#ghd important

[abalonetea]

How do you go about incorporating video game elements into a written piece? I guess its just a little hard for me to wrap my mind around translating a video game into such a different medium of story telling.

hey, friend! this is a cool question to get to answer! I actually do it in several ways - it has a lot to do with my own personal writing style, honestly. I use a lot of strike throughs, bolds, italics, run on sentences, broken paragraphs, and font changes to reflect the mood and the things that are going on in the story.

once I realized that I could use this to help bring an entire new medium of writing into my stories, I kind of just went ham-wild!

_-_-_

WAYS I INCORPORATE IT

*if a character has just been in a fight, their loved one might CHECK them; this brings up their stats, such as HP, MP, and a tag line that offers some look into their current mindset at the moment.

*for Groundhog Day, there are glitches! resets, save point failures, fantasy rpg style classes, fast travel (run by the Collector; pay him a fee or flash a royal pass, and they’ll take you anywhere in a matter of seconds!) and, specific to this book, the Royal Scientists study the Code Of The World.    it’s also referenced through things such as the Beta War (when the game had edits made after beta testing).

*in The Business, a heavy focus is put onto the aspect of HEARTs and gaining Levels, Rye directly talks about altering other’s coding, having mafia related jobs be referred to as “quests”, having a second ending that’s created by changing who is interacted with and what choices are made.

*the idea of Leveling Up through gaining EXP is a really big one, too! in video games, killing someone or “winning a battle” gets you exp! that gains you levels! it’s a good thing! apply that to the idea that the book is a real-life setting within the video game and it becomes a Bad Thing! 

*HEARTs are inspired by the common and well loved shape of hearts in video games as a way to show off your health meters! it, and HP, are brought up any time there’s a fight or a devastatingly large emotionally charged scene.

*in a lot of video games, healing items are things like food or drinks, so the food and drinks of this world offers a slight healing punch to it!

[abalonetea]

this post is brought to you by @madammuffins who encouraged me to share my new plot point, despite the very spoiler-y nature of it!

I've spoken before about the six Spirits of Fara! it was the plot of the original game, sold in stores, before it glitched. they aren’t mentioned much. in fact, up until now, I've only mentioned the spirit Hope. 

she’s heavily linked to Locke - the last hope of Fara.

and it hit me a few days ago that Locke and Bolte are foils to each other. opposite sides of the same coins, linked in ways that can’t be undone, can’t be forgotten.

which means it makes sense, i think, that Bolte has a spirit association, too. and what is the foil to hope? what is the other side of that coin?

perseverance. 

you can’t have hope without perseverance. you can’t persevere without having hope. one does not exist without the other.

and it works so well

because the entire focus of the second book in the series is persevering and surviving against all odds, and the final book in the series is about coming together and having your differences be the saving grace.

six books planned. six spirits that exist.

how did i not realize this sooner?

[abalonetea]

Groundhog Day Book Tree

@dogwrites and @inexorableblob‘s kind words and a three hour night convinced me to post the book tree for Groundhog Day! so here you have the hesitant plans for the first “cycle” of books in the Fara Chronicles!

Set One - fields of fara/fara falls

Groundhog Day: the title book, in which Blue, Red, Bolte, and Locke must join together with a colorful cast of characters to stop a war and fix the time loop glitch that has fallen upon the kingdom of Fara. but the path to recovery is riddled with broken stones, and sometimes losses must be cut for new bonds to be forged.

Virus: when the End Of The Map suddenly expands to include a new territory known as Twill, old friends and new must forge forward to find the long forgotten queen. but when danger lays around every turn, and a strange ailment is fast spreading through the lands, will their Hope be enough?

Set Two - heros of fara/shadows of fara

Seasonal Depression: one land trapped in an eternal winter, another fast heading there...can two knights from opposing worlds figure out how to work together? can one land be saved if it means giving up on a second? the motley cast of Birch, Maple, Autumn, and Summer are bound and determined to find out.

Programming: when an old file resurfaces and sends the kingdom of Fara into a frenzy, it falls on Maple’s shoulders to figure out the problem. but when his brother seemingly goes missing, and ERROR codes begin popping up all over the country, it becomes obvious that there’s far more at stake. and the question is posed...what’s greater? the lives of many, or the lives of a few?

Set Three - ?/?

Daylight Savings: when Cinnamon’s dreams are plagued with a honey haired stranger, and the Honeycomb Wastes bursts into a new life, she grows worried. and when the sun sets and doesn’t come back up, she gets scared. but when it becomes clear that the queen is at fault? well, then she gets angry...and best no one stand in her way.

Gigabyte: in which Skye discovers a new code, Storm fails to realize the truth, Cinnamon loses her temper, and Honey lies. Fara should have listened to the bees the first time they woke up. now it might be too late.

