For Pride Month in June, Interact-IF is bringing back one of its beloved events, spotlighting queer (LGBTQ+) authors and their interactive fiction projects (here’s the 2021 series).
Throughout June, we hope to celebrate the massive queer representation these stories and games help provide, as well as the awesome IFs created by and for the queer community.
We will feature a masterlist of interaction fiction written by queer authors, and select a couple to interview about their experiences and creative process! The interview will be done fully via a text Q&A format.
Prep:
If you wish to be featured (whether in the masterlist or the extended interview, which will be done fully through a text Q&A format), do fill out this google form. Or, if you prefer, you could drop me, @allieebobo a message or an email at [email protected] with the following information:
Name
Background/About you
Game(s)/Projects
A link to the game(s)/IF/intro post
A short blurb/description of the game(s)
Genre/Tags
(Optional) If your writing or experience has been shaped by your identity in any way, feel free to share more here as well :)
Contact information (or how you’d like me to reply/contact you)
Do drop me a DM if you have any questions! Note that interactive fiction includes those written in ren’py and twine as well, not just Choicescript.
Interact-IF mods will contact selected authors by email/DM by the end of the month with a full set of questions that you can type out replies to, and send back to me via email. I’ll try to feature everyone who’s interested, but will discuss further if for whatever reason I am unable to feature everyone who reached out.
P.S. If you know any authors who you’d wish to see featured, feel free to share this post with them or @ them when reblogging :)
I hope you’re all safe and healthy. You can also read this devlog on Itch.io / Patreon / Ko-Fi ♥♥♥
First things first--did you play the new update? ;))))
In this new public build:
Finally start Mathias's battle route and try (or not) to ignore the smaller and bigger ways he's already changing.
Deal with Matt and Val's rivalry--before it ruins your plan.
Depending on your choices, watch as their relationship implodes.
Find an old, friendly Knight and a group of Younger Knights that might need way more than your help.
Start shaping the face of the new Dragon Order, even if your Dragon Commander doesn't know they're already doing it.
Fight the invaders!
Choose your actions wisely--time is ticking, and you're gearing up to face one of the most well-kept secrets in Five Kingdoms... in December's update, when I'll release the second part of Mathias's battle route!
Cool right? ;)) If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it! But for now here's the rest of the devlog, including all the cool stuff I worked on for the supporters build/the final version of the game...
This month was a little hard for me. A lot happened at work and in my personal life—some pretty stressful things, some anxiety-inducing things, and others just plain annoying, hahaha. But you all, mainly the amazing members of Ko-fi/Patreon, and everyone on our Discord server really helped me through that. Thank you for being amazing!
In all, everything’s okay; I managed to focus on the game and in my personal life, but I didn’t have much energy to spend on social interactions, which is why I was a bit quieter this month.
That said, I also realized that I’ll need to add another month of editing to my schedule. Last month, I edited 73k words. This month, I edited 70k and added 10k words to the story, which now has 265k words in total, yay. ;) But that also means I still have 122k words ahead in my edits, and I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all that in December.
Do you remember when I said I could edit 100k of my own words per month? Yep, I can—but only, apparently, for linear stories that don’t have any code—read “novels”—hahaha! I have ~8 years of experience editing stories for myself and others, but interactive fiction is definitely its own beast. I’m spending sooo much time checking/rewriting my code, adding new variables, planning how they’ll impact the story, then reading and re-reading every branch in every scene to make sure the story is flowing well, that the editing itself is suffering a bit. :’)
So yeap, I think for interactive fiction, my editing speed is more like 70k per month, hahaha.
Btw, one additional month of editing won’t impact my plans that much. I’ll do my best to do all my other tasks (drawing sprites/BGs, bug-fixing, and balancing for the 4th chapter as well as start working on the assets next game) while I work on the editing. In times like this, I miss working with a team. Doing all this solo is quite something, haha.
Finally, here’s everything I’ve worked on this month for the supporters’ build:
Added more depth to some scenes, including the duel between Mand and DC in the garden. Now the crowd reacts to DC's body after Mand and DC's short conversation in the woods.
Added an option to let DC choose how they feel about their scars being exposed to a crowd while fighting Mandra in the gardens (which will be referenced in the next game too)
Fleshed out the conversation between DC and Dr. Filtchen in her quarters on CH03, giving the reader more insight into Filtchen's mind and more general info about the plot.
In the same scene, I added DC telling Filtchen about what Mand did to Fergus.
Created and implemented Knight Olivienza's sprite
fleshed out DC's interactions with their brother in some scenes, particularly in the third variation of the scene in which DC meets the nobles in the southern drawing room (the one Lord Aurélio appears).
Added a more significant boon to each choice in the scene when DC must choose a focus for the knights during the ceremony.
Created Knight Jillean’s sprite
Fleshed out the scene in which DC receives a ring from Mathias to add a little foreshadow of what's to come in the final chapter.
Added a new choice to the same scene, in which DC can choose between 3 rings (for the romance route) or 3 pendants (for the friendship route) that will give them a buff during the next game (and maybe in CH04 if I have the time to implement it).
Edited 3/4 of chapter 3 (another 70k words)
Also, I finished reading/signing/sending/paying aaall the things Valve required of me, which means we're a few steps closer to seeing LtGBtK on Steam, yaaay!
