when-life-gives-you-lemons-if

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Let Your Scope Creep

The number one piece of advice people give to interactive fiction writers is to say no to scope creep, but find ways to trim out fanciful extra paths, detours, side adventures, things that will deeply change your narrative--that you should get used to saying no to these notions when they arise especially early on. If you have a big fork in Chapter Two of an eight-chapter game, you have to deal with the whole rest of the game! As I've mentioned elsewhere, adding 5,000 words here means that you have to account for that choice later, which means 10,000 words later, and then 25,000 words even later to tie the subplot up neatly.  And that's a small scope creep.

So the advice is to delay, delay, delay--just defer the big stuff as long as you possibly can. This is probably good advice for writing games that can be written in a sensical time period.

But I want to just say a word for just giving in. Sometimes a thought nags me, like "what if the manor burned down"? What would happen? It would be outrageous to try to split the narrative...in that way.

But once it seizes me, I have to say yes to it, and pursue that vision. Because if I can think of it, and its evocative, then someone else is too, and I want them to be delighted when it turns out the narrative can adapt to that vision. That moment where a player's eyes widen and they realize the game said "yes," is why I say yes to scope creep.

Do not do this if you are not enjoying the process. But the fact is that scope creep happens when you say to yourself "I wonder what would happen if..." and when you shut that down, you are hitting the brakes on the part of your writing that wants things to be unexpected. It where you veer away from the outline; it's when the narrative gets weird, and possibly difficult to write. It's where you are serving a thin slice of your readership, but the thinner you slice it, the funner it gets. The more you are writing a story that feels personalized to the player.

However, I think you should say yes to it, a lot.  Because you only get the impulse to expanded when some part of you says "wouldn't it be cool if..." and if you say no to scope creep, then you shut down that part of your brain that wanted to see something neat and weird happen in the bit you are writing.

I wouldn't recommend this to everyone. Your story will take a long time to write. It's a long road. But I think it will more deeply approach its perfect form. I'm a huge fan of scope creep.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

I was wondering if we can get the heights of the RO’s from SOH?

They are all tall. 😭

Except for M. I think I have M canon short. And Alexis Average height.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

When i try to reload a save in spices of the heart it says "the game has updated. Restarting chapter"💔 do i have to save to my phone storage?

Lol, I pushed an update an hour ago since there were a few things that needed fixing.

Just restart and make new saves as you would normally do. You should be fine.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

The Eternal Library Progress Report:

Hello, dear friends of Minare! Life has been super busy, but I’ve managed to get a bit over 20k words written so far in the parallel chapter fives.

I’ve just uploaded an early access demo update for Patreon subscribers that includes this new material, which I’m thrilled to be able to share!

The story is really coming along now, and these two paths offer a chance to get to know Dorian better as well as Marienna and Sevitas (and Collin, of course). More time with Gemma and Angelina will be coming later in the chapter.

If you’re ready to dive in now and see what’s new with chapter five, head on over to Patreon and get in on the action! As usual, this update will be public in a month, so you can look forward to that if you’re not a Patreon member.

The next sections I’ll be working on will include opportunities for romance, intrigue, and contributing to the changes of the kingdom on one path and forming alliances (or making enemies) on the other.

Thanks for your interest in The Eternal Library! I hope you have a fabulous weekend! 💞🌿

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Blood of the Living - Chapter Four Announcement

Hey everyone!

I said I'd let you know when I knew Chapter Four's public release date, and I am. It'll be out for everyone on Tuesday, April 22. Chapter Four features 78,000 new words, including a little adventure with each RO/PO depending on your route, and some scenes in common to all routes.

I'll probably say a bit more on release day, but if you'd like to see it early, my Patreon tiers all get it between three and ten days in advance.

In any case, have a great week. :)

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Innovative Relationship Stats in Interactive Fiction

This is the write up I've been most excited to do--this is one of my favorite things in interactive game design--doing cool stuff with stats. I really, *really* wish someone had told me this stuff when I was starting out.

The most ordinary way to handle a relationship stat is to track it with a number that goes up and down according to choices and tests in some predictable fashion.  So, for example, if I do something that Gilberto likes, according to some reasonable option, like “support Gilberto in the argument,” I get:

*set rep_gilberto %+10

And this makes sense to everyone.  I gave Gilberto a gift, I get reputation points with him.  I showed that I’m good at swordfighting, this impresses him, and I get a higher number.

