Alright.
1. Grammar and things
Hope that this would help and I have not made myself look like I'm yapping about things I don't know.
2. I see. Will check a look this Twine engine then. Thank you for explaining! I can't say why others are looking into code, but I can tell you that my goal is to:
a) figure out the logic of the game;
b) save some time and get most of the story.
Now, does it kill the intended experience? Not sure, but it definitely allows me to enjoy the story more because I'm not pressed to rush things, and as a result, I have a better RP experience.
3. Oh, I just wanted to know if Barnabas has some specific variable that is the same as some other character variables. Like the ones that Ginger pie has (had to make my eyes bleed in notepad++ to find it).
1. About grammar.
- The phrase "It was getting light, but you two were gone" is changed to "Suns began to rise, but you two were gone". Where the suns are hyperlinked. Should make it clearer now, I hope.
- The phrase "Most people do" is unchanged. Grammarly (the grammar-checking AI plugin I use) insists on putting "do" in there instead of "does". Not that I follow its recommendations all the time (sometimes I consciously ignore them), but... I'm not a native English speaker either. So, unless an English expert comes along and explains why "does" and not "do" is required in this specific context, let it be as it was.
- The phrase about dress has been changed to "Yes, this dress has seen better days. But judging by the sheer number of new holes and rips that weren't there just yesterday... Okay, sure, that's not a good sign at all."
By the way, you are just in time for the release of the
"polished" version, so these corerctions will already be in the game right away. And this version will be if not today, then tomorrow.
2. In my feeling, yes it will spoil your experience. If I wanted to do everything openly, as a huge Excel spreadsheet, with tons of numbers and explanations everywhere - I would. But I hid the main array of variables precisely to keep the players focused on the story, characters, and roleplay, not the numbers and variables. But of course, if you can't play with a toy without taking it apart, do as you please. I didn't have a single toy left in one piece as a kid. Because I was always curious about
"what was inside". And that's not even a joke.
3. Oh, now I get it. You want to know here and now - is it an important NPC or you won't meet him again, so you can piss on his face and walk away laughing wickedly or something like that. I mean, who cares about these passable NPCs, right?
That would work with a complete game. But IE is a work in progress. Many variables are being added (initialized) as needed. Some are initialized from the start, but still not used. And it is not certain that they will be used. New variables are being added to some, including named characters, with one update or another, so that I can track changes in character relationships and add appropriate lines and descriptions. And still, saves will work just fine, even if they contain data about variables that, in fact, will not be involved in any way.
Otherwise, it would hardly be possible to work with a story of this size. You would have to think through absolutely everything, down to every line of dialog, every scene. And the game already has 639k words. In its full form, we're talking about millions of words.
My way, when only the main storyline is thought out, in the form of turning points that are bound to happen, leaves me free to maneuver between those points. And it saves me from having to think out absolutely everything in advance. So when I have an idea for a scene, I mentally check it with my plan, and if it doesn't conflict with anything, I can add it.
