Again, depends- some ROs it takes me one millisecond to fall in love with lol, but with others, maybe a bit longer? I actually don’t know why myself, but it could be because the character does not relate enough to me, or that there isn’t enough time to get to know the character? lol
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Both were interesting in their own ways. With Myrna, I was hook, line and sinker so went along with things. There was also a part of me interested to see if the budding romance with Vera would have any consequences. Vera being visibly disappointed was a nice touch, I’m wondering if this will be addressed any further at any point?
Whereas with Dorsa, I don’t know. Maybe I just like drama, so if there were some stakes to it with the main potential RO then probably, haha. Overall, Dorsa is a cool character, she could kick my ass and I’d love that for her.
Quick question, do you have an idea at what stage of the story different ROs will progress into a deeper/acknowledged romance (if that’s possible)? If that’s spoilery, I will happily wait to find out in-story.
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Guess if you examine the magic too closely it stops working. Can’t have all the data meters and human plugins I want. Drat. @Mistyleaf123
Bet on it. P.S. she had to be working for someone. I felt actual joy writing her, so I’m glad someone enjoyed her, however short-lived.
I don’t think I’ll have to try too hard to convince you that, on reappearance, she comes with an appropriate amount of trouble. Stay tuned.
Hmm? Point of no return? Ch9: so, after c7c, 8a, 8b. Maybe that seems like a long while. Too slow burn? That will be about midpoint, which for story is actually about 60% of the way through. At that point, you’ll have a complete crew. But there will be open overtures, some in this next chapter. And physical opportunities beforehand, but non-committal. Believe it or not, I’ve been tracking a lot of decisions for later: Myrna sex, threaten Saz on waking, . . . they will all count. In a way, you’re already deciding. @jamelikename
EDIT: Just under 10k words into Ch7c: Polar Hex-press.
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I’ve spent the weekend mostly beta-testing Vampire the Masquerade: Out for Blood. I’m trying to do a good job for them, so it’s delaying progress. Just being transparent.
Flipside, I woke up at 4am and realized that Ch.6: Face-Spit Savior? should be The Wizard of "Nah"s. So, that’s what it is now.
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Hit 18k words today w Ch7: Polar Express. Hope to finish it by the end of this week or the beginning of next. This will finish the 1st tier of duchy missions.
2nd tier (8a, 8b) will complete the PC voyage across all five duchies. In Ch9, there’s something of a party crisis. In the next 5 chapters (10, 11a, 11b, 11c, and 12), you revisit each duchy, choosing a side and having a final conflict in each. 10 = Coastal. 11a, b, c = Blizzard, Desert, Swamp. 12 = Jungle) Before each, there is a mid-chapter (vacation day) you can spend doing climate specific activities with whichever of the 6 ROs you have around. These will be short (aiming for 5kwords/each) and optional.
Which chapter do you want me to write first?
- 8a: Hairy Pater. Octo/a, Fogbeard, and Hazmek in the Desert Duchy. Vera/o past.
- 8b: War-ld of Orc-craft. Zale, Megdura, and Tzob in the Swamp Duchy. Saz past.
0 voters
How should I write the second half?
- Write all the plot chapters first: 10,11a,11b,11c,12 then 10.5,11.5a,11.5b,11.5c,12.5
- Alternate vacation days with ROs: 10,10.5,11a,11.5a,11b,11.5b,11c,11.5c,12,12.5
- Finish the whole thing and then circle back for vacation days: 10-12, 13abc, .5s
0 voters
13a,b,c will encompass the 5-ish endings. You will only see one of those chapters/playthrough.
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Update: maybe 25k+ words into Ch7c. Barring the unforeseeable, I expect to finish tomorrow or Saturday. Progress slowed midway due to my dividing some time into beta testing.
When I post the chapter, I will close the 8a vs. 8b poll in the previous post but leave the second-half poll up until I’ve either started or finished Ch9, where you start to choose your alignment.
Here is the structure of Ch7c, for those who want it. Cheers!
-Travel to Blizzard Duchy w Saz and Vera
-Arrive at base camp of the Ice Wall which surrounds the duchy
-Overnight stay where you choose a jacket and have an opportunity to barter for an ice dagger @Mistyleaf123 or a pocket goat as an accessory.
-Climb the wall.
-Interrupt Ursal (bear people) manhunt.
