesh tentacle? Asking cause you said no to if Mal can form something similar to Dime’s tentacles.
- Is Mal the med guy partially due to their ability requiring a higher understanding of physical anatomy?
- Can Mal wrap the shape of their legs to make them more suitable for 4-limb walking, like make an extra joint somewhere or just change outer shape.
- I’m guessing the answer is no but can Mal make an extra mouth somewhere on their body?
- Can Mal to some extent heal their body with their ability?
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Ooh, interesting! Yeah, I can answer some of this.
- In theory some bone could poke out but it would not be a particularly great experience. Teddie has some secondary stuff preventing the bones being as awful as they could be (though they’re still bad). Mal can feel pain, they’re just particularly resilient.
- Maybe something very tiny, but it’s not really an “intended” use of their power.
- Nope, their medical interest is all their own.
- They probably could mess with themself a little bit like that but I don’t think they’d be able to configure everything sufficiently to do an effective job of it.
- Not that would function as one.
- Spoilers!
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Hey, does anyone know how to get these achievements in particular? I’ve played through the chapters maybe 7 times now with different characters but haven’t pinned exactly what choices lead to these scenarios. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
They are:
Harmony: In tune with your abilities. All of them. (This one I’m really unsure? Like, is it possible to have more than one power ability?)
Catalytic Conversion: As good as it gets. (I sure hope this one isn’t related to being nice to Catalyst, I’m never NOT punching him.)
By the Horns: Begin something with a fragile optimist. (I’ve already tried 3 times to get into a relationship with Kay but it just never gets prompted? The last interaction I got was having Teddie give us space to hangout.)
Codebreaker: Knowing the code and understanding it are different things. (I’m thinking this might be something related to that secret compartment in The Zone and might be achievable through high knowledge. Rather easy to verify but I’ll take a break from playing for a few days so I’d be really happy if someone who knows the answer could share it.)
Underdog’s Bite: Punch far beyond your weight class. (I have been constantly fighting against the heroes and coming out on top, thought beating/matching Surpass and the precog would have been enough but I still didn’t get it. Who’s stronger than them that we get to fight?)
Also, thank you author for making this game! I’ve been having a blast with it and will patiently wait to see how your story develops.
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Not sure about the other ones, but I’m fairly certain you can’t actually begin a relationship with Kay as of the current update (which is why you can’t obtain that particular achievement yet); the most you can do right now is flirt and feel attraction towards her.
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I’m pretty sure this one is from the flashback in the beginning. If you have a high knowledge stat you can decode the notes you find in the compound
Edit, rereading rn and realized that’s not really the full answer - you also have to take a look at the notice board upstairs
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Underdog’s Bite is a flashback related achievement. When The Project shows up don’t run/freeze up, help Prii and attack The Project. Then choose the option related to your strongest skill and voila, you manage to actually put a small dent in that thing.
Harmony is when you select a choice that uses both your fighting skill and power specialty when fighting someone three times (Ex:Selecting the choice where you use both your carapace and hand to hand skills against Vantage, subtly strengthening your carapace with the mastery you have over your powers to bait Cannibal etc.) Essetianlly the synergy achievement but do it three times in one run. Not sure what combination actually allows you to do this three times in the current demo (if it’s possible at all) but you can code dive to find out if you want.
iirc the catalytic conversion one is indeed being nice to Catalyst, but i’m not sure if it’s something you can actually get in the current demo either.
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Didn’t even cross my mind that some achievements may not be possible as of yet. Thanks for the help!
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yeah some of the acdhivements are not availabe and some are placeholders for later. which one is which? that’s a secret tool for later
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Thank you for reading and the nice comment! ^^
Your questions have been answered mostly; a few achievements I just wanted to write down names so I didn’t forget to put them there later. Most of the relationship ones aren’t in yet. Harmony’s for finding all the ‘synergy’ options for your powerset+speciality but I may or may not keep it in cause I want to make the combos actually interesting without crowbarring them.
It’ll be for-sure possible to start dating anyone except Beth within the next two chapters. I’m not 100% sure on how that’s gonna look in terms of ‘locking in’, etc, but it’s definitely there.
