itch.io

The game is not in a playable state. It will not be in a playable state anytime soon. This is all tech demos for discussing mechanics and troubleshooting. Options that are greyed out are simply options that are not implemented. Options that are not implemented are there mostly because people who were supposed to be working on them quit the project.

As far as I know, it should run on Win 8, 10 and 11 without any additional installs. Don't bother though, there's nothing for you to play here.

I do sometimes allow myself to be proud of the document system in general.

The "break" is exhausting.

I'm not resting. It's more like I'm working overtime, just not on the game. Crunch happens, I guess.

I feel better, if only so-so. Still not quite there but at the very least my mind's clearing up.

The circles are for creating graphics for books, for spicing up ritual magic and as part of our dreamlands map (but that will be re-worked compared to the screenshots above).

The flip cards will be used in mind maps and maybe other places.

The boxes will... probably not be used, I just wanted to see how far I can push it.

Yeah and we've also been working on such features for when characters speak. It's an interesting problem. Also the idea of error introduction to emphasise emotional distress, etc. It is still a horror game after all.

Yes.

You're right, that's exactly what I needed the sticker residue for. I just didn't have time to prepare a more sensible example. It'll show up in the game in a context like that.

I'm sorry, I'm just bad at explaining it. It's a puzzle mechanic, of sorts. I think that's really the core of it that matters.

No, there is no combat in the game. However there are situations where your actions might lead to a lethal accident or where incorrectly manoeuvring a situation may lead something or someone to killing you.

It's primarily for controlling how your choices in regards to one object in the game world affect other objects in the game world, that might additionally be located elsewhere than the player character. However, as an additional benefit, it allows NPCs to also interact with these map-spanning constructions in a similar way.

A simple example here is that if you do something in location A which causes a short circuit, this will effect a fuse box in location B causing it to blow and burn a fuse, which then causes the lights in location C to turn off. 

Without a system that controls this, each of these objects requires adhoc coding which will handle all of the above. Essentially, this kind of interaction is hard to efficiently define if we have to do it individually for every map. However, with a system, each part can be responsible for its own behaviour and the system manages communication between the elements.

The map will stay the way you've last seen it, even if something changed. You'd need to see the changes to revise the map. We've not had plans to run exploration segments for long enough to start considering the player character forgetting details.

If you open the file layout\js\copy.js using Notepad and change it for the code I linked, it should work a little bit better: https://pastebin.com/emytF8Di

Had trouble understanding a few things you wrote, but it wasn't bad. Can I know what you are using for the translation?

I see, I see. What you're saying does make sense. Yeah, copy new text also copies in the new menu text. I will make it so this doesn't happen anymore, but unfortunately please don't expect this to happen soon, there's a whole lot of stuff we need to get done and there's only so much time in a day. I'll also see about the filtering in case I can improve it. (You can remove the text from the very bottom, the one that starts with "API tokens" by turning off Developer Mode in the menu.

Does this work for you: https://mega.nz/file/y2ZUjSzC#gzcgmdI1yWhSt4zLXjiKeMTMHty871JQi5oNi1-hPEk

You're not the first person to want some way of translating the text. I'd be interested to know if this functionality helps at all. (The right click menu.) I never managed to get much feedback on it when I implemented it.

I think I have an idea what's up. You're likely using the last stable version 149 or even the version that got pirated for whatever reason, which was I think 049. The most current in-development version (which includes text copying, or at least should) is 236.4, which is available only on my Discord (as all in-development versions are).

Right click on the game window -> Copy New Text.

Hello.
1) There will be no HTML engine, as of the last time I tested this, the best results were achievable on Chrome, which was ~125 times too slow to run the game smoothly, whereas other browsers were about ~250 times too slow. This game just doesn't belong in browser and there is no way it could ever run in one efficiently. And quite frankly, I'm not sure if it could run in one at all considering some of the things happening behind the scenes.
2) All of the texts is available in txt format within the data.zip file, but it's unlikely that's actually what you need/want. I'd suggest trying to use the right click menu to capture filtered text from the engine output. This game is untranslatable otherwise.

Lock and unlock, control pathfinding and visibility, and some minor things like listening by the door or trying to look through the keyhole.

The first interaction we'll be implementing is just talking about the objects. We've tried to do this both with Cornelius and Mortimer before but it's a bit of a hackjob based on what we had available at the time.

It's either a full page overlay if we need something quick, or if we need something very specific we can set it up precisely where we want it. In either case it's a bit more complicated than being a .png image though.

Some things are coming together very nicely, at least.

Pattern classification to reduce the possible space of player character behaviour to something that we can manage and write responses to. Really it's more or less the same concept as a Hopfield network, but more advanced and likely much more accurate.

I really appreciate the sentiment of someone saying this, but I'm under the  care of a professional in regards to my mental health, who has a more realistic idea of what I am and am not capable of.

The cat is a community reference, of sorts, to a long term avatar of mine. The novel at the moment exists as something outside of the game, just a bonus. Like the other items in that menu.

Hmmmm... I'll just add a few things here.

[tech corpo]

That sounds largely like a pipe dream. I know there are companies that try to present like this (I think Google does this the most, or at least the loudest) but companies of this kind that I know of tend to actually be really shitty places to work, filled with pretty horrible people.

[Game communities and harassment]

I did join a few communities that have to do with various kinds of interactive writing, didn't find have much luck with finding one that fit my needs. So I just ended up removing myself from them. Well, with the exception of Ren'py, that one I just avoid entirely even if people for whatever reason come to me for help with the engine anyway. Overall I just feel better in communities that have to do with TG rather than VG. But the big thing I will say is that while consistently, on average, men were much worse to be around, it's actually specific, outlier women that caused the most damage to me. Including my last stalker being female, and that ended... really badly.

