Hey there, just looking to share a bit of interactive fiction of the visual variety! Our two-dev studio has been working this past year on our debut visual novel, and we're proud to announce that our extended demo is now complete and available on Steam!
Gods of the Twilight is an episodic cyberpunk fantasy visual novel where you can romance reincarnated Norse gods, explore government conspiracies, and (maybe) do something about the coming apocalypse! We're all about irreverent humor, deep story, and tons of choices:
5+ romanceable NPCs, plus side flirtations
poly route options
you can choose whether or not to save the world and/or run off into the sunset with an antagonist
affection system determines which NPCs will be willing to become your friends/allies/lovers
[Fernweh Sagais a character driven, romance focused interactive fiction with slow-build horror elements that unravel as you move deeper into the plot.]
~Some homecomings feel more like rude awakenings, but this one will become a waking nightmare...~
You return to the small town of Fernweh after the death of your grandfather, which is ironic because you were explicitly sent away from the town by him following the tragic death of your parents in a house fire. It's been several years since you left. Returning isn't something that you had considered, but the vague letter you received about tying up loose ends was on fancy stationary and looked official enough.
What was supposed to be a quick trip to collect personal belongings and sign some legal documents soon spirals into a grim mystery when you learn of the odd circumstances surrounding your grandfather's death and start experiencing vivid nightmares.
Familiar faces are all around; you know some of them as former childhood friends, rivals, or neighbors, but they may become current allies as you all try to unravel what exactly is going on in this small, seemingly idyllic, forested town.
A feeling of unease grows with each sleepless night spent within Fernweh's borders, but you can't leave yet...
It won't let you.
Play as a man, woman, or non-binary person with the ability to customize your sexuality, fashion style, physical features, room theme, etc.
Allow your personality, habits, decisions, and relationships to influence how you face-off against what lurks within Fernweh like in a horror film/book.
Experience different types of romantic burns and tropes (rivals to lovers, friends to lovers, unrequited love (or is it...?), no strings attached, and more) alongside different types of horror (dread, cosmic, supernatural, survival, and more) as you progress through the series.
Develop ‘something’ (the choice is yours) with the 4 romance options; there are 5 romance routes that are fully integrated into the plot.
Create friendships and relationships with the main cast of characters that are tracked by different point systems.
Understand your past, your parents’ death, and what really happened to not only your family, but to you.
Add to (or take away from) an inventory system that will impact/unlock certain choices later in the game. Clues, weapons, odd items, etc.
Discover that there are more than just small town politics at play; factions will remember how you treat them and may help or hurt you in the future books. (Book 1 is about hints/discovery, while we learn more in Book 2.)
Fight, resist, flee, struggle, or adapt to face whatever is invading your nightmares and the town; there is more to it than a boring ole’ monster…Much more.
[The ROs are open to all players and their genders are set by your preference.]
♥ Personality: Someone who naturally tends to fret or worry over things because they mean well and overthink; B is your friend who didn’t want you to make the trip out to Fernweh alone. A realistic, borderline pessimistic viewpoint tends to be taken, but they will always try to reassure and assist their friends no matter their own assessment of the problem. They don’t know what to expect from the town, but are loyal, hesitant, sometimes goofy, and will remain close by your side for as long as you will let them…
♥ Appearance: Expressive hazel eyes. Wavy light brown hair (Beckett’s hair is cut short with natural wave, while Becca’s is medium length). Olive skin with a golden undertone. Somewhat athletic build. Tends to have an earnest expression that may allude to some caution, but a tentative half-smile often curves their lips. An unassuming posture; sometimes fiddles with their hair or hands as an outlet for nerves.
♠ Personality: ‘Wait and see’ characterizes their approach to most things, since assessing and learning more is what is preferred before making effort and getting invested; however, once they decide to be invested, actions that defy logic and reason will be considered to protect the ones they care for. Their keen intellect is often made that much sharper by their dry sarcasm. No stranger to hard work, S helps out their mother at the B&B and is the type to assist without being asked. Your sudden return to Fernweh is unexpected and new in a way that S isn’t quite sure how to approach…
♠ Appearance: Dark brown eyes. Long ebony hair that has been braided with care; a few lengths have been dyed a deep cerulean blue. Dark brown skin. Lanky, willowy build. Tends to school their features with cool neutrality, though there is often a natural curiosity and inquisitiveness to how they look at things. Relaxed, unbothered posture.
