knights-of-venus-if

[knights-of-venus-if]

git gud 5head 💀. loved the update, the weapon choices were really cool and it was cute that sunny packed mc a lil snack

I've cleared out the git gud place holder, there's actual content there now lol. I'm glad you've enjoyed it, I've been taking a break from content writing since I posted the update, just fixing bugs and cleaning up errors. That ends today, I'm back to writing as of this morning. Here's to the next mission, hopefully with less of a wait this time.

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #here we go again

[knights-of-venus-if]

Knights of Venus

Hello! I've never really been a tumblr girlie, but apparently this is the done thing when making an IF. I'm making a game about squishy humans in big stompy robots on our local hell planet, give it a play here:

Current Demo (CoGDemos) Current Demo (Dash) Or read more about it here: https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/knights-of-venus-37k-word-mech-wip-updated-05-16-24/148371?u=apple

Current ROs (that you can meet):

Sun “Sunny” Lei (孙雷): Your co-worker turned armature mechanic, Sunny is a generally cheery if acerbic presence. She hasn’t shown any interest in you before, but maybe you can make her notice you?

“David”: Your taciturn and enigmatic handler, “David” (if that even is his real name) provides mission control and serves as your connection to the mercenary world of Venus. Perhaps you could make him see you as more than just another asset?

Diana: A bold and eccentric ‘Knight’, Diana (no last name given) is a soldier of the corporate lords that rule Venus. She may have ruined your old job, but perhaps something new can spark on more even footing?

Current word count: 37k words prose, 43k with code

Asks are open, thanks for checking me out!

[knights-of-venus-if]

THE UPDATE IS HERE. PLAY NOW.

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #update #update fr #not a status update #the real actual update #play it now

[knights-of-venus-if]

Soon.

Good news mech lovers. Final fight scene of the update is completely coded. Just needs prose filled in, then I can push the update. I’m truncating the full debrief, because I need to write a version that hooks into the other mission in Chapter 1 and one that hooks into the first downtime segment, so that’ll come later. Update could come tonight (or, well, tomorrow morning) if I lock tf in, otherwise before the weekend if I don’t get sick again (I have been exposed to some ill folk, so no promises).

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #status update #update fr #almost

[knights-of-venus-if]

I just went through the game, and I've been wondering: will the nations back on Earth have any effect in the plot, or will all our dealings be focused with the companies and such that are developing Venus?

Not much, is the short answer. "The US (or [insert state]) government" does have interests on Venus, but it carries them out through aligned corporations and agents within UNCSA. It'll be a minute before these sorts of things matter to the MC, you're currently at the closest thing to 'street level' a mech-piloting mercenary can be. You might get some hints of bigger developments in the update though.... Speaking of, I can finally say it's almost done. I have two labels left to flesh out in my original draft of the scene, and then a debrief that I might end up truncating in the name of getting the update out ASAP. May FOR SURE, this time for real. It's going to more than double the current word count, so hopefully enough for y'all to chew on.

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #asks

[knights-of-venus-if]

A hundred posts on the forum, and a dev poll. Vote Now!

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #poll

[knights-of-venus-if]

Status Report

Alright, I'm finally back to writing fr fr after lot of real life stuff got in the way. I've eased myself back in with a bunch of prologue tweaks, quashing a bunch of typos and grammar errors, adding new content (pretty much all fleshing out the post-Diana fight content, which was sparser than I would've liked), and writing up the flight to your first mission and it's begining. Stuff you can look forwards too Soon™: - Spider! - Man! - Woman! - Multiple Massive Weapons! - Shady Dealings! April update is the plan, hopefully I'm not lying about it this time. Take care all, the next post should be with the update.

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #status update

[knights-of-venus-if]

On the topic of augmentation, will there be any consequences for going super crazy with it?

Yes, there will. It's something that I'll be going into with the player and with some NPCs, the way that armature pilots (and some other groups) are forced to effectively twist and mutilate themselves to keep up. I don't want to be a complete doomer about it, so in moderation you'll just get cool robot bits, but wiring more and more of your body for combat will certainly have it's effects, in and out of the cockpit.

