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Progress update
I’ve written around 10K words for chapter 2. It’s going to revolve around the encounter with the three-headed dragon, Phyraxis. You will get to see your chosen class in action for the first time, which brings me to the next point. Based on what’s been on my mind for some time, and aided by the poll results, I’ve decided to merge the existing classes, effectively reducing the number from 6 to 3. The ones which have made the cut are Instigator (which will absorb some elements of the Pied Piper), Self Saboteur (which will absorb some elements of the Inadequate Ranger), and Unhinged Pyrodancer (which will share some playstyle/ attributes with the Exhibitionist Grappler). I’ve decided that this is the best way to move forward (at least for now) because it allows me to write more engaging and funny scenes for a few classes, instead of spreading myself thin while trying to churn out higher volumes of content. If your chosen class will no longer be available when the update hits, you will get the chance to select it at the beginning of chapter 2.

I expect to post this chapter somewhere at the end of the month/ early February. Along with the chapter update, I will also create a Tumblr for the game, so I can keep up with all of the cool kids.

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First, I wanted to say that I enjoy this WIP. I really like the humor, particularly the scenes where you read about people’s comments about IF and in other ways deal with writing and reding/playing COGs/HGs and similar IF.

I mostly enjoy the “quest” in the MC’s own IF too, but there’s one scene I really didn’t like and which meant I didn’t get to the end of the last version of the WIP: I’m talking about the scenes where you supposed to sort things into piles in order to help the love interests who lives in the IF that you created. I found the process of pile sorting quite confusing at first and even when I though I had figured out how the principles worked, so to speak, it still wasn’t enough to prevent my MC from being stuck in what seemed like a loop, so I eventually gave up. I play/read HGs,COGs and WIPs at least mainly in order to have fun, so having to do what feels like real chores over and over again, hoping that I will eventually get it right, just isn’t any fun.

Of course, I’m not completely ruling out that I might not be the only person who finds that part boring and annoying, but I suspect that, at least when a full HG is released that there will be plenty of other people who react the way I do. I know that it’s your WIP and that it’s you who decide how it will be, but I’m asking you if you can change that part so I and other readers/players won’t have to worry about being stuck in that particular part of the COG/HG. For instance, since the world of your MC’s IF is apparently a world where deus ex machinas or their equivalents are a thing and the meta appearance of people and beings from outside of this world, let therer be a de facto deus ex machina if your MC doesn’t figure out how to do it by a certain amount of moves. Whatever you do, I hope you can do something to alleviate that problem, because right now, it risks ending the fun, for me at least, in what had up til then been a really fun and funny WIP.

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104

Thank you for describing your experience in such great detail! It helps me make the game a lot better. While I’m aiming for the aesthetic of badly designed challenges, actually frustrating the player and getting them stuck is not my objective. There were two challenges that were in my target that might annoy a few people (the one you mentioned is one of them, while the other is the memory challenge of the Gatekeeper). They are the only ones where you can’t pass unless you ‘get it’.

The issue of getting blocked on that challenge will be addressed in the next update. If you fail two or three times, you will get a narrative-driven third option which will essentially let you skip and instantly complete the challenge. Completing the mini-puzzles does not train the player for ‘harder’ challenges that come later in the game (like in a traditional video game), they are mostly there for humor purposes, so there is no reason to let them stop the player from making progress in the story. In the future, I will always weave in an option to skip challenges that have the possibility of looping endlessly if the player fails a number of times.

If anyone else found any other puzzles frustrating/ got stuck, let me know.

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Progress update

Chapter 2 is close to 23K words now (excluding code). I couldn’t make as much progress as I wanted, with most of January being a slog, creativity-wise. Most of the combat branches are written, but I wish to add more world-building in this chapter before publishing it. I also want to give a little bit of background info on Olympia/Olympus and why she/he popped up in MC’s game.

