OMWAT Official Prologue

So, I've decided to part the chapter into two parts.

What's new:

The beginning of Chapter One.

Customize your appearance.

Choose your clothes.

Get to talk with a new face.

Have a pleasant chat with Derek :)

Get to know your maker (just barely, will be more content in the next update)

Changes:

The tulip in the main background.

Choices' icons.

I highly recommend starting a new playthrough.

itch.io

Moonlight by K. Knight

Enjoy, and let me know if any errors got past me :)

god gives his best IFs to his busiest, most unreliable soldiers

Okay so this is not as short and sweet as I thought it’d be, still not a multipart thing but I’m starting to realize nothing is ever as simple as it is in my head. Still, having tons of fun with it!

So the prologue is definitely not coming out by the end of this month, I am slow and this is a a lot longer than anticipated. But (fingers crossed), I will not be completely empty handed by month's end. I always have a million ideas in my head, it is actually a problem, so I'm doing a short and sweet twine thing to get one idea out of my head.

There will be vampires :)

After The End

Premise 

Your former fiancé and heir apparent of the Aurelian Kingdom, Prince Ædan, has married the love of his life, the fair Saintess Helene. As the nation celebrates their union, you are left alone to pick up the pieces of your broken heart... until you receive two letters. One is an invitation to the office of Prince Ædric, the crown prince's younger brother and rival for the throne. The other is a letter filled with concern from your childhood friend and secretary-in-training, Cyfrin, who is currently assisting your father at your family’s ducal estate in the countryside. Each letter contains a proposition that will change the course of your fate forever.

Which one will you choose?

Features 

Play as the male lead’s abandoned betrothed of a historical fantasy romance that has reached ‘The End.’ You will be able to customize your character’s identity and appearance with a variety of options. 

Choose between two routes for your next course of action. Will you accept the offer of an alliance with the crown prince's younger (and more capable) brother and become the monarch you were always meant to be? Or will you take a step back from the noise and hubbub of high society in the capital and return to your family's estate in the countryside, where your best friend promises to arrange such a great vacation for you that you’ll forget about your ex in no time? 

Characters

The Second Prince: Ædric Aurelius

Ædric is known throughout the kingdom as the Dark Prince, not just because of his ebony black hair, but also because of his unsociable disposition. While it is true that his deep violet eyes and usual scowl can be intimidating, he has been nothing but kind to you in all the years that you have known him. Sometimes you would catch him looking at you with a small smile on his face, but he would always deny it ever happened.

The Future Secretary: Cyfrin

You have known Cyfrin your entire life, and your father has known him for even longer, given that he discovered your best friend on the doorstep of your home when he was just a baby. Even though he is the older one between you two, he often trails behind you like a duckling following its mother when his break times align with yours. He has often been compared to a dog: always eager to spend time with you, fiercely protective and loyal, sullen and moody whenever you are apart.

The Crown Prince: Ædan Aurelius

Handsome and charismatic, Ædan is the definition of a fairytale prince… just not your fairytale prince. With his golden blond hair and crystal blue eyes, he easily captured the hearts of the people upon his social debut. When he unleashes his soft smile upon a crowd, there is a very high chance that more than half of those present will swoon. You, too, were once enchanted by that smile, back when you thought your love would last until the end of time.

The Fair Saintess: Helene

If your world was the setting of a typical romance novel, there would be no doubt who the protagonist would be. People say that her beauty is a blessing from the gods, and that her silver hair and golden eyes were meant to set her apart as the Favored One. Helene may have the entire kingdom wrapped around her little finger, but you know that her true colors are lurking just beneath the kind and naive front she puts up.

Status

Chapter 1: in progress, estimated release in January 2024

After spending a childhood in isolation, Mikhail has finally been able to find freedom in academia. Pursuing the passion of their only solace; the forever gentle sound of song. Though, Mikhail has lived a life of naivety. A life shielded by the harsh faith of their church and family. Now Mikhail will discover the dark underbelly of the city of Vilyuchka — and what it means to be a composer in a city where crime and music are one in the same.

DEMO: TBA

The Garden Sanctuary is an 18+ horror, romance, and erotica interactive fiction. It takes place in a world built in Gaslamp Fantasy, with Art-Deco and 1920s influences. As of current, it is planned to be semi-illustrated.