-Assist in exchange for directions.
-Separate from Ursal at the border of Yeti territory.
-Discover Trudy is the subject of the manhunt.
-Battle Yeti on a frozen Lake.
-Recover in Cold-ville, reuniting with Willa (elf woman from Ch1)
From here, there are 3 side quests
- Deliver the letter to Brr-Brr-a w Saz across dangerous terrain laden w dragon hunters
- Negotiate a treaty with a necromancer imprisoned in Elf-catraz to join the Dragonfall with Vera
- Deliver stolen goods to the Headmaster of the Citad-elf with Trudy for reward
-Retrieve the armageddon kazoo from an ice pyramid at the behest of Dumbledwarf and decide what to do with it
-Atomic wtf chapter ending
-Establish new base of operations at New Applebrook where Trudy and Llorick become party mainstays, and Phill self-elects as strategic commander of great, no grand, import.
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Ok so there’s Phil. Then the horse is Phil 2, MC can be Phil 3 and Phil’s kid will be Phil 4 
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It’s my favorite that you noticed! Reassures me that people are actually reading. Thanks so much! 
@Frieza
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I’ve uploaded Ch. 7c: Polar Hex-press. Edited code, not prose. So, for a cleaner read, wait a few days. Quick Tests produced no errors, but Random Tests did after Cold-ville. If you run into problems there, please send screenshots. Cheers!
What was your fave c7c activity?
- Climbing Ice Wall.
- Delivering letter to Brr-Brr-a w Saz.
- Going to Citad-elf w Trudy.
- Going to Elf-catraz w Vera.
- Ice Pyramid and Armageddon Kazoo w party.
0 voters
Who was the c7c MvP?
- Saz.
- Vera.
- Trudy.
- Dumbledwarf.
- Regina Schmerlin.
- Riga.
- Brr-Brr-a.
- Pocket Goat.
0 voters
What was your reaction to the surprise ending?
- Saw it coming.
- Atomic wtf.
- Bad, bad, very bad.
- Everything is fine.
- Possibly great.
0 voters
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It won’t let me post screenshots so I will just write the error message. After speaking with Trudy, Saz and Vera after the last dialogue option it says: line 939: No selectable options
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Figured it out.
I put a temp variable after a label so that the meter was resetting between choices. So, that meter couldn’t get high enough for the new option, the one to continue, to arise.
Thanks! Should be good now. @Frieza
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Is it just me or has the MC become a lot less of a moron since the beginning?
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Hmm, some of that's intentional.
At first, you couldn’t spell “militia,” and you hadn’t been very far from Applebrook. So, the PC’s exposure shall certainly have expanded their world view–the “Shire” vs. the wider world: places and cultures, people and politics, etcera. There’s also a kind of enlightenment that comes with suffering, I think. Being used, surviving extreme circumstances, . . . I guess Frodo and Sam do stay pretty “pure” and “naive” for much of the LotR.
And some of that is probably me finding out what I want to write along the way.
My coding is MUCH better now after .25M words. So, I have a better sense of, not only where I want to go, but ways I could get there. I may have to rewrite large bits of Ch 1-4–not hard since all four taken together are roughly the size of my last chapter.
But I hope it’s realistic. Mechanically, there tend to be two set of options per decision which seem “smarter.” The “omniscience” route favors cerebral intellect, where the “taskmaster” route favors organization. Sometimes, though, “skillfulness” or “untouchability” can be situationally wise. “Magnetism,” “muscleness,” and “unbreakability” tend to be sillier: hard-headed, off-point, or unfocused.
Could you share what makes you say so? Is there a version you more prefer? I’m eager to hear anything else you or anyone else think about this. Actually. It’s hard to see your own stuff. @Petrichor
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I’m about to start a second playthrough now that I’ve reached the end of the current content, I’ll make sure to pay extra attention and maybe take some notes so I can give more organized thoughts on the matter!
(ETA: Don’t expect a very in depth and helpful review though, comedy is surprisingly hard to give an objective analysis of!
Though for a fun* thought experiment as to why that is, try to give a solid breakdown of why Monty Python is funny, and then weigh it against a similar breakdown of Mel Brooks and determine which one is more funny and why
*fun is used very loosely here.)