I’m also going to make a brief introduction of the Moderators (always with a capital ‘M’) at the end of the chapter since they will have a critical role in the story. Essentially, the lore will be split into two interweaving planes: the Real World (the one where the MC came from), and the ‘Real’ World (the one that the MC has written).

Overall, I’m in a much better head-space for writing in comparison with last month, and hope that I’ll be able to be more productive in the following weeks.

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106

I’m in a bit of a dilemma about a ‘dance’ scene with Olympia/Olympus I’m writing. I want to give the player the ability to choose the dynamic of the interactions (whether to lead or follow). In the prologue after you finish customizing Oly, they kiss you and you get the option of choosing if you would like them to initiate romantic interactions if you want to initiate them or if it’s fine for you both to initiate from time to time.

For the dance, I’m thinking of reusing this variable to determine what options you get (lead or follow), but it may be a bit restrictive, so I’m considering letting the scene be independent of the romantic dynamic you chose in the prologue. But if I go that route, it may seem that the game ‘is not respecting’ your previous choice of romance dynamics. And even in this scenario, some might consider dancing to be a romantic activity, and some may not.

I would like to hear your opinions, but if you are shy, please consider answering the poll below.

  • Use the romance dynamic variable from the prologue
  • Let the player choose regardless of the romance dynamic variable

0 voters

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107

After giving this more thought, I’ve decided to determine the lead/follow roles based on the romance flag set in the prologue and signal it to the player with some flavor text. You might get some odd interactions, like your petite RO throwing your burly MC into the air and gracefully catching them, but that won’t be the only strange interaction in the game, so it’s thematically consistent.

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109

That’s basically the point, this game is a glorified parity of COG games, the community, and the players

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No one is forcing me to add the transgender option. I’ve added it because it makes sense for the story and, I think, the option is presented naturally in the narrative flow. Since this game is primarily a satire of the medium, adding that choice makes sense. Having choices to let players express themselves is not wrong or worthy of mockery, but how people react/overreact to these choices is. That is why the choice of being trans is presented after the comment of the disgruntled user over their “over-representation”. It signals to the player there will be jokes related to gender/representation/ the medium in general, but those jokes are not pointed at the individuals, but rather at the concepts/ perceptions of those concepts.

As for the character creation section, it’s intentionally created to be overcomplicated as a parody of lengthy character creation sections that are a staple for interactive fiction. If you found a particular section annoying/ that gets you stuck in the character creation process, let me know. I can tweak some sections that may seem overly obtuse, but the core concept of the convoluted character creation section will remain.

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I have to say, Not only did you help me out in my project during errors and stuff, But I was really surprised to know that you were a writer to, and even more surprised to see that you have an AMAZING book Lmao, I really loved this trope and the way you described everything. I read through your stuff, and well, I just want to say thank you cause the first few pages of your book just gave me so much motivation to continue my book, especially when it came to all the reviews I was reading (Inside the book lol) keep it up and I wish you the best! <3

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Demo update

It’s finally here! Uploaded chapter 2 (30K words); the story so far has 75K. In this chapter, you will get to fight Phyraxis, the three-headed dragon using the unique powers of your class. Your swordsmanship/ swordswomanship skills will also be put to the test.

A little bird told me this,

also got snuck in somewhere.

I’m happy I finished this chapter because now I can focus on creating the quest lines where you’ll meet the other five main characters/ immortals and the main antagonist.

I’ve also made a few tweaks and fixes, as listed below.

Content tweaks:

  • Updated the content warning screen so it’s more streamlined and the fun stuff pops up easier
  • Added a way to skip the material sorting challenge when you fail at least once
  • Merged the six classes into three. You will be prompted at the start of chapter 2 to select a new one if you chose one that hasn’t been migrated.