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #asks

[knights-of-venus-if]

Hello. Loved the demo. Especially cuz it's mecha😁

Would you be willing to give sort of a roadmap for the game. What can we expect to see further. Like features or mechanics that have yet to be introduced?

Congrats.

Sure, although I’ll have to throw a big “THIS IS NOT FINAL AND COULD BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY POINT” flag on things so, be disclaimed all ye who enter here.

That said, I’m planning a semi-episodic structure, at least at first. My plan, such as it is, is to have discrete missions in the field for various employers, followed by downtime at base, followed by missions in the field, etc. At least at first, no telling how your merc’s life might get shaken up 😉 Currently for what I’m calling “Chapter 1” (no I’m not sure how many chapters there will be per se, although I do know how the plot will go. It’s just a matter of how much meat I attach to that skeleton) there are two missions that the player can take in either order, followed by a bossfight of sorts. I’m probably going to release these one at a time as their done, just because putting out more updates makes me feel better, even if they’re shorter than a massive multi-mission one.

As for mechanics I’ve coded up a little loadout system. Currently I have four weapons that you can take with two slots, which determine what stat (personal and mech) checks are available to you. That combined with simple positioning and other tactics (don’t set yourself up at range with only a pile-driver, or use a sniper if you can’t shoot for shit) will determine how the fights and missions go. For the filthy cheaters out there this is fairly easily modded, if you want to bring all the weapons you can just tick all the variables on after you launch for your mission. One thing I’m mulling over is how exactly your pay works. My current draft has you just getting raw currency you can spend, but I’ve also considered abstracting it away to “upgrade points” or some such. I think I’d like to let the MC spend their blood money on frivolities and cosmetics though, so a cash pile is best for that.

One last thing to mention is augmentation. My current plan is to have an opportunity to improve your skills naturally every few chapters up to a human cap of 5, with the opportunity to go beyond that cap and upgrade more frequently by purchasing augments that improve your performance (this can include literal performance enhancing drugs). I’d like to include the option to forgo it entirely as a sort of “hard mode”, and to discuss the consequences of leaning on it too hard, but the game will likely end up balanced around the player indulging at least a little bit.

Thanks for the ask, hope that’s what you were looking for!

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #asks #game development

[knights-of-venus-if]

I'm so happy someone decided to write a mecha IF so tysm for that. Can I get some Sunny facts pls?

Of course you can! First of all, there *are* other Mech IF, and I'd be remiss if I didn't name them. First of all the wonderful Mecha Ace (from which I stole the term armature for mechs) by Paul Wang, although its a lot more Gundam than mine is. There is also Magikiras (which I played and found middling) and Ironheart (which I've not played, but heard good things about). All three are available with CoG/HG, and I'd recommend them to scratch your itch. Now, onto Miss Lei. First of all the stuff you can learn in game: she's an armature engineer from Shenyang, China, following in her dad's footsteps (though not his choice of employer). Shenyang is a large hub for the Chinese armature industry, think of it like how Detroit used to be for American autos. Sunny is fluent in Mandarin and English, with passable Russian (and some knowledge of the Venusian patois that combines all three). In terms of physical features she's 5'3" (about 165cm) and about 130 pounds (~60kg), with a decently muscled build. She's got three notable scars on her: a gunshot through her right shoulder, a long cut wrapping around the left side of her abdomen, and a vertical cut on her left thigh. On her upper back is a tattoo of a pinned butterfly, centered on her spine (specifically a Mountain Alcon Blue, shoutout to my lepidopterists). She's completely unaugmented, with no mechanical or biological replacements. Sun is bi, but she's never particularly embraced an openly queer identity. This far into the future it's *largely* a non-issue, although some particular conservatives might raise a stink. She likes who she likes, without much care for labels. She has an older brother who still lives on Earth, but the two of them aren't really in contact. Currently Sun has no interest in heading back to Earth, and would be more than happy to live the rest of her life on Venus (maybe not on the surface though, kinda sucks down there).

