LINKS

Innovative Relationship Stats in Interactive Fiction

This is the write up I've been most excited to do--this is one of my favorite things in interactive game design--doing cool stuff with stats. I really, *really* wish someone had told me this stuff when I was starting out.

The most ordinary way to handle a relationship stat is to track it with a number that goes up and down according to choices and tests in some predictable fashion.  So, for example, if I do something that Gilberto likes, according to some reasonable option, like “support Gilberto in the argument,” I get:

*set rep_gilberto %+10

And this makes sense to everyone.  I gave Gilberto a gift, I get reputation points with him.  I showed that I’m good at swordfighting, this impresses him, and I get a higher number.

Similarly, if I insult him, if I’m nice to his enemy, if I do something stupid in front of him, I get

*set rep_gilberto %-10

For my first game, this is the only kind of relationship stat I used.  It was the only one I knew!

So the relationships were very simple to track and very simple to test.  If, by the end of the game, Prenzie likes me 72 much, and that’s over the romance tester of >= 65, congratulations, Prenzie and you can have a happy ending together.

You can write a totally fun game never using anything weirder than that.  But I thought it would be fun to share with you some other interesting ways to conceive of relationship stats.

A character who only goes to 0 or 100. That's it. Her relationship stat with you is essentially a boolean true/false. You can do everything for her, but the second you do something she doesn't like, it's down to 0. She loves you or she hates you. This is very character defining. The number tells you everything you need to know about the character.

That same character, who only goes to 0 or 100--except that you can do something over the course of the game to change them, to allow them to have a broader range of relationship numbers. Suddenly there can be shades of relationship. You did something to help them mature, to understand people better.

A hidden relationship number. If you look at the stat screen, whatever you do, nothing will change their number. They neither like you nor dislike you. They are professional, perhaps, and nothing more. However, you can do something to break down their shield or facade, and then, you can see the number moving; or perhaps the number doesn't move at all until that shield is broken.

The above, but in reverse. Something happens to chill someone's heart, and then nothing you do can affect the number. Or perhaps it can only go down, and then you are in a constant battle of attrition where you can only lose affection from someone.

When you reach a certain level of love and trust from someone, the bottom of the scale raises permanently. No matter how much I annoy my true love, the number just bottoms out at 40.

A relationship number that can be tapped as a resource. The bartender at the Noble Gases Club likes me reasonably well. Let's say she likes me 60 out of 100 much. When I need something in an emergency, she can do astonishing things. If I have over 35 relationship with her, she'll help me. Each time I use her, it depletes her by some amount depending on how big a favor it is. So this one is interesting, because now I have to balance whether I want to keep her liking me because I want to pursue this relationship, or whether I just really need her help right now.

A relationship number that can be a catch-all variable for a test. If you have a high relationship with Toppers, the club millionaire, I can throw that in as a variable in a test to see if you can impress someone by talking about high finance on the grounds that you may have had a conversation with Toppers about her money in the past. (*if intellect + toppers >= 50) Then, if you pass the test *because* the Toppers variable made you cross the threshold, you can add flavor text talking about that conversation with her. This is very, very good, because it tells the player that the game has taken into account your having done things to get close to Toppers (and there's a reward for it--you passed the test, sure, but...here's more content, too!)

A degrading relationship stat is incredibly powerful and characterful. This stat declines, scene by scene unless you do something to raise it. This is a "what have you done for me lately" person, and even though it take a little setting up, code-wise, it's really powerful, and your player will feel smart for figuring out that's what's going on. Also, it's stressful. If you want to create that stress, this a great way.

You can, of course, do the opposite--this is how you code your biggest fan. I like you, and I just keep liking you more and more and more and more!...until you do something to halt that, at which point, the growth shuts down, which is a gut punch. The numbers tell such a story here.

Finally, numbers that seem to tell a different story than the narrative. Players are going to look at numbers; they are going to look at the stats. Not everyone, but a lot. And so they are part of the story, they just are. So you can make them part of the push-pull of romance, for example, or rivalry. What does it mean that as my relationship number with Haze goes up, they are more and more standoffish? Does their scale mean something different from other people's, and if I figure out out, will I understand them in some sense? Perhaps there's a tremendous amount of pushback in the 60-75 range, but once you get through that minefield, something changes?

More musings on game design and other Jolly Good stuff here (I just wrote up a thing on "hidden relationship stats and their use")--I'm on a relationship stats kick today, I suppose:

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The Noble Gases, est. DCIVMCD

Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's Secretary General, is expected to give a big speech on Friday, very likely to declare war on Israel.

Today Israel allowed 102 aid trucks into Gaza without bombing the Egyptian border. In the past couple days, Israel has invaded Gaza to disastrous results. Yemen has declared war on the country. Several countries have recalled their ambassadors while Bolivia ended diplomatic relations. Belgian and Italian unions have refused to ship weapons to Israel. American cities lit up with protests while successive polls show that even Republicans largely support a ceasefire in Gaza. The entire internet seems to be pro Palestine even as social media CEOs comply with requests from the Israeli government to shut down critics.

So if a ceasefire happens, don't ever let the -Zionist government and its supporters act like they did it out of the goodness of their hearts

Don’t want to find my way out

A Blight has taken over, blanketing the world in darkness and malevolent monsters. Everything with an ounce of life or humanity is lost in shadows.

You are a mage. The only one left , the only hope for the future of your village and world. The pressure is on your shoulders.

But you fail. You fail and your town is taken. Your friends, your peers, the old lady you see on the streets everyday, the grass, the flowers, taken. All hope is lost.