Bug fixes:

  • Fixed a few character creation bugs that ended up showing hair and skin color incorrectly
  • Fixed a continuity error that occurs when you ask Olympia/Olympus if you can change their name
  • Fixed a plethora of verb form errors when Olympia/Olympus is non-binary

Thank you for the kind words! I’m happy that the story gave you extra motivation to continue your book. I just hope you don’t identify too much with the MC :smiley:

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I’ve made a Tumblr blog for the game, you can find it here. I will also be posting progress updates there from now on. The companion/immortal section of the first post has been updated (added descriptions for Vulcan and Plutus).

I expect the next chapter to be longer than the last one since you will get to break your companions out of their “hell loops” and get to do specific quests that will get you accustomed to their strengths, weaknesses, and personality. The scene will have a hub-like structure, where you will choose to search certain areas of the Underworld, and after returning with one companion, you can search any of the remaining areas for the rest.

I want to break the next update into two parts, so as to not go too long without a demo update. Please pick the two characters you want to see first, so I can have a better idea of what routes to focus on next.

Which of the following characters do you want to see in the next update (check the first post for their description)?

  • Bellona
  • Athena
  • Hera
  • Vulcan
  • Plutus

0 voters

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114

Progress Update

I’ve started working on Athena’s section of chapter 3 - a few thousand words written and a plan on how the challenges and fights will be structured. When plotting the game’s story, I’ve made her a core lens through which the player can see the game’s world. She will be the voice of reason inside MC’s game, capable of criticizing the shortcomings of the ridiculous world while also being constrained by the limitations of the world she lives in.

She will be a challenging character to write because I want her to feel alive, not just an NPC that picks apart the ridiculous world the MC has created. Athena will have flaws and challenges on a personal level that she will have to overcome on her journey along the MC. I haven’t locked in what those flaws will be, but one of them that I’m sure of is that she will have an overwhelming fear of fighting. This is partially because I want her to clash with Bellona on many topics during the story, but eventually become friends. And even though Bellona disagrees with most of her worldview, she will protect Athena from those that wish her harm. Of course, avoiding fights will not be Athena’s only “flaw,” but I will flesh out her character as I write more scenes where she interacts with the MC and the other cast, so I have a better idea of how the crew’s dynamic will unfold.

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115

Progress update

Things are going well for this chapter. I’ve written 7k words so far and have most of it planned out. I’ll try to limit the scenes for each immortal to 20k words so the scope does not spiral out of control. As far as scope is concerned, I feel that it’s time to set some clear boundaries for the game will be structured.

Currently, the published demo has around 75K words. After I finish this chapter, the demo will probably be around 180K words, with the player knowing all the main characters. Afterward, the last chapter of the Underworld arc will consist of the final battle between MC and friends with Cerberus and breaking the Great Barrier into the surface world. This would put the story at ~220K words.

While that would be a decent size for a first part, and the story would wrap neatly from a structural perspective, the player wouldn’t experience one of the game’s core features: influencing the Empire’s growth with stupid decisions. That is why I have decided to include a surface chapter before the end of part I. In this chapter, the MC & co will participate in a public forum (the Roman kind, not the Internet kind) debate on specific issues in the Empire. After deciding on the best course of action, the leader of the Empire, Caesar, sends the MC on a quest that would aid in implementing the agreed-upon policy. Completing the quest will ensure a spot for the MC as an advisor for managing the internal and external affairs of the Empire. This will take around 80K words, bringing the story to ~300k.

After tying any remaining loose ends and fixing bugs, we can start a public beta and send the game for publishing. But there is still a lot more to go until that day comes. I have to focus on writing for now.

Apart from the general planning, I want to add/polish some game mechanics. For example, I want to make the dream sections more interactive, where the player gets to choose what the MC writes in the story. And then have those choices appear in subtle ways or in the shape of side quests during the game.

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Happy Easter!

The polls here were close, but the results on Tumblr were clearly in Hera’s favor, so the first two characters you will encounter in the next update will be Athena and Hera. This is probably for the best since she is one of the tougher characters to write, and tackling her earlier will be better for the overall story structure.