Similarly, if I insult him, if I’m nice to his enemy, if I do something stupid in front of him, I get

*set rep_gilberto %-10

For my first game, this is the only kind of relationship stat I used.  It was the only one I knew!

So the relationships were very simple to track and very simple to test.  If, by the end of the game, Prenzie likes me 72 much, and that’s over the romance tester of >= 65, congratulations, Prenzie and you can have a happy ending together.

You can write a totally fun game never using anything weirder than that.  But I thought it would be fun to share with you some other interesting ways to conceive of relationship stats.

A character who only goes to 0 or 100. That's it. Her relationship stat with you is essentially a boolean true/false. You can do everything for her, but the second you do something she doesn't like, it's down to 0. She loves you or she hates you. This is very character defining. The number tells you everything you need to know about the character.

That same character, who only goes to 0 or 100--except that you can do something over the course of the game to change them, to allow them to have a broader range of relationship numbers. Suddenly there can be shades of relationship. You did something to help them mature, to understand people better.

A hidden relationship number. If you look at the stat screen, whatever you do, nothing will change their number. They neither like you nor dislike you. They are professional, perhaps, and nothing more. However, you can do something to break down their shield or facade, and then, you can see the number moving; or perhaps the number doesn't move at all until that shield is broken.

The above, but in reverse. Something happens to chill someone's heart, and then nothing you do can affect the number. Or perhaps it can only go down, and then you are in a constant battle of attrition where you can only lose affection from someone.

When you reach a certain level of love and trust from someone, the bottom of the scale raises permanently. No matter how much I annoy my true love, the number just bottoms out at 40.

A relationship number that can be tapped as a resource. The bartender at the Noble Gases Club likes me reasonably well. Let's say she likes me 60 out of 100 much. When I need something in an emergency, she can do astonishing things. If I have over 35 relationship with her, she'll help me. Each time I use her, it depletes her by some amount depending on how big a favor it is. So this one is interesting, because now I have to balance whether I want to keep her liking me because I want to pursue this relationship, or whether I just really need her help right now.

A relationship number that can be a catch-all variable for a test. If you have a high relationship with Toppers, the club millionaire, I can throw that in as a variable in a test to see if you can impress someone by talking about high finance on the grounds that you may have had a conversation with Toppers about her money in the past. (*if intellect + toppers >= 50) Then, if you pass the test *because* the Toppers variable made you cross the threshold, you can add flavor text talking about that conversation with her. This is very, very good, because it tells the player that the game has taken into account your having done things to get close to Toppers (and there's a reward for it--you passed the test, sure, but...here's more content, too!)

A degrading relationship stat is incredibly powerful and characterful. This stat declines, scene by scene unless you do something to raise it. This is a "what have you done for me lately" person, and even though it take a little setting up, code-wise, it's really powerful, and your player will feel smart for figuring out that's what's going on. Also, it's stressful. If you want to create that stress, this a great way.

You can, of course, do the opposite--this is how you code your biggest fan. I like you, and I just keep liking you more and more and more and more!...until you do something to halt that, at which point, the growth shuts down, which is a gut punch. The numbers tell such a story here.

Finally, numbers that seem to tell a different story than the narrative. Players are going to look at numbers; they are going to look at the stats. Not everyone, but a lot. And so they are part of the story, they just are. So you can make them part of the push-pull of romance, for example, or rivalry. What does it mean that as my relationship number with Haze goes up, they are more and more standoffish? Does their scale mean something different from other people's, and if I figure out out, will I understand them in some sense? Perhaps there's a tremendous amount of pushback in the 60-75 range, but once you get through that minefield, something changes?

