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Hi, guys. It's been a while, for those who remember me.

I've got a rough outline for a new storygame I'm starting to make. It's called "Warrior's Legacy". I wanted to make it "Legacy", but that title is unfortunately already taken by an unpublished storygame made by someone who's been inactive since 2014. No, my storygame is not about Warrior Cats.

There's a storygame description below, plus some specific questions below that. I was hoping for some general feedback and some answers to these questions, if anyone's interested.

Description:

"A boxer's journey from lost delinquent to warrior of legendary status. There are many paths to make your mark on the history of the sport. What kind of legacy will you build?

This storygame will see you go through the life of a boxer, starting as a kid lacing up gloves as a hobby. You will learn to excel at the sweet science through discipline, dedication, determination and by intelligently, efficiently paving the way to improving yourself. You will make friends, rivals and enemies as you take on increasingly tougher opponents first in the amateurs, eventually going pro to pursue your dreams and goals.

Although Warrior's Legacy is about combat sports, and there are large chunks dedicated to boxing matches, there are also plenty of sections that deal with the story and your choices outside of the ring. This storygame has more of an interactive novel feel than a gamey one, featuring narrative driven choices rather than crunchy numbered stats and repetitive button-press choices, even during matches.

Whilst some decisions you make don't affect the overarching plot, every single choice is meaningful: relatively minor choices will affect the degree of success during a match, or give you a different set of combat choices for future matches. The latter can be reflected by changes to fighting style or conditioning that can be made during training or matches.

There are many endings, each with varying degrees of success. Only four of these, known as Legacy Endings, will truly see you fully realising your greatest goals, leaving behind your legacy as one of the greatest boxers ever. However, there can be multiple ways to reach the same Legacy Ending.

Remember that this is a sports storygame, so losing matches here and there doesn't necessarily mean a game over. Don't give up after losing, because you might still be able to get a good ending, or even a Legacy Ending! Many of the greatest boxers end their careers with defeats on their records. Of course, if you keep losing too many times, you will eventually get a game over (through quitting boxing) before achieving your full potential."


Questions:

1.
a. What do you think of the title?
b. Does it make you think it's a fantasy instead of a modern?
c. Should I make it more obvious from the title that it's about boxing?

2.
a. Is this a storygame you would want to try, based on the description?
b. Does reading the description make you look forward to play, or is it just something you'd save for when you're bored?
c. If it doesn't excite you, is there anything I can do to make the description more appealing? Is it just that the content matter doesn't appeal to you?

3.
a. Is the description too detailed? Not detailed enough?
b. Are there any specific areas that need more or less explaining, or just the whole thing in general?

4. The third and fourth paragraphs of the description give details on how the choices will feel more like an interactive novel than very gamey.
a. Would you rather the boxing matches feel more like a traditional game, with stats, random numbers, repetitive stages/mechanics, etc.?
b. If you answered yes to the above, do you have any suggestions for specific game mechanics you'd like to see?

5. Do you have any other feedback or questions?


Feel free to answer as many or as few of the questions as you'd like. You can answer each individual question separately or smoosh every numbered section into one answer, whichever you prefer.

One of the old guard has returned.

No opinion on anything you wrote EXCEPT just to let you know, if you really want the Legacy title, that can easily be arranged.

Hi! Long time no see. It's about time you became an all-powerful death-god-mod!

I didn't know that could be arranged. I think I'll hold off on taking that Legacy title for now, but if I ever get this storygame more complete, I might take you up on that offer. Thanks.

If I can get it changed, at least I won't be attracting those pesky Warrior Cat fandom horde here, or even worse, get mistaken as one of them. Are they still around these days?

Nope. WC hasn't been around in years. The only one left from those bad old days is a member called Bluefur and she just mostly quietly lurks like a shy house kitten.

No amount of scientific inquiry or theological debate can explain why a creature such as Bluefur persists here, and she's been resistant to every attempt at communication.

It's almost as strange as Morgan's continued existence, although the theory on her profile is that she's just hanging around pining for Pedo Mod Kiel.

I think I'd heard briefly about what Kiel had done, but I honestly forgot, so reading this kind if made me sad. I used to think he was alright, and I liked his storygames. I guess you've just got to be aware that those kinds of people might appear normal on the surface.

It sounds interesting.The title does seem a bit fantasy, especially as we don't usually call boxers "warriors" more more "fighters." I'd read it. I'm not a fan of boxing of itself, per se, but I do enjoy well done sports or build-up stories. One of the more interesting comics on the web to come out in the last year is "The Boxer," which does an excellent job putting backstory and rounding out the psychology of each character.

Personally, I am sightly more into story/narrative fights than random numbers and the like in general. But, you should do whatever serves the story best. And from what you have described with the techniques and training being important, than having the stats to show what a difference those made would be more impactful.

Thanks for your feedback.

Yeah, regarding the title, I'll probably get a mod to invoke their magic powers and change it to Legacy. I'd prefer that.

I probably will go with the narrative combat option over stats and game mechanics, but I just wanted to hear people's thoughts on the matter, and whether somebody might think it's a missed opportunity to make a boxing simulator type game like that.

I think you're right that I should go with what serves the story best, which will be the narrative route. Rather than a crunchy simulator, it's supposed to tell story of zero to hero, a boxer slowly improving on his skills. The 'character creation' would be better off woven into the story and the narrative choices you make. It's not supposed to give you complete control of your character's fighting style, but rather branch out in different ways based on story-based decisions.

This style should be preserved during the fights as well. Rather than repeat the same choices of punches or go through the same stages for every fight, every fight should feel different based on the style matchup and the skill gap.

That makes sense. One of the things I only learned in the past year or two was the different styles of boxing (outboxing vs. inboxing) as well as how physique and training affects the moves and style that suits you best, and how the style and physique of your opponent comes into play as well. 

Yep, that's one of the big aspects, but I'll try to also include various other aspects to keep both the protagonist and his opponents feel fresh and interesting.

Legacy title is now available.

While searching it up I noticed that guy with the 400k Sonic Legacy game didn't just take it down, but was so salty about the mediocre ratings he actually deleted the thing entirely.

Anyway, good luck with your storygame, and nice to have you back. We always could use more Modern games of quality.

Thank you. I just took the Legacy title for myself.

Thank you for taking the time to give me feedback.

Haha, I guess it wouldn't be too out of place to include some cats fighting each other in the forest or whatever. I'll consider making a Warrior Cats cameo. I'd have to cite you somewhere in the description for being the inspiration for that.

1. Regarding the title, mizal has allowed me to take the Legacy title for now, but I'll consider making it more obviously boxing based like the titles you suggested. I like Legacy for its simplicity, but boxing is a somewhat niche story subject. It would be nice to make it obvious for boxing enthusiasts just casually scrolling through storygame titles.

2. I wasn't sure if someone had already done something similar on CYS, but I'm glad to know there's little else like that here.

4. Yes, something like that. There will be some choices you can make outside of matches that will alter the plot, like deciding when to turn pro, accepting/declining certain matches, your personal life decisions outside of boxing, etc.

Equally, there will be choices that don't affect the overall plot, but moreso your fighting style. This won't directly affect your boxing career progress, but might give you different options or outcomes in certain scenes of your matches.

For example, in a conversation you have with other characters, you might get to choose between different world champion boxers that you admire, and also what technical aspects of their boxing you like the most. Depending on your choice, your coach will help train that specific skill. If you choose Fighter A and his footwork, you will learn some of his slick, evasive tricks that keep him at a safe distance and off the ropes. This will then be reflected in your future matches by coming up as a tactic you can opt for, or you just automatically use it in appropriate situations.