Set Four - The Void

Delete EXE: as worlds start to vanish, devoured code and all, a new race against time starts up. it’s not just old heroes we meet again, but old villains, and the truth of the Code of the World finally comes to light. something lives in the Void...and it’s coming for Blue.

CNTRL ALT DELETE: the spirits of Fara have fallen. the remaining worlds trapped in disarray. in what seems to be the final battle for the multi-verse’s survival, it’s not just Hope that needs to be found...and it might not be Game Over that serves as an answer. 

Special Editions - 

The Multiverse: taking place between Set’s Three and Four, this double length special edition chronicles the connections of three foil worlds, and an outcome that no one is expecting.

Beasts Of Fara: a beastiary that chronicles the various creatures to make their home in Fara

Fara Foods: a simple cookbook of Fara favorite foods!

Groundhog Day - Behind The Scenes: the good, the bad, and the ugly of writing Groundhog Day, a behind the scenes take on the thought process behind writing the book, and the trials and tribulations it’s brought.

Before The First Glitch: a collection of short stories taking place within Fields of Fara and Fara Falls before Chapter One. highlights include Aba’s origin story, tales from the Delta War, and how Miss Denna came to be living in Barrier Town.

Sorrows Of Summer - set between Groundhog Day and Virus, this special edition chronicles the first summer that Bolte and Red spend in Fields of Fara, and their steady fall into love, comfort, and hope for a better future.

Other Editions

Pin Set - in progress

Tarot Deck

Tabletop Game

Playable Video Game ( @deadlyessencewhispers one day i’m gonna pin you down and have you teach me!!!)

(let it be known that this is the First Branch of the Fara Chronicles, and while the story of Groundhog Day may end here, there’s far more to be found in the outer branches of the multiverse, where the changes are greater and the cast far, far less familiar)

[abalonetea]

Hey Katie! Groundhog Day is a story that kind of takes place in a video game right? I was wondering if you could maybe tell me a little bit more about the actual video game in the 'real world'. Like when was it released? What about the company that made it? What's the art style like? What was its reception in the real world? How does it play?

!!!!! this is such an incredible question! I had so much fun answering but it got a touch long, so I've put it under a cut! thank you so much for this!

Cat House Productions is a small indie company, in the year 20XX. they’ve put out a few small games, but nothing that really caused much of a stir. as such, no one was expecting their new series, Chronicles of Fara, to make such a wave.

but make a wave it did.

in a move that, at the time, confused many, CHP released the title game, Fields of Fara, on the same date as its sequel, Fara Falls. due to the wildly different tones of the games, it managed to reach twice the audience in one fell swoop. the clamor was incredible. within the first year, it became the hottest selling game on the market.

both games are wildly different, though they share a graphical style that harkens back to “classics” such as Dragon Age Inquisition and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, with the occasional dip into the water color style of anime from the late 90s.

Fields of Fara takes the love for a fantasy plot, in which the player character must help save the Spirits of Fara, and combines it with an open world setting. the Spirits can be saved in any order, though certain aspects of the map remain unlockable until certain items are obtained. classic rpg elements are found a-plenty, including a class system that can be compared to D&D, and music that will make you nostalgic for a by-gone era.

Fara Falls has a more action centered story, dropping the player character into the middle of a dystopian kingdom, where the new recruit into the Royal Guard must try to, not only stay alive, but bring some semblance of peace back to the land of Fara. hordes of monsters allows a button-smasher to go wild, the dialogue is insightful, and the music is haunting in a way that the video game industry hasn’t seen since Lavender Town.

both games are rife with side quests, allowing the player to go off the beaten path, temporarily abandon the plot, and explore the land. they each also come equipped with a feature that is unique to their company - HEARTs.

the choices made in-game heavily affect the player character’s HEART - too many cruel choices, or too many Levels gained, and the player could inadvertently cause their character to become Heartsick, resulting in stat drops and different dialogue given when interacting with NPC characters.

this resulted in massive forums being created to try and chronicle all the variants that could happen as a result, which only helped to spur on its popularity. due to the different events that can take place, there are multiple endings in each game.

critique was raised over several areas that had been scrapped during the beta-stage, but still had partial files left in. despite a promise that the game areas would be used at later dates, through expansion packs and downloadable content, hackers and modders began trying to create these levels on their own with mixed success.

