#CRWL

[manonamora-if]

My entry to the French IF Comp is out! Play it here!

It has dark stuff, puzzles, suspense... and an unexpected end :P

You can vote for the French IF Comp until the end of February! (please go vote, the games are really cool!)

(also I saw a funny Chicken picture, and I had to submit to this other jam for the lolz. Like the SeedComp! prompt, you can use that one however you want! It's under the CC-BY license)

Fixed :

some visual issues with small height non-mobile screens

settings in the light mode, and labelling overall

title page small edits

Reloading the page will only give you the logo

the glitchy text in Chapter 3 is fixed (it now works! if you have the setting turned on)

MelS wrote quite a bit this week too! We've passed 8k words.

I don't have any substantial story update to give yet... but I've still some a tiny bit of coding work:

Some visual issues are getting fixed (similar ones to TTATEH + others).

2 new fonts will be included: a monospace and Atkinson Hyperlegible.

I am also adding Keybindings to the main story (the Codex Pages will be a bit tricky, as of now they won't work) for computer play.

I will be changing the code for the notification to a more aria/screen-reader friendly (and there's a lot of them)

A big bug found in the last update of TTATEH has turn up in CRWL too, so that's getting fixed...

Some other bugs raised lately have to be checked out...

OH and the biggest thing: I am adding custom pronouns AND give the choice for the player to choose their title (liege, lord, lady) regardless of their genre :D

Anyway, the Settings, the whole Prologue and Scene 1 is clear. I have started Scene2. Going through the scenes is a bit dull and repetitive (there's 1.5k lines of code for each scene on average), but I am chipping away at it.

Nothing big actually. Just added 2 fonts : a Garamond like and the Atkinson Hyperlegible.

No I haven't forgotten P-RIX. I've been fighting its code all this time...

Anyway, the UI will be changing slightly to give more space for the text (less scrolling, especially on bigger font sizes). The background has also changed (especially the stars looking less like rain, lol). And the radar actually works this time too!

And I've been testing a Mobile portrait version (finally!), which will not include the background, but will be much easier to play!

[It'll be the next UI template too, but bare]

This is the first update of February, so here's a little run-down of what to expect here this month:

a small CRWL update (general UI and bug-fixing)

a P-Rix update (UI for sure, extra content maybe? time will tell)

my SeedComp! entry (if I manage, it will be Gonch-short)

Onto some other IF related information:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~IFDB AWARDS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The IFDB Awards are ongoing. You can vote for Outstanding entries published in 2022 until the 17th of February!

Check out this post for more information. This is the first year of this award, so the turn out will decide what will happen to it (or at least some categories) next year. Please go vote! (I have like 7 games that are eligible this year, some have appeared on the polls already, it's neat :P )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SEEDCOMP !~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are about 3 weeks left on the Sprouting Round of the @seedcomp-if ! Come join and create a little game. :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPRING THING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Spring Thing 2023 Edition is officially open. You can register your intent until March 1st !

~~~~~~

I've updated the Coding Support list too!

And that's it :P Been a pretty productive week :)

[swagging-back-to]

all of the girls are getting into burrowing more and more but the main colony jus started their first ever entirely underground burrow and it's actually so cute.

it's just pepper making it rn but it's all the way at the bottom of the tank and she even has it right up against the glass so i can see inside it </3 and it's soooo cute she keeps going up to the main nst to get bedding and bringing it down her lil tunnel </3 </3

[the-disemvoweler]

🕳🏃💨

*crawls back into hell hole* YOU WONT BE SAVED! I’LL ALWAYS BE BACK!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

🕳🏃💨

*crwls bck nt hll hl* Y WNT B SVD! ’LL LWS B BCK!!! MWHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What

[trulese]

its so hard to be normal an to not be clingyy an figur out ur addrss an crwl into ur bed at nigh an cuddl an chok u to death so i can be the las person u cuddld an touchd

[if-confessions]

My confession is that i regret posting an intro post without a demo… I’m terrified i won’t live up to the expectations and it’s taking the joy out of writing. Whenever i receive asks it give me so much anxiety my stomach starts hurting. I wish i waited an released a demo at the same time so that people who followed me are here because they actually like my writing and story… I’m not english and i’m a beginner so i’m scared i’m going to loose all support when i post it

Oh, Anon....

I'm not going to lie to you and say it will get better as soon as you post a demo. This feeling can come back every time you post an update (have seen many authors worry about this on my feed) or even when posting a change in the game (locking a character aspect - gender, sexuality, race, etc...; re-writing a part/the whole thing; going on hiatus; answering a difficult ask; etc.... Or just come back... just because.

Creating IF is not easy to begin with, because of how the medium is constructed (whether it's choice-based or parser... so much variation to take into account sigh), where you are (usually) both the writer and the coder. But advertising your project adds another layer to it, because now you need to deal with expectations and feedback and comments and ratings and questions (a.k.a a customer service position), on top of making announcements and posting extra content (a.k.a a marketing position), and maybe even set up beta-testing rounds (a.k.a a quality control position). It's really a lot...

There are some advantages of releasing an intro post before having a demo. That's what I did with Harcourt, teasing the announcement, then posting an intro post with a release date, then posting the demo. All this spanned half a year. But I still got some lovely return from it. CRWL also didn't have a demo when I started posting about it. Building some hype about a project is a good marketing strategy!

The worse that can happen is that the demo doesn't live to your follower's expectations....

And that's fine. If some people leave, you will probably have other people coming onboard that like what you do. You will make mistakes along the way (everyone does), what is important is how you respond to them and how you grow from them. We all have to start somewhere :)

So right now, take a deep breath, maybe have a drink and a snack, maybe even a nap or a walk outside. Maybe take a little break from Tumblr or turn off the asks box for a while. And when you come back to your project, don't think about anything but what you want to do with the story. And maybe, when you have a bit ready (like a prologue or a chapter), have a beta-testing session for feedback.

Creating IF should be about having fun (even if writing/coding is frustrating), not tormenting yourself with what could happen.

