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[vdapps]

I mean, Uwe Boll probably intentionally makes terrible films so that they flop as a way to help people avoid taxes, so I doubt you'll ever risk being that horrible.

Hehe, I not knew that. Then Boll should take care to not make movies so awful, so they're popular. Like Turkish Star Wars.

I am surprised that there will be so much story in your game, I was not expecting that a few months ago! I'm sure you will do fine, don't worry about it too much. I am curious: What tone are you going for? Your world and character is quite abstract, will it be the same with the story?

I bump what Alain said because I share the same opinion

Man I am waiting for you to unveil the story plot like I was waiting for new episodes of game of Thrones ahahahah.


 

Speaking of writing and points of comparison where I'm confident that vdapps will be more successful at sticking the landing...

Thank you all! This is strong motivation for me to write the story and internally, I'm confident that giving the game more texts and more plot behind was right decision. Even if gameplay wise I have all levels, I feel that story is important and it's becoming organic part of RTG (so it's nothing just glued to game, only for sake of having it).

[marcgfx]

I feel your worries about the story not being received well. I've tried to keep the information to a minimum, but it's not entirely satisfactory. I would like more of a story, but so far I have not really made up my mind how the story should be conveyed. Interested to see what you come up with!

[vdapps]

I feel your worries about the story not being received well. I've tried to keep the information to a minimum, but it's not entirely satisfactory. I would like more of a story, but so far I have not really made up my mind how the story should be conveyed. Interested to see what you come up with!

Yes, you're right, I'm a bit worried, in the end, it's first story I'm writing so far, and I'll be happy if it will be considered at least as good B-class cheesy sci-fi story. Let's see.

From what I realized, for good story-telling you need some well defined platform on which you give story to player.

I guess it's about players preferences, but from all possibilities, I like LEAST games where story is given in cut-scenes only. And worst are games with checkpoint system where you can't load back to point before cutscene, you loose something from dialog in cut-scene and game will save checkpoint directly after cut-scene. I hate it and more often than not I'm loosing interest about story after this.

The best platform to give player a story I experienced in my long years of gaming is when story is given to player in forms of dialogs, found notes, diaries, audiologs, etc.. In this case player builds connections, tension, etc in head by own pace, so tying player to story in game is much stronger.

In case of your game Devader, I'm really clueless about story. It's hard-core arcade shooter, so for me, most sense it's "Doom" or "Quake"-like story. So some cheesy text about kicking butts of hellish creatures after every episode is enough. When seeing animation, screenshots from Devader, I don't even expect some deep story behind. Rather I expect sweaty hands and tired fingers from frenetical fighting against more and more waves of monsters and bosses.

[vdapps]

-= Devlog #27 =-

(RTG is in version 0.5.5)
'42% of story done'

= Camera #4, dining room, voice to text transcription =
= June 30th 2068, 20:35UTC =================

(Jane) - Mmmm, the steak is delicious. Johny, it's a pity you're a soldier, you should be a chef.

(Mark) - Maybe he'll have opportunity once he'll be fired. 48hours before training, he should be only on protein paste.

(John) - Easy, Mark. Manual you're following is for the old system. In the new one, I'm sure there'll be no such condition. In the end, it's also explicitely stated in technical data. They just not reflected it yet in new guidelines.

(Mark) - Yes, but until we don't have an update, we're following old guidelines. Murphy wouldn't be pleased to see that.

(Jane) - As neurospecialist, who knows parameters of the system, I say, steak is ok. Mark, everything we do here is unofficial anyway. If you want to follow strict directives to the letter, you should have stayed on Earth at official army. Here's lot of improvisation, not that I mind it, hihi.

(John) - I hope you forgive us and don't report me to Murphy. If yes, I hope, he'll eventually yell on me in the morning after his toothbrushing. Afternoon, it's a hell coming from his mouth, hahaha.

(Mark) - Clown.

[marcgfx]

I'm not much of a writer myself, so take this with a grain of salt. I like the world building, but the writing seems to have quite a lot of errors in it. e.g. "Maybe he'll have opportunity once he'll be fired" should probably be "once he's been fired"? I also think the 48hours sentence isn't really required.

On the other hand, you might be going for some kind of slang? While reading out lout, most of it works with the right intonation. But it's hard to read for me. Maybe run it through chatGPT once and see what comes out.

I did...

Code:

= Dining Room Camera #4, Voice-to-Text Transcript =
= June 30th, 2068, 20:35 UTC =======================

(Jane) - Mmmm, this steak is absolutely delicious. Johny, it's a shame you're in the military; you should be a chef.

(Mark) - Maybe he'll have that chance once he's out of service. For the next 48 hours before training, it's strictly protein paste.

(John) - Relax, Mark. The manual you're referencing is for the old system. In the new one, I'm confident there won't be such dietary restrictions. Besides, it's clearly outlined in the technical documentation, even though they haven't updated the guidelines yet.

(Mark) - True, but until we receive an update, we have to stick to the old guidelines. Murphy wouldn't be pleased to see this.

(Jane) - As a neurospecialist who understands the system's parameters, I can vouch for the steak. Mark, let's remember that everything we do here is unofficial anyway. If you want to strictly adhere to regulations, you should have stayed with the official army on Earth. There's plenty of room for improvisation here, not that I mind it, hehe.

(John) - I hope you won't report us to Murphy. If you do, I hope he'll limit his scolding to me during his morning toothbrushing routine. By the afternoon, it's a whole different story, hahaha.

