In the last hour I have thinked long and hard about it, and I determined that with this important proviso:
THESE WIP ARE FAR FROM BEING FINISHED, BECAUSE I’M SLOW AND MULTITASKING IN DEVELOPMENT, EXPECT RELEASE, IF ALL GOES VERY WELL, MID-20S
I give some anticipation on three of my major projects, Isekai (provisional title), Chronomancy and The putsch of 1908, release timeframe, NOT EARLIER THAN MID-20S.
[Taking a very deep breath and crossing fingers]
let’s start with the main one, and the most ambitious, Isekai, written in TADS3 mainly because of two major NPC whose are… rather unique, to say the least.
the notes are rather interesting, I hope:
/* NOTES:
GENERAL
the isekai genre offers the ideal implementation of "knowledge/lore as
treasure" hunt game, here the PC apparently got an isekai reincarnation, not
only into a different world, having a substantial diversity of races,
culture & society, and even "tech" (there is valid the reciprocal of
Clarke's 3rd principle..), but also different attitude on love and sex
genres.. and so (s)he must learn the knowledge & lore of a different world,
culture, race.. and gender!
KNOWLEDGE & LORE (the "treasures" of our hunt)
The society is roughly between late renaissance and early modern era as
direct technology, but "middle magic" as reciprocal technology; the society
is much more advanced that XXIth century, as the same-sex mixed-race family
of three spouses (see below) points; Also, the culture reflect the existence
of magick, seen as a complement of technology, both contribuing to progress
and well-living.
There's not much "monster" as in fantasy; let's say that, for example, some
beasts has innate magic, but not much dangerous than, say, a rampaging bull
so, that there's a sound and solid safety from feral beasts.
On safety from sentient beasts, War is a very limited thing because, well,
the most peaceful and enlighted race happens to be that of the... Dragons,
whose obvious prowess in peace-enforcing capabilities is second only to
their excellence and aptitude in diplomacy and mediation; the epitome of the
Rooseveltian "speak slowly";
I'm sure that I will reference that the most wizened, eloquent and ablest
diplomat of the Dragons is/was known for his beloved treasure, an huge
collection of.. Teddy bears! (Teddy bear/Teddy Roosevelt..)
The crime and law enforcement is roughly at 20th century level, the
reciprocal technology more than counterbalancing the 17th century technology.
Education is 20thC in the "reciprocal tech" fields, and 18thC in tech
fields, with in-betweens where the two fields mix (ex. leyden jars and
lightning bolt-type magic together gives a late 18thC/early 19thC state of
electrics)
Incidentally, the three spouses, living together, being mages, first meets
during their academic years.
THE PLOT & NARRATIVE
The rather advanced (my POV) and definitvely diverse society (multiracial
and multigender) together the "cross-gender" isekai need a set of delicate
balances and gradual transitions;
initially a little, carefully dosed, burlesque alongside the lines "what
evil will do a male possessing a female body" isn't bad, allowing some
in-joke and satire on US pruderie in the early game.
Advancing into the mid-game, the "treasure hunting", discovery and the sense
of wonder of being in a new world, with its diversity, differences
and peculiarities gradually prevail on the "discovery of herself", and this
led to the main quest, understanding of what is actually happened (a literal
culture shock of sort, ignited by the sudden recovery of past memories of
a past life in a different era and world, that is, XXIth C Earth)
The end game will be about recovering from the shock and settling a
balance between past and current memories (this allows exploring an
interesting narrative idea, "reverse isekai.."), with the help of the other
two spouses.
THE MAP
The "strange" house is actually her abode, whose is shared with her two
spouses; the central structure being the actual house, the northern wing
being workshops and storage and, about the southern tower, its higher
ceiling and the 3rd/4th floor is needed because the angelic (and winged)
member of the family has some "take-off issues" (think of a mild version of
SO4 Sarah's issues) and needs a high enough jumping spot, and on the other
side, the tower's two lower floors are conveniently on the three sunny sides
(so, the 1st floor is a drawing room and the 2nd a reading/writing room).
Outside, a garden is all around the house, locs reachable thru a path
turning around the house, Zork-style, and, behind the house, goes thru a
grove to a pond, the summer trysting place of the young triangle; Westward
from the front of the house, the path eventually cantgo to the world outside
the story; Perhaps somewhere in the garden behind the house should be an
outhouse, but surely there will be at least a wooden shack..