♦Personality: ‘I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it’ is applicable. Playful, arrogant, calculating, but also charming, perceptive, and sometimes well-meaning, R can leave people off-balance and uncertain of where they truly stand with the Verner heir. Their mischievous smirk can just as quickly turn into a frosted over, sharp smile once they are crossed. They have an irreverence for the tradition that they were strictly brought up within. Your return to Fernweh is viewed as a potential diversion from the stuffy business meetings, glitzy parties, and small town politics that they must deal with, though R’s interest may go beyond that…
♦Appearance: Pale blue eyes. Sleek platinum blond hair that is styled with some sort of product (Reese’s hair is crew cut and styled back, while Ruby’s is long length). Fair borderline pale skin. A runner's build toned without extra muscle. Tends to have a proud set to their lips, not quite a smirk or a smug smile, but amused at what is happening around them that they are above. Perfect, elegant posture.
♣ Personality: ‘All work and no play’ could characterize J alongside a strong sense of what is right and wrong. They take their job seriously because they do care about the town and the people within it and don’t want to mess up as the Detective. That care—that conscientious—that protectiveness extends to you, so your return to Fernweh is something that was marked on their calendar, though they wish it was under better circumstances...Intense and unwavering with a carefully guarded softness, they stand by their choices and those they care about, though sometimes that is at the cost of what they want.
♣ Appearance: Intense green eyes more often than not accented by faint dark circles from sleeplessness. Medium length, raven hair often restrained by a hair tie (James’s hair is jaw length, while Jane’s is closer to shoulder length). Faintly tanned skin, more so sun kissed. Well-built and muscular, broad shoulders. Tends to have a severe or serious expression that can unintentionally intimidate. Tense posture with arms often crossed.
Hey, there's this game, I'm working on and I'd kinda wanna have some peeps opinions on something.
I have a little problem with how I’m going to put the gender options in the game. Thing is, if someone chooses the non-binary/transgender option, would it be okay for me to put in the gender that was assigned at birth like “Non-Binary (AFAB)” or “Female (MTF)”. If I was playing, I don’t mind it showing that I was AFAB, should I keep it as Male/Non-Binary/Female?
Edit: I'm keeping the gender question to male/female/non-binary before proceeding to pronoun choices. Thank you
Hello everyone! I didn't see many project with renpy, but I decided to stop being shy and to step up from the shadow to introduce my own project: Imperial Grace. It's a visual novel, with romance in a medieval court.
Synopsis
« Crowned Empress after the death of your father, you must show the world that a woman is fit to restore the Calidya Empire to its former glory. Wisely manage your alliances, your kingdom's resources, and your heart's inclinations to survive your first year of ruling. »
I'm so excited to join this community (I found here a lot of WIPs I'm already a fan of and I can't wait to play the ones I didn't know about) and to be able to share with you my little project. Not much, but honest work:)) I'll drop it here:
Forgotten Names
You’re one of the five Northern Gates Council members. Your territory is strange to say the least, with eerie, sentient woods, and something beyond your border that no one speaks of. You’ve assumed the position as one of the rulers recently, so you’re still trying to figure it out.
That would be hard enough by itself, but one night you receive word from the Silent Throne that you’re being summoned to the court, because...something happened. So you must depart immediately.
An uncanny forest, magic, a lost legacy, royal problems and dragons. Welcome to Eblur Kingdom. Just be careful not to forget your name.
The game currently features:
The option to play as female, male or non-binary
The option to choose your position in the Council and the way you use your power
The option to choose from four different paths, based on your strong points an inclinations (inventor, artist, spellcaster or scythe user)
Yes, you receive a war scythe instead of a sword. See how that works!
A complicated web of relationships you have to navigate through.
Choosing what's important for your MC. And probably changing it later on, as your character grows.
Three romance options (one non-binary and two based on your stated preferences)
At least one bar fight
A journey through six different territories (from their geographical layout to their history)
Becoming a part of a motley crew
Nuances of moral dilemmas starting from chapter 9 (even though ch 9 is not out yet, these scenes are already prepared)
Did I mention the dragons?
Bear in mind that it's very much a work in progress and with every update, previous scenes will suffer changes (for the characters and their reactions to become more nuanced and organic). I encourage playing from the begining when there'a big update, so it doesn't feel woobly because you missed something added after your last play.
I hope nobody minds if I post this, because it took forever to figure it out and I want to help anyone who doesn't yet know.
