asgodsfall-if

[asgodsfall-if]

Public Demo for Chapter One of Tea and Scones!

I'm happy to say that I have a public demo for Jolly Good: Tea and Scones which includes about one-fifth of the 277,000 word Chapter One as well as the prologues.

Here it is: Public Demo for Chapter One Tea and Scones

If you enjoy it, you may play through the entire 270,000 word Chapter One here: The Noble Gases Club. Swing by for discussion of the demo, of the Tally Ho/Jolly Good world, and lots more.

Join up for tons of stories, analysis, feedback, game design talk, and chitchat, or become a free member if you want to be in the loop about updates. I would be thrilled to see you there!

This is the second game in the Jolly Good series, which is itself a spin-off of Tally Ho--but I hope it is perfectly understandable as a standalone--although naturally I hope it entices you to play Tally Ho and Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale if you haven't already!

Spread the news, play the demo, and let me know what you thought!

[asgodsfall-if]

Jolly Good: Tea and Scones

I'm Gower, and I am about three million words deep into a wildly interactive interactive novel written in ChoiceScript titled Jolly Good: Tea and Scones, set in a comic world inspired by Wodehouse.

It's about three million words long at this point, and it's the follow-up to Tally Ho and Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale, published by Choice of Games.

Those who know me best know that I do not leap idly into social media, but at the same time, I wanted to build a community and make connections, because writing a game like this is quiet, solitary work. I'll be posting here regularly as I work to finish this game (I have about 1.5 chapters to go) over this year, giving updates.

If you like the sound of a very, very long piece of interactive fiction which is designed to be cozy, funny, and deeply responsive to your choices, check back here--and check out my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/TheNobleGasesClub) for peeks at my work in progress, additional fiction, musings on what it is like to write long-form, choice-heavy interactive fiction. Each month, you'll be able to see various lengthy tranches of my game. Swing by!

[asgodsfall-if]

Patreon build update

“I’m great at diplomacy, that’s what my fists are for!”

The Patreon demo has just been updated with an 11500 word side story focusing on Mesar, his family and the storm coming in response to the void left by the previous Master of the Arena. The demo is available to everyone at the Senior Supporter tier and above, the next Patreon update is moving along and should be done rather quick due its smaller scale. The Day 6 public update is mostly drafted and will be properly started after that.

I know that it was supposed to come at the end of the year, but that's what I get for thinking announcing a date won't bite me for once. I'm still coughing up pieces of my lungs so there's a good chance the rest of my January schedule will be pretty bad as well, but damn it I'm going to try.

Also a warning that despite the "Last updated" date on the public being set to today there is no new content in that demo. All games on the site are shown as updated today for reasons unknown to me.

[asgodsfall-if]

Thanks to everyone on the team for the mention and for anyone not aware of their work check them out for they're doing something truly great.

What's New In IF? Issue 31 (2024)

By Aj, Dion, Briar, Jen and Peter

Now Available!

Itch.io - Keep Reading below

If you read the zine, consider liking the post: it helps us see how many people see it! And sharing is caring! <3

~ EDITORIAL ~

Apologies for the delayed Issue!

As you might know, we unfortunately had to delay this Issue due to some personal matters. But as promised, it’s finally here! We wouldn’t want you to miss out on any news.

As this Issue says on the front page, it contains news from November 23rd to November 29th.

But! The Events should be updated to match their status on December 4th, as they are more time-sensitive.

Issue 32 should be released on time. That means two Issues this week!

We want some feedback!

As we’re starting to get a hand of things, we would love some feedback from you guys! What you enjoy, want more or less off, how we could improve... Anything goes! We even have a nifty form.

We hope you enjoy this new issue!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

~ BE A PART OF THE ZINE ~

THIS ZINE ONLY HAPPENS WITH YOU!

Want to write 1-2 pages about a neat topic, or deep-dive into a game and review it in details? Share personal experiences or get all academic?

WRITE FOR THE COLUMN!

Prefer to be more low-key but still have something to share? Send us a Zine Letter or share a game title for Highlight on…!

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Came across something interesting? Know a release or an update announced? Saw an event happening? Whether it's a game, an article, a podcast… Add any IF-related content to our mini-database!

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!

Contact us through Tumblr asks, Forum DMs, or even by email! And thank you for your help!!

~ EVENT SPOTLIGHT : Videotome Jam - "Waiting" ~

November 16th to December 1st 2024

Videotome Jam is a two-week-long game jam for games made in any of the Videotome engines with the optional theme of "Waiting".