More musings on game design and other Jolly Good stuff here (I just wrote up a thing on "hidden relationship stats and their use")--I'm on a relationship stats kick today, I suppose:

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Hi! absolutely loved playing whats out of SOTH so far!! idk how to describe it properly lol but i was able to imagine every scene so vividly and the interactions with each character were just done so well! you are so wonderful with descriptions and dialogue!!!!! so so so good!!!!!!!

every romantic scene with J (Jules?) was like so SO good. had to put my phone down near the end there and take a break😳 i am so excited for more scenes with them... the tension!!! agh!!!!

also just curious (and i apologize if this has already been clarified somewhere as i have not yet played any of the nsfw scenes and i dont think I've seen this asked) i saw an ask earlier about a transmasc mc being able to use a strap and was wondering if that'll be something included as an option for every mc to use as well? or an option for a ro to use one? i know basically nothing about coding and have heard nsfw scenes are a pain bc of all the possible variations like this so totally understandable if this isnt something you had planned at all! just curious bc i dont think ive ever played a game that included the use of a strap before, and am wondering if it'll be something that would be possible to include in a lesbian nsfw scene also!

Thanks for the kind words.

And as for the scene, they varied depending on so many things.

Your choices really matter in this case. Below are two types of variations for wlw.

If Mila is in charge and MC is comfortable with penetration

If the MC is in charge

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Here's some of the sorta flirty things I noticed. I honestly think most of them probably wouldn't feel nearly as flirty in a different setting and the flirty vibe is just getting amplified. And I understand it being a lot of work to change anything for such a small thing. I really do promise I'm not trying to be difficult. T_T Perhaps the after party is just too far outside my comfort zone and I should just skip it. Oh well, I'll just go back to Bad Decisions with Milo™ then.

(Either of these alone likely wouldn't have been a problem. It's probably just how close they were together that made it feel closer to flirting than teasing.)

The elevator doors slide open with a quiet chime, and Céline steps inside, waiting for you to follow. "I promise I won't bite," she says with a smile.

"I hope you'll have fun tonight," she says, her voice low, almost intimate.

(Not sure why I'm staring when I'm not interested since I already took note of what she was wearing at the original party. And I think it following so soon after noticing her crossing and uncrossing her legs on the way over just feels like I'm paying an awful lot of attention to her.)

Céline slips off her coat, revealing her red dress that hugs her figure in a way that makes it hard not to stare.

(This is honestly the only one that really feels like it missed a flirt check.)

She smiles, pouring you a glass before handing it to you. Her fingers brush against yours, lingering just a second longer than necessary.

Thanks. That's what I needed. I will push an update soon.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

First time reading soth I didn't go to the party because I figured I would miss out on work tasks and I want to be a good cook but on replaying it I went there and omg?? I missed so much.. learned so much about e and Celine too they're so fun lol

Yes, the party is a lot of fun and also very stat-heavy. 😭

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

"Alexis looks up as you step in, their face lighting up with a smile despite the obvious exhaustion in their eyes. On top of everything else, you keep going back to that damn dream you had about him, and it messes you up even more." - this passage was confusing, I think, because there's an abrupt switch from Alexis(they) to a dream about Milo (he)

Yes, I used the same variable for both dreams, and the code is acting up. 😭

I will push an update soon.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Hi I'm playing the update and the option to flirt with Celine is blocked out for me

Was there something special to do so I can flirt with her bc I reallyyyyy wanted to

Celine is only available to wlw. It might be blocked because of that.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Sorry if this has been addressed already. I admittedly didn't back read as much as I probably should before submitting an ask, and I really hope I don't come off as rude with this. I'm aware that it's probably overly nitpicky.

In soth, chapter 3, the after party: would it be possible to add an option to wait for Evan to go to the party with him instead of Céline? I thought when I accepted that I would be going with him or both of them together. Going to that type of party with someone I'm not interested in was rather uncomfortable, especially when she got weirdly flirty despite my MC being a gay guy who has obviously never flirted with her. Weird lingering touches aside, even if she'd been perfectly innocent, I just can't imagine being comfortable going to a party like that with someone I'm mostly on neutral terms with when the expectation was going with someone I'd been getting close to. And then getting left alone there awhile before Evan showed up (hello, panic attack).

Again, I'm really not trying to be rude. I just felt a little blindsided there. (To be clear, I didn't have a problem with Céline going as well or being around once Evan arrived, it was just having the first impressions alone with her when Evan made the invitation sound like we'd all be going.)

I think someone else mentioned that. I would appreciate some lines that point me to the flirty part as she is just supposed to be a hostess introducing you to the party and should not be flirty if you haven't flirted with her, so I'm assuming the code got tangled up somewhere.

