[Twine][Text] Soul Searching - a anime based kinetic (Lite Novel?) life simulator?

[Noli Timere]

This is a smaller project (not taking over my larger project whisper, more so to allow me something to work on while my life is stressful and busy, so that my JS and sugarcube knowledge doesnt deteriorate) that I will be working on, probly till i get it finished enough, will be trying to streamline the time i have to get something playable, so content will probly be lacking at the start.

Idea behind it (im still figuring everything for it out so stuff is likely to change through development)
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The player starts as a child, going through a number of events, meeting a few good friends, or enemies, along the way, all the way up till there 12th birthday, where they enter junior high school, after which they enter a semi sandboxed environment, where they are able to attend classes, make new friends, and deal in there every day life, as the game progresses and the player goes about there daily life, various events will occur pretaining to npcs they meet in the gameworld (from childhood and beyond), which may define who the player and npc become; romance, rivalry, friendship, its all at the players fingertips, and the choice of helping, or leaving a npc behind is up to them, however there will always be concequences for your actions, a romance with one person, may hurt another, or a rivalry could spiral out of control, harming those around you, and sometimes things just happen that are completely out of your control to begin with, and all you can do is help pick up the pieces, if you care that is.

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Spoiler of beginning of Intro (If you want to see how the writing may end up looking like, and dont care about spoiling the story, feel free to look, otherwise I would suggest waiting till the demo is done)

Spoiler: Beginning of Intro

As awareness creeps upon you, you sense that a presence looms over you. An echo begins to resonate, becoming louder and louder, until you can make out a voice.

"Can you hear me, young soul? Oh! It worked! Ehe... Ahem!", a soft feminine sounding voice utters off in the distance.

You try to look around, but everything is black, although there's no way to know if you have even moved around to begin with. Where am I, who am I, what... am I, you think to yourself, feeling uneasy.

"Do not be afraid, my young soul, I am Izanama, one of the daughters of Izanami-no-mikoto, and Izanagi-no-mikoto, I have brought you into this world, and wish to give you the chance to live", the soft feminine voice continues.

A strange sense that someone is smiling down on you forms, however the area around you is still dark, and you are unsure of if you are anywhere at all to begin with.

"Please, do not worry, I am sure this is all a surprise to you." the goddess Izanama pauses, and then you feel something, a warmth, as if you were being held.

"I know this must be a scary situation for you, but I just want you to know that I created you to experience the world, with all of its ups and downs", as the goddess Izanama continues, you start to feel something else; Feelings of happiness, sadness, and anger, start to fill you, but to your confusion, not about anything in particular. Still, the feelings are there, and growing.

"And that I will always look over you, and keep you safe..." the goddess Izanama continues as the feelings continue to grow, becoming almost blinding, drowning out her voice to nothing. An image appears to you of a young girl bathed in light, in a dress of pure white and silver embroidery, a noticeable bust visible through the dress. You can make out midnight blue twin-tails, a glint of blue in her eyes and a joyful look on her face. She is looking back at you, left arm raised and hand spread in greeting. A few seconds later, everything instantly goes black again, and you start feeling a massive build up of something, until everything ceases...

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My groups artist may join in on this project depending on there own payed works success, as this project for the time being will be like whisper and be a volunteer project at least until further notice.

If our artist does, there will be art, if not, then likely it will remain text based, I do hope it will get art at some point as I have plenty of ideas that may make the experience playing it more enjoyable, and will add that much extra anime orientation to the game, as some people may have difficulty imagining the scene so art may help with it,

as with whisper if music ends up being a thing i want to add to the project, I will be working on that, vocal and the like will probly not be in, unless I can bring in some people that can give it equal anime feeling experiences, and also may be too expensive for any form of payment i expect to get out of this project, and I would prefer to not need to spend money out of my own pocket in a project like this (not to mention since its procedural I would need many vocal artists working on it, so the cost may actually end up being noticable).

I will remain with Twine/Sugarcube 2 as I want to keep learning even while not working on my larger project, so that I can bring whatever new methods and even code bases back to that when I get back to work on it.

