Posting a new Story Game

[NoTalentHack]

I don't understand this concept. I understand, I think, how it's done, but I don't understand how it actually works in practice. As an author you write a story that gives the reader choices to make, and the story takes off in one direction or another depending upon the choices. But how does it look in practice? Are there any examples we can refer to? At the 4th choice, we're up to 16 possibilities, and at the 5th, 32. How is this doable from the author's point of view? It seems like an enormous amount of work. A long hike for a short slide, so to speak. Is it actually enjoyable? I've never encountered a story game so I don't know.

Do you remember the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books? It's that same basic concept. Just porny, in this case. You can make it more complex than that if you want, but you don't have to.

 

[lilshymynx]

I don't understand this concept. I understand, I think, how it's done, but I don't understand how it actually works in practice. As an author you write a story that gives the reader choices to make, and the story takes off in one direction or another depending upon the choices. But how does it look in practice? Are there any examples we can refer to? At the 4th choice, we're up to 16 possibilities, and at the 5th, 32. How is this doable from the author's point of view? It seems like an enormous amount of work. A long hike for a short slide, so to speak. Is it actually enjoyable? I've never encountered a story game so I don't know.

Not every decision has to cause the story to fork. Something you see in visual novels (and I assume this was the case in the old school CYOA books) is that you have false choices, where you get differing text based on your choice, but it doesn't actually change the storyline. It's more like a passing lane on a highway.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I have one more question for @Manu. If I submitted a Story Game, where would the story appear once published? Would it go into Interactive Story Category? Or would it go into regular categories, based on the same kind of choice we make when submitting a regular story?

 

[NoTalentHack]

I have one more question for @Manu. If I submitted a Story Game, where would the story appear once published? Would it go into Interactive Story Category? Or would it go into regular categories, based on the same kind of choice we make when submitting a regular story?

It looks like at least one is in the Erotic Horror category.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I'll offer myself as tribute. I have the Ren'py-based game I burned out on (due to making renders for the art, not the writing), and I can convert the first couple of days of story to Ink and post it. Then, I can give a good example and explain to folks that might be interested how to make things work; it's easier when someone's available, right?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I believe I'll try with one shorter story as well. I intend to write more than just a simple branching story though. Variables with stats to determine which way the story goes, and so on. I already see I am going to burn up doing this as I am going to end up with so many outcomes, but who cares

 

[TheRedChamber]

Cool if this is finally going live. I played with Ink about a year and a half ago and had some good ideas for it. Time to remind myself how to code in it and see if I can come up with a complete proof of concept game.

@Manu: BTW It says to Save a Draft to access the code editor but when I try to do that (filling in something for all fields) it just says 'Failed to create version'. Not live yet?

 

[AlinaX]

I got the 'Failed to create version' error as well, and when I tried again it said I had already created a story with that name and gave me a link to the existing one. Underneath 'Story Game Code' now, it's trying to load in some element and has been stuck doing this for a few minutes.

 

[Manu]

@Manu: BTW It says to Save a Draft to access the code editor but when I try to do that (filling in something for all fields) it just says 'Failed to create version'. Not live yet?

Sorry, we were doing a lot of things with the server yesterday.

It should work now. Please let me know if you find any other bugs.

 

[Manu]

I got the 'Failed to create version' error as well, and when I tried again it said I had already created a story with that name and gave me a link to the existing one. Underneath 'Story Game Code' now, it's trying to load in some element and has been stuck doing this for a few minutes.
View attachment 2358356

I think this is fixed now and everyone should be able to create new Story Games. If you have a Story Game that was created during the rollout and it seems broken, please let me know the number in the URL when you're looking at the Draft in your User Control Panel and I'll try to figure out what happened.

 

[AlinaX]

Who would have thought a 1250 minimum character limit would prove a challenge...

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Who would have thought a 1250 minimum character limit would prove a challenge...

Say what?

 

[AlinaX]

The story game must have a story introduction that's 1250 characters minimum.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

The story game must have a story introduction that's 1250 characters minimum.

Seems a bit silly to place such a restriction... I wanted to write a quick skippable intro about choices but now it seems I can't make it skippable as it won't have 1250 characters... Oh well.

 

[Manu]

Seems a bit silly to place such a restriction... I wanted to write a quick skippable intro about choices but now it seems I can't make it skippable as it won't have 1250 characters... Oh well.

The Story Game Introduction is an important part of every Story Game because the game play/reading of the story takes place on a separate dedicated page. Like the Series Introduction, the Story Game Introduction is totally separate text from the actual Story Game itself.

We have high ambitions for the new version of Story Games, and we have spent a lot of time researching both interactive fiction and gaming distribution. If you look at websites/apps like Steam and Itch, the assumption is that readers won't invest in a game unless they have enough information to decide that they're interested in it. Indie game authors will usually prepare substantial text and images to help readers understand why the game is worth their time. That is true for both free/hobby and commercial games.

For now, Literotica Story Games aren't too much different from Literotica Stories, but we believe in the long run it makes sense for authors to create a "landing page" for their games where readers and potential players can find out about the game, discuss it (threaded comments are coming), get help from other players, rate and share the game, etc.

We created a short FAQ with some ideas about what an author might want to include in their Story Game Introduction here:
What Should I Include in My Story Game Introduction?

There are examples of early Story Game Introductions here as well:
Story Games - New Releases Page

As always, we're open to modifying the minimum and maximum length requirements as we get more author and reader feedback. This is a starting point and we didn't want to start with the earliest Story Games all having a one sentence Introduction, and then looking back a few years from now and regretting it.

