Defiant Explorer

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Game Developer
Sep 2, 2017
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My only criticism is that it feels a little railroaded in the Telltale Game sense; you feel like you can do different things but ultimately it all kind of funnels back on itself. More opportunities in the future to do sandbox-y things around camp or elsewhere similar to the beginning of the game would be appreciated but this is just a minor complaint.
It's one of the most popular requests. I hear you guys. The main gameplay idea alternates between free roaming stuff and moments where the game carries you like a surfer wave. Chapter 1 serves as a sample. Don't worry - I'll give you the opportunity to wander and explore more than once.

Overall, I don't really mind. I can do more free roaming content, but it's more time-consuming and will affect an update's release pace. But if it's that important...
 

cd13

Newbie
Mar 5, 2019
42
121
As far as I can understand html games structure, true branching or non-linearity of story can be very problematic, because the amount of work needed basically growths exponentially as the story progresses.

It is why various lifesim html games here and around are at most a collections of linear stories that do not branch out much within itself and just allow players to choose in what order they complete these stories.

So to keep stuff manageable you need to fold the 'branches' of the story back into main 'trunk' on the regular basis.
 

Defiant Explorer

Member
Game Developer
Sep 2, 2017
414
2,131
As far as I can understand html games structure, true branching or non-linearity of story can be very problematic, because the amount of work needed basically growths exponentially as the story progresses.

It is why various lifesim html games here and around are at most a collections of linear stories that do not branch out much within itself and just allow players to choose in what order they complete these stories.

So to keep stuff manageable you need to fold the 'branches' of the story back into main 'trunk' on the regular basis.
Uh-huh. I don't know what this story structure is called by real game designers, so I'll describe it in my own words. It's bubbles with variations (choices), connected by narrow passageways, like a bottleneck that a player must inevitably enter for the story to stay under control and be able to move forward.

Many RPGs are built on a similar structure. For example, the Mass Effect series. Let's take the second part for illustration. Shepard wakes up after resurrection, goes through the starting mission, talks to Illusive Man, and gets Normandy. It's that bottleneck. You can then fly around and complete missions at will. This is that choice bubble. Then, invariably, the mission with the Normandy crew kidnapping happens. That's the narrow bottleneck again. Then we go back into a new bubble of choices until the final suicide mission, which is... yes, the final bottleneck in this game's part.

So when I read complaints, about Selene being obligated to join the troupe and it being, like, railroaded... Well, that was about as adequate as demanding that Shepard, say upon meeting the Illusive Man something like: "Hey, thanks for the ship, but fuck you and humanity. I'm out." Then he/she renamed the Normandy to Crushandy and started traveling across the galaxy as a space courtesan because that's what he/she always wanted to do.
 

brichouse

Member
Oct 31, 2020
273
423
Kinda wish MC could call Io out on shit more often. The Mer scene specifically was weird because 1. sure, he eventually consented, I guess, but he was definitely not consenting to begin with and 2. girl why the hell are you bringing MC up and saying you'd fuck MC if you had a dick mid-sex with that man?!

Other than that, I've enjoyed reading this so far. I decided not to let MC just slut herself out, so I'm interested to see how actual connections can develop with some of the characters.
 

Defiant Explorer

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Game Developer
Sep 2, 2017
414
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The Mer scene specifically was weird because 1. sure, he eventually consented, I guess, but he was definitely not consenting to begin with and 2. girl why the hell are you bringing MC up and saying you'd fuck MC if you had a dick mid-sex with that man?!
This scene might look weird only if you perceive the protagonist as a reliable narrator. All I can say is that Io is playing games she's playing.
 

K_Nakamura

Member
Jun 29, 2020
198
138
The writing in this is so good! And I didn't even finish it yet. How did I miss that game!? Oh it's probably because it's so new, came out only this summer. The writing is on par with A Dance with Rogues and that means 10/10! Oh the pure enjoyment. The writing is so good I'm even invested in a lore of the fantasy world which is very rare!
 

Defiant Explorer

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Sep 2, 2017
414
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The writing in this is so good! And I didn't even finish it yet. How did I miss that game!? Oh it's probably because it's so new, came out only this summer. The writing is on par with A Dance with Rogues and that means 10/10! Oh the pure enjoyment. The writing is so good I'm even invested in a lore of the fantasy world which is very rare!
Not this summer, no. September of last year, actually. That was the last update this summer. The next one will be at the end of this September (+/- week, maybe). Working on it.

Haven't written anything here in a while... Ah, yes. Glad you like it.
 

K_Nakamura

Member
Jun 29, 2020
198
138
Now it turned out I was at the end of the game. From what it looks like the game is finished no more than 10 to 15 per cent, and may be as low as 5. The story is epic in scale, IDK how realistic would be to hope to see it ever finished.