When the written content has been finished up to specific points, I will also look for grammar/spelling help due to my english being bad, however it wont be something I will be looking for right on point, so people with issues with bad grammar/spelling will likely want to wait till the game is more polished.

For Fenoxo members only, those that want to give input, or ideas are welcome to do so on this forum, (this includes those willing to make memberships on the fenoxo forums, but dont want to actually participate with the community, think of it as some free advertisment for the fenoxo community, I know, how awful of me, but this community in my personal opinion is one of the better ones, so it is what it is)

Steam Group: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/NTDevelop/
(Primary)Discord: https://discord.gg/hF58rfM

Also I have placed this in adult games as if the game gets a good following, once the player gets out of Highschool (on there 18th-20th birthday) adult content may be included, however if the moderators feel that it needs to be in non adult for now as it wont have any real adult content till a ways away, they can move it, however there will likely be some intention later on to add extended gameplay which leads into visual adult content once the lower age stuff is finished and out of the way, so im unsure of how they want to deal with that.


Read The Paragraph below before over-reacting involving (Murder/Underaged Characters)
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Also should state that in response to the forums guidelines on Murder, the game will likely not have any visual murder mortality, and will also likely have toggles to disable any story arcs or content that have any kind of mention of it (just to clear that up right off the bat), as well as if the above information confused anyone, there will be no Underaged sexual content, as im sure someone may end up not understanding what I was saying above, sexual content if it is added will only apply to characters that are 18+, and only affection based actions (Kissing, Handholding, Head petting, etc) will be possible on all ages, however I am unsure of the forums response on those, as around where I live it is heavily not considered sexual, for any of those interactions, but for some it is, so if the case is it is considered wrong on this forum, then I am fine with removing this game from the listings.

 

[Noli Timere]

Quick update for those who do not look at the discord/steam group, and have some interest in the project

- Finished a large chunk of backend functions

- Finished prelim Family generation (and tested and it seems to work)

Moving onto visual code (and will be doing it with mostly sugarcube/html so should go faster setting it up, however still have to do the written content so that will take as much time as it takes me to do it)

 

[Noli Timere]

Quick update (getting quite a bit of free time)

- Started on the visual and story content, and have finished a large chunk of the beginning intro segment.

- Started on the character creator and have finished adding in all prelim visual code segments, as well as finished a few of the char creator segments, along with accompanying story content.

 

[Noli Timere]

Quick update

- Redid Story arcs into a Fate system; splits it up into 2 things, the Fate DB Object which can contain variables used by the fate picked for the npc, and Stories which are long or short Major events involving the fate, later on the player may get fates as well which npcs can help you in events with it, or that you will have to go through alone to overcome issues (this will probly be a way later down the road thing though).

- Added a chunk more of functions for use by the generator, and for dealing with various parts needed by the visual code.

- ironed out more of the intro story (unedited atm) and more of the character creator.

 

[Noli Timere]

Quick update

- finished character creator, and story content involving it

- did some prelim for childhood phase

going to think out more indepth on how i want childhood phase to go.

 

[Noli Timere]

Quick update

- added some fixes for generator (I may redo the generator at a later date, as its messy) hopfully fixes name generation getting multiple same names in a single family, and some other odds and ends not worth noting on since players may not even notice what the issue was to begin with.

- added simple start to player characters birth scene, will finish the start of the extended childhood intro tommorow.

Will probly be silent on this forum for a bit unless i end up getting the written done for the fate system stuff done quick, but i think it may take me some time, since its going to need a bunch of story and events written up per personality and fate choice.

 

[Noli Timere]

Quick update

- Added in Getter functions for PlayerActor, PlayerFamily, PlayerSibling.

- Added in a template ill be working on to make adding new pages faster.

- Mostly finished the first dynamic Story Segment, which means I will be moving onto working on the Fate System for use in childhood.

 

[Noli Timere]

- Added function Get_ActorFate(); allows for the npc generator to add the fate id's for cycling through events and other bits that will be involved in the fate system.