For ko-fi/Patreon, I also wrote a cozy short story filled with fluff that shows Mel and Mathias nursing DC when they’re sick. It’s a very cute scenario written in Mel’s POV that should show you all about Mel’s more secretive side—in there since she was little. ;))
Read it on Patreon or Read it on Ko-Fi
I’ll take a week off from 23 to 26 to spend the Holidays with my family, but I’ll be working the rest of the month, so if you find any typos, bugs, etc, feel free to reach out on Patreon/Ko-Fi/Discord!
If you’re not part of the Many Kingdoms Discord yet, but would like an invite, just send me a DM! ♥ Things are often calm and quiet there, but everyone in the server is amazing, I’m getting ready to do an art stream over the next week, and it’s a nice place to be if you’re looking other people who enjoy LtGBtK. If this is something you might be interested in, let me know. ^^
Hey all! I have an update on the story outline that is a little bittersweet! Gifted isn't going anywhere, but the changes I'm making are massive, but very exciting for me.
Firstly: the demo (linked here) is no longer canon. Nothing from the original demo will be carried over to the next draft.
The demo I've written and published above, and will remain available to play, was my first foray into interactive fiction writing, and though I'm quite proud of it on its own, when attempting to elaborate on its concept, I found myself roadblocked and unsure where to go with the plot and MCs story. However, I love the world id built, and didn't want to have to scrap it and put the ROs in a whole new world, which leads into point two...
The ROs & Gifted World remain
Shana & Karim are still around, and their backstories are still the same, so asks pertaining to them as people still hold up generally speaking. However, In this new version of the story, we have 4 ROs; 2 from the OG story/plot, and 2 new characters. The story of gifted is still set in the same fantasy world as the original, though MC is new and improved! The main changes are to plot & MC's character/backstory.
Gifted is changing majorly, but the more things change the more they stay the same.
I do want to apologize for these changes and stringing folks along for a story that no longer exists. I am not sure that I will not use those plot bunnies in a future project, but for gifted, it was creating more problems than bringing joy, and that felt like a waste of the world & cast.
In the next days I'll be reviewing things and preparing a new intro post, but the original gifted demo will stay up for archival purposes and those who wish to retain access to it.
I apologize again for this inconvenience, and thank those ready to give Gifted: Version 2 a chance.
Below the cut you'll find a summary of the future story. Please determine for yourself if this is something you wish to see. Regardless, thank you endlessly for the love & faith you've given me this far.
Many thanks & much Gratitude,
Maybe 💫
(read more for summary of Gifted 2:)
You are a master mercenary, known far and wide across the seaside kingdom of Verena.
In the past, you were not picky with jobs, picking up anything that would ensure you'd be fed and warm come winter. However, in the past few years, your work has earned you a reliable customer base and income. Now, your alias is one of the most renowned within your home city. Such renown has led to an extremely risky—and well-paying—job to land into your lap:
To assassinate the last remaining heir of the Verenian royal family.
That alone would be risky enough to make most mercenaries decline— however, the details and pay for the job are enough to have you considering it. Your task is to infiltrate the castle staff with the help of an established spy, and are given a year to assassinate the heir in a public fashion—making the chances for escaping with your life much more challenging.
You are a street rat. A survivor. You have no allegiances to this family, this government—should you go through with it? Take the down payment and run? If you do kill Verena's Heir, who—or what—will take their place? Would you save your home, or doom it to a worse fate? If you did worsen things, would you be capable of living with yourself after?
You finally have the chance to go out with your crush to see the meteor shower
My latest game is up! It’s a wholesome queer romantic interactive fiction game. I made it for Neo-Twiny Jam, where the challenge was to make a game with under 500 words. It was a challenge but I had a great time working on the game!
Thoughtful, understanding and kind, Shana is the eldest daughter of the ancient Aatkani household. At 27 years old, she is considered one of the quickest spellcasters in recent history, though she lacks any material credentials beyond hearsay. She is a curvy, 5'7 tall woman with loose auburn curls, warm brown skin covered in freckles, and large brown eyes. Shana is playful, charming and witty, always willing to throw herself to the wolves for strangers' lives. As a folkhero to her home, her selflessness extends to you, even if you fight her every step of the way.
VALENCIA IS ROMANCEABLE ???? MY DREAMS COME TRUE OMG
omg anon, my dove, my dear, my darling heart, no, i'm so sorry 🫂🫂🫂
this is just because of this post where i list all the RO's in LtGBtK if I could write faster i.i 💔
but I HAVE BEEN considering giving the player some chance to, you know, have quick flings, one-night-things, experiment here and there, for flavor, for drama in the NEXT game....... although Val wouldn't deal with that very well. no promises!!! but if i CAN do it without hurting the main plot, i will, i promise u.u
this also applies to this lovely anon here who thoroughly understands my soul:
After the meteor shower, you watch your crush make something beautiful based on that night
The sequel to my most popular game is finished and uploaded! If you like wholesome romantic interactive fiction, I would love for you to check it out! (Original game here!)
[Three Months Later] Tam met up with Ash after their respective classes. Tam’s had been A History of Witchcraft Prior to Valefication, which was not exactly the most comfortable class to take…
And here’s the epilogue to my Halloween interactive fiction event, “Uncanny Valley!” Here’s how it all turned out in the end.
If you enjoyed it, and want to know some of the background details (For example, how things could have gone differently), check out my Author’s Notes and Q&A!