(Mark) - You're a real clown, John.

[vdapps]

Thanks @marcgfx for your remarks! It's very appreciated.

Yes, you're right, I'm not english native speaker and it shows. After story is done, I want to move it to some English native corrector, pay for the service to correct my text, not just grammar, but also writing style.

I was also thinking about AI text-proofing, as you did already. I still prefer real person to AI for proof reading, but if price will be steep, I'll resort to AI.

And I'll need to do the same for Spanish. I don't want to underestimate this. It would be pity if players will ignore the story just because of bad grammar/styling.

[marcgfx]

I mean you can just use the AI as suggestions. I'm guessing you could have people use different vocabulary based on their background. Could be interesting. Then fine tune manually whatever you need.

[Alain]

Great to see you continue to make progress vdapps, keep it up!

[vdapps]

@marcgfx: thx, yes, it seems good idea. I think, in the end, I will use your suggestion.

@Alain: thanks for animating me! I have to chew through story-writing and scripting story levels on important events. After that, I'll be clearly in second half of development with both feet firmly! Can't wait for that, ufff.

[vdapps]

-= Devlog #28 =-

(RTG is in version 0.5.6)

'53% of story done'

== Jane Cox - personal profile ==

Date of birth: December 6th, 2036

In ELIOS from: December 10th, 2066

Education: doctorate in medicine, specialization: neurology

Position in ELIOS: NeuroSim R&D team, professional supervisor

Rank in ELIOS: 2nd lieutenant

Strengths: perseverance, strong psychological resilience, prefers long stays on the Moon, no tendency to go back to the Earth very often

Weaknesses: tendency to do things in her own way, weak compability with adaptation to paramilitary ranks/structures

Notes: Jane is important asset to ELIOS and the team. Because of her education and past work for ELIOS, she has assigned lower officer rank. But because of her personal traits, her growth to higher ranks is limited (it seems that she's not even interested in that).

[Ramos]

This last gif got a very strong horror vibe to it, I like it

[vdapps]

Thanks @Ramos! Unfortunately, there're no horror elements in the game, but I agree that my algo with limited lighting has potential also for that. I'd like to see some horror game on my engine (hmm, maybe in future). Low-poly and low-res is not incompatible with such idea, it's more like contrary (see e.g. The Last Door or your Chromosome Evil).

Here, I use it as one of puzzle game mechanics. Several levels in the game rely on manipulating carriable light and placing it strategically, so you can see important part of levels and manipulate with other objects meanwhile (as you can carry just one object at a time, manipulation with other objects means dropping carriable light).

[marcgfx]

I like the way you're seamlessly integrating the console. Adding a light to pick up and drop is also a nice touch, shows your nice dynamic lighting. What happens when you drop the light and it falls between the platforms? is there a floor below, or a bottomless pit?

[Alain]

I like that you are playing with darkness and the console like horror games often do (as Ramos said), but without being a horror game.

[vdapps]

Thank you two for your appreciation of RT lightning.

@marcgfx: I had to check my code TBH. There's bottomless pit but I clamp to some value when objects are free falling. When actor falls, it's death and level is restarted. When you drop object to bottomless pit which you need to finish a level, you have to use level reset key (there's tutorial level leading player to dead-end on purpose to learn to use level reset functionality).

@Alain: as I wrote to Ramos, engine has potential for horror, as it loves dark and high contrast environments where RT shines best. From sci-fi, there's very short route to horror (ahh Soma is instantly on my mind), but I not made it. I also think that for horror one needs one level higher writing skills, than for pure sci-fi.

[vdapps]

-= Devlog #29 =-

(RTG is in version 0.5.7)

'68% of story done'


= Perseus - detection and maintenance system =

System snapshot as of July 6th 2068, 13:00UTC

..
-= Internal sensors =-

Everything in norm.

..
-= External sensors =-

Radiaton / solar wind:
very high (solar storm ongoing)

Radar:
everything ok

Telescope / automatic sky scan:
everything ok

..
-= Report sent to Orion network =-

No report needed.

..
-= Reports received from Orion network =-

= Warning =

Connection lost with space telescope LEYA. Due to ongoing solar storm, there's very high probability that all nodes in Orion network can suffer from temporary connectivity failures.

Conclusion: waiting for connection being restored with space telescope LEYA.

[Alain]

Good to see writing progress continues! Keep it up

[vdapps]

Thanks Alain! It's going slowly but steadily. My estimation is that by the end of this year I will be over 80% with story. There's light at the end of the tunel!

[vdapps]

Hi All!

A bit late to the party here, as I'm always busy, but better later than never, I wish you all Happy and Successful New Year 2024!

I have new RTG devlog prepared for some week already, but I not got to it, so publishing now..

-= Devlog #30 =-

( RTG is in version 0.5.8 )

'80% of story done'

= Camera #3, laboratory, voice to text transcription =
= July 6th 2068, 15:09UTC ============================

(Mark) - Jane! We don't have time!

(Jane) - We can't leave him there!

(Mark) - We have to! We've max 5 minutes left! Waking up procedure is 10 minutes at least! He has oxygen, he has alimentation, the rescue team will come for him in few days!

(Jane) - Shit! How do you know that capsule will not break meanwhile?!?

(Mark) - I don't know! We must hope, we don't have other options... Come! He can survive here, we can't!

(Jane) - Ahhh, shit! I'm going!... I'm sorry Johny...

[Alain]

A happy belated new year 2024 to you as well, vdapps 80% story done, the last 20% will be a walk in the park