[abalonetea]

groundhog day - traveling

a big thanks to @deadlyessencewhispers for listening to me talk through the concept of waystones and fast travel, and just being generally awesome!

there are several ways to travel within Fara. most common, of course, is simply to walk somewhere. most people live close to where they work (Blue is the exception, though he just splinches into work in the mornings) so time is not a huge inconvenience in that manner.

there are also waystations. these are strange devices scattered about all of Fara, which serve as a teleportation device of sorts. they are seldom used, due to the fact that one must have a waystone for each use, and waystone’s are extremely expensive.     waystations are also put in very inconvenient spots. for example, the waystation that takes you into the Capitol is very literally sitting inside of the fountain. anyone and everyone that uses this waystation is put into the fountain, which means a day of having wet feet and trousers. some of them let you out right on the edge of a cliff, twelve miles outside of a town, or in other inconvenient locations.    they are often prone to glitching. you should never take an item of importance through a waystation, as these items have the tendency to vanish from your inventory. they are actually going into the Between, but no one realizes that.

slightly more common than waystation usage but still far less common than simply walking somewhere is the Fast Travel Carriage System. this is a carriage pulled by two dog horses. are there more than one carriages? is it just one carriage that answers every call? literally no one knows, this system is a complete mystery to almost everyone, including the Royal Scientists.     it’s run by the Collector; a strange being that takes payment in the form of oddities and coin. it’s a toss-up which will be asked for, so you’d best only call them if prepared to pay in both ways. if demanding coin, the Collector charges an exorbitant amount. if asking for an oddity, anything from a particularly large marble to a slip of pretty abalone will be taken.    the Collector is an extremely strange sort, very unsettling to be around. between the price of the ride and the air of unease that being around the Collector instills in you, this is not a popular choice of travel. those who work in Midnight’s Court, including the scientist’s, are given a coin that allows them free travel with the Collector.    the carriage can cross the entire country in a matter of minutes.     don’t trust the Collector.

[abalonetea]

Kee is the First Born to the Last Royal Family. something went horribly wrong with her. it started with the first glitch. it started when she killed ?̷̧̛͎̳͍̪̱̮͐͑́̽͒̾̀̃͠?̷̨̼̩̘͉̹̫̺̟̲̳͓͍͉͂̄̐̑̽͆̐̍͜͝͠?̶̨͙̺͔̼̯̪̬̎̽͗̈́̓̀͌̄̍̕͘̕ͅ. her goal is a mystery through the greater part of the story (and won’t be spoiled just yet, until i get more posted about her and Aba’s relationship). 

but i will say this.

something is horribly wrong with her. she is trying to do something. she needs to Win The Game. she needs to bend the rules to do so. 

she will kill anyone in her path to reach The End.

over

and 

over

and

over

and

over 

again. 

does she remember? maybe. Aba does. Blue does. Red does.

she is a constant in both versions of Fara. when she is not in one, she is in the other - bouncing her coding from one game to the next, desperate, becoming increasingly less sane with each attempt.

Bolte has died at her hands before, many times. so has Red, Blue, Locke, Flame, Captain, Polynya - but

but

there is a very important distinction to be made with several appearances of hers. 

there is one where Locke is there, with Red. it’s important. but. it’s not quite as important as the character defining moment where Kee shows up in Fields of Fara after both Red and Bolte have come there. when it has been long enough that Bolte can start to relax, start to believe that this might be okay, this might even be good for them, for Red.

and then Kee shows up. 

and Red tries to spare her.

and she kills him.

and Bolte might not remember when the loop resets to before Kee shows up, but Blue damned sure does. remembers the way that Bolte crumpled, fingers reaching out to the fast fading coding. remembers the low keening cry, cut off before it can even form. the way Bolte’s whole HEART closes off, one more crack, one more crack, a fluctuation in Levels, a pulse of mana that reeks of REVENGE DESPERATION LOST GAME OVER GAMEOVER Ģ̶̺̳̠̯̻̩̻͇̈́̈́̏͐͜Ã̶̖̯͖̅́͋͌͑̎̋͊͐́M̵̰̹͓͕̮̯̮̰̲͎͋̋͗͜ͅȨ̸̧͚̋́̐̔̂͊́͛͐͘̚̕͝O̶̡̨̨͈̭͇̥͉͐̆̀̔̽͝V̸̡̧̳͓̮̗̣͖͍̘̮̥̬̙̎͐̓͗̐̀͌͛̑̃̓͋͝͠ͅȨ̸̛̳̯͐̏̓̔̈̀̌͒̈͋̈́̿̃̚R̴̭̜͙̼̒͆͒̈̈́͘

and he will always, always remember the fire that races over Bolte’s skin. the way that the light flares straight up into his eyes broken hearts and burning things and so much loss it can ever be repaired. 

the way that the forest catches fire in his wake, all of his fury forced into one single thought. catch Kee.

and

make

her

pay

and Blue can’t help but think i would do exactly the same thing

can’t help but think i have done exactly the same thing

can’t help but know this has to stop. Kee has to be stopped. 

he can never let this happen to Bolte and Red again.

because it kills him a little bit. and the look of sheer devastation on Bolte’s face will haunt his dreams forever.