As for having E being there at the start, that would be a lot of rewrite, so I just need to modify those flirty lines you mention and make it clear that if you don't have romance point with her, she is just a guide, nothing more.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

just wanted to say that for a long time the sous chef was my number one in SoTH but after this most recent update i love Alexis so much!!! im pretty sure you predicted that would be the case a few weeks back too 😂 you were right! something about the best friends trope of we should give in because we want each other and we're so good for one another but we also shouldn't because what if it ruins everything between us is so delicious. and just wanted to say that i love what you're doing with the delicious jealousy between them and the ex 💕

Alexis was one of my fav paths to write this update. Their POV when they say to M, "I can bitch slap you!" lol gold.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

SOTH.

When there is a case of cheating, I nornally reject the route because there is no way it can be justified.

However, M is terribly pathetic and now I am having diffculty upholding my initial conviction. They just seem so hopeful and unrelenting in their pursuit of the MC. I wanted to play neutral, but now I am also rooting for getting them back together.

I think having this much trouble makes me equally pathetic.

Your writing is amazing.

Kind regards, Anon.

LMAO, what have I done? 😄 Glad you're enjoying M's route.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Who is your favorite RO so far in Spice of the Heart?

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Okay, sorry for the back to back asks, but I actually read Spices too now (initially I was planning on doing that, and then I remembered to ask you that question I sent about Lemons first!).

And so far, I like it very much despite being on the fence due to the whole concept of the story not being my thing. It's so SO funny to me because I went through a fascinating process during my gameplay:

1 - "Oooh, a RO that's MC's ex, one of my favorite tropes! I'll have to go for them!" 2 - *Looks at J* "Hmm sweet enemies-to-lovers... but nah, the 'ex RO' trope is rarer, so I'll go for them!" (I'm a one canon playthrough kind of player) 3 - *Decides against having had a MC who already had sex with M in the past just for the sake of it* 4 - *Reaches the scene where the MC goes to M's appartment and realizes the only way to access the sex scenes there is to have had sex in the past already* 5 - *Needing to compare the 'talk' and the 'sex' routes, backtracks to the very start of the game to change that choice and have both options there* (yes, I know I could have read it in the code, but come on, that wouldn't have been the same, and if I had decided to go with that one, I would have had to replay anyway) 6 - *Checks both scenes once the replay is done.... and proceeds to pick the 'talk' one because it was clearly too soon for sex, so the replay was for nothing* 7 - *Reaches the walk in scene with J and throws it all through the window, going for their romance instead*

And that's my funny story of how I changed my plans because of a single scene and I have no regrets about it. Bonus points for the karmic retribution for M when the MC ends up with a person with the same job in the kitchen as the one M cheated with. And let's add the fact M is so paranoid about Alexis and is thus totally barking up the wrong tree. Now, to be fair, I still want the relationship between M and the MC to improve and I'll be working on it, but not on a romance path anymore. J just stole my heart.

That aside, I had a small sort-of-continuity-error. Calling it that because, based on the code, it works well, but still feels weird for my MC. It's when talking with Céline about who to hire, in chapter 2. She asks my MC if he's fine with handling the interviews one on one, and my MC is unsure and says "One-on-one kind of scares me, but I'll manage" - from the code's perspective, I see it's because my MC is humble. But one of his two highest stats is leadership, since I play him as a good leader, but not a haughty one. Since that stat is literally all about knowing how to manage people and have them obey and what not, I feel like maybe that one line could check for cockyness OR leadership to determine if we get the confident response or not?

LMAO. That was so funny to read. The 180 your MC made. Lol.

Yeah, that sex scene with M was mainly to give them a taste of the past and make them see what they are missing, so that's why it's locked behind having had sex with them before.

I love a grumpy RO, so it's good to see J stealing some hearts at the very end. (I'll have to make a poll for popular RO.)

For the stats thing you mentioned, I will look; that seems like an easy fix.

Thanks for playing.

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

i love love LOVE SOTH!!! never thought insert rich family name would be toppled as my favorite IF of yours but ahh!! E my beloved

Ohh, finally some love for E. I'll take it. 💕