What kind of Fiction should You write? 5.0! [Quiz game ]

[Taleweaver]

This thread is practically not a discussion of the game, but more a discussion thread about "what result did I get in your test"? I feel quite strongly motivated to lock this for being not appropriate for the "Completed Games" forum. Please, everybody, don't discuss your "test results" here.

That much said, it's an interesting premise to use a VN for a test like that one. What motivated you to do something like that, Ookami Kasumi?

[OokamiKasumi]

This thread is practically not a discussion of the game, but more a discussion thread about "what result did I get in your test"? I feel quite strongly motivated to lock this for being not appropriate for the "Completed Games" forum. Please, everybody, don't discuss your "test results" here.

Whoops... Sorry, that was my fault.
-- If you like, you Can move this thread to the Writing discussion forum? I can edit the first entry to suit, and just post another release announcement in the Completed games forum with a note that discussing results goes elsewhere with a link to this thread?

...It's an interesting premise to use a VN for a test like that one. What motivated you to do something like that, Ookami Kasumi?

The original motivation to create this was to test a different form of Game-Play.
-- I've been haunting the Fallen London online game by FailBetter Games, and pondering on how they set up such a Story-as-Game system, and wondering if it could be reproduced with Renpy. By taking it apart and just looking at the pieces (Story Nexus), it was pretty obvious that Yes, Renpy could do this, and Easily. Too easily in fact. It wouldn't even challenge Renpy's capabilities.

However, I didn't want to reproduce the Story Nexus style of story, I wanted to take their form of story-telling in a broader direction.

Keep in mind that I'm a Story-Teller FIRST, and a game-maker LAST.

To do this, I needed to know their their Base Design; the Core Model they were using; their source of inspiration. What made them think of making a story-game this way? Why didn't they come up with something more like Renpy -- which, to me, is far more logical direction to take with a story.

• Renpy = Story + Pictures + Sound /divided by/ Characters (dialogue) /divided by/ Story Options.

This was clearly Not the model Story Nexus was using.
-- After a year of playing their games, and digging through their story-crafting essays, I figured out their formula.

• List of Optional Story-bits --> Story-bit = Flag x (grinding levels) = next Story-bit = Flag x (grinding levels) = End Story-bit.

-- In other words...

• 1+1= Chapter One, 2+2= Chapter Two, 4+4 = Chapter 3, 8+8 = End

This pattern was hauntingly familiar. I had definitely seen this model before in a far simpler form, but where? I quite literally, jerked awake from a dead sleep and sat up in bed with the answer.
-- Quizilla.

Once upon a time, back before Quizilla was bought out by Nickelodeon, I even made my own Quizilla Game. This one, in fact: "What kind of Fiction should You Write?"

Quizilla's formula:

• 1+1 = Results 1, 1+2 = Results 2, 1+3 = Results 3

Change this to....

• 1+1 = Flag 1, 1+2 = Flag 2, 1+3 = Flag 3

-- and you have Story Nexus.

To test my theory, I took all my old research, updated and refined all those old questions and results, and plugged them into Renpy. It Worked. In fact, it worked way better than the original game. With Renpy, I could layer on the flags; some as additive numbers, some as text, then add screens to show the results and totals of those flags. This was something Quizilla wasn't capable of, but Story Nexus was. However, Story Nexus doesn't have the Music and Graphics capability that Renpy always had.

What all this boiled down to was a new way of Thinking in terms of Story as game-play -- for me anyway.

And there you have it.

[Taleweaver]

If you like, you Can move this thread to the Writing discussion forum? I can edit the first entry to suit, and just post another release announcement in the Completed games forum with a note that discussing results goes elsewhere with a link to this thread?

That would make it a forum game. And we don't allow forum games...

Do you have a blog outside this forum you could provide for people to give you feedback on their test results?

[Sapphi]

That would make it a forum game. And we don't allow forum games...

Aww, really?
I was kind of thinking it was cool to see Kasumi's analysis and suggestions for improvement to the different test-takers here. Seemed to have kind of a writing-workshoppy feel to me rather than a simple "Which anime character are u?!" type of quiz.

[OokamiKasumi]

That would make it a forum game. And we don't allow forum games...

Aww, really?
I was kind of thinking it was cool to see Kasumi's analysis and suggestions for improvement to the different test-takers here. Seemed to have kind of a writing-workshoppy feel to me rather than a simple "Which anime character are u?!" type of quiz.

