Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Welcome to my development blog

Welcome to my development blog. Of course, right now I really only have one project that I'm developing, but that won't always be the case.

My current project is The Journey Outside, and it's going to take some time to complete. A choose your own adventure style game developed with the Twine system, it's an adult, erotic game set on Earth in the future after is has been decimated with a mysterious plague.

 There are currently 13 disparate paths planned for this project, but that can always be adjusted over time. Up, not down, that is. The basic 13 are simply non-negotiable. Some might be longer than others, and all of them feature the risk of death for decisions made.

As I develop this, it is intentional that many of the choices have no obvious outcome. For example, there is one section where you are able to choose between "asking to be saved" and "asking about your options." The outcomes are wildly different between these two, but simply looking at the choices gives you no hint as to how it will turn out. I do this so that there is always a since of edge, especially on the first play-through. You make decisions based off of the information your character has at that moment, no more and no less, and the consequences are what the character has to then deal with.

Of course, this isn't the real world and there is a "Back" button on every browser that will let you try alternate paths, but I highly discourage doing this as it will definitely take away from a large part of the experience - the unknown. Also, there are naturally going to be moments where the story is moved forward without a direct decision. Certain reactions to situations will be handled by me, while the direction is handled by you, making for a very collaborative effort.

In honor of that collaboration, I don't know that I'll ever consider this first project to be "complete." In other words, if there are ideas presented by fans of the game that they wish to see added or played out, I could definitely consider that, assuming it fits with the overall ethos of the project.

Finally, be aware that I am not a programmer, which is precisely why I love Twine so much. It works out of the box without any programming skill needed. There are no stats being tracked or any technical tricks. Each storyline is written from beginning to end by hand, so hopefully it will make for a smooth experience as you read. If, however, there are any jarring moments, please do let me know.

With that said, allow me to present 0.1 of my project: The Journey Outside.




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