Ty for the ask!

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #asks

[knights-of-venus-if]

Today I realized that this is literally just a blog and I can post whatever the hell I want here. Writing proceeds apace, I'm getting in to the player's first big mission: ft. arachnophobia. I'm finally not sick (despite a lingering cough) so I can actually write without wanting to keel over and die, which is nice. I think a (late) February release of this first mission is in the cards, and I'll probably do that instead of waiting for multiple to be done (because I'm impatient and incremental progress makes me feel good, sorry poll people). Don't shoot me if it ends up early March, I still have a decision to make that might add a bunch of extra writing. Anyways, post over, drink water, don't get sick. See you all whenever I finish this mission (or whenever someone posts an ask ig).

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #venus #blog

[knights-of-venus-if]

Vote now! Heyo tumblr ppl. I've put a poll up on the forums (linked above) regarding update size/frequency. Basically, I've decided each "chapter" will consist of multiple individual missions within it, and I'm curious if people would prefer to get each mission as its ready, or the whole chapter all at once. I'll replicate the poll here for anyone who doesn't have/doesn't want to make a CoG forum account.

#choice of games #hosted games #interactive fiction #scifi #mecha #venus #polls #tumblr polls

[knights-of-venus-if]

BELPHHHHHH i am forever insane abt this rahhhhh i love sci-fi and mechs so damn much this was tailor made for me to be insane over >:00

first off fantastic writing it pulls it all together just great pacing love ur style very vivid descriptions and cool worldbuilding that's integrated pretty well (and expanded on in the glossary? which??? glossary??? so damn cool) but yeah seeing a mech for the first time in the game i was internally whooping like it's so cool and intimidating and then the mech customisation RAHHHH love!!!

idk if its just gunevere but god do knights talk pompous lmfaoo ALSO is gunevere a pun like. with gun and guinevere?? amazing also also david is damn evasive so mysterious but sokay i'm here for the piloting oppurtunities

also i can sympathise with sunny and her name getting fucked up i hate how some admin systems mess up the order haha alsoooo [leonardo di caprio pointing meme] it's the last name i always choose in ifs!! i've only ever seen wang pop up as a preset option in urs and one other if out of the dozens i've played lmfao

anyway take care!! very cool game love it :]

Thank you for the enthusiastic praise! It's lovely to wake up and read! I'm afraid Guenevere is just like that (her name is not a pun, but it is a reference she chose specifically). She's a weirdo, even by the standards of the Knights as an organization. Codereaders may have noticed that the MC can set a variable 'arthurian' true, which will let them fully match her energy. It didn't make it into this first release, but I do intend to expand the list of names that can tick it beyond the basic Lancelot/Excalibur combo, I just need to make a list.

#interactive fiction #hosted games #choice of games #scifi #asks #mecha #arthuriana

[knights-of-venus-if]

Knights of Venus

Hello! I've never really been a tumblr girlie, but apparently this is the done thing when making an IF. I'm making a game about squishy humans in big stompy robots on our local hell planet, give it a play here:

Current Demo (CoGDemos) Current Demo (Dash) Or read more about it here: https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/knights-of-venus-37k-word-mech-wip-updated-05-16-24/148371?u=apple

Current ROs (that you can meet):

Sun “Sunny” Lei (孙雷): Your co-worker turned armature mechanic, Sunny is a generally cheery if acerbic presence. She hasn’t shown any interest in you before, but maybe you can make her notice you?

“David”: Your taciturn and enigmatic handler, “David” (if that even is his real name) provides mission control and serves as your connection to the mercenary world of Venus. Perhaps you could make him see you as more than just another asset?

Diana: A bold and eccentric ‘Knight’, Diana (no last name given) is a soldier of the corporate lords that rule Venus. She may have ruined your old job, but perhaps something new can spark on more even footing?

Current word count: 37k words prose, 43k with code

Asks are open, thanks for checking me out!

#interactive fiction #mecha #scifi #choice of games #hosted games #venus