technically, we haven't passed the 6-months mark but whatev'
Since there's been a bit more activity on this page lately (hello new followers!), I thought it be a good time to have a little retrospect on what has happened the past few months and a couple of my thoughts. Also some milestones passed :D
Note: I discuss some stats of the game, out of transparency and to give people one particular view on how IF games are doing.
It's going to be pretty long, since I'll discuss all projects I have at hands, so under the cut!
If you haven't yet played them, you should :P
Status: Completed.
I am publishing this on the day I released MtP, the first version at least, on itch. This was my first ever IF game and my first 'serious' piece of writing in years. The game itself if pretty light-hearted, but I hadn't written anything substantial (aside from uni papers) in a long while...
Since, I've been wanting to write something light-hearted again, though I neither had the time or ideas... maybe one day, lol. It was really a fun project to start out with this medium and program!
This project had been shelved pretty much as soon as it was published, as it was a completed project and self-contained stories. Still, last January, I gave it a neat UI update to make it neater. I also published a tutorial on how to reach all endings [link]! But it is also officially and forever shelved! For real this time.
It is not my most popular project by far -and that's more than fine!-, but it has passed the 2k plays mark a few weeks ago! Which was really neat!
Other neat stats:
18 lovely people rated it, with an average of 4.2/5
it has been added to 122 collections
it had a ration of 2.2 views per play (when I calculated it)
Compared to the last retrospection, it tripled in rating and in collections (ish), but the average stayed the same. It has slightly gotten a better view/play ration (0.01 count).
PLAY | INTRO POST | RATE | REVIEW
Status: Ongoing/In Beta
Since February, I have been working really hard on this project. I don't think I spent more than a few days away from it, in one form or another, even when my wrists were out of commission. CRWL has seen 2 major story updates and a UI update since the beginning of the year.
I have finally have a clear head/roadmap for the rest of the project and know where I am taking it. It will be a huge project, that will most likely span a few years, looking at my notes and how fast I progress through it. I am dreading a bit how huge it will get, but am also so very excited to see where it goes and how much I will learn from it. I would not be surprised if it crossed the 1M words count at some point, lol -we will pass 100k online in the next update already-.
Speaking of the next update, it should be right around the corner. I know I've been talking about it for weeks now, but the Beta is (or should be) in its last stretch. I have completed all edits/proofreading. All previous bugs have been fixed. The only thing I worry is the formatting, it can get a bit wonky at times. It is frustrating, but I am getting there!
Some neat stats again:
47 lovely people rated it, with an average of 4.7/5
it has been added to 1112 collections
it had a ration of 1.9 views per play (when I calculated it)
Compared to the last retrospection, it doubled in rating and in collections (ish), but the average decreased by 0.2 (got a few haters, lol). It has slightly gotten a better view/play ration (0.1 count).
This is also the only game with a rating on IFDB.
TBH, I'm gonna need a break from it after the update. It's been non-stop this since January...
PLAY | INTRO POST | RATE | REVIEW
Status: ongoing
If you were following me when this game came out (or in its past updates a few months back), you'd know I made this one in less than 2 weeks for a jam. As proud I was to churn out a functionally working game in this time frame, I was never happy with its result. I was forced to scrap most of the story for time constraints and other neat ideas because I did not know how to implement it.
So, when I got frustrated with CRWL since I re-started the project, I've been switching over to this game and worked on it in the hope to release a better version with a proper fleshed out story and better code. It will be a proper Interactive Novel now :P. It really has been bugging me since last year...
Anyway, the new draft has been going really well with 13 out of 30 scenes written. Each character will have a fleshed out background and story. While there will be little in the character creation side and choice (since the game goes forward as you play a round), I wanted to have the story be as least repetitive as possible. Each round/scene has its own story (or 2) and maybe ending(?)
I am also planning to have a new UI! If I can manage to make it work...
Unsurprisingly, this project never took off (but I hope it will after I finish it, cause I think it is really cool -game within a game type-). We just passed 400 plays! It has been rated 4 times, for an average of 4.3 and added to 38 collections. It has a ratio of 2.9 views per play.
PLAY | INTRO POST | RATE | REVIEW (when it updates)
Status: Hiatus
TTTT has been on hiatus almost as soon as I started teasing it. It was intended to be created for the IF Comp of 2022 (but I, like, disappeared for a while). I've always been thinking about this project since, but didn't know how to get back to it. (I wanted to have it out for the Spring Thing, but tbh I was knees deep in CRWL, so yea).
The main problem I had is I pushed myself in a corner by focusing on details rather than the big picture. I have the code ready to go-ish, but the story never took off (because I was too focused on ONE thing). It was so frustrating, I just gave up.
Lately, I've been discussing the project around me, and I got excited to go back to it. It is not a priority at all -I have enough in my hands-, but if I can manage a IF Comp 2022 release, I'd be pretty happy. Otherwise Spring Thing 2023?
PLAY | INTRO POST | RATE | REVIEW | Tag
Status: Completed/Hiatus
This one is also a Jam baby. Created in 1 month during January for the @/interact-if game jam, it made me excited to work on a different genre and different setting. I was also on a Sci-fi binge in my reading list then :P
Still, I wasn't happy with the cliffhanger I gave it (you can ready why here). I also wanted to continue the story in some way. I know the big twists and what needs to be revealed. Also the Robot. I heard the players loud and clear, the robot will come back.
BUT I haven't had the time or spoons for it (made me real sad tbh). I have been working on it behind the scenes here and there. There was some UI concept for the codex (with a working design) and a bunch of notes on my desk.
Before I come back to it, I want to have the story structure clear and ready for writing. I don't have it just yet. So for now, it is essentially on hiatus until I am ready to go back to it.
Still, some neat stats for the way:
10 people rated it for an average of 4.3/5
it has been added to 118 collections
it has been played over 1.5k times (yay), for a ration of just less than 2 views per play.
It took off when released and got a few peaks since, but it is not a popular project either. Oh well :P I had fun with it, it's all that matters.
PLAY | INTRO POST | RATE | REVIEW
Status: Ongoing
Technically The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Haucourt, a Lovecraftian Interactive Fiction (but that's way too long to include in the lil' banner.
Note: I am not writing this project, only coding it. M is taking his time writing it, because this project is for fun and writing is not always fun. I have been trying not to nag him, because it doesn't help.
The story has been mapped on paper by chapters. 2/8 chapters are drafted and 1 is coded (just to see how it looks).
In any case, whatever is written will be uploaded in October 2022. Hopefully the whole game will be done. At worst, I have 2 chapters.
PLAY | INTRO POST | RATE | REVIEW
EDIT: because I posted the unfinished draft like a dummy
Since March, I've become one of the mods of @/interact-if (you probably saw my icon on your feed if you follow that blog, or if you hang out in the discord) and helping out with the events (you should check out the interviews!). It's been exciting to read the different experiences of other authors and be able to share it with so many people. It also meant I taken a bit of a break sharing much over on this page. I should maybe remedy that.
I also have a side blog @manonamora-rb where I reblog stuff that doesn't fit the vibe I want to have on this one. I want to do like I preach by rebloging stuff I like so I usually reblog dump and queue a bunch of stuff there. If I've reblog an old post of yours, it was prob in my likes and I just didn't want to lose it (I've seen a few blogs I follow disappear).
Finally, and I should have added this to the original post. Thank you to everyone who played the games I've made the past year. Thank you to everyone who liked and shared my posts. Thank you to everyone who rated and reviewed and commented on my projects. Thank you to everyone who sent an ask and helped my flesh out some of my concepts further.
Thank you <3
And that's it!
Bye!