What is Videotome?

Videotome is a series of small homebrew IF/VN engines made by Freya Campbell (communistsister), an indie game developer focusing on narrative games that are usually:

science fiction, horror, &/or romance

close to 100% LGBTQ characters

free/PWYW with low tech requirements

liable to make players keysmash due to feelings

Videotome was first released in April 2022 as a part of a game entry for the Domino Club collective. The initial idea for the engine was to make writing text-heavy games as hassle-free as possible, focusing not that much on the visual presentation format, but more on the writer's experience. It would allow writers to write in a notepad and then it would somehow grab the .txt file and parse the lines into an array, spitting them out one line at a time as a kinetic novel.

At the moment there are four engines available:

Videotome, for linear, no frills text / images / music;

Videotome ADV, adding a more conventional layout with ignorable choices and branching;

Super Videotome, for more fully featured and freeform image/canvas use;

Videotome Heartbreak, adding a stat raising dating sim & storylets structure to the above.

If you're more interested in the process of making these engines, check out the devs blog post - Words, Friction, Syntax: Stuff I thought about when making Videotome. (The post also includes a very interesting case study concerning other game engines Freya has experience with.)

If you want to check out some examples of projects made with Videotome, take a look at this collection. It includes games made by both Freya and other devs.

~ ENDED ~

The Educational Jam has ended. Check out the thirteen entries and learn something new!

The voting for ECTOCOMP 2024 is officially over! Check out the results!

You can now check out all 16 entries to the Videotome Jam!

Disabled Rep VN Jam has a very simple premise but a very important message. Check out the submissions!

~ ONGOING (VOTING) ~

A Very Hallmark Game Jam has entered the voting phase. You can now vote for your favourite out of the five entries.

~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~

Media depicting healthy examples of polyamory isn’t that common. The PolyJamorous 2024 is trying to break the status-quo!

This year’s Yuri Game Jam is in full progress. The devs have until December 2nd to submit their projects.

Once upon a time, a game jam was held to create stories around the theme of fairy tales… and that game jam is the Once Upon A Time VN Jam. It’s running from October 1st to January 31st.

Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone 2025 is for all French-speaking enthusiasts. Submissions are accepted March 3rd 2025.

Are you perhaps a fan of more somber, melancholic themes? Then check out the Dying Year - Visual Novel Jam! You have until the end of the year to participate.

The Black Visual Novel Jam is all about working with creative professional developers who work in visual novels to bring more Black stories to life. The goal is to create a space where Black creators can show their unique storytelling through visual novels.

IF Short Games Showcase 2024 is a great way to shine some new light on your projects made in the past year (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024), regardless of whether or not they are previously released! You have until January 15th 2025 to join.

Winter Visual Novel Jam 2024 is here! You have until January 1st 2025 to submit your projects.

Are you familiar with Decker? Then why not take a part in the Deck-Month 2?

Another bitsy jam is here. This time with the theme "better late than never".

~ OTHER ~

PIZZAPRANKS is accepting submissions for their Indiepocalypse Issue #61. If you’re a dev and would like to try out your luck, definitely check it out! Any game is welcomed, not only IF.

~ NEW RELEASE ~

You stand at the edge of a vast and foreboding cave system, its mouth yawning like the jaws of some ancient beast. This is no ordinary cave—it is the entrance to the Caverns of the Forgotten, a labyrinth of twisting tunnels, hidden chambers, and unfathomable mysteries that have claimed countless explorers before you.

Generations ago, invaders brought magic to the Kingdom of Jubai, setting battlemages at the top of the noble power structure and leaving everyone else oppressed. Now, a secret organization of mage hunters has risen up, phoenixlike, to stand against the mages' power and overthrow their rule. Can your secret order of mage hunters save the kingdom, or will internal strife tear you apart in Magehunter: Phoenix Flame (CScript)?

Today is your first day of work here at Toy Maker’s TOY BOX (Ren’Py). Pull apart stitches or rip off an arm or two; we support whatever you must do to ensure that you only save toys of the highest quality. Should you ever feel unsure, there’s no need to panic! Simply toss the trash where it belongs: the incinerator. After all, it’s of the utmost importance that inspectors upkeep the Maker’s image.

You're struggling for friends in a new town and decide to check out a cute diner! — 'That New Diner', huh? Odd name for a restaurant, but I see advertisements for it everywhere. Might as well check it out. Who knows, maybe I'll meet somebody?

