6/17 Roadmap

I stayed incredibly busy with game development last week during my available time. Unfortunately, that didn't translate into completion of my checklist, but for good reason.

I got the necessary changes made to the stats, the first few NPC stat blocks added in, the first stat test outcomes finished, and half of the "arrival" scene completed. I was unable to finish the rest of the arrival scene and add in the first primary NPC encounter.

The reason for all of this is that I spontaneously took it upon myself to "just real quick" work on a few side projects for the game: A Stat Info page and the Save/Load System.

The stat info page is accessible during character creation and gives a bit more detailed info on assigning stat points and how tests will work in the game. I'm sure it's not as clear as I think it is, but it should give a good idea of what you're doing during character creation.

Then there's the save/load system...

The Save system was a late addition to Enter the Expansion Mansion, but I know it's very important for these types of games and quite important to you guys, so I thought I could quickly add it in now that I know a lot about how Harlowe and Twine handle Save Files.

That "quick" project ballooned into a multi-day ordeal that required me to totally relearn several aspects of the language I've rarely used and then troubleshooting it took even longer after I had coded it all up. The good news, though, is that the save/load system is good to go!

This game will allow up to four saved games at a time. Since the story will take place over a number of days you spend in town, the save system will automatically save your game at the start of each day and incorporate that info and your character creation choices into the save file name (instead of the "File 1," "File 2" thing that was in Expansion Mansion). For example, when you begin day 5, your save file might now show up as "Slot 1: Lucy, Outlaw: Day 5."

Hopefully this will help you better recall which files are which. It's also no coincidence that I created four save slots, while there are four character backgrounds.

Finally, I did a lot of brainstorming on the plot, characters, side quests, town, etc., last week. It does mean I'll need to do some modest rewrites to what I've already done, but I'd rather that happen now than later.

This week will mostly focus on picking up the items I failed to finish last week now that the coding work on Save/Load is finished, while the Wednesday Tease will be focused on the first major NPC in the game.

Checklist:

1. Rewrite bits of opening prose to align with story changes.

2. Complete "Arrival" scene prose.

3. Write prose for for NPC meeting.

4. Begin work on NPC meeting stat tests.