KEEP IN MIND: The Garden Sanctuary is currently in a deeply unfinished state, a lot of things are undecided and the cast isn't ready to be revealed yet. This post is very informal, and I'll make a more in depth introduction post later on~! I just wanted to get a post out there to hopefully find some more similar IF devs to connect with :-)

As it stands right now, TGS follows a locked MC and has several different romance options. RO customization is currently being debated!

CONTENT WARNING: Gore, body horror, violence, and other generally dark themes, CSA and incest (portrayed critically), body dysmphoria, gender dysphoria, internalized and externalized ableism. This may expand later on in the future.

Follow the story of Mikhail Ilyushin, a budding and prodigal composer attending the Academy of Saint Yelena. Once sheltered by the church they were raised in, Mikhail has yet to learn that music is not as pure and innocent as the clergy once taught them. Learn about the city of Vilyuchka and the culture of crime that has completely engulfed the art of music. Navigate the unseen world that lies in plain sight in Vilyuchka. Discover the existence of things much stranger than human. Choose who to put your faith in; your family and the church you have always known, or the life of blaspheme that has granted you your freedom.

Vampires coming soon to a device near you! Like next week Friday/Saturday soon

Seven Hard-Won Tips Specifically for Writing Interactive Fiction

This is pretty fun, putting together these lists of writing tips. Today's list is explicitly about interactive fiction.

The trick to writing great interactive fiction that anticipates, foreshadows, introduces themes early, and has interesting choices that set up later events is to *go back and rewrite the earlier chapters* after you’ve written later chapters.  That way you look like a genius who can plot things out way in advance, but in fact, you just went back and made it seem that way.  Good writing is recursive, and that’s just how it is.

I start with an outline, then I write a code skeleton, leaving blanks for the prose, and then go in and fill in the prose.  This way I’m either in code-brain or prose-writing-brain.  I don’t like switching between the two.  Then, after than phase, I go back one more time and I do the callbacks—you know.  Might the main character be wearing a feathered boa in this scene?  Here’s some custom text.  Might the main character be limping?  Here’s some more custom text.  If you do that after you write the prose, you’ll have the leisure to think of anything fun and specific you can use. 

Callbacks tell players that their choices are unique, important, memorable, and valued by the writer.  It tell them that their choices have led them down their own particular path that the writer is rewarding with unique prose.  It doesn’t have to have a stat effect or create a new fork in the narrative.  Great prose is the reward.

Find an group of alpha readers to read your work early and often and then shut up while they read it and just listen to what they say and comment.  You must resist the urge to explain because you won’t be there at everyone’s house when they are playing your game or reading your narrative.

Make rules for yourself about how you are going to name your variables.  Don’t do what I did, with a horrible blend of sometimes calling a chracter “gil” in the variables and sometimes “gilberto”; sometimes “fitz” and sometimes “fitzie”; sometimes “metvyv” and sometimes “met_tabby”—ugh!  This is self-torture.  Don’t do what I did.

Keep your initial creation of variables super organized.  Write comments in there explaining what these variables are and when you might need them.  I comment most when I am creating variables.  You might create a variable in chapter one called “mustardallergy” that you don’t need until chapter eight, so write a comment that says “variables for chapter eight” and stick that “mustardallergy” variable under it.  I didn’t do this for my first games, and I regretted it. 

Use generic variables and make your life easy.  If you are writing a scene at the racetrack, just make a “xrace” modifier and add and subtract to it willy-nilly to represent just general ups and downs of fortune.  Stub your toe?  -5 xrace.  Wear a fine hat?  +8 xrace.  Throw around some money at the bar?  +12 xrace!  Eat some bad shellfish?  -15 xrace! Then add xrace to every test.  It’s a way of tracking just the ups and downs of fortune.  You can omit it when it doesn’t make sense, but it’s just a great way to make tests and rewards and penalties cumulatively meaningful without having to have a billion variables tracking every last *reason* for the rewards and penalties.

Discover more mini-essays about writing interactive fiction, writing in general, and the process of writing the forthcoming Jolly Good series below.

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Okay now that that writing about vampires is out of the way I need to go draw them for art fight,

back to our regularly scheduled winter adventure. I gotta get back onto crowning north and that lil project juiced up my brain for it! So excited to get back to writing the prologue 💪