~~~

If you want to get a little more experience before you go on tackling (back) your big project, may I suggest participating in a small game jam to test the waters and create something small? There are currently two unranked jams on itch that you might like: the Anti-Romance Jam and the Neo Twiny Jam (@neo-twiny-jam).

[danthropologie]

Did you see this clip. I love how Anne Hathaway recognizes Danny Ric (and also that he looks a bit starstruck by the encounter). https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrwL-tpLej7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

yes it's SO funny 😭 she's literally just like me, catching a glimpse of him and IMMEDIATELY knowing exactly who he is. he is also just like me, completely star struck at the thought of fucking ANNE HATHAWAY, american royalty, knowing who the fuck he is!!

[marcedrickirby]

P500000 1005 NULL YOUTUBE HOLIDAY CORE CDC FY25 ETS GTFL CRWL DNAD 1920x...

MARCEDRIC KIRBY FOUNDER CEO.

MARCEDRIC.KIRBY INC.

WELCOME TO THE VALLEY OF THE VAMPIRES

We can take everything from me, his rockets is car company then fire him then throwing in the trash but don't you have to be a United States citizen so what you mean MARCEDRIC KIRBY CAN BE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES THE LAW SAYS I CAN ONLY GO AS FAR AS BEGINNING MAYOR BUT TREATY SAY YOU JUST LOST THE COUNTRY TO ME BECAUSE AMERICA IS MY LAND STUPID YOU'RE FIRED GET OFF MY LAND

[whobotcha]

for spooky things that crwl on the walls or or even things that slither

they're not natural but those underground tunnels full of pipes and wires beneath cities are a type of biome to me

[kimani2]

#Henny https://www.instagram.com/p/Crwl-0xsKqp/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[manonamora-if]

Another week passed... I did things!

Patched some lil bugs (one that I had created trying to fix something else...), reformatted some pages, and fixed some typos.

Since the end of the Comp, the French IF community has been streaming the entries. Last Wednesday was my turn! It is not a full playthrough (as the game is really that long), but it solved all puzzles but one. The participants in the stream were also quite close in figuring out the story... :)

Two people on the IntFiction Forum are also reviewing the Comp entries. And I was among the first to get very lovely reviews from both of them!

I've also got someone lovely return from players in general, as well as more critical feedback/ideas for edits. When I have a bit more time, I will try to implement those and add an English translation to it...

Anyway, play DOL-OS here!

No one has figured out the Easter Egg or found the hidden meaning either yet... :(

I have finished reworking the UI. This include shuffling around some blocks, increasing the container size, simplifying the Interface code, adding some transitions between screens, fixing the animations (;-; finally), adding a new "screen", customising the Dialog boxes, etc...

AND ! The UI has been optimising for Mobile view too! To get the full experience, I'd still advise for a screen being at least 900x600, but smaller screen (portrait) will be able to play soon!

