I’ve finished implementing and testing the more logic-intensive parts of the start of chapter 3 and Athena’s branch. I’ve got maybe 1-2K words left of Athena’s branch, which I expect to finish by the end of this week, and then I can start working on Hera’s branch.
All in all, I’m quite happy with what I’ve managed to add so far. Without giving too many spoilers, you can expect a combat encounter where you can blow off the enemy’s arms if you chose the Saboteur class. You can also use different types of attacks which interact differently with the enemy attacks. I paid special attention to this encounter so that you are not forced to pick a single “good” option when certain situations arrive and that you can win in multiple ways. If this kind of mechanic is well received, I will reuse it in future encounters.
If you chose Pyro, you will get to choose if you want to have a more offensive or defensive build (you won’t have to manually assign stats, they will be generated behind the scenes). And depending on your choices, you can do flashier or safer moves. I also don’t want to constrain the player to a certain playstyle for the whole game, so these kinds of “builds” can be chosen at the start of future encounters.
Of course, the Instigator will have a more dialogue-heavy route, where you can turn your enemies against each other or see make them see reason. The same encounters that are more combat-oriented in the Pyro and Saboteur playthroughs will reveal a more human side of things in the Instigator playthrough.
I plan on updating the demo after I finish Hera’s branch, which means that realistically you can expect an update around the end of August, with about the size of 50-60K words. I’ll try to post regular updates until then.
Which trial are you referring to? The last trial is the one with the riddles, which you can’t fail because the game allows you to try out all the answers. Also during the meal part, you can try out all the answers (the challenges aren’t regenerated if you fail). The only part where you can get stuck is the memory challenge where you have to remember what he says and the words are generated randomly. I should add a skip option for the memory challenge since it’s a bit evil and convoluted.
Yes it was the meal trail. I read the book we were given and felt overwhelmed especially that some rules differ depending on how we look. I swear that gatekeeper is evil making such manners and strict rules.
Haha, that’s kind of the point. The rules are intentionally complicated and obtuse, but if I remember correctly, you can brute force your way out of it if you choose all options. If the food changes after failing, then it might be a bug.
However, your feedback that you feel overwhelemed is invaluable and I will think of a way to adjust the challenge so it feels less insurmountable. I might add a skip button there as well if the player fails too many times.
While I want to poke fun at the ridiculous puzzles in some games, I don’t want to frustrate the player base.
Yeah might be the best way while leaving the challenge there for those brave enough to do it. I haven’t even reached the newer content yet thanks to the challenge. Maybe just give the Mc a penalty for skipping
Added the option to skip the Gatekeeper’s challenges that are blocking/ seem overwhelming.
You can skip the Good Manners challenge at any point in the subsequence of appetizer, soup, and main course challenges. Doing so will advance you to the next manner challenge (ex: skipping appetizers will take you to the start of the soup challenge, skipping the soup challenge will take you to the main course, and skipping the main course will take you to the dessert section).
You can skip the Memory Challenge after you fail it at least once and when the Gatekeeper asks you for any of the word sequences. Doing so will take you to the start of the Riddle challenges.
All skip options are marked clearly and have a confirm dialog, with the first option selected being the one where you reconsider so you don’t accidentally skip a challenge if you fat finger a choice (I’ve had this happen more times than I want in other games).
Skipping any of these challenges will not penalize the player for doing so. You will only miss out on some achievements that trigger only if you answer correctly without retrying. I believe in having a seamless experience, whether you enjoy silly puzzles or not. The choices for skipping the challenges follow the same pattern as the ones already in the game (they flow with the narrative and abide by the chaotic rules of the universe the MC has created).
Let me know if you find any other places where you feel like you are stuck.
I’ve started working on Hera’s branch in chapter 3. Even though I’ve written only a little over 1k words, it feels refreshing to start a new segment of the game. I still have to edit Athena’s branch, but most of the heavy lifting is finished there. All of the silly mini-games and challenges have been tested and the game doesn’t crash (at least I think so).
While plotting Hera’s bit, I realized that I needed to change her personality for the gang to be more diverse. She will no longer be reserved (which was a trait that Vulcan also has), but rather cheerful, enthusiastic, and resilient.
Glad you are unstuck.
Thank you! I can’t wait to reach the Empire arc in the story, I’ve got tons of ideas I want to try out. There’s still a long way to go till the MC escapes the Underworld, but it’s extra motivation for me to press on.
Progress update
I’ve been busy with work and family-related stuff in the last two weeks and haven’t made as much progress as I wanted. Most of the time dedicated to this project was spent on outlining and game design-related tasks (defining encounter and game mechanics + design docs). Still, I’ve written about 2.5k more words on Hera’s branch since the last update. Editing for Athena’s part of chapter 3 is about 1/3 done.
I’ll be on vacation starting next week, so I’ll try to get as much done as I can until then.
Progress update
I apologize for the radio silence over the last month. I’ve been working on the game on and off, splitting focus between writing and outlining the later parts of the game, making sure the story arcs make sense and wrap neatly in the end. I foresee I will have more time in the following month for writing, so I’ll try to wrap up Hera’s chapter during that time. Up to this point, the whole story has around 120K words (I estimate it will be ~140K by the time I publish the next update). I don’t want to set a deadline at the moment since there are a lot of small things to tweak, but I’m aiming for a demo release at the end of September, which marks The Strongest Writer’s one-year anniversary.
It was one year ago that I posted a small, 2K word demo for what is today “The Strongest Writer.” I did not expect the overwhelmingly positive feedback I got that day, and it motivated me to continue writing. What started as an interest check blurb became a fully-fledged story in the works. And I have to thank the community for this because if it weren’t for the writers who share their stories, the readers who offer their support and criticism, as well as the moderators making sure things don’t get too dicey, I wouldn’t have had a source of inspiration to make this possible. While the story is far from finished, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who is and isn’t on this thread for contributing to the game in their own way.
As far as actual progress made, there hasn’t been much in the last month. I caught a nasty cold that took me a while to recover from and had a few other health problems that have been dealt with. Work has also been unexpectedly busy, leaving me with very little time and energy to write.
Besides that, I feel like I need to take a small break from the project so I can come back with fresh eyes, as I have lost the sense of gauging whether what I’m writing is good enough (for lack of a better term). I would hate to continue slogging through a project that is dear to my heart without having the ability to self-critique and adjust accordingly. That is why I have decided to participate in the forum’s Halloween Jam and tackle a smaller, more time and scope-restricted project so I can get my creative senses back. This means that all my writing efforts for October will go toward the jam story. Hopefully, writing a different type of story will allow me to return to this project with a new set of eyes.
I’m back! I’ve written about 10K words this month. Still have around 15K until I finish this part of chapter 3. After that, I’ll focus on editing the new content a bit so it doesn’t feel like it’s been written by the MC. After the first part of Chapter 3 is in a presentable and stable state, I will post a massive update that will almost double the current demo. Hoping I can pull that off until the end of the year.
