Do you like reading stories with Conditions? (i.e. "Start Game")

I have to admit, I'm seriously looking at a "conditions" game after LLNO finishes...and I have a deep love of Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf and other sort of gamebooks, so the idea of doing something like that but maybe a little more adult is...really interesting to me. Even with the programming challenge.

 

My biggest problem is deciding to change something after I'm 20+ chapters deep. It's a pain in the ass.

 

Good luck to you! I really admire those authors that can wrap their heads around the concept and do it well. Some can't. (Douglas Adams falls into that category. Nothing against Starship Titanic, but he is a much better linear storyteller.)

When well done it goes great, but sometimes they get into nasty loops which break immersion. IIRC the format that works well is to use "Hubs" for story arc that loop back. (Been a LONG time since I studied game design, so I may have been left behind here...)

 

Well, it's not going to happen any time soon (I estimate it'll take at least 200 chapters to finish up LLNO, if I keep to my current plan), but I do have an outline for the plot and the mechanics in mind. It'll take much more plotting but...yeah, next project, when I get to it.

 

I'd love to read it or even contribute to it. You are a great writer.

 

Well, I'm about at that guesstimate for ASH as well. (Unless I add more endings... but that would just be masochistic unless one of the new endings REALLY appeals.) As long as I don't have to do the coding, I'd consider helping out on a project like this from time to time. (Sometimes you just want to write a one off...)

 

I'd rather do it the other way around.

 

I think your character creation/adjustment could be more subtle and even add some interesting bits and a little backstory.

Instead of just saying
"+12% to Sex"
you could use options along
"Think of the hot night ..." or also "Think of the hot night ... (+12% to Sex)"
With the fourth option "Sex", you could set a variable "choice" to 4.

With that, you could add small anecdotes to the choosing chapter.
If you don't mind, here's a small example:

Code:

{if
   charactercreation = 0}Write first thought while waiting...{else
   }{if
      choice = 4}{if
         Sex Skill < 53}anecdote 1 (rather innocent){elseif
         Sex Skill < 65}anecdote 2 (a little naughty){elseif
         Sex Skill < 77}anecdote 3 (explicit){elseif
         Sex Skill < 89}anecdote 4 (dirty girl){else
         }there's something wrong; please write me a message{endif
      }{elesif
      choice =5}{if
         Stealth Skill < 53}anecdote 1{elseif

[and so on]

         Luck < 89} anecdote 4{elseif
         }there's something wrong; please write me a message{endif
      }{else
      }there's something wrong; please write me a message{endif
   }{if
   charactercreation = 4}
[here are two line breaks which create a new paragraph after the last anecdote]
Just as you finish your thought, ...{endif
}{endif
}

You should be able to break the code after the key word, so you can use it to make your code easier to read and also avoid redundant empty lines.
Alternatively, you could also add an option for each anecdote which allows to name them accordingly, though it would add a lot of chapters.

 

Thanks. I'll definitely want feedback when I get to it...I've got an outline for it, but one project at a time.

 

Thank you, this was a great read and very helpful.

The one thing I would add, or least I am trying to do with my redo of "Red Monika," is to have "choke points." Places where numerous threads come back together. I would think for a "game" like story this is very important, unless it becomes an unmanageable mess that is more and more impossible to complete.

 

That is actually part of the plan for my Red Monika story. It is hinted at with the reference to Monika thinking about her past training. Since that chapter is going to heavily use conditions, however, I have been to lazy to work on, I do admit.

Also, I confess, I do kind of like the old school D&D character creation. It reminds me of those old "Elder Scrolls" computer games.

 

One of the fun challenges in writing a chyoa story, at least for me, is to stop and think "what would I really do in this situation?" It is very easy to fall into the trap of railroading the reader/player into a course of action where the author wants them to go. When I played those old text-adventure computer games that always drove me crazy. (Ex: Why can't I just break a window if the door is locked?!) However, this does make it much more challenging when scripting the story.

P.S.
Oh, and again, the GM can't cheat. ;-)

 

Back when The Elderscrolls was an actual RPG and not an Action game with RPG elements.

I miss those times.

 

That was the old "Bioware" model, IMHO. You can see it in almost all of their games starting with "Baldur's Gate 2" (BG1 didn't really follow the pattern, and was more of a linear story that shot off in different directions.) Essentially setting up a bunch of "Hubs", where the player would complete another "Adventure" before returning to the hub and selecting another. It allowed for the player to feel more involved in the story, especially when variables from one path affected another. (ME3 broke that pattern with the ending, which is why so many players were pissed off, IMHO. It broke immersion so badly that it practically killed the series.)

Course, now my brain is thinking about various scenarios... ACK. Take one design course, and it never gets out of your head.

 

Suggestion: What do you think about labeling chapter titles that heavily use conditions to view certain dialogues with an "*" (or something of the like)? It would be an heads up to those who like to skip around and keep "game mode" off, that they should turn it on for this chapter.

I am toying with adding this to my two main stories. Of course, I would have to tell the reader early on what the "*" means.

 

You can't just turn on game mode for one chapter, unfortunately. I just checked it with Red Monika. You either automatically go back to your last chapter in game mode (if you have played before and have just "ended", not resetter) or you are thrown back to first chapter.

 

It wouldn't make much sense anyway as you don't have the necessary variables set.

You could also wrap your whole chapter around

Code:

{if@ a > 100000
   }Please activate Game Mode to read that chapter{else
   }[chapter content]{endif
}

or add a note at the top

Code:

{if@ a > 100000
   }This story makes use of Game Mode. Please activate it to get the full experience.{endif
}

[chapter content]

If you want to offer a generic "path" through your chapter/story, you can use the @ modifier behind the keyword. If there isn't an @ modifier, the else statement will be used. (Also see Conditional Branches - If-Statements 8. default text when game mode is not active.)

 

Thank you Mr. Wizard!