The Story Introduction might be thought of as an overview, pseudo review, sales pitch, foreword, or book cover blurb for potential readers.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

The Story Game Introduction is an important part of every Story Game because the game play/reading of the story takes place on a separate dedicated page. Like the Series Introduction, the Story Game Introduction is totally separate text from the actual Story Game itself.

We have high ambitions for the new version of Story Games, and we have spent a lot of time researching both interactive fiction and gaming distribution. If you look at websites/apps like Steam and Itch, the assumption is that readers won't invest in a game unless they have enough information to decide that they're interested in it. Indie game authors will usually prepare substantial text and images to help readers understand why the game is worth their time. That is true for both free/hobby and commercial games.

For now, Literotica Story Games aren't too much different from Literotica Stories, but we believe in the long run it makes sense for authors to create a "landing page" for their games where readers and potential players can find out about the game, discuss it (threaded comments are coming), get help from other players, rate and share the game, etc.

We created a short FAQ with some ideas about what an author might want to include in their Story Game Introduction here:
What Should I Include in My Story Game Introduction?

There are examples of early Story Game Introductions here as well:
Story Games - New Releases Page

As always, we're open to modifying the minimum and maximum length requirements as we get more author and reader feedback. This is a starting point and we didn't want to start with the earliest Story Games all having a one sentence Introduction, and then looking back a few years from now and regretting it.

The Story Introduction might be thought of as an overview, pseudo review, sales pitch, foreword, or book cover blurb for potential readers.

Well, okay. It seems a bit excessive, to be honest. There is a danger of scaring away the reader with the wall of boring, informative text. For example, the intro I created is about half the required length and I believe I said everything that needs to be said without spoiling the story.
Anyway, I'll add some appropriate text and see how it goes. Thanks for replying.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I am almost halfway through the writing of this story, and since I couldn't keep it simple with choices, I now realize what a bitch it will be to test all these paths and outcomes. Fuck. It's fun and refreshing though.

 

[lovecraft68]

Everyone still gets the "something went wrong" glitch multiple times a day

But they think they can pull this off?

Can't wait for the Loving wives BTB edition

Do you want the wife gang raped? Tortured, sold into trafficking, beaten to death?

Told its too much work to add a category, but they pull this.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Can't wait for the Loving wives BTB edition

*laughs in developer/writer multiclass*

More seriously, I'll probably take a stab at a Loving Wives interactive story that runs the gamut from "full-on cuckold" to "everyone must pay." Maybe THIS is the answer to the LW scoring question.

...

Nah, it'll probably get hate from everyone. I do kind of wish we could get some metrics on which options get picked the most. Any chance of that, @Manu?

 

[Manu]

Nah, it'll probably get hate from everyone. I do kind of wish we could get some metrics on which options get picked the most. Any chance of that, @Manu?

Ink is very good about stats since it was designed to interact with other systems (especially Unity) and detailed stats are in our plan. We can, for example, show Lit Authors if parts of the story are never being read, what endings readers most often reached, etc. Hopefully we can also provide stats like average playing time, average number of Choices clicked, longest game (by Choices and time), fastest ending, etc. Some will be easier to implement than others, but we're hopeful that detailed stats will help authors better understand how readers are interacting with their stories.

We should eventually be able to provide better stats to all authors on the site (for text stories and audio too) since the new tech we're using for Story Games gives us more options for the entire site in the future. Story Games are being used as a testing ground for the new tech.

 

[AlinaX]

Hmm, I see a new Story Game has been added, and by a third author.

~ (wonders when ~A's own 'story game' will escape Pending hell) ~

~ (wonders whether anyone will enjoy these interactive fictions) ~

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Hmm, I see a new Story Game has been added, and by a third author.

~ (wonders when ~A's own 'story game' will escape Pending hell) ~

~ (wonders whether anyone will enjoy these interactive fictions) ~

Oh, don't get me started

I am past the halfway point of my story game, and now I realize, after writing like ten or fifteen different outcomes and after writing what's gonna end up being a 20k words story, that each read will be like 3-4k words max. Boohoo. I could have written like five separate stories instead.
Oh well, it was fun at least, and I believe that the story will have a good replay potential. No matter which kinks one prefers, three playthroughs should be the minimum.

Edit: Link your story when it's out. I want to see who's more of a masochist

 

[NoTalentHack]

Oh, don't get me started

I am past the halfway point of my story game, and now I realize, after writing like ten or fifteen different outcomes and after writing what's gonna end up being a 20k words story, that each read will be like 3-4k words max. Boohoo. I could have written like five separate stories instead.
Oh well, it was fun at least, and I believe that the story will have a good replay potential. No matter which kinks one prefers, three playthroughs should be the minimum.

Edit: Link your story when it's out. I want to see who's more of a masochist

This isn't directed at you in specific, but having done a bit of branching story game development, I highly highly highly recommend using something like Twine or even Powerpoint/equivalent to map out your paths before you start writing. It's way too easy to go "oh, hey, that would be a neat branch" over and over.

 

[AlinaX]

I need to do that in future, but my biggest frustration isn't mapping everything out but rather what I'm going to call Ending Fatigue. Instead of there being a single clear ending that the story leads to, you as an author have to think up and justify multiple endings, and it gets exhausting after a while.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

This isn't directed at you in specific, but having done a bit of branching story game development, I highly highly highly recommend using something like Twine or even Powerpoint/equivalent to map out your paths before you start writing. It's way too easy to go "oh, hey, that would be a neat branch" over and over.

Well, I had a more rational plan at the start, but yeah... I couldn't help myself.
Still, I have decent hopes for the story, even if this is such an unexplored territory.