[abalonetea]

As someone who loves Video Games, I think about this every time you mention HEARTS and EXP, and, forgive me, but I gotta ask. So, you know how in some games when you get enough Exp to Level Up your character heals. Like everything set back to 100% (HP, MP, and such) like a full restore. 1. Does this happen in GHD and 2. If so, does it affect HEARTS?

forgiveness is granted but not needed! questions like this are always so much fun to get and answer! the Video Game aspects of Groundhog Day are some of the most interesting parts, in my own opinion, and it’s cool to be able to share this stuff with everyone!

1. yes, this does happen in Fields of Fara, where Blue and Locke are from. it’s not something that they particularly want or need, as there are healers and paladin’s aplenty, and unless it’s time of war, or a ranger during a true licorice wolf invasion, gaining Level’s are generally frowned upon.   EXP gained by killing the large spiders, licorice wolves, and other dangerous wild life in Fields of Fara is generally achieved in only small amounts. it could takes years and years of being a Royal Guard or a ranger, during times of peace, before you reach your first Level. very few ever creep above Level Three during peace time, and even that is enough to make a lot of people uneasy around them.   but the full restore does happen, which is the point of this ask! (oops i was rambling, i’m sorry!)

   in Fara Falls, a full restore after Leveling Up only happens for the first ten levels. after that, the strain that Leveling Up puts on your HEART and mana veins starts to double up, and the reparations start to decrease.    by the time you reach Level Fifteen, you only get boosted up to half of your HP and MP. by the time you reach Level Twenty, you only get a 25% boost towards HP and MP.   after Level Twenty Five, there’s no boost at all. in fact, Leveling Up becomes extremely detrimental.

2. this question has a much shorter answer! a full restore brought out by gaining a Level does not affect the HEART. in fact, Leveling Up can damage your HEART.    your HEART can negatively and positively affect your HP, but the give-and-take between them isn’t an even keel. being healed back to full HP doesn’t heal your HEART; that takes a special and specific healing session, and one that doesn’t exist within the confines of Fara Falls.   having your HP significantly damaged can affect your HEART. this is exlained in story when Captain is particularly injured, and a cut of the same sort appears on her HEART. the attack leaves her at 5 HP. however, just having the physical wound and her HP healed up does not affect the injury on her HEART.   another example is that a HEART can be damaged through emotional duress. your HP isn’t affected by this duress, as it’s purely emotional. but, if your HEART is damaged enough, even just through an emotional aspect, it can slowly affect the state of your HP.

i hope this makes sense!

[abalonetea]

i’m gonna be up at four am tomorrow so i should, technically, be in bed, but i’m not. instead, i wanted to share with you all this piece of information that doesn’t come up at all during the course of Groundhog Day and isn’t actually vital, but I’ve been thinking about it non-stop today and i think that writing it down might help make it leave me alone...and if it’s written, it should be shared!

it got longer than i meant so i put it under a cut and while i don’t normally add my tags list to info pieces like this, i also am still working out all the finer details of the multiverse, so i thought adding the tags system couldn’t hurt!

while this is the general base to the multiverse, some facts might change at a later date!

the multiverse theory. it’s, of course, one of the grounding features of Groundhog Day and, on a wider spectrum, the idea of the kingdom of Fara. on a meta level, the multiverse is made up of every iteration of the game released - just as Legend of Zelda has countless stories, each following the same Hero of Time through various versions of Hyrule, so too are there countless games that follow the country of Fara.

the idea is that Fields of Fara is the very, very first game. it’s the original. Locke and Blue, Polynya and Flame, the kingdom of Fara with Barrier Town and a thriving honeycomb wastes; that was the first game released. 

so every variation of the game contains a version of Locke, and a version of Blue.

but here’s the catch.

just like Pokemon always has two games released at the same time, the Fara Chronicles (as the collective of games is known, in this hypothetical metaphorical meta universe) are always released two games at a time.

each game has an iteration of Fara, of Locke, of Blue...but each game also has a direct foil. 

Fara Falls and Fields of Fara were released within a month of each other, after initial reviews and testing for Fields of Fara ended up being off the chart. After that, each iteration of the game was released as a dual set. that means for example, Knight A and Knight B are off-sets of Locke, but they are direct foils of each other.

then you pull it into a more confined, in-universe setting.

Fields of Fara and Fara Falls are “foil universes”. it’s theorized that the glitch switches Red and Blue because they’re from universes very close to each other; with Fields of Fara being at the center of the multiverse, and the rest of the universes spiraling outwards.

some of these universes are closer together than others; clusters of coding that are more tightly linked. these are “foil universes”. the further apart a universe is from another, the more vastly different that version of Fara, and the characters within, become.

and the space between universes?

well, that’s the Void.

that is deleted data.

that is something that no one talks about.

not even the Butterfly People.

tags list! let me know if you want on it, or off of it!

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