Zake, The Novelist

Member Since

7/28/2015

Last Activity

3/19/2024 12:26 AM

EXP Points

1,268

Post Count

552

Storygame Count

2

Duel Stats

0 wins / 1 loss

Order

Architect

Commendations

74

'ello! I am Zake. Welcome to my profile.
Writing is fun, hard, and interesting.
Feel free to message me.

Some sites that may be worth a look:

- Punctuating dialogue!
- Apostrophes!

Trophies Earned

Earning 100 Points Earning 500 Points Earning 1,000 Points For providing the community with many helpful posts when it comes to the aspects of writing. Said posts are acknowledged and appreciated. Given by BerkaZerka on 10/17/2021 - Cool Contributions

Storygames

Hues of Infection
"Verde is the closest."

"Then contact them, now!"

"The OERF has already reached out; Verde accepted their call."

"Good."

"That damn facility, I knew we never should've allowed it operate in such an incognito manner!"

"Let us hope for a clean resolution."

"What a mess."

"CO says the shuttle has landed."

"Putting all our trust in one Remroid...what could possibly go wrong?"

"Hey - it's worked out before. Let's not start doubting them now."

"Oh, I do hope for their success."

"Don't we all?"

Thin bar showing part of face around the eyes. Eyes are green.

Written for the Damned and the SHAMED contest (by Mizal).

The Capi's Band & the Missing Instruments
coauthor

Entry into End Master's Manifest Destiny Contest (2021).



A stand-alone sequel to: Elvis At The Beauty Contest.



Join Miz, Matt, and Mandy as Madame Coon recounts the tale of the Capi's band and their missing instruments!


Recent Posts

Using Variables To Effect Dialogue on 3/6/2024 4:03:27 PM

On-Page Scripting Paragraphs

Putting a newline character (pressing enter) breaks the on page script, but you can just substitute them with HTML break characters instead.

Add more or less to get the desired spacing (I use 2).

If you're using the Rich Text Editor be sure you are adding it as HTML (does RTE still have a source button? Click it if it does).


Pagetext & Page Script

Another thing that can give similar results is using $PAGETEXT, which isn't on-page scripting, but goes on the page script (haven't tried with link scripts, don't think it'd work there).

i.e.,
$PAGETEXT := "Added at start. " + $PAGETEXT
$PAGETEXT := $PAGETEXT + "
Added at end."

Starting Page Text:
This is a new page.

OUTPUT:
Added at start. This is a new page.
Added at end.

:= means assign to, while = alone is for comparison. I know I forget the : sometimes, which breaks things.

Because it is in page script, you can add variable conditionals before $PAGETEXT changes.

i.e.,
IF %BLANC = 0 THEN
$PAGETEXT := "He is dead."

From what I recall, you can use newline characters here (without HTML) but you do need to escape the double quotations. & q u o t ; = ". (Drop the spaces between & q u o t ;, because I don't know how to have it not be read as HTML but written in correct form and am too lazy to google it).

i.e.,
$PAGETEXT := "& q u o t;Watch out!& q u o t; he yells." + $PAGETEXT
NOT ""Watch out!" he yells"

I'm sure you can see how this can be tedious, but if there is minimal or no dialogue, it can be worth considering.


Tips and Tricks

Replacing spaces with breaks (for on-page scripting) or quotations with their entity code (for page scripts) makes proofreading harder, so I advise writing normally (but clearly marked) in another writing software. This can also act as a backup. (Word has a search and replace feature, for example, which makes replacing quotations easy). But do whatever works for you.

Do be aware that text added through page scripts doesn't start on the page, so isn't counted towards the length calculations. If you write the whole story this way it'll be marked as 0 words, which is funny. Considering you're probably using this for similar but different permutations of the same scene, I find it evens out, where it lets you avoid artificial bloat to the word count (from copy pasting many similar pages, which is another cruder option). Depends on how you structure things.


Endings on 3/1/2024 9:45:29 PM
Depends on the story, but I generally prefer at least 2 endings. Too many endings is whatever amount you won't finish writing. Generally readers won't complain about having more to read. If you're making good progress, stick to 11. If you're not, cut it down. If you're writing 11 different stories in one, maybe cut it down, because starting small might lead to more success (but do what you want, ambition isn't bad). Consider your own engagement with the writing as well. If you don't enjoy writing towards some ending, don't be afraid to cut it! (And you might even be able to come back to write it later, if you change your mind).

IF I write a Conditional statement AND... on 2/1/2024 6:32:17 AM
Bad news, the editor allows you to use both AND and OR. They just might not work properly if you're using them alongside greater/less than signs. (Or so I heard on the grapevine).

Will's new CSI series on 1/15/2024 9:14:51 PM
The storygame is split into the different cases, so reading just one is an easy way to see how you like it. I know a lot of peeps are signed up for the prompt contest, so this is also a great way to procrastinate!

❅ Secret Santa ❅ on 1/14/2024 8:21:32 PM
Image showing what was traced to create a secret santa artwork.

In my attempts to be sneaky, I used MHDs work as the pose reference. Sent noticed the lack of line weight, and I consider that one of the main giveaways. Adding them is a pain (not a stylus, a mouse, hence the copious amounts of tracing), but I also tend to forget to add them later. The other thing I like doing is gradient backgrounds.

Of course, used character references too, and tried copying MHD expressions, since they're so emotive. Next time I'll copy her castle designs, because that would definitely throw people off. (I did quickly give up on passing it off as MHD work, because it did not take long to realise I couldn't replicate it at all closely enough, aha).

❅ Secret Santa ❅ on 1/8/2024 8:01:57 PM
I tried being sneaky, but it didn't work out perfectly. Being overly ambitious with the plan did at least stop it from being super obvious. I'll save the slightly longer breakdown for after someone gets those 50 points. I might deceive some people yet!

Page Linking Question on 1/3/2024 7:08:16 PM
You can technically move links around, but you don't do it with the editor, you do it with javascript (or so I heard). Generally, better to play to the tools strengths, so using twine is the much easier option. You could probably write it with twine then post the finished story in the forums. I'm sure people would be amazed at a finished non-linear twine story.

❅ Secret Santa ❅ on 12/27/2023 10:02:49 PM
I thought it would be easy seeing as it was hand drawn, so I could just look at the paper, but...



This is inconclusive at best! Maybe I should analyse the table instead.

❅ Secret Santa ❅ on 12/23/2023 8:38:32 PM
This sounds like something that plays out better the more people join, so count me in.

Merry Christmas! on 12/19/2023 9:19:40 PM
Neat reveal about the meaning of Christmas (and every other day of the year). Many fun modifications to the text as well (not that I have the original to compare). The art is very expressive as well. I liked the use of red too, captured the right vibe. Very cool! Thank you for saving the forums.