Living together with two winged soulmates, the PC habitually constantly
renew a levitation spell, whose is obviously unknown to her past live of a
wingless terran human male lived hundred of thousands years ago, hence not
renewed at the start of the game (I don't think that this will became the
cause of the initial lying-on-the-floor outside the house..)
CODING
I think that the most elaborate part, aside the two NPCs, (see below) is the
unusual adaptive prose required by the gradual learning and understanding of
the new world; the rooms and object's description changing in the light of
the learned knowledge & lore.
IDEAS
the clothing, alongside the furniture, unusual architecture (see above) can,
and will, be functional to the differences between the two worlds, separated
by hundreds of thousands of years, both chronological and light, and between
the earthlings and the isekai world beings, even in funny/burlesque/weird
ways.
Poking fun on The Classic of scholastic debating !!! with the addition of
angelic/demonic marriage (plus an elf..).. poor St. Thomas...
The angelic and daemonic spouses, allowing interesting, to say the
least, jabs and satire on manicheism, alongside on pruderie, how to imp ?
How to implement eventual "reverse isekai" flashbacks ?
THE PC
(name: Etuye Alasne; meaning "Plenty (Etuye) Spring (season) (Alasne)")
she is an elf, and of course there's physiological and physical differences,
e.g. hair colour, pointy ears, and being versed in the field of
"reciprocal tech" (aka Magick); and in that rather open-minded society
her family is composed of her and her two lesbian spouses, one of angelic
race, complete of wings, and other of demonic race (sorry, St.Thomas..),
also winged.
As noted above, she meet her love-souls during the academic years, and their
bond is a really strong and solid equilateral triangle.
The nature of the isekai incident is that she suddenly remembered her
previous life on Earth, and she got comprensibly very confused. Anyway,
she's the same soul, reincarnated, and toward the end-game she will manage to
sort out between her current and prior memories.
NOTE: the PC being elfin, the "understanding a new body and physiology"
will be much more about discovery and wonder than burlesque, perhaps is not
only good for the tone, but also for the sense of wonder.
NPCs
I'm not sure how I will implement the two obvious NPCs.
TADS3's forte is indeed the NPC handling, but the NPCs, will be
present later,from roughly the middle game, after a substantial solo
exploration of the mansion, being instrumental in discovering and solving
the endgame objective; that is, from their perspective, helping their
beloved spouse to recover from the
unusual "culture shock". Note that all three are academics (in magic..), and
their resourcefulness and determination (not by chance one is named "Fiery
Resolve..") is strenghtened with their love for their spouse.
The names of the two NPC:
Miryarai, the angelic one's name means "Beautiful (mir) Princess (yarai);
note that Miya in Japanese means "Princess", and "Sarai" mean "Princess"; a
sort of portmanteau.. (nick: Miyai)
the other, demonic, spouse's name means "Fiery Resolve", That is,
Atuzejiki, Jiki meaning "Fiery" and Atuze "Resolve" (nick: Azuj)
*/
I offer also the description of an item central in the very early game, whose will give the player a shocking introduction to the unusual trio formed by the PC and the two NPC:
// The core static item here: the painting !
// THE DESCRIPTION IS VERY FUNDAMENTAL HERE !!!
Fixture 'painting three/girls' 'painting' @living
"You can't say if is actually a painting or a picture, because is very
realistic, notwhistanding the rather unique subject:\n
A totally improbable trio of young, radiantly smiling girls, The left one,
a black-haired dressed in red, is the shortest of the trio, but his head
sports a pair of horns, adorned by a diadem elegantly entwined between her
horns, whose are topped by golden carved covers; on her back are a pair of
leathery wings, her left one spreaded on the back of the other two;\n
The right one, a blonde, is the taller of the trio, and wears a
silver-trimmed green dress, sports large white wings, her right one spreaded
on the back of the other two, above and behind the leathery one of the right
girl, and this spreaded wing give the impression of a strong protecting will
on the other two.\n
The girl at the centre, wearing an aqua dress, don't have wings, but has
purple eyes and pink hairs, and pointy ears, and very fine traits,
definitively looking like the elves of fantasy stories and lores.\b
These three improbable girls, a daemon, an angel and an elf, holds together
their right hands, as giving together a solemn oath, showing an identical,
finely carved, bracelet of an iridescent metal on their right wrists.\b
in disbelief of the high realism of the improbable subject, you raise your
right hand, and you notice at your right wrist, <b><i>the same, identical
carved iridescent bracelet</b></i>!\b
You quickly peek at your shoulder, no wings, checked. then you grasp a lock
of your long hairs and is of the same pink of the centre girl !!"