Before I upload the fix, I would like to add a tad more text (a small scene with Mr. E) and add a few extra settings, especially for timed/typed animated text (tested, need to add to the file), and font options.

Maybe next week update? Or the week after...

You know what I forgot last week? Recoding the searching through the room part of Scene 1 (because it's a sperate file)... That's done now. As well as the side destination options. I've done 1/3rd of Scene 2, not touched Scene 3, and half of Scene 4.

I thought I would have been further than I am now but I'm not... I forgot how big the chapter were. Each file is 1.3k - 2k lines of code/writing. That's a lot to go through.

On the plus side, since I've figured out a better way of coding the next animation, I got to optimise some stuff!

I am still not set on a title, but I do have the theme for my SeedComp! entry: Noir... but kind of a spoof?

Short pitch: you play as a down-on-your-luck P.I. waiting for your next case to pay your bills, when a Dame enters your office.

The whole thing is drafted, I've described the big actions/choices, and started writing it. Since I've also set myself on the One Page template as my UI, I won't need to spend too much time on that. Just the coding, when the writing is done.

Some repeat of last week:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~IFDB AWARDS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The IFDB Awards are almost over. Less than one week to vote!

Check out this post for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SEEDCOMP !~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A bit more than 2 weeks left on the Sprouting Round of the @seedcomp-if ! Come join me and create a little game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPRING THING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Spring Thing 2023 Edition is officially open. You can register your intent until March 1st !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FRENCH COMP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can vote for the comp entries until the start of March! Voting does not happen on itch, but a google form linked on the Comp Page.

~~~~

That's about it. Toodles~

[fivefve]

Whatever force pulls the strings, that voice has already taken over your body. You’ve felt it a couple of times already since you woke up. Still now, you feel it has control over this flesh and seems reluctant to let go. Whenever it wishes, it pushed you aside, locking you away, unable to do or say a thing.

Crimson Rose & White Lily (@crimsonroseandwhitelily) as Penguin Covers

[if-confessions]

I feel down about lack of artistic skill. So many IF authors are knocking it out of the park with their UI designs and promo images, and I'm here getting stressed out on canva struggling to even make a nice looking simple "game updated" banner with text on a background. are there guides anywhere on how to make these banners? are they really needed to get people's attention? (they feel like they are... the most popular blogs seem to have loads of shiny visuals that are really pretty but I just don't have the skills right now...)

Hey Anon!

Don't feel down...

This is really not something that happens overnight. Sure, some artistic talent will help start you off, but it is still a skill. One you can learn. But like all skills, it takes time to nourish and make it flourish. (and that amount of time needed will depend on the person.)

Also, Graphic Design is a very broad field. In the IF community, it will often embrace two different things: the UI, which requires learning a programming language (CSS) and the assets (including promo images), which requires learning about aesthetics, a graphic program, etc... These are very different skills to learn.

So you will make mistakes along the way, everyone does. It takes quite a lot of trial and error (with a lot of error) to get it right, then to get it right and quick. That's part of the learning process.

And, I can't lie and pretend innate artistic talent won't take a big part of making this process easier. Knowing how things should look, nicely or easy on the eye, is very helpful to make the whole process faster. As well as having studied those skills before starting making IF content (like in school/uni, or having learned by spending decades in a fandom making those weird little edits and banners for your forum signature that you spent hours making sparkle....). Or, in some cases, the author was able to get assets directly from someone with those skills (as paid content).

I don't know where you are on your IF journey, but don't despair. I know it's hard not to compare yourself to other authors and their skills (I know I do that, and have to remind myself not to do it), but you don't know how far they are on their graphic design journey. Maybe they struggled like you, once.

I know I did...

... and I still do!

This post is getting quite long, so I'll share my lil bit of experience below.

I've been on the internet for a while (when Forums were the thing), and learned a lot of those graphic stuff through graphic design-help forums (some where full on forums, others were just sub-channels, but you got to learn from someone with knowledge, that was cool). Also didn't realise then the use of images. I def used copyrighted images when I shouldn't have... the early naughties were a different times (and so was I, being 12 and all...)