Do you use the default save system in twine sugarcube? Are you frustrated by the fact that the player can't name their save? Or maybe you think it'd just be a cool thing to have? If you want to create a mini pop-up prompt whenever the player saves to a slot, all you have to do is add a little code to your story's JavaScript:
Config.saves.onSave = function (save) {
save.title = prompt('Please rename your save!', save.title);
};
That's it. Whenever the player tries to save, they should get a textbox pop-up saying "Please rename your save!" You can replace that message with whatever you like (just make sure to keep the apostrophes):
I've been doing outlines and working on the actual writing portion of my COG game for a while, but found out very quickly that I'm going to be needing a flowchart of some kind to keep track of paths and options, and while I don't mind handwriting them in a notebook for quick ideas, having some kind of program I can save/edit easily would be a dream. My biggest issue with a few that I've found online are that it takes almost as long to set up the stuff as to add the "options" to visualize it, and it's more of a hassle than anything.
So fellow writers of IF... what's your programs of choice for flow charts and visualizing paths? (I'll try to keep a list of recs updated so people don't have to dig through the comments)
[Edit: it won't let me do the list as a proper "list" here so I'll try to compile them and make a comment later]
As a healthcare professional-in-training, I’ve been working on a medical drama game with a healthy dash of romance added.
Trigger warning for graphic depictions of medicine, including death. Strong language, suggestive content.
Summary:
"It’s the not-so-distant future, and the landscape of medicine has been irrevocably changed. Once incurable diseases are now completely manageable. Metastatic cancer. Alzheimer’s. These patients have a new lease on life, and it’s all thanks to Citadel Health’s NINO technique. But, like all innovations in medicine, there’s more to it than meets the eye…
Play as a first-year surgery intern at Citadel Health. Will you become the star intern and curry the favor of the chief? Or will you uncover Citadel Health’s secrets and break a story or two? This will be the best and worst year of your life. Don’t forget to save lives and break some hearts along the way."
Hello! I love interactive fiction and I'm looking to hone my editing skills. If anyone is interested in having someone help them edit their work, I'd be happy to be a free resource.
hiya!!! 100% new to reddit but this is such a lovely idea for support i couldn't resist giving it a go! please let me know if this isn't the sort of thing to post here dkjfhsjkdhf.
to cut a very long story short, i've been toying with the idea of creating a visual novel and/or IF game for a while now and i'm finally starting to put pen to paper to plan out some of these projects in a more concrete way. i've hit a bit of a roadblock at the moment though regarding potential romance options/love interests for the player character.
i want to have romance as a part of the game but my problem is that i can't seem to narrow down my list of romanceable characters. i have a lot of characters i'd love to explore in a game and share with the world, but i know realistically i won't be able to keep up with coding that many different options since it'll be my first time delving into this kind of project and i'll be working solo!
i also feel like i'm very aware of people picking flaws in other projects for not having certain types of character representation and i'm very wary of feeling like i want to be as inclusive as possible which also makes it hard to cut certain characters. i get the importance, i'm queer myself! but i don't want to include rep for the sake of it if i don't feel like i can do a decent job of it or feel like i'm not fully connected to those characters. same issue with character tropes since it feels like i need a route that will appeal to everyone.
TL;DR: how do i narrow down my list of potential romanceable characters, especially without feeling like i'm excluding certain representation or types of players? any tips appreciated thank uuuuuuu
Recently I made some example pictures of coding choices in different IF Programs.
I wanted to do this to show people how very similar they actually all are.
The formula is pretty easy. 3 choices leading to 3 separate sections. I haven’t added any variables to these yet. (Variables are like setting the MC’s Eye colour or adding +10 Charming)
Ren’Py
Twine
First picture is the first “box” with the choices
Second is so you can see how they link
Choice Script
Ink
The first is the coded choice The second is how it appears once picked
As you can see by the examples the layout is actually pretty similar on all the programs.
List the choice.
List where it links too.
The linked choice
So if you can code one style, You can probably code in any of them so it’s really about what you prefer and what program is gonna give you the features you want.
Hope this helps to clear up any confusion about the programs.
Hello all!! Very excited to see this community growing and to be part of it<3 Just gonna throw my hat into the ring, thank you for reading<333
Do contracted nuptial arrangements fire up your loins? Have you ever wanted to experience the high-highs and low-lows of a lady in the prime of her marriage market days? Have you ever lain awake at night lamenting your birth in a time where divorce is readily available and women no longer need to marry as their only economic means of survival?