What does the glass sound like? Quite tinkly. It crumbled into sand under the feet of all those worried people circling around. As for you, there was darkness in your eyes for a long time. And the glass has melted into silence long since. But what is this place? And who is this stranger standing in front of you? And most importantly, where — or who — did the bullet hit? — Monarch (Ren’Py) is a short visual novel game that was made during Ukrainian Micro Visual Novel Jam in 10 days.

Halloween is a big deal in Port Gillain, steeped as the town is in old folklore and ghost stories. You, the local psychic, regularly attend the festivities. This year, you can bring a friend. The Second Sight: All Hallow's Eve (Twine) is a companion story to The Second Sight: Dead Reckoning.

Your Aunt’s House (Adventuron) is a short story about mourning. @kessielrg

The story centers around Larry, a cab driver eking out a meagre existence in a dystopian near-future, until he unwittingly finds himself centre-stage in the midst of a technological revolution. — For the first time this multi-media project can be experienced in the form of an interactive novel. Larry Folger Volume I contains all the chapters of the ongoing narrative complete with music from the series.

Your feather, my wing is a game about getting close to the object of an experiment that your 'super-secret lab' leads! It's all about fun, fluff and cuddles. Nothing serious and if anyone from the "normal world" came to this organization, they'd be disappointed by the lack of pathos, mystery and seriousness. But do you care?

Nestled at the edge of an ancient forest, Ravenwood Hill looms like a shadowed sentinel against the pale moonlight. This is no ordinary place; whispers of its dark history echo through the trees, carried by the wailing wind. The townsfolk speak of disappearances, of mysterious lights flickering in the mansion atop the hill, and of secrets buried deep beneath its crumbling foundations. In Ravenwood Hill, you are the only one brave—or foolish—enough to uncover the truth.

As always, don't forget to check out the submitted entries to the events mentioned in the previous pages. They deserve some love too!

~ NEW RELEASE (WIP) ~

Iberian Tales (Twine) - Life was once tranquil on the isolated coast of your city, surrounded by a loving family and promising prospects for success in your societal position. However, tranquility shattered as flames engulf your city, escape becomes the only viable option, if luck favors you enough to evade the soldiers blocking your path that is. @iberiantalesif-game

The Thorned Garden (CScript) is a Harem Intrigue game where you can die at any turn. Build up skills and connections to survive and climb the rankings. @opossumfern

Locked in a luxurious but ominous hotel, you are forced to face trials alongside five other people. Who abducted you and for what reason? What does the future hold with different organizations fighting for power over the world? And just how much is at stake when you play a twisted game without rules? Whether you want it or not, welcome to the Threshold (Twine). @thethreshold-if

5 days (Ren’Py) - Every step forward feels like another memory slipping through your fingers and yet, the world moves on — forcing you to find a way to follow, even when it feels impossible to let go.

~ UPDATES ~

As Gods Fall (CScript) released Chapters 4 and 5. @asgodsfall-if

Knight of Greenhaven (CScript) released Chapter 2.

Lost in your eyes (CScript) released part five of Chapter 3 on Patreon. @kathrinesadventures

Saturnine (CScript) added new content to their demo. @satur9-if

The Thousand Of Us (CScript) added new content to their public demo. @ivanwm-05

Weeping Gods (CScript) added new content to their demo. @jcollinswrites

The Summoner (CScript) released a part of Chapter 4.

Ashenmaw - Dragons of Marrowoods (CScript) added a part of Chapter 1 to their demo. @ashenmaw-if

Our Life: Now and Forever (Ren’Py) added Step 2 introduction scenes to their public demo. @gb-patch

Wasteland Pony Express added new content to their demo. @katieaki

The In-Between (CScript) released Chapter 11. @dalekowrites

Crown of Exile (Twine) released Chapter 10 on Patreon. @ramonag-if

~ OTHER ~

350p Adventure has been ported from Infor 6 to PunyInform. You can either download it or play it online in your browser. — (Some interesting trivia: The game is sometimes called Advent, because the system it was created on in the 70s would not allow filenames to be more than six characters long. This game is sometimes considered as the very first text adventure.)

~

As always, we apologize in advance for missing any update or release from the past week. We are only volunteers using their limited free time to find as much as we can - but sometimes things pass through the cracks.

If you think something should have been included in this week's zine but did not appear, please shoot us a message! We'll do our best to add it next week! And if you know oncoming news, add it here!