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Writing update
I’ve been spending the past few days on a rather overdue task; making a proper record of various stat checks and hidden stats. To this point I’ve been keeping paper notes/just sort of having the values held in my head (in terms of stat checks), but DYVJ has grown enough that not documenting things properly is just a little silly.
Spreadsheets, my beloathed… (actually I like spreadsheets, I just don’t enjoy organization).
Behind the curtain, and as you intrepid code divers may know, DYVJ has quite a few hidden variables being tracked. These include things like how violent you’re being, how much you’re actively relishing violence, how much various characters suspect you’re something/someone other than what you say, and your level of defiance towards the Coven, among others. Juggling all of this was getting to be a bit too much, as I realised I had lost track of what numbers players can actually have reached with things like defiance. It was also nagging at me that I had no proper record of how many times each stat was getting tested (and at what difficulty level).
This stuff isn’t awful to do but it’s quite fiddly with the stat checks especially since the goalposts for difficulty move around. Still, I’m through the more annoying parts and feeling pretty solid about what I’ve built so far. There’s still more I need to run through, because I track more things than I should, but I’m glad to have done this. Maybe next project I’ll do it from the beginning instead of when it’s way more work. 
Have a lil bit of Teddie!
After several seconds of awkward silence, Fracture turns to you fully. His brow is furrowed so deeply it could be etched in bone, but you don’t think it’s directed at you.
“Could use a hand.” He gestures at a gnarled spire of bone protruding from his elbow. “Need to break these off. Easier with two people. Kay would help usually, but…”
Still on the run, last you heard. Hopefully, the battle with S.C.U.M. got the Hounds off her tail.
…wait, does she have—
You focus on Teddie.
*choice
*hide_reuse #“Doesn’t that… hurt?”
#Tell him I’ll help.
*selectable_if ((runningonfumes) or (mc_health > 3)) #“Don’t really have a whole lot in the tank here either, man.”
#The prospect makes me kind of green around the gills.
#I don’t think I’m up to this, but I can keep him company.
#No way.
*hide_reuse #I tactfully imply that this doesn’t seem very healthy.
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(Apologies in advance for the long comment!)
Piggybacking off this, but I greatly appreciate that you have all these sorts of little variables that you keep track of (even if it can become quite a hassle for yourself).
I love this sort of reactivity in games, as it makes it come across as if each decision, even seemingly innocuous ones, could potentially have an impact on the experience. Adds a lot of replayability too with all the different ways scenes and relationships with other characters can potentially play out (in both major and minor ways).
My favourite example of this recently is the two different versions of Wil’s romance, depending on whether you clashed with them or Teddie in the beginning (and aren’t repentant) - and if you did (and you pick certain romantic options), it gives you a sort of Tsundere vibe (I guess you’d call it?) to their romance.
I had no idea this even existed until recently, because with the way I normally roleplay I almost always clash with both Wil and Teddie (because I’m a little grumpy gremlin who ain’t taking nobody’s shit after what I’ve been through the last 5 years). As such I’d usually choose to avoid interacting with Wil whenever I had the option (because they’d ticked me off), so wouldn’t typically see any of the romantic options with them (and would push them away/shut them down in the interactions I did have with them).
Having this particularly variation is great not only as it is kinda hilarious (some of the things we can say and think are rather out of pocket), but because it allows to me to do their romance while staying true to my version of the MC.
I’m especially glad of the latter point, because Wil is definitely now my favourite of the ROs (and I wish I’d tried their romance sooner!). I would never have got to properly appreciate their character full-stop (romantic or otherwise) without this route existing (so thank you for that!).
Wil after my Dime tries (and fails) to stay mad at them:
Potential bugs and errors/questions/other thoughts (some spoilers for current update):
Summary
1: If you’re romancing Wil, is Mal still meant to offer to hookup even if you haven’t picked any romantic options with the latter (but haven’t blocked off their romance)?