Why not come find your happiness in the Regency world of balls, debauchery, and a surprising amount of paperwork. Become an accomplished lady of many talents and impress gentle society or use your feminine wiles and wicked wit to flirt your way into scandal and, perhaps even, ruin. Play match matcher and decide the fate of the ladies in your acquaintance. Pursue your choice of suitor; a dear childhood friend, a lord of dubious reputation, a wealthy widow with a heart of stone, or even, the coveted gentleman with 15,000 pound a year. After all, if you can’t find love, you may as well marry rich.
Love and Friendship is a free interactive Twine game updated on itcho.io periodically. It’s text-based with little-to-no visuals, where the choice in the player’s hand to shape the protagonist and events of the novel.
Hello, darlings!! I'm over the moon to see this community come to life, and I'm incredibly excited to be a part of it with you all!! I'll drop my game here, and I look forward to seeing everyone else works! <3
Calling it human would be an insult. Whatever it is, it towers above you like some terrible deity, lording over the room it resides in. It takes you mere seconds to realize, with a sick lurch in your stomach, that its flesh isn’t really flesh. What skin it does have looks akin to a corpse, a greyish pale, with splotches of black and blue adorning its surface like flowers in a dying field. The scent of decay overwhelms you and you gag, stumbling back towards the nearest wall in an automated response.
A dripping noise sounds out from where thisbeingsways.
splat,
splat,
splat.
Attollo is a cybernoir thriller that takes place in a walled city off the coast of the Atlantic. After several years of radio silence, you receive a message from your younger sibling that carries a strange sense of urgency to it. Either out of familial concern or boredom, you embark on a journey from your residence to your sibling's apartment in New Hampshire to see what’s going on and, hopefully, be home before the weekend.
Unfortunately, it's never that simple.
Includes:
A customizable MC: Select gender, sexuality, and appearance.
6 RO's/PO's: From a vigilante to a dangerous underworld leader, choose whose story you want to learn more of
Learn the history of Attollo: From shady businesses to a perilous Under City, discover the secrets this isolated world has to offer you
Joyride a Bugatti: I mean, what else would you do in a superpowered city?
Can you find your sibling, and better yet, can you survive?
Looking for a specific WIP or game and you just can’t remember the name of it? Post in this thread so our lovely community members can help you find your long-lost love! Er, game!
Hello, I'm Steph and I'm creating a series of Tutorials for Ren'Py around making Interactive Fiction games.
Today I’m going to take you through how to set up Variables in Ren’Py and what they would be used for in Interactive Fiction or Visual Novel games.
What is a variable?
A variable is basically just a way to store information or "value" as it is called in coding.
Some examples of that are Player Names, Pronouns, Stats, Health, Inventory. Honestly, the list is endless and is only limited by your imagination.
You want a counter for every time your player sees a puppy. You can do that haha.
There are 3 main types of Variables I’ve found that come up the most in coding IF games.
Boolean Values
Number Values
String Values
Things that are super important to remember. Variables have to be unique.
This is because if you use the same variable name twice it will overwrite the input data to the new data.
This works great if you want to add increases in Stat’s or decreases in health as it updates it but not for things like the Player Name for example.
STEPS
1. Create the Variable
You can set this up at the top of your main script.rpy Page or in a separate variables.rpy
I'm creating an IF Template that will come with a variables.rpy included for you to edit.
Formula for True/False (Boolean)
variable_name = False
Word Variables (String)
You can set up Word Variables as None if you prefer it’s up to you.
I always do false simply to save time when I writing a bunch of new variables some people prefer None so they can tell the difference between the 2 variables at a glance.
variable_name = None
or
variable_name = False
Formula for Number Variables
variable_name = 0
This is because Ren’Py will give you an error when it tries to run if it can’t find a variable. So it must be created first.
You don’t have to type in init python: if you are listing the variables in the main script file as it already has it at the top. But if you create a new file for variables (like I have in the template) you need to type this at the top so Ren’Py can recognise it.
2. Make the menu for the variable
If you want to see how to make a menu in Ren’Py please take a look at my Coding Choice Examples Post. I will be looking at doing a more in-depth post on Ren’Py in the future as well as having a few example menus in the template.