With all due respect Taleweaver, I take fiction writing Very seriously.
-- I do not play games with writing advice.

Do you have a blog outside this forum you could provide for people to give you feedback on their test results?

I did consider offering feedback on my blog, but doing so would open assessments to the general public rather than merely the people on this forum. My blog is a high-traffic area. I would get hundreds of request a day rather than only a handful. Way more than I can handle.

[KittyKatStar]

Just think of it as OokamiKasumi clarifying the ending we get in the VN. ^^;

[OokamiKasumi]

Just think of it as OokamiKasumi clarifying the ending we get in the VN. ^^;

That's exactly what I was doing: clarifying results.

[tiya_nofurita]

Awwww, does it mean that this thread is closed for "clarifying results" ?
I took the quiz just now, and I'm interested on Oookami's analysis as well

[OokamiKasumi]

Awwww, does it mean that this thread is closed for "clarifying results" ?
I took the quiz just now, and I'm interested on Oookami's analysis as well

I'm afraid so.
-- Taleweaver seems to think that you guys posting your results and my analysis of it, is playing some sort of 'forum game'.

[HienFan]

Yeah I have to really brush up on my writing skills... Grr this is getting me more and more strained, I read a lot of books although some genre like Gothic I have no idea what they are.

[OokamiKasumi]

Yeah I have to really brush up on my writing skills... Grr this is getting me more and more strained, I read a lot of books although some genre like Gothic I have no idea what they are.

One of the first things any new writer learns is what their favorite genre is, and how to identify it. (Simply because you can't read your favorite type of story if you can't find it among all the others.) That's favorite is usually the first type of story a new writer tries to write, and that is where they come up with what they need to learn to write a story.

From what I saw of your scores, you haven't yet identified what you want to write, so of course, you don't yet know what you need to learn. In other words, you can't even ask questions because you don't know what questions to ask.

[icecheetah]

I found it interesting that you said Storynexus was an influence because, well, I love Fallen London and some of the other games on there and had wondered if Ren'Py could do something similar to that. So, thank you for answering this with your game.

I hadn't noticed the similarity to Quizilla in Fallen London... it was a lot clearer in this game but it's pretty obvious why.

[OokamiKasumi]

I found it interesting that you said StoryNexus was an influence because, well, I love Fallen London and some of the other games on there...

I adore Fallen London.

...I had wondered if Ren'Py could do something similar to that. So, thank you for answering this with your game.

Renpy can definitely do what Story Nexus does, only with larger graphics and Music.

I hadn't noticed the similarity to Quizilla in Fallen London... it was a lot clearer in this game but it's pretty obvious why.

I didn't notice the similarity between Fallen London & Quizilla either. Not at first, but something about the way the game was set up was just too familiar.

• Choose this: 1 pt here
• Choose this: 1 pt there
• Choose this: 1 pt the other place

The main difference is that in Quizilla the results of your choices add up to a Result, where Fallen London uses Combinations of results to open new choices.

[redeyesblackpanda]

Eheh, I'm not sure I got the most useful result. Literature

Anyway, hopefully, I'll be able to do as it says, and get down with writing! At some point... hopefully.

This was fun. Thanks, OokamiKatsumi.

[edit: I deleted my results, since I just noticed Taleweaver's post.]

[OokamiKasumi]

Eheh, I'm not sure I got the most useful result. Literature

The established genres all have fairly standard rules to them -- something a lot of people have a hard time accepting. The quiz was designed to map out the player's tendencies toward one style or another based on which rules they liked to follow.

A result of "Literature" means that you have an tendency to bend, or even break the rules when you compose and write a story. A sure sign of this is a Strong in Novelty. It can also mean that you're not quite sure what it is you want to write. LOL!

Anyway, hopefully, I'll be able to do as it says, and get down with writing! At some point... hopefully.

I have absolute faith in you. Your stubbornness is Legendary. If you turn that to writing, no doubt you will accomplish something quite impressive. (If not shocking.)

This was fun. Thanks, OokamiKatsumi.
[edit: I deleted my results, since I just noticed Taleweaver's post.]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!
-- Yeah, Taleweaver seems to think that my assessment of people's results is a Forum Game, of some sort. Though how telling people their strengths and weaknesses in writing can be considered a 'game' is beyond me.