Or is it?

Romance one of four characters, 2 male, 1 female, 1 nonbinary(or two of four if you fancy that ) plus a pretty female fae fling

Traverse through realms forgotten with your best friend-turned-Shadow

Play as a woman, man, or nonbinary person

Use pronouns separate from your gender

Save the world, or don’t

For more in-depth game mechanics

This IF will be rated 18+ for mentions of suicide (of a character close to the MC) , mental disorders, hallucinations, mind control, optional sexual encounters, mentions of sexual assault (of another character), mentions of human trafficking (of another character), and possibly other triggering themes (this will be updated as I write).

Kieran | M | He/Him| The Best Friend

Kieran has been your best friend for as long as you can remember, he was there for you when you needed him, so it absolutely crushed you when he was taken in the blight. But…Even as a Shadow, he seems to remember you. He was there for you when you needed it, so you decide to be there for him (begrudgingly or otherwise).

Kieran is made of shadows for the time being. You can not see his face, and the outlines of his body seem to blur into the air, his eyes are the only thing light about him. Sometimes, he prefers the shape of a wolf over his human figure. Originally, his freckled dark bronze skin, wild brown curls, and golden eyes were the features that painted your history.

romance-able by all genders, he is demisexual and panromantic

Eliahs | M | He/Him| The Rogue

A charismatic and selfish con man, he grates your nerves but upon Kieran’s pushing, you eventually decide having more people on your side will be beneficial to your survival. Turns out, he’s much more valuable on your side than not, and he wasn’t just bluffing. He knows a guy, and he will show you the way, if you’ll have him.

Eliahs is slim but firm, like an acrobat. His pale skin does little to ccontrast his milky blonde curls that nearly brush his chin. His eyes are light green and in the right light they look ice blue. His smirk is as easy as his relaxed stature.

romance-able by all genders, he is pansexual and aromantic (he usually leans romance-neutral, and rarely positive)

Thalia | F | She/Her | The Fae Guide

It is not easy to know where you’re going in the Forgotten Realms, but it is easy to lose your way (or your mind). Thalia has lived here her whole life, and seems to really like you.

Thalia has cool dark skin and a dark green afro, she is all supple skin and curves. Her wings are holographic and green, resembling that of a dragonfly. She has vitiligo on her face and on her body.

she is not romance-able (in a sense), you can sleep with her as any gender but she is not willing to leave her home to travel with you, and will not do a relationship where you’re both in different places.

Meiri | NB | She/Xer | The Half-Changeling

The half-changeling who tries to kill you. Yep…She’s flippant and peculiar. She claims to see things that aren’t really there, and is strangely paranoid. Xe is especially curious, but other than that you can’t figure out why she’s so eager to follow you. Nevertheless, xer powers are something you can use.

Xer hair is hip-length and dark black, and xer fringe is cut into straight bangs. Her skin is porcelain white and her body is lithe and angular. Xer face is marred by a large scar on the right side, a gash that appeared to blind xer in one eye. She is missing the usual facial “petals” that most changelings have.

Meiri is romance-able by female and nonbinary MCs, she is greysexual and lesbian.

Anesa | F | She/Her | The Witch

She is who you’re looking for. She is a legend among mages, whether she is a legend for good or bad is all up to opinion. She is known as a prodigy, for her age, it is nearly impossible to get where she is now, so why hasn’t she tried fixing the Blight? What does she know that nobody else does and why does she keep the secrets so close to her chest?

Anesa has long, mid-back length dark grey hair, despite being in her mid-twenties. Her skin is tan and sunkissed and her body is pear-shaped, thin at the top but thick in the hips and thighs. She has multiple black-inked tattoos on her body which range from small runes and protection charms to beautifully intricate depictions of nature and mystical creatures or plants.

Anesa is romance-able by all genders, she is bisexual and biromantic.

Amity | F | She/Her | The Ghost

Amity is a small ghost child who died in the Blight. Her parents became Shadows and ended up killing her. Anesa retrieved her soul and turned her into what she is now. Amity seems to be Anesa’s weak spot, as do children in general. It’s unsure what Anesa’s motives were when turning Amity, but Amity is enamored with her nonetheless, and makes good, quiet company when you need it.

Amity is transparent and blue. She almost seems to glow. She is often in a dress and with her hair to her shoulders, the ends curled outward.

Amity is obviously not romance-able, seen as though she is a child.

Poly Route is Meiri x Anesa x Female/Nonbinary!MC

And possibly others!

DEMO | PINTEREST |

Me opening my own story: I wonder if the author’s updated yet

DEMO

There it is!! 🎉🎉

I hope you guys enjoy this beginning of the story that I have wanted to share with everyone for years. If you find any typos or errors, please don’t hesitate to share them with me. I would appreciate it!

Thank you, everyone, for being so patient and supportive! Have fun!

WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE HORRIBLY:

1. You’ll never write anything if you don’t

I have made good progress in the prologue, mhmm. Another 1000 words in. I'm nearly done with this half of the prologue, then I can get on to the next bit. And then...code it...

Very happy with today's progress 😌

demo release

at long last ! contains prologue 1&2, 20k words total. any feedback/bugs/questions send an ask.

relevant tws - relatively gory description of a dead body.

I hope you enjoy !

itch.io

an unreal city by labyrinthines

what lies below esurio?

I finished the writing, now to code it. And then look for all my typos but omg this is so exciting. I'm in actual shock that I managed to complete a thing? It's pretty small but eeeee~