[depression]

Thanks for the offer, but things are as they are. I prefer not to impose on people if I can help it.

Well, there's a lot to unpack here, but let me try.

"In what sense did you find game jams to be a waste of time? I've found them to be useful to prototype new game ideas and to try out new frameworks."

If I want to try something out, I'll try something out; I don't need a game jam to artificially drum my interest in it.

"When I've game jammed on a team with others, I've often learnt new approaches to making games from people with different sets of expertise from me. And there's also a social aspect of game jamming where you get to be exposed to how other game makers and see all their weird creative processes and ideas."

Fair! But again, can explore on my own, and I much prefer to expose myself to the expertise of others in different ways. It's not much of a draw for me. If that game jams for you, great, but I prefer to do these things while not under stress and not while trying to work out other people. Additionally, in terms of working on mature content games, the only thing I got out of trying to, you know, socialise with other people who make them, I guess, was years of harassment, abuse, people creeping on me and several stalkers. And I very much don't want to repeat that.

"I've also found game jams useful for getting more time in certain parts of the game development process that I usually don't reach. In making actual shipped games, the most important stuff is often at the end--refining the gameplay mechanics and narrative to make them more fun, controlling scope so that things can ship, game testing with real users, etc. With game jams, I can actually spend some time improving my skills in these areas because I actually ship a game at the end. I am, admittedly, pretty good at fast coding and am pretty experienced with game jamming, so I'm more able to shape my game jam experiences to what I want."

I'm not interested in any of these aspects. I'm not interested in being a game developer and shipping products.

"I'm a bit saddened to hear about your job."

I'm not, and neither should you be; the job is exactly what I need in my life. It just isn't an issue.

"You seem pretty talented. I'm not sure why you aren't working a more challenging job in Silicon Valley where you get to work on interesting things with interesting people."

I'm not American, and I don't want to live in America. But I assume you actually mean working in some tech corpo? Well, I don't work in a tech corpo specifically because it's a tech corpo. Either way, I don't want an exciting job or opportunities to hustle and grow. I want stability, companionship, and the ability to pay my medical bills and live a peaceful life for however much time I have left. I think what I'd say about your approach to things is that it's a very masculine perspective. But I'm a woman; I neither do nor have ever seen life like that.

"Or why you aren't slumming it in academia where you can just spend your time pursuing your own research directions."

I worked and published in academia since I was 20yo, and I only (mostly) stopped because of the politics surrounding funding. I'm still very much engaged with a lot of people from academia and even give small lectures from time to time or advise on projects when people need the kind of stuff I can provide. And do add to that, I absolutely engage with my work on this project on an academic level. Ultimately, though, I expressly and willingly removed myself from it.

"I know you think of yourself as the smartest person in the room. And though that may be true, that doesn't mean you can't have peers from whom you can learn things and who can challenge you."

I don't, and I don't want to be the smartest person in the room. But again, returning to what I said earlier, I'm past the point when I want another stalker to pop up.

But I think this is all just an aside to a kind of misunderstanding. Like that I'm miserable because of my job or because of my game and not that, you know, I'm dying and depressed, and both the job and game are some of the few things that keep me grounded and give me some chance to continue to function.

I don't like game jams. Participated in a few and I consider every moment I spent on them an absolute waste of my time.

My job isn't expressive or interesting, it's just what I do to, primarily, be able to cover my medical bills, there's not much to it. I don't hate it, it's just how it is. Getting swamped with work because I took almost 3 months off on a position that isn't exactly easy to replace just happens.

Additional random thought about this but... I'm not sure there's really a way to subtly influence the system, because even from the perspective of the player, a stock going up and down can both be good or bad. If you want to buy, you want the stock to be cheap, counting on it going up later, if you want to sell, you want it to sell for more than you originally gave for it. There is rarely a clear implication of what is best for the player. Regardless, what I said previously still applies - it wouldn't make sense lore wise, but it's just an additional thought on the implementation being dubious in its own right. The game would need to ask the player openly what they want to happen at the moment.

Stock prices affect so many people that they become Karma-neutral. Someone's gain is someone's loss and the PC does not have priority on overwriting the effects it has on other people, her Karma mostly affects just her.

We had some plans, yes. For a BDSM flavoured game, there's definitely some part of that house-slave style fantasy, so the mechanics weren't just about cooking for yourself, but cooking for your lover too. We'll see how it goes though, for the moment just trying to work on what I can when I'm mostly doing this just with one other person.

The PC is rich/from a rich family and doesn't need a job. It's more so a tool to ground the experience of the game... especially with how nebulous and floaty the previous version was. You will likely be able to get some money from various places but you also shouldn't particularly need it if you maintain your Wealth properly. Granted if someone ever wanted to build a different game on the systems I designed, it would very much support working a job, yeah.

Actions and sometimes other knick-knacks, yes.

It's nice to see thing coming together and working out the way we initially envisioned them, yeah.

The robes don't need to specifically correlate to those ages (though they will more or less match those, yeah), but the meanings are something like this:
- before black robe: likely to learn about magic during this age already, but doesn't study it in any way,
- black robe: studies magic under a teacher, either a parent or a tutor,
- white robe: studies magic on their own, will still study under more experienced mages, but in a different way - the difference is similar to the difference between school (black robe) and university (white robe),
- yellow robe: approximately equivalent of having a PhD,
- red robe: approximately equivalent to having received a Nobel Prize.

I'm just glad things are starting to move forward with the game now that we finally have that foundation we've been working on for so long.