Story aside, I want to talk a bit about gameplay elements. I’m not a fan of gatekeeping choices behind stats, I want the player’s choices to reflect the style of play they want to adopt and not have the success of their actions be determined by a spreadsheet.

However, I want to implement sections of ‘challenging’ parts in the game. And the only way I can think about doing it is through puzzles. I know firsthand how frustrating poorly designed puzzles can be from playing 90s point-and-click adventures so I aim to mitigate the annoying parts while making them fun.

A prerequisite for this would be for the puzzles to be self-contained (passing or failing will depend solely on the cognitive ability of the player, independent of what items you hold in the inventory or prior knowledge of the game world). I also understand that some puzzles might be too difficult/ the player does not feel like concentrating at the moment so, there will be an option to skip which becomes unlocked after failing (similar to the screw and board puzzle).

I want to get a pulse on how people feel about these kinds of puzzles (self-contained, skippable) and how it enriches/ diminishes their enjoyment of IF. This will help me determine how often they should appear or whether I should find other mechanics to fulfill the purpose of challenging the player in a fun way.

How do you feel about puzzles in IF?

  • I find self-contained puzzles enjoyable even without the option of skipping them
  • I find self-contained puzzles enjoyable but would like an option to skip them
  • The presence of self-contained puzzles doesn’t affect my playing experience, for better, or worse
  • I usually don’t like self-contained puzzles, but skipping them doesn’t make me feel like I’m missing out
  • Encountering a puzzle ruins my day and makes me act meanly with the people I love, even if they are skippable.

0 voters

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117

I’m fine with Puzzle as long as it isn’t so diffcult that, it makes me have to resort browsing the answer in the internet or forum.

Magikiras’ puzzle is one of the no-no example for a puzzle, it doesn’t help that losing in the puzzles, which makes you lose one of the artifact(?), and then it resulting you locked in bad ending regardless of how well you did other missions.

Please don’t do that.

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There definitely won’t be any puzzles that lock you to an ending. There also won’t be any puzzles where you can’t finish them because you missed an item somewhere in a previous chapter.

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OMG its like those world hopping novels I so dearly love and I love how the narrator during the character creation is like the one from The Stanley Parable

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Haven’t played Magikiras but I do agree with what @ilovecoins has said. Solving puzzles (Even basic ones) can be hard, but if the puzzle is way too easy it becomes a bit boring. So I’m excited to see what you come up with! I do like the option to skip it though.

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Progress Update

Yes, I am still alive, and no this game isn’t abandoned. A lot of stuff is happening IRL and it’s somewhat slowed down my progress, nonetheless, we’re still moving forward. I’ve written about 26K words over the last two months and tested a lot of game mechanics and loops that would work well within the story. Most combat scenarios will either be resolved with flavor choices or have rock-paper-scissor-like mechanics. Failing an encounter will restart your progress from the start of it to not waste too much of your time. Of course, there will also be the option to skip encounters entirely if they have fail states.

I’ve also been experimenting with trading mini-games where you go from vendor to vendor and buy a type of times cheaply and sell them at a higher price at vendors who are looking for them with the final objective of purchasing a key item. These mini-games will be tweaked after receiving feedback to make them more fun and less tedious.

As far as content is concerned, I’ve finished writing the start of chapter 3 and I’m about 70% done with the subsection with Athena. I need to finish the encounter part for the self-saboteur class and write the final part of the encounter with adjudicator Keeresh, the one who is holding her captive.

Here is a small teaser of the dialogue between MC and Athena after you rescue her.

Teaser

Screenshot 2023-06-05 at 16.22.58
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Screenshot 2023-06-05 at 16.30.15
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Back to the writing cave with me, where sunlight dares not enter! :feather:

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Just did a quick word count check and thought it would be a good moment to celebrate :champagne:. With a bit over 100K words, I’m about 1/3 done with the first part of the story. Thank you all for sticking around and for the support.

Screenshot 2023-06-14 at 15.21.30
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13 Likes