- A chunk of editing

- Bunch of fixes involving the character generator.

Updated first post with the start of the Intro, for who who want to see what the written will probably look like (its a static event so it only has one state, where as alot of the rest of the game may be dynamic, and depend on the procedural values that affect them).

 

[Noli Timere]

I was hoping to not have to use a Dialog system and just do something with sugarcube pages, but more i thought on how i was going to present the players with different games each playthrough (or as different as I can make them) a Dialog system remained the fastest way to do it, although will still be time consuming, as such I have done a few untested functions for it.

- Added DialogResponse(); Grabs data from a Responder, and Respondant (the one being talked too, and the one asking or saying whatever it is there responding too), as well as the Phase of the game (Childhood, Junior High Year1, etc), and both genders, there is also a integral feeling deduction function, for use with cycling more through the dialog response choices, this will still rely on sugarcube alot, however verbal responses and maybe light actions will all be done in the DialogResponse function, there is also a Sexual Orientation Check for love, to avoid Character response mess ups which may play out of character to certain interactions.

There will still need to be some work done, as not all actions can be implyed in with the Dialog Response (more so cause if the code volume gets too large in my code file, my IDE slows down due to folding and other functions running in it, that and it will be even more messy which bothers me when coding).

So likely there will need to be 1 or more support functions that help build scenes which will have internal feelings and whatnot functions and work independently to one another.

 

[Noli Timere]

Going to be busy for next few days, was lucky enough to get as much time i did so far, but ill probly only be doing small stuff till i get more time, likely wont post (seeing as I was expecting to be busier then I was, and less productive so this current work is more so a bonus).

- Setup a prototype function DialogReaction(); for use with reactions after dialog, however is independent to DialogResponse().

 

[Noli Timere]

Am sick apparently got some kind of infection or something, which has caused the liquids in my ears that determine motion to go out of wack causing motion sickness (well hopfully its a infection or whatever and not permanent), So I have more time to work on the game, but this also means imma have to stop working on it for a bit after this crap clears up, However atm I cant drive my car, as this issue affects me even when im sitting normally in my vehicle, so I'm basicly stuck in my home, anyways update coming below.

- Added Reaction_Type to the dialog functions, for determining what reaction type should happen, as it sits now, this should allow for more Kinetic Dialog, but i will likely need a bunch more of these functions for use in the dialog system, as I want to make sure to use sugarcube a bit more so i can get through to the demo faster

- Added female char creator stuff, and going to do male and female same time, cause i figure if i leave female out it will cause a longer wait on next bit of content, doing female along side male means time frame will increase cause double the work, but it should be less time in long run.

- finished off the after char creator descriptor texts to have descriptions for your characters sibling if one is in your family.

- started on the first event for meeting your characters first friend (some ways to go, as it is what im using to test/work through the beginnings of the dialog system, so is experimental and likely will take some time to iron out and add all the functions still necessary).

 

[Noli Timere]

On the rare chance someone on here gets interested in writing Anime based romantic/drama style written, ONCE I get the dialog system and so on working (or at least working enough that some events can be created, I will be asking to see if anyone wants to hop on board, I am guessing this may not be the case, so I will be continuing on with development, and checking back to see if anyone is interested/willing to join on and do some writing.

I am hoping that this may yield 1-2 writers, however I am not holding my breath, just a heads up to those who may have taken interest, and who may enjoy writing fan fiction, or whatnot that may want to have a chance to put some stuff into a game, who may not have knowledge of programming, or otherwise to make it by themselves.

People who may already be interested can post here if they want, however I still have to finish a basic combo of functions that properly work together and can be used to build scenes/conversations before I will be willing to get any other writers help, however think of this post as a prior request, to any writers out there even if it may be a bit before I will need any other hands on board.

 

[Noli Timere]

- Added a deduction variable for determining a characters chance to announce there feelings; math (Feelings_Value - Deduction_Value) = % to tell player there feelings in events (nothing using it yet, but will likely be used in this way)

- Added Blood Relation fixing function, to make siblings of first child same in: Hair color, Eye color, Skin color; Will open up to allowing adopted siblings later maybe, with a added event line, but will see.