~ MAYBE YOU NEXT? ~

We did not get a submission this week. But if you have an idea for a short essay, or would like a special space to share your thoughts about IF and the community...

Shoot us an email!

~ HIGHLIGHT ON ~

A couple of games that we thought were cool.

Your favourite game here?

Do you have a favourite game that deserves some highlighting?

An old or recent game that wowed you so much you spam it to everyone?

Tell us about it! And it might appear here!

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! WHETHER IT'S GOOD OR BAD, OR EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN...

Have something to say? Send us a message titled: Zine Letter!

As we end this issue, we would like to thank:

our awesome mysterious anon!

all you readers who liked, shared, and commented on the last issue! What might be tiny actions are huge support and motivators to us! Thank you for cheering us on this journey!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And see you again on Saturday!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2024-ISSUE 31

[asgodsfall-if]

Here's my November digest of ChoiceScript releases, new WIPs, and updates! Let me know if anything is missing, and enjoy!

[asgodsfall-if]

Just popping my head up in between some storyboarding to thank everyone for bringing the demo up to almost 3500 views of which 3000 came along after the latest update so in not even 5 days.

The thought that literal thousands of people found As Gods Fall interesting enough to give it a go and also the fact that my phone has not stopped vibrating itself to an early grave from activity since makes me both incredibly happy and terrified at the same time 😅

Thank you to everyone who gave it a shot and especially to those who liked it enough to share it further. That's all from me, just wanted to use this opportunity as apparently today's Thanksgiving so to those who celebrate it and those who don't as well:

[asgodsfall-if]

really enjoying this wip so far! I was just wondering if all the ROs can be romanced by any gender? :)

Yes, all ROs are romanceable by any gender or race. For some ROs certain parts of their pasts imply they might have some preferences, but locking these things wouldn't add anything to the story so I decided to let love be love. :)

[asgodsfall-if]

Can you tell me what the if is about?

I'm going to try my best without going off on an overly long rant. The core premise and what has so far driven the plot of act 1 is a fantasy detective story set in a somewhat darker, almost post apocalyptic world. I really wanted to explore the concept of "going out with whimper" and how the people would deal with the uprooting of what has so far been taken as fact. What the story definitely isn't however is a whodunit. There are some mysteries, clues and quite a bit of investigative work, but you won't get to pick out the main culprit out of a lineup. The case is more of a tool that I can use to take the reader on a journey through what's left of the world and perhaps let them ultimately decide which parts of it to save. There will be a multitude of optional side stories the detective can go on with their own choices and endings that will help expand the world as well as provide gameplay perks and in some cases unlock companions to aid you in the main story.

There is a somewhat expansive stat system complemented by abilities and perks that make the game part of AGF more personal according to the player's vision of their detective. A lot of those systems I'm still tweaking in the background as it is something rather unique especially for a ChoiceScript game.

I hope this satisfies your curiosity. I know there's not that many specifics especially around the story, but I don't want to spoil things too much in that regard as despite the demo being 6 digits the story is barely starting and I'd hate to reveal too much too quickly when secrets and mysteries are a significant part of it.

If there are certain parts of the story or gameplay you'd like to know more about in specifics feel free to ask and I'll do my best to explain what I can.

[asgodsfall-if]

Public update: Chapters 4 & 5 out now!

I'm happy to deliver a brand new public update that concluded the core story of act 1 by adding chapters 4 and 5. What you'll get to do in the new chapters:

Chase down the few remaining leads

Witness a calamity that shakes the city further into chaos

Stand face to face with a goddess (and possibly receive her blessing)

On top of that the demo now includes the up to this point Patreon exclusive side content including a mission with Paoni and an opportunity to witness a vision of the future. The new total word count for the demo is now slightly over 113 thousand words including code.

You can try the demo here:

With the main parts of act 1 concluded I will most likely use this chance to fill out the side content starting with most likely the opening to Mesar's and the werewolves side quests. Unless there's something else you think I should do first. Either way stay tuned and I hope you'll enjoy what this update has to offer. Sameless Patreon and Kofi plugs:

[asgodsfall-if]

Apparently it's my 1 year anniversary on Tumblr which means I've been slacking with updates. 😅

To not leave the occasion unmentioned I could use it to mention that chapters/days 4 and 5 will be bundled into and released together to complete the first act. Both chapters are laid out and 4 already has a few (action packed) opening pages drafted.

ETAs incoming

[asgodsfall-if]

Patreon build update

"To me each person is a collection of puzzles, and you're not a particularly difficult one."