I usually don’t see this because I normally block off Mal’s romance route entirely (mostly because I find their personality rather grating), so them brazenly propositioning both me and Wil like that in this particular case (even though I haven’t show any interest whatsoever in Mal) was pretty uncomfortable, and honestly made me a little angry too as someone who’s strictly monogamous (both in real life and in my choice of interactive fiction).
2: Is Wil attracted to/interested in Kay, even if you’re not doing the poly route involving both of them?
I’m wondering because I noticed that there’s a line where Wil calls Kay adorable while their eyes linger on her (and if we’re interested in either of them, we internally respond “huh”). Also, if we hang out with Kay afterwards and flirt with her (calling her adorable), she says something about us stealing someone else’s line (which sort of seems like she interpreted Wil’s comment as them flirting with her?).
Was Wil actually flirting/showing interest in Kay there, or am I reading too much in to this?
Just curious because ngl I feel a little jealous reading this interaction when on Wil’s romance route (and it makes me kinda want to ask Wil about this eventually because I need reassuring lol).
3: If we hang out with Kay after Masquerade (but don’t flirt with her) and we were in a relationship with Shauna, the text at the bottom refers to the latter as just our bestie (rather than our girlfriend)?
4: In the fight with Spring Breaker in the latest update, if you choose the initial option that says “Go at her full force”, the immediate text afterwards says “Oh well, Wyrd can deal” - I’m assuming “with it” is missing at the end of the sentence?
5: During the same fight with Spring Breaker, is the option, “She’s already hurt. Finish it” meant to indicate that we’re trying to kill her?
6: I think in the stats screen in the current update there’s a minor error where it lists your current wounds? It says I have no wounds, but then also proceeds to list several wounds that I have?
For example, I chose to save the two people in the car during the fight with Cannibal, and the stat screen says: “Wounds: none for now. A nasty gash across the back. Also, you kinda just got blown up”.
7: If it’s not too spoilery, why do we lose relationship points with Mal when we see through their disguise after the first mission with Kay and Teddie (if we have high Observation)? Is it because they’re worried that we’ll see through or notice other things about them we’re not supposed to? Or is it just an ego thing?
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The fact that the MC is a villain and can have mutation powers reminds me of Mahito from Jujutsu Kaisen. Awesome!
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Mal being a sex pest as a bug isn’t intended but it is pretty funny it keeps happening
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No need to apologise! Long comments are lovely!
But yes! Wil, Teddie, and CG all have a variation of their romance marked t. t_wil, t_teddie t_cg (iirc). The T stands for tsundere, so you are correct about the vibe, it’s exactly what I was going for.
MAALLL STAAAAAHP omg.
The way this is SUPPOSED to work is that it fires if you have flirted with Mal either actively or passively at least twice. Clearly my failsafe for this is not doing its job; the coding in that section is a bit ramshackle, so I suspect that it’s pointing to the “Mal propositions you both” label more than once.
Wil has some attraction towards Kay; that moment in particular is mostly there to give a quick nod towards the fact that those two are a poly option together (and Dime picking up on the possible spark because they’re a bit more attentive towards it if they like Kay/Wil/both). However, Wil doesn’t mean that line especially flirtatiously; xe’s more just expressing fondness for a friend.
oh, that’s because you can’t do a multireplace in a multireplace, so to have a version that switches girlfriend and best friend would mean doubling up some/coding the paragraph in a different way. I have done that in the past for things, and I might do it here, but tbh the intention was to emphasise the best friend part of that relationship (I don’t always do things specifically for the bestie version of AdVenture relations, and I’d like to include a little more because friendships are important too)
This may be a colloquialism of mine seeping in. I use that as shorthand for ‘deal with it’ a lot of the time. Maybe it’s less common than I think.
It is not, that’s just me running short on ways to pithily say ‘attack someone without regard for how violent I’m being’ 
Yeahhh that’s an oversight in how I coded the wounds variable. I sometimes forget to turn the ‘default’ injury description off when you pick up a new wound. Thanks for the catch!
Mal’s partially being petty (irritated that their prank didn’t pan out) and partially the exact thing you’re guessing; they’re going “fuck, I’m gonna have to watch myself around them. That’s so annoying.”
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