- Lil bit more for the dialog system (still trying to wrap my head around how I want it to be, so going slow)

 

[Noli Timere]

- Even more functions to use within events Get_Primary_Parent(), Get Primary_Parent_Care(); both used to do the small minor grabs for checking a families primary parent (usually the mother if alive, and living with the family, but if not then the father), and to find if the primary parent cares about there kids or not, minor code parts, but will likely be plenty of these just so i dont have to keep writing long if statements to fetch the required data each time.

- decided to make dialog for player use mutli buttons per page which will go in certain personality types (likely wont do too many buttons per but will have around 3 to maybe 6 depending, however each button has its own sequence for the event so will likely keep it lower for time being around 3 maybe even 2 choices in some cases to move a bit faster.

 

[Noli Timere]

- Rebuilt Get_Random_Unknown_Family(); had major infinite loop issue when testing new event stuff out.

- bug testing for new (first friend gain) event, cleaned up everything currently.

 

[Noli Timere]

- Added in another visual hook for voice type and a function for the generator (does not affect player character, atm, since player uses buttons to talk.)

- Added in function IntroDialogResponse(); for use when someone meets another char to allow for random response, technically a small single line thing, but will save code space.

- Made fat/chubby both genders for npcs, and made it rarer to fit in with the anime superficial complex. (trigger alert?)

 

[Noli Timere]

- Added more definition to the blood relation function, it will cycle through same kind for eye iris color, and hair color, so that they arnt super identical all the time.

- finish a bit more on the first friend event.

 

[Noli Timere]

this health issue has bothered me today, but i did manage to get a little done.

- redid some text to include the player already being in elementary, as well as including the same with the friend(s) you make on first event, as well as made sure to include japanese naming quirks, which were not present.

- redid height and figures to use normal ones and rare ones dependent on gender, and made the rare percentages 10%, so there arent hundreds of shorties, or fatties all over the place (this likely will seem as a trigger to some people, however my reasoning for these additions/changes is to make sure that it follows a rather superficial anime stereotype, as the idea for this game is to make a experience that can somewhat make it feel like the player is in a anime)

I should also say that I need to do the dialog bits as i go, I kinda jumped the gun with the main dialog function i started on since the written may need to be more personalized per event, with its own dialog function(s) per, not just a single one for all, since it will probly end up sounding robotic, either way Ill be working on them as i work on events, rather then trying to make a single solution work

 

[Noli Timere]

decided imma take 2 break days including today, trying to find some spots to view some of these animes people have been suggesting to me, and also need to relax my brain, since writing for me is somewhat hard at times.

if anyone has any anime streaming sites with low intrusion ads and so on lemmy know.

 

[Noli Timere]

- Redid a little bit of the get breast size function, it now gets the starting size from the smaller ranges, but growth still grabs from the current higher then.

- finished the first of the normal conversation text (took so long cause of how i was doing it, need to figure out a way to write it quicker), saddly that was litterally just 1 page, still quite alot to do to finish that event.

 

[Noli Timere]

I may actually take some time to see if i can simplify the process of coding this stuff, atm, its super broken up with if statements, but I kinda want to make it so it can be written prior and then hooked, with as few if statements as i can keep it as, cause it was a pain to write that one page.

IF I can setup a proper hooking setup I should be able to reduce the time considerably, but will need to build it into a template, and I still need to figure out a proper way to deal with npc dialog, as it is right now may also need to be refined quite a bit to actually make it quick to impliment.

 

[Noli Timere]

Bleh still sick with motion sickness due to prior issue, and its likely a infection causing it as im normal sick as well, coughing up a lung and so forth, imma keep workin on the game but i could barely get much done today, so will be super slow ;/

just feel lazy atm, however i started redoing the prior events first page, and will be cleaning it up and seeing just how much i can fit into a single string and which parts will still need if statements, likely each event/page will still need there own setups but i can likely get a template setup that has a good chunk of the needed bits, just dont expect anything solid for a bit, working while coughing myself to death is not working out too much.

