Small Update

I'm actually about to start working on Trials, just wanted to let people know about a slight change of plans.

Originally, the real world transformations were going to be varied, but limited. In other words, if you're a bimbo, then you're a bimbo, no other qualifiers. But then I realized that "affirming" a choice you've already essentially made is kind of boring, and the resulting change if you don't affirm the choice is jarring. So, instead, the choices you make on Day 5 give you a particular subset transformation. Sure, you're still a bimbo, but maybe you're a gothy bimbo? Or maybe you've decided to be a gothy geek girl?

Not all subsets are available for each main set. You can't, for example, start off as a bimbo and then get the smart subset. But you can also choose to affirm the choice you made before, so bimbo on Day 4 and bimbo on Day 5 can result in becoming very bimbo-y. The only problem I'm having right now is that I have to find just the right pictures for the subset transformations. Even the coding isn't that bad.

Just thought you all would like to stay in the know.

Creativity Re-established!

After I finished with the second trial, I kind of slowed down, stepped away from the game for a while, and only pecked at it without really doing anything substantial, so progress has been kind of slow. The problem (as I mentioned in chat earlier today) is accounting for all the possible variations that can occur, which is difficult at best, and extremely frustrating at worst. The last object in the second trial requires check for three different possibilities, and each of those possibilities has three more possible interpretations. And it all requires a lot of writing.

That being said, today was the first day that I really sat down and worked on the game in quite some time, and it seems that the time away has paid off. Not necessarily in progress, per se, but rather in renewing my ability to see where I'm going. Goals are important, after all, but getting to them requires a plan, and in the case of game design, it's a rather minute and detailed plan.

So, the good news is I seem to have figured out a few things. The second half of day five, which is spent in the real world as opposed to a trial, was just an unspecific "do things to influence things" plan. Now, I feel like I know what I'm going to plan to do.

And goddamn there's a lot to plan for. But then, that's the fun, I suppose.

I also replaced a few images, because some of the pictures that I was using were chosen on a "good enough, fix later" basis, and turns out today is later.

In other news: I think I'm going to rework/restart Cursed to be set in a medieval setting. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. I might also work it in Flash, but I haven't made any choices in that direction. While this does not mean that the current version of Cursed will be thrown out the window, it does mean that it will likely be pushed to the back burner. Don't worry, though, all the cool features you've come to expect will (probably) still be there.

Slight Setback

So I was working on Trials yesterday and closed RAGS when the memory leak problem resulted in it slowing down (NB: I don't know that RAGS actually has a memory leak, I just know that when it's been idle for a while, it gets very slow loading stuff). I came back to it, and Trials wouldn't open. Kept crashing the designer.

Fortunately, I was able to restore a backup and reopen it. Since I religiously save most of the time, I only lost about an hour of work.

Day 5 is proceeding apace. The problem is that there's a lot of variables to consider. Have you had sex with a lot of people, or have you been chaste? Have you mostly had sex with men, or with women? Are you good, bad, or neutral? Did you finish certain tasks with certain objects in your possession? And on and on. It's a lot to keep track of (and yes, in case you're wondering, every single one of those questions is significant).

It's hard to keep going on this, I'll be honest. The problem is that once I realize a beta, the desire to continue with the game tends to wane, which is why I usually don't release betas. I prefer to release finished games.

I've also been thinking about Cursed, and I think it's going to undergo some significant changes. I might still use the build that I've got, but I'm thinking that it might be better suited to a different setting. So I might adapt it to something else, like a medieval setting. Same (overly) complicated mechanics, but just a different setting. It's something I'm considering, but since I'm not likely to work on Cursed until I finish Trials, it's not at the forefront of my mind lately.

Second Trial Complete!

Like the title says, finally finished the second trial. It is indeed much shorter than the first, and doesn't have quite as much variability, but there are still some significant choices there. Notably, there's only one chance to increase your karma, and a whole lot of chances to lower it.

So now it's on to finishing day 5, which will probably take a while. Have to include the various options that people have come to expect. Not sure yet how day 6 will work, but I'm not there yet anyway.

Other Things That Keep Me Busy

Now, I may make games, but that generally also means that I like to play them. And I do. Currently, my thing is MMOs.

I play RIFT, Aion, Final Fantasy XI, and EVE Online. I'm playing Aion because my friends do: I'm not entirely sure I like the game, and I'm almost level 40 (out of 55). RIFT is fun for a while: you can go on for an hour and feel like you've accomplished something, but at the same time, it feels almost like cardboard: stiff and lacking substance. Still fun, though. Final Fantasy XI is my old nostalgia filter kicking in: I've played it off and on for, well, eight years. Never managed to get beyond level 30, but it's still a fun game, and I enjoy the story immensely.

EVE Online, sadly, is an old shame. It's dull, boring and quite frankly tedious, but it's still enjoyable. I was actually thinking about re-activating my old account a few days ago when I noticed that Fenoxo (you may see a link to his blog on the lower right somewhere) posted that he was doing exactly that. How fascinating, thought I, maybe I really should give it a go. And so I have.

If you play any of these games and would like to look me up, it's probably not going to happen. Sorry. However, if you play EVE Online, try to look me up. I won't tell you my character name (because I'm crazy like that), but I'm part of Fenoxo's corporation, Space-Trains LLC, so if you're feeling like a detective, feel free.

Busy

So it's been a week, and a very busy one at that. Unfortunately, not so much with the game making. The problem with taking online courses for a degree is that there's very little compelling you to do it beyond willpower, and I don't have very much of that when it comes to schoolwork. So I've been spending the last week frantically catching up on schoolwork and trying not to claw my eyes out at the unbelievable dullness of Fine Arts. Stupid requirements.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things on Monday. I have to work all weekend, so that's not going to work out. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish the fifth day of Trials by Tuesday and get that much closer to finishing it.

As for Cursed, I'm starting to think that RAGS might not be the best way to do it. I'm looking at other options, like Flash, Gamemaker, and a couple of others. I probably won't DO that, but maybe for a different project. I've had a non-TF related RPG brewing in my head for a couple of years now, centered around what I think is an interesting little battle system. Shame my artistic skills are lacking, but I'll see what I can do. But! That's neither here nor there.

[APRIL FOOLS] Damn it.

Alright, so. After a couple of weeks of working on Trials, I've just about had it. I can't figure out what to do next, the characterization is terrible, and quite frankly, it's just no longer interesting. So I'm just done with it. Killed. Dead. Sorry if you were waiting for it.

Cursed is a different story.


For Cursed, I've decided that the TG-TF elements are completely unnecessary. So, now you begin the game as a woman, and it's really just a life simulator. But there's no sex. I couldn't figure out how to code the potential outcomes of sex, like pregnancy, or arousal, or character interaction, or...well, basically a lot of stuff. So I figured it would be better to just drop it entirely. So, the game is now going to be about the day-to-day interactions of a woman in her normal life. Hopefully, it'll still be interesting, but I know the new focus will drive a lot of people away.

I think I'll put up a beta tomorrow, and see what people think of the playable parts. So far you're able to wake up, get breakfast, head to the mall, buy some clothes, and eat some food. It's actually pretty stimulating, in my own humble opinion. None of that has any effect on the game yet, but it's in there, at least. So, look for the beta on the TFGamessite forum tomorrow, once I've cleaned up the unruly bits.

Seriously, though, people, April fools.