7/28/2015

1/18/2021 4:36 AM

420

0

0 wins / 1 loss

Architect

I'm not supposed to be blind! Alright, I'll have to try on page scripting next time I'm trying to cram things on one page, heh.

I thought you can only block together the same variable? Although I suppose if I've got two variables, I can just combine them into a third before the page loads, and use the third variable for the blocking.

I don't purely prefer on page scripting because if I had something like: %%VAR1%=%1%Something happens.%% %%VAR2%=%1%Something else happens%%. Text. And VAR1 was not 1, then I'd have a blank line at the top of the page. (Although I guess it is possible that I messed up something else to cause that blank line...) Regardless, on page scripting is definitely very nice.

We're talking changing all the text on the page? I ended up doing that not too long ago with: IF %VAR = 1 THEN $PAGETEXT := "Text on page." IF %VAR = 2 THEN $PAGETEXT := "Text on page." Stuff between the quotations can be annoying if you want dialogue (since you then need to put the html entities for the quotes to have it not break and display correctly). I done it once but readability goes down when editing which is annoying, so I'd say just make a separate page (or maybe there's a better way I'm not familiar with?). Anyway, that goes in the page script box, you get to it with the blue := sign next to the page title. If you don't see this button, go to story properties and [change editor features], and turn up the toggles so you can see everything. Being able to access page scripts and link scripts is very helpful when you want to use variables for stuff, since only being able to do on-page scripting has its limits. Anyway, I look forward to someone more knowledgeable showing how they do this, aha. (Also, not sure if RTE messes with scripting boxes, I think they're all source automatically tho. At any rate, I don't think IF THEN works when used in page source.)

This the first page of a storygame? What will the choices be? Just a 'continue'? If this'll be a slightly lower-effort story, I'd strongly advise just continuing to write it. Don't worry about if it is any good. You can learn a lot just from getting through an entire story, even if it's shit. Starting in bed is a bit of a meme, and honestly, it should be done with some intent beyond it just being the logical start point of a day. It isn't really an interesting spot to start from a story perspective. Depending on when the zombies will start popping up, and how exactly that'll work, you might prefer starting at the beginning of the day, but a more engaging start point is worth considering. Anyhow, as such, I do agree with Northwind's points. I'll add that I liked the first part of the second paragraph, "Before leaving, Aaron turned on the news for a few minutes. Any nukes on the way? Then he could go spend his money in a bar and have a good beer for once without having to worry about his rent. Spend more than $30 on something that made him happy for once." It had me more engaged than the earlier part, as I don't care much about McRonald's paying poorly, not that such things aren't worthy of critique, but they've got to be tackled in a more thorough manner if I'm going to care. Much more interesting to see how Aaron copes with the gloom and doom that can become somewhat dominant when news of anything bad in the world are easily accessible, and the failings of society (or whatever) are relatively easy to contemplate. But I get the feeling such themes won't be explored much, lol. Anyway, keep writing! The start is more-than passable, if you feel like changing the start point, go for it, but don't lament over it too long.

I feel that I ought to upload a bunch of things to make it more confusing, but I'll save that for later. For now, I've just transferred my ratings from here to there for the stories who's names I recognised. I might've missed a few, but hey, better than nothing. Anyhow, I can now confirm that rating games there is easy. Since you don't read the stories there, it means you can rate (and review) straight from the story page. Very quick and easy, can recommend doing it, in fact, everyone should do it! Yes.

I have a vague memory of hot water fixing icy windshields, like just a glass of the stuff. I will add that it might only work for thinner layers. Honestly though, I don't have much experience with it, as the cold from the clouds tends to fall into space, as gravity dictates, rather than come down to the surface.

Hey, that's a pitfall I've made before! I'll add that using a battle as an opening scene will probably be best if the battle is important, and the focus is less on the grunts dying, and more on the characters involved (since characterising them in a high-stress situation can be an interesting way to introduce them to the reader). However, tension will need to be built up carefully, since by default, I don't expect characters (or rather, any important ones) to die in an opening.

I'll add that with fight scenes, the actual fight tends to not matter that much (especially in word form, where there aren't pretty colours to gape at), rather, the stakes, build up, and consequences are more interesting. Who is fighting? And the big one, why? If it is just two people introduced a paragraph ago, readers are less likely to care, but making compelling characters is a whole other issue. Anyway, strong imagery is a way to help fights stand out without doing blow by blow. The thing with blow by blow is that it can drag on, and easily ends up being just telling (he punches the face, guy falls down, gets up, kicks), and can easily end up being pretty dull to read. That's not to say you can't do blow by blow, just be careful that it is getting across what you want (if you do choose to go down that path). Fight scenes, like most scenes, generally don't want to be repeated either (i.e. too similar to previous ones). This matters more if your story will have many fights, but to avoid rambling about something I'm not great at, I'll just say, get creative. Keep in mind that, like any scene, there are many ways to approach fight scenes. Don't get stuck on them. You can always go back and rework them if needed. So, to answer your question, you write it the way you would write any other scene, with the goal of making the story better/more complete (through adding characterisation, progressing the narrative, exploring an idea, interacting with a conflict, adding something cool, or any other number of reasons).

This depends on the story you're trying to tell (and how you're branching it). Pages can also be shorter or longer too. In fact, I don't think a page limit is the best way to go about it, but different things work for different people. Anyhow, it is generally highly recommended to start small because of how quickly branching can make a story get out of hand. I'd say, think of a story with a small scope, something that is relatively easy to get through writing (i.e. one conflict with some choices). If you want a page limit, maybe someone else will offer a better one, but I'd say...15. Why? Imagine this, a story that always offers two choices on each page (until the ending pages). With three total choices total (per playthrough), that's 15 total pages for the story (one of which is read in each playthrough). Now, if we add just one more round of choices, you get 31 pages total. It is more than doubled! This is why deaths/early-end choices are useful, they allow for longer playthroughs with more story whilst stopping the exponential growth you'd get without them. Regardless of what you choose tho, 15 should certainly be doable. And hey, you could always ask for feedback in the Writing Workshop before publishing to see if the story works within that page limit, and can expand it if it doesn't (or otherwise just polish it up). Oh, do remember that proofreading is incredibly powerful! Anyway, thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.