 

[Noli Timere]

Baddly sick so im taking however days i need off, i did a lil bit of converting over to a simpler formating for the first event, but still a ways to go, but i dont really feel like working on it while im sick, so going to be lazy till i get my creativity and energy back.

 

[Noli Timere]

Am still feeling like shit but going to fix some crap i messed up royally on, for how events are setup, and also making a hooking tool, for specific words/sentence segments for use in general text

Added Get_DW(); contains a text hook function list, for grabbing various single words (and smaller word groupings), involving npcs in action and the MC (families in some cases too) (WIP, not remotely close to finish, likely will be a never ending function to add too) am going to need to redo the event stuff currently, and will be using this function to work through most of the others, will cut down alot of if statement use in the long run, however wont cut out all of it quite yet.

 

[Noli Timere]

Yesterday

- added a few more text hooks

- got started on the template redo for the first event

Today

- little bit more done on the template.

 

[Noli Timere]

Feeling good enough to move around, so going to deal with some of the rl crap thats been waiting, saddly this likely will take a week or 2, imma try and work on the game when able, and will also try to update when I do, but my free time will probly be just chilling cause most of this stuff is going to be burning a hole in my brain, should free up more time to work though, as long as im motivated anyways.

Today

- finished most of the structure and got a bit more text hooks needed for the first event into the text hook tool function.

 

[Noli Timere]

WRITERS OF ANIME/FANFIC NEEDED PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE IF INTERESTED!!!


- Did a lil bit more conversion to the new setup.

One of my writer buddies urged me to look for more writers, as he pointed out some major issues with just having me as the writer, and I kinda agree, so I will be looking for writers for a while, least till i get 2 others, not sure how long it will take, however my lifes back to being super busy, will be working on the project now and again, however writing does take me alot longer then programming, so not sure how much will get done by just me.


So if anyone is interested on here, who has interest in animes, and possibly also writing fanfictions, who is interested in writing, feel free to shoot me a message, Ill be keeping a eye on if any messages come in, this will also allow direct involvement in the way the game is setup in some cases, as anyone jumping on board for writing will also be able to give input to better help the game, as well as help the written part (how easily it will be to deal with as it still has code built around it).

WRITERS OF ANIME/FANFIC NEEDED PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE IF INTERESTED!!!

 

[Noli Timere]

May have a new writer coming on board, will depend on there own time, and projects, however will still need to find a few more, as I have more obligations coming up (My music stuff is blarring in my face now as I may be training a new female singer, and have been working on lyrics, as well as compositions to work out some things with her, and my real life crap may be taking most of my excess time), I will have time to program still, since it takes me far less time, and since im going the route im going with more sugarcube for the text game parts, it should be way less time needed to get it setup if im not the one that has to do all the written.

So as a side, I will be taking as long a break as is needed (basicly till I have written content done if this one writer joins, or till i have at least 4 writers, maybe 2 if I find any that are passionate about the project idea), it does seem like this has been a pretty bad time for development on my end, and if people want to be angry at me, I can understand that, so a apology for so much time loss on my 2 projects for anyone who had interest.

 

[Noli Timere]

Sorry for the long lack of post, was busy with work, and otherwise, and development was going very slow.

Development will likely remain on a slow pace, but I have started back on working on the game engine to help cut down on the long run development, and have also gotten another writer (although have not gotten to a point where content will be workable yet)

Sandbox for the current generators, as well as the date system and family viewer is up on the discord under the soul searching sections public sandbox client.

A good chunk of stuff has been finished from the older code and is working in the sandbox, and some stuff has been added, like a date and birthday system for the npcs and the player, and more then enough bugs have been squashed all over the board of the current stuff added.

I will be adding update info to the discord more then the forum threads i have this listed on, as im still busy, and have other things im dealing with on the side, so my times still limited, and im putting most of my free time into relaxation and coding.