Happy to inform that Paoni's first hangout has just been added to the Patreon build. Totaling 8900 words this side story will give you an opportunity to join the Queen of Secrets as she begins one of her own investigations. Additionally the quest will give you a first glimpse at one of the more unique, if grim districts of Citadel City.

The demo is available to everyone at the Senior Supporter tier and above, and will its contents will be made public in the future as part of the Day 4 update, which is already mostly story boarded.

Oh also this update puts the entire patreon demo past the 6 digit word count (101223 words with code to be exact) and does it quite a bit earlier into the story than I initially expected. Still no idea if that's a good or a bad thing...

[asgodsfall-if]

What are the ROs love languages?

Honestly I never thought about it much, since I find love languages to be more like a set of scales or spectrums, and the characters were created to fill a specific role so they don't directly fit into any romance archetypes, but to simplify the answer I'll just put the most important language to each of them:

Coren: Quality time - He's not really a public person when it comes to personal matters, but at the same time values those actually close to him greatly.

Eri: Acts of service - Eri's complicated because she really struggles to make personal connections. If she ever came to care about someone to that extend she'd find it much easier to show it through helpful gestures than words or gifts.

Mesar: Physical touch - He is essentially an overgrown puppy, and doesn't feel embarrassed about showing how he feels.

Paoni: Words of affirmation - She spends most of her life surrounded by lies and deceit, so she greatly values honesty in people and would consider two genuine words worth more than anything.

[asgodsfall-if]

Hiiiii. Sorry i wanted to play the demo but the moody ink link doesn't seem to want to load. Is this is me a problem or is the link down?

I just quickly went out of this page and into another IFs to see if it's maybe my wifi connection but their page loaded fine.

Apparently over the last few days there's been a change of ownership over moody.ink (now cogdemos.ink) and most stuff wasn't moved. To avoid giving the new owner more work and stuff I just reuploaded the demo to the new site. I'll update the links in previous posts in a moment, but from now on you can play the demo over here:

This does mean that any saves made are now lost and I did not yet have time to fully check if the demo is fully functional after the reupload, but it should work fine. DM me if anything is wrong and I'll get it fixed when I'm off work.

[asgodsfall-if]

Care to tell some facts about the ROs?

P.S. Your demo is amazing.

First of all thank you. <3

And for facts, there will be an opportunity to learn more about each of them in side stories that you'll get to optionally take part in whenever some free time pops up, but I can put in some things I have in my notes or otherwise find cool to know despite them not being that relevant to the story itself:

Coren: Because he's one of the first non-humans to go through the enhancement program, the process resulted a minor side effects of an overstimulated metabolism, which is why he's pretty much always snacking when an opportunity presents itself and why his body struggles to accumulate fat, even for someone with demonic DNA his body is unnaturally lean.

Eri: Her family come from a long line of famous leather-workers, but Eri was always interested in the mechanical instead, which put her at odds with her parents. Because of that they don't speak to each other anymore and is also why she had to take up work in law enforcement far away from her parents influence.

Mesar: He has a pet Ker (a grey feline similar to a Lynx) he calls Cloud. It was a gift from his parents, and he's rather overprotective of it because of that.

Paoni: She's actually older than Citadel City itself (her canon age is 112 while the city was officially established 80 years ago), she's got 3 kids, but doesn't stay in active contact with them because vampires don't put much value in blood ties.

[asgodsfall-if]

Do you mind if we asking questions for the ROs?

Not at all. My asks are open and while I won't answer all questions because spoilers or things that aren't set in stone yet I'll try to respond best I can.

If the question is not anonymous, but I can't really answer it, I'll just send a private reply explaining why. Otherwise I'll leave it hanging until maybe it becomes fine to answer publicly.

[asgodsfall-if]

Age rating? What are the content warnings?

At the moment the game is provisionally rated 16+. In terms of content warnings that would affect the age rating it would be violence, profanity and possible mild sexual content in the future.

Beyond that the story will deal with some matters some might consider triggering like racism and (primarily) classism. They will occur mostly in side content, but ultimately it's all part of the same world and themes.

[asgodsfall-if]

ROs heights?

Coren is 174cm (5' 9") thanks to being a demi, which makes him pretty tall by demon standards (avg of 165cm), but average by human ones.

Eri is 137cm (4' 6") which is slightly below average for a dwarf female.

Mesar is 226cm (7' 5"), he's very big even for his race.

Paoni is 174cm (5' 9"), about average for a vampire.