Everyone who liked it should play A Dance with Rogues because it's definitely finished and will take you a week or even two ;)
 

Defiant Explorer

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Sep 2, 2017
414
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Now it turned out I was at the end of the game. From what it looks like the game is finished no more than 10 to 15 per cent, and may be as low as 5. The story is epic in scale, IDK how realistic would be to hope to see it ever finished.
That yours "no more than 10 to 15 percent" is actually ~400k words and a few thousand variables. But yeah, that's just the beginning of the story. I still have a lot of work to do. Sometimes it feels like a frightening amount of work. But I've felt that way for a long time, and yet I haven't quit, as you can see. And I don't intend to.
 
Apr 9, 2021
15
30
The writing in this is so good! And I didn't even finish it yet. How did I miss that game!? Oh it's probably because it's so new, came out only this summer. The writing is on par with A Dance with Rogues and that means 10/10! Oh the pure enjoyment. The writing is so good I'm even invested in a lore of the fantasy world which is very rare!
A dance with rogues as in neverwinter nights? :)
 

katzenstreu

Active Member
Mar 4, 2023
622
1,300
well written, but i would have preferred to travel from village to village on my own.
after the thing with the bet, there should be an option to sneak away from that assholes. or just go to the boss and tell him to shove his contract where the sun dont shine and leave.
 

Defiant Explorer

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Sep 2, 2017
414
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after the thing with the bet, there should be an option to sneak away from that assholes. or just go to the boss and tell him to shove his contract where the sun dont shine and leave.
To break the contract with the seal of Fathna, the most vengeful goddess, is a crime and a sacrilege at the same time. For the protagonist, such a decision would be... not so simple. But, okay, let's assume it is. What's next? Selene breaks the contract and finds herself in the middle of nowhere on her own? What am I, as an author, supposed to do with that? The troupe characters aren't just important to the storyline - without them, there would be no storyline at all. So hypothetical ultimate separation of the protagonist from them means the end of the game. But the beginning of some other story. Somewhere offscreen. Because it's a story-driven rpg and not an open-world one (what I never promised anywhere). I just can't physically model an entire world for adventures of all kinds on my own. Not with that level of detail, anyway.
 

damnedfrog

Well-Known Member
Nov 11, 2020
1,614
3,198
well written, but i would have preferred to travel from village to village on my own.
after the thing with the bet, there should be an option to sneak away from that assholes. or just go to the boss and tell him to shove his contract where the sun dont shine and leave.
You will leave after this little prank?
When no harm was done? After all, nobody push you to go with or repel Cadonis. You were totally free of your actions.
And afterward, you can even ask for your share to Iolanta (and earn the fabulous fortune of one copper coin :)), or get a sweet payback in-kind with a sexy hot brunette ;).
 

Defiant Explorer

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Sep 2, 2017
414
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When no harm was done? After all, nobody push you to go with or repel Cadonis. You were totally free of your actions.
And afterward, you can even ask for your share to Iolanta (and earn the fabulous fortune of one copper coin :)), or get a sweet payback in-kind with a sexy hot brunette ;).
Well, strictly speaking, we don't know what the sequence was there. If Selene escaped Cadonis' seduction, there would be an option to get angry with Iolanta and say a few "kind words" to her, but still have to go with her. If Cadonis has successfully seduced Selene, then there is an option to "repay" Iolanta and continue traveling with him instead. From this point on, the events of the chapter will follow one of these two parallel courses. There will be no global differences, but some of the dialog (and sex scenes especially!) will be replaced with completely different ones. And they won't crossover until the end of the current update (1.5). However, in the next update (1.6), they may cross for the first time under certain scenarios.

In general, in that particular situation, the very idea that Selene could get sooo angry that she would be ready to leave for real didn't even cross my mind. I tried to give there a range of reactions from a poker face to anger, or even react with humor. I guess when it comes to roleplay, players will always want "a little more" choice to reflect their understanding of their character's personality. I had that feeling all the time while playing BG3 not so long ago. And there's a lot of choices there, actually. But I wanted more!
 

Exceeder96

Newbie
May 24, 2018
28
19
Leaving because of the accident at the end of chapter 1.5 is a big overreaction because MC d just starve, she have no place to go. She is lucky she has some food and shelter at this point.
But ofc I hope that there d be option to show that u re really offended by the event (and change MC focus entirely to the redhead cutie.)
 
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Defiant Explorer

Member
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Sep 2, 2017
414
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Leaving because of the accident at the end of chapter 1.5 is a big overreaction because MC d just starve, she have no place to go. She is lucky she has some food and shelter at this point.
But ofc I hope that there d be option to show that u re really offended by the event (and change MC focus entirely to the redhead cutie.)
The ending of 1.5 (camp by a small lake) is the last released update. But here, as I understand it, was talk of Selene leaving after the bet scene (it's the very beginning of 1.3). But in any case, from a common sense perspective, her leaving under the current circumstances for any possible cause would be odd for exactly the reasons you described. And from a story standpoint, that essentially means game over.

As for opportunities for the protagonist to "show character" - there are plenty of them, I think. The Vagrant origin is the most temperamental in this regard. That gal is such a rudie at times, tsk-tsk.
 
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