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Hi, OP! I just wanna ask… again xD
I am just wondering about the last choice. Ever since my first playthrough, I have always chosen to play as an elf but this is somehow not available always… (I sorta peeked into the code to see what’s up with it and it says selectable if elf. hheheheh sarreh!)
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Goal for next deliverable, by or before 21MAY21:
- Llorick, Saz, Trudy, Vera, and Octo (in addition to Zale and Yester, now) will be gender-swappable
- Chapters 7a, 7b, and 7c will be playable in any order.
- Dragon, cover, and RO artwork will be integrated into the game.
- Chapter 0 will allow RO gender settings and image settings.
- Rudy/Trudy’s relationship gauge will start at max–and you will only be able to lose intimacy going forward. His/her romance will be about keeping as much as possible.
- Light editing. By project completion, Ch1-4 may look very different.
*These changes will break save data.
re: Monty Python and Mel Brooks
Fun! I would boil it down to absurdity (from well-reasoned to senseless–swallow velocity vs. flesh wound) and subversion (MB in Blazing saddles features a black protag in a Western years before Django. HG subverts war, Christianity, heroism, and film itself). They both dare upon “sacrosanct” subjects (Life of Brian) but do so with subtlety and wit (vs. South Park). Too heady for mainstream appeal. More appeal than NYMS because visual engagement allows for physical humor (Igor) and less energy to engagement. What are your thoughts?
re: Race-Specific Dialogue Options
No apology necessary! I keep making changes to the game. That selection is something of a place holder. I intend to, once I’m finished all the chapters, make Race, Fashion, Powers more significant by adding other options in. So, for the elves–it had been my intent to have better, deeper, and more trustful interactions w Llorick, Vexius, Riga, and Schmerlin. Because this is tangential, I’m going to do it at the end. All races, I hope will have an advantage in their native Duchy. As it stands, the passage you quoted, right now, only serves to meet Llorick a different way and learn some things non-elves don’t know about him. There will be more of that in the future. Like w Solas in DA. Did I answer your question? Any thoughts?
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Wow this is hard to break down, especially given the rarity of me having a sober viewpoint to offer! Overall it seems to be pretty good evolution of character, learning more and becoming less of a dumbass. I do however, get a sense that you might be a little more hesitant with dumb jokes in the later chapters, and I’d guess that it’s because you might take it a bit more seriously due to how popular it has become.
I think my favorite moment I’ve experienced so far is being catapulted across the bamboo forest with the power of YOLO.
In the end I hope to see a lot more writing in this genre from you in the future, NYMS gives me serious “Early works of the greats” vibes!
And while I absolutely agree video has the benefit of physical comedy I think you’ve done a great job of capturing the essence of it into text, in ways that physical comedy itself would probably end up falling short tbh. You do a fantastic job of dispelling my disbelief from the get go, and I immediately get drawn into a sense of “what the absolute possible frick could happen next?!” (Also if Netflix bought the rights from you, I would 100% get my own subscription just to watch)
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Wow, this might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thanks. I think I’ve always wanted to write in an active “learn this” kind of way. Like, I’ve gone to expensive and “prestigious” programs, but I’ve always been too coward to give it an honest go. It hurt BAD when CoG rejected my idea, especially after making it so far one month into the process. Probably, because NYMS is weird and malformed. I almost didn’t do it at all. So, thanks. Actually.
I’ll try to keep the possible “hesitancy” in mind going forward about being silly. So glad you liked the Yolo catapult. @Petrichor
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Speaking of the powers of YOLO, did you get any inspiration there from the Infinite Improbability Drive from Hitchhikers?
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Nope! Not consciously, anyway. But Dougie does hold a special place in my heart. I’ve been playing the re-release of Mass Effect, the Legendary Edition, and it has me wanting to make a space game, though. I’m enjoying the fantasy setting, for now. Guess I’ll see if I need a change of pace at the end. Probably, I’ll do a poll. I wonder if some of my content doesn’t bend toward sci-fi lite, anyhow. I know CoG isn’t interested in sci-fi titles, but I wonder if they’re open to the nuance of space opera and space western? It seems like a hazy line. The recent “ghostbusters” release (Luminous Underground?) seems like light SF, kind of an urban sci-fi toward the more popular urban horror (VtM) and super prevalent urban fantasy. SF is not the best route to go if you want to build a large readership, but I think my stuff is proving to be pretty niche, anyhow.
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