// to be perfected until the very last !!
;
enough with Isekai, let’s peek at Chronomancy, written in the good ol’ Inform 6:
I give the full (and rather lengthy…) intro, whose I think describes well the entire game:
! INTRO
print
"^Chronomancy. The most powerful magick and the ultimate history research
tool.^
In few words, it's the most powerful Art, handled only by the most
attuned to the Subtle, allowing them not only time travel, but also
timetravelling into the minds and souls of past people. Even the most
powerful ones.^
This alone explain both its power and the ultimate nature in
Historiography. Powers now gone for good has attempted to both suppress
and exploit Chronomancy, but utterly failed because Chronomancers can
timetravel also in the bodies and minds of leaders, and in the ~night
across centuries~ their power bases was destroyed and now the world
enjoy real freedom, no dictators, no hypocrite politicians, no greedy
riches-grabbers, no spiritual, racial, gender, ethnical and ethic
repression. True Freedom, in other words. This imply that Franklin's
principle of Eternal vigilance must be strictly observed.^
Because of their high attunement to the Subtle, the Chronomancers are by
innate nature benign people, perhaps to a fault, and with an unique
curiosity, even on very trifling matters, the proverbial people capable
of watching for an entire week the trails of ants, with utmost care
to not harm even a single ant. Because their power is one of time travel,
they often dedicate their time to historical research and doing Benjamin
Franklin's eternal vigilance (the true price of Freedom)^
[Press Any key]";
KeyCharPrimitive ();
print
"^In the due vigilance and historical research, a fact emerges, that the
~hidden story~ was more vast than expected, and the forces driving and
steering History prior of the Era of Magick was often those ~behind the
throne~ and their tools of persuasion and trade includes pratically
everything: greed, pride, lust, envy, to name some of the ~classical~
and most known.^
the British isles seems to be a particulary fertile terrain for those
forces, and currently the historical research is focused on the
Neoliberist-Thatcher era, more than 700 years ago.^
in your historical research, you noticed a young and rampant PR lass of
the eighties of XXth Century, buzzing around the Tory party, and already
well-connected by 2nd half of that decade.^
Obviously, a so well-connected girl in her 20s is clearly active in the
~hidden history~, so you decided that a field research in her body and
mind is in order. Especially in a day when she is alone in her
country bungalow not far from London, because looking at her private life
(and notes, documents &c..) should raise the shroud.^",
"so, after discovering a day she was free in her house you prepare for
casting the Chronoshift into her body and mind... oh, what about her?^
[Press Any Key]";
KeyCharPrimitive ();
**OMISSIS**
a sort of “reverse isekai”, an “alien” (an human mage from a very evolved, utopian far future) looking at 1980s earth society and his issues and defects.
last, and lagging behind the other two, is The putsch of 1908, written in TADS 3, an alternate history set in a different Germany as one can see from this snippet from the notes:
/* Plot concepts:
* Main divergence point: King Maximillian II of Baviera preempts Bismarck
and Prussia, proclaiming a more federal German Empire, unifying all
non-Prussian part of Germany, whose incidentally roughly coincides with West
germany.
* The alternate story: Between the madness of Ludwig II, Liutpold's
ambitions and intrigues sown by Prussia, Austria, Russia and France, the
(west) Germany Empire quickly became a land of plots, intrigues and..
putsches. (think Germany during cold war, remove the stabilising factor of
MAD, add two more major power vying for control, and the picture will became
clear in its ugliness, a more gentle version of post-WWI Germany, but still
an ugly political messing field)
the putsch of 1908 isn't the first nor the last, and our interactive story
don't cover even if was successful or not...
* PC: a young lowly hauptmann (capitain) during the initial stages, happened
to be (or reach) the country villa during the confusion proper of the initial
stages of a coup.
* Story plot: The apparent stock outside plot (figuring the whereabouts of a
scion of nobility in his county villa) hides the true plot: discovering the
alternate timeline from the diverging point, that is a treasure hunt of
knowledge and trivia.
*/
// plot note(s):
/*
* The skeleton keys opens (and locks) doors, if any, but not padlocks nor
drawers & similia.
* minor divergence points (e.g.details like feldblau) should be rewarded
and with a single point (as in finding sundry item acheviement(s))
*/
As one can see, are ambitious projects, having also some rather progressive message.
that is all, but remember:
I’m progressing very slowly, so don’t expect releases for some years !!
Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.