But, before starting IF, I hadn't touched Photoshop or other Graphic Design program for about... 15 years? I had lost a lot of skills in that time. I had to relearn a lot of things (as well as learn some new ones, CSS had never been in my wheelhouse).

It used to take me hours to make banners and the such. I fawned over other creators' ability to make gif (which is doable on Canva), or have the perfect aesthetics to match their project (and their drawing skills...). For CRWL, I spent days on Canvas editing the main banner, because it didn't look right enough. I've re-done that one a couple of times, and I am still not happy with it.

Even after almost two years of doing this regularly, I still struggle. I can spend days/weeks on a UI to make it look nice and have the right palette, only to realise when it's published that the sizing messes up for some people. And I still spend hours on those Coming Soon posters (and then forget I have night light on my devices, so it messes with the colours). And have we talked about the time spent trying to find the perfect picture to use (on copyright free websites)? Though for smaller projects, I might slap two things together and call it a day. You can't go wrong with a simple colour background and a special font.

[hyunrun]

i have ranted to my friend about my insecurities, time to not check discord for days ayo

[v-anrouge]

RARAGAGAHAGHFHH FGHHRHRGRGR AWOOOOOO FGGRRR FRRURGFF RUFF GAGGRRR AAAVAGABBSSB D DDROOLS SCRWMNS RIPS MY HAIR OUT BAMGS NY GMHEA DGASIMRT THE WALL ROUNDS AOURN DGROWS A TAIM TURNS INTO EMO ALPHA WEREWOLF STARTS EATING SAND GROWLS CRWLS IN ALL FLOOR STARTS BURNING

[babiesdreams]

hi! i love your writing and im 100% sure you’ll be a writer in the future! never give up💘 for my request can i request mark lee x female reader doing the candy kiss challenge ? like with the lollipops?? if u don’t know what i mean look it up on youtube it should make sense. thanks again!!

I’m- thank you soo much baby. If I ever get a book out, I’m gonna leave some clues so that you know It’s me.

Also, I put this photo of myself bc I did a whole photoshoot and they’re aesthetic, sooo here they are.

23 nights with nct

Imma make this Mark’s night. Soo Day 21: Mark

“Kiss, Kiss” +18 Mark Lee

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol

Everyone was hyping you two. The challenge was purely innocent, so like there was nothing wrong with it. Except that it was Mark Lee, It was him who you had to kiss, his lips would be on yours. 

Just the thought of it, makes you blush, but when his lips start eating the poki... You lose it. Your eyes close slowly and after a few seconds you feel his soft skin brushing your lips.

A warm sensation brushes your whole body, making you feel like you were flying. Even if it only was a split second, you lived it on slowmo. You swear It felt like you had been hours kissing him, yet it didn’t feel like enough.

When you open your eyes you can see his face, all blushy and soft. His eyes are widen and soft at the same time, as his gaze is just lost in the highlights of your face. Your hair makes a perfect picture out of your face. 

You both end up looking at each other for the rest of the night, getting lost on each other’s shiny eyes. Even when everyone left you still looked into each other. For both of you, the room has always been empty, just the two of you in there.

Mark suddenly breaks the silence in the room. “Do you... You know um.... Do you ...” He says stuttering. “Do I...?” You try to help him but he chuckles. “Wait. Um like... Do you like me and that stuff?” He asks scratching his head.

You furrow your brows and laugh. “Why?? You liked my lips?” You ask teasingly and he looks at you with a daring gaze. “I like you. Since before that stupid challenge” He says, making you gasp at the sudden confession.

“I guess I like you too” You say looking away, trying to hide your blushed cheeks. His body crwls over yours, his hand touches your chin, making you look at him before he kisses you softly.

This kiss is completely different from the previous one. You’re still flying at the feeling, butterflies tickling your stomach and his hand brushing your skin softly. His tongue and yours get into a heated dance, exchanging saliva. 

His hands soonly get below your skirt, touching your clothed clit, making circles around it. You can’t control whimps and tiny moans to get out of your mouth. His hands moving over your clothed cunt feel somewhat very dirty.

“You’ve been wanting this all night right?” He says with a deep and serious voice, which makes you gulp. “Right?” He repeats, moving faster over your clit. You simply nod as the only thing that could get out of your mouth were moans.

Your moans and his growls are all that can be heard in the empty room...

------------------

It took me a long time to write this cause I’m getting ticks due to my anxiety :c

I’m sorry to leave it like this :CC May continue this someday TT

Masterlist –requests open– How to request?  Check out your score.

[poppetoiter]

NOOOOOO!! I NED TO CRWL AWY!

@kerrel-collby lt go!! ps!!!!