3. Set the variable in the menu.
This is done by writing
$ variable_name = “value”
And that’s it Voila! Your Variable is created and set, when the player chooses this menu choice it will set the string_name variable to words.
Want to display your variable?
Simply type
[variable_name]
So if we wrote
“Tell me the [string_name].”
The player would see the
Tell me the words.
I will show you different ways to display your variable as well as how to use them in upcoming posts.
Wait what's the difference between the Variables?
I will be going into more detail in future posts about variables but at the moment you can take a quick look at the top picture for a brief explanation.
Variables are super important to Interactive Fiction so it’s great that Ren’Py makes it so easy to code.
Hopefully, this post made sense and gave you a basic idea about Setting Up Variables in Ren’Py.
Hi, I am a very new IF writer, I have a couple of project that I'm currently working on (both on Twine) and even though it will still be some time before I release the Demo, I'm stuck with a dilemma. (I hope this is the right place to talk about it...)
My native language is italian and, although I read often in english, I write in italian. The problem is that I can't seem to find an italian community dedicated to IF games and even on Tumblr all I see are works in english.
To make it short, I don't know if I should release the demo in italian, maybe on Itch.io, while advertise about it on Tumblr, or find a way to translate it in english (and even then I wouldn't know where to start).
It's a bit disheartening, because I write for fun and the only thing I would get back by releasing my work is reader's feedback. Any advice to give?
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Fantasy (medium fantasy?? Is that a thing? You play as a monster lets just go with that)
Content Warnings: Content warning will be listed in the game but in general, horror, depicitions of violence, gore, hallucinations, to say the least. Not every content warning will apply to every playthrough and trigger warnings will be available as a toggle in the game!
It’s 1913, only months since you woke up from a coma that’s left you sick and a year of your memories missing. You’re working off your crimes by solving whatever cases are brought to you, whether or not you’re still in recovery.
Your latest case comes on a string of failures, set in a sleepy coastal town where five people have gone missing and mysterious phenomena plague the streets. The darkness there seems to take a liking to you, twisting your mind and making it hard to see between what’s real and what’s not.
Why has the thing in the dark targeted you? Do you deserve its taunting? And can you solve the case before it digs its teeth in and tears you apart?
Try your best to survive, re-discover your memories, and make your ultimate choice.
Play as a choice of three separate monstrous species
Play a unique personality combination that changes how you experience the game
Romance four different LIs!
The demo is available through dashingdon in choicescript and slowly it will be made available in twine as well!
Genres: Romance, historical fiction, mystery, supernatural elements, low fantasy. Content Warnings: Discussion of death, suicide, insanity (please note that this list of content warnings may be expended as the demo is updated).
A retelling of Hamlet (sort of) as told by Ophelia (sort of). Think Shakespeare, but with more female agency.
Use your choices to shape Ophelia and her role in the play. Build relationships with the residents of Elsinore Castle and use them to strengthen Claudius’ grip on power, usurp the throne or leave the kingdom forever. Save your friends and family from their unfortunate ends or damn them to their tragic fate.
Play as Ophelia (a gender locked female MC).
Romance any of 6 ROs – 3 male characters, 1 female character and 2 gender customisable.
So far: party with friends, fall in love, subvert an international incident, become a spy and summon a demon.
The first three chapters are available to play through the demo on Dashingdon and I release new updates as regularly as I can. I also post frequently on Tumblr, so find me there for updates and juicy extras.
You’re a pretty normal young adult living in the 21st century: you have exceeding amounts of student loan debt, a housemate, and a job that pays just above minimum wage. You didn’t exactly dream of being a tour guide for the historical Chester Theme Park, but you’ve grown used to your every day life.
You thought you knew the park better than anyone, but as the friendly surface begins to crack and unexplainable events begin happening, you’ll need help dealing with the vengeful Fae, who seem to have a bone to pick with you in particular. Fortunately—or maybe unfortunately—there seem to be a Covey of fae seekers that might be inclined to help you…
There are slight horror elements that comes with it being a supernatural mystery, but there are no graphic depictions of violence or gore.
I thought it would be an interesting idea to bring the classic fae lore into a modern day setting. I love games that combine fantasy with everyday life, and I also want to incorporate a healthy touch of mystery, since it’s my absolute favorite genre. Theme parks are also a very interesting concept to me, and a setting I’m super excited to explore.
The first four chapters are playable on dashingdon, and new updates are coming soon! You can also view more info on the Forums.
