Gameplay Style

Hey Pringle, Wow..thanks..this update is one I've really wanted to get to for a long time. I wanted this moment forever. But there had to be tension for it to really resonate. I'm actually not from New York but apparently I have common qualities related to there because a lot of people over the years say the same thing. However, I tried to write the characters as specific but universally relatable as I can..so you'll see a ton of different sayings and stuff that really arent specific to one area.

Aaryn

I feel like you did a amazing job the story line is so perfect and funny as hell, mind you i never laugh while reading a book, but reading this hits so close to home, are you from newyork? Some of the scripts feels like what i would say becuase im from newyork. This game/story is so real. i absolutely applaud you for it. Keep it up!

Hey mini, Let me preface my reply with “holy crap, your post is longer than my VN.” But nah, seriously. You should post more often. I appreciate your time and detail. Let me first state that the intent for the poll is not to change things. It’s to get feedback on the impact of how things land with the audience. I realize that I’m the sole creator and there’s a certain freedom with that. I’ve got my vision and pretty much stuck to it despite some not agreeing with me in the past. This is most recently noted regarding the notorious “shower lie” scene. Those that stuck it out are hopefully ok with the purpose given the release of v0.12. Without going back to see how long you’ve been a supporter, many of the suggestions you talk about with the game regarding it being less linear are actually the way it was originally designed. If you go back to v0.01 (if you can find a copy…I legit lost mine and can’t find it anymore), you’ll see that it was a stat based game. There actually was education stats for class and Braden had points associated with him. I got some pretty critical feedback in the beginning that really made the difference: play to my strengths. So around v04 I redid the entire game and scrapped stats and went for more linear approach. The writing style is definitely my strength in comparison to coding. I will confirm that I don’t intend to return to a state based game or have fails in the game. To me, it’s an experience. I’ll do a more in-depth post on my intent behind the game but I have naturally gravitated towards a linear game and honestly, that’s just easier to do when you’re doing this shit solo. I have a specific purpose to this story and having too many choices will distract from that purpose. However, I will casually note that I hear your criticism on the fake choices. Actually, some of those choices do carry through the game but you won’t realize that unless you decide to play it from the start. However, most people aren’t going to play it over every single update. Hell, I’ve only played my own game twice I think. The chapter select is a quick way to experience the new content. However, to implement all the smaller choices into the game in a serial fashion based on the way that I release updates is going to suck. Thus, I just pick the major choices in the chapter select. That being said, some of the choices earlier do not impact the main story but they can impact your own version of the main story. For example, in v011 you could be a generally more polite Zack when interacting with Mom-Fucker vs a sarcastic one. Small things like that just give you options for how you want the characters to behave. Other people may not like the tai chi scenes so there’s options to skip them. I plan to continue this with more with the sexual content, too. While there’s not gonna be overt fetish stuff in the game, some people may want to do things in a certain order or not want to engage in a certain sexual act because it’s not their thing—doesn’t change the fact that they still messed around. However, the two main choices and routes will still have relevance and will impact the individual character development but won’t necessarily affect the ending right now. But that could change…who knows. Hopefully this all makes sense. If not, let me know and I can clarify stuff, too.

Aaryn

Let me preface this with the fact that I really like this game and this story and I've been rooting hard for it since day one. And now, to answer your question honestly: I think it ultimately depends on what type of game you, as a dev, want it to be. I, *personally*, like branching options and a more gamey design. But, from what I've experienced from this project itself, it really feels like you would prefer to just have a novel-like storyline that just kinda tells itself. And that's totally fine! It's a valid design choice! In which case, what I would actually prefer is for you, as the game developer, to just do what YOU want to do instead of having to compromise for our sakes which, to be honest, ends up just hurting the overall experience a little as well. Because what I've noticed from the overall experience of this game is that it does tend to feel very "linear," even during the beginning parts where there are more choice-based gameplay elements, because those gameplay elements don't ultimately affect enough things. There's not really a "win condition" to this game, just a matter of clicking enough things to eventually get to the next part. You can say absolutely anything you want to anyone -- to Braden, to the janitor, to the nurse, the teammate, anyone in the whole game -- and it doesn't affect the story at all. And along those lines, there's no "fail condition" either; there's nothing whatsoever you can do to make Braden dislike you, or to flunk out of college, or to fail to make the swim team, or anything like that. And even if those things were to happen in the story, I get the impression it's simply what would happen because it's what you want the story to be and not because of anything we as the player might do. I started to notice this when you started to put in chapter skips in the game; if we could start a new game on Chapter 4 and it's literally the same chapter no matter what we do on all three previous chapters, isn't that the same as saying that nothing in those chapters matter, in terms of gameplay? And then it almost feels disappointing because, like, in that case why were all those choices and gameplay elements in the game at all? It sends a bit of a false impression of what the game is actually going to be. I would genuinely prefer that you just not have those things in the game at all if they're not going to be things that carry through the whole game. Because there's a general gaming term for when multiple branching options don't end up affecting anything -- whether it's characters' attitudes towards you, or your own stats, or any sort of narrative shift -- and that term is "fake choice." Fake choices are bad game design. If multiple options are going to give the same outcome, then just don't offer multiple options in the first place. And, again...it's totally fine if your whole intent is to create a completely linear visual novel which is SUPPOSED to just be the same all the way through. In which case though, don't waver on that. Lean full tilt into that design choice. Because this half-and-half compromise is actually more like three-fourths-and-one-quarter in the favor of the linear novel simply because your own personal design preferences will always come through, and I get the impression that you're realizing this as well. Now. That being said. If you really genuinely WANT this project to become less linear and more gamelike and are motivated enough to put the time and effort into making it so because it's what you want to do and not because it's what people might want...here are some prospective suggestions. -Implement an actual relationship mechanic with Braden. If you do certain things he likes you more, if you do certain things he likes you less. Certain options are only available if he likes you more. If he dislikes you too much, the game is over. He reports you to the school, changes roommates. Something along these lines. -Implement actual grade mechanics. You have to keep up grades or else you'll get kicked out of school, or you can't try out for the swim team, etc etc. Maybe there can be other tangible benefits of going to class as well, such as bonus scenes or stat improvements, because as of right now the option of going to class is literally only there to waste scroll space. -Implement actual branching narratives. Exactly like it sounds. At bare minimum this means the game has two separate endings, at max effort there are entire scenes or even chapters that only happen in "one" playthrough and others you don't see and there are consequential decisions that will change entire swaths of the storyline. ALL OF THESE SUGGESTIONS ARE HARD TO DO. They will take weeks if not months to implement and require a more-or-less top-down restructuring of the development process. Making a true interactive novel is one of the hardest things and even the big name devs either don't bother or do an "eh" job of it when they do. And Patreon is filled to the brim with devs who take on way more than they can handle and then flounder when they...can't handle it. So take all these suggestion to heart if, and ONLY IF, they are mechanics that you not only WANT to implement but feel confident enough to be able to. Otherwise? Good luck on the rest of the game! Definitely looking forward to whatever comes next.

minibw