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also okay so if you follow more than one IF designer you can see just how varied process is and you really have to nail down something that works for you even if it sounds like it won't?

My new thing that I've alluded to several times is that I only write one passage (so, on the player side, just one screen) a day. I allow myself space to do more than one depending on the circumstances but all I ask of myself a day is one screen of writing.

And I think critically, for a long time I was looking at my process from the perspective of how to do it faster, how to speed up, how to be more consistent, how to stop stopping (impossible: I need days off, everyone does, and 2024 was very difficult in the back half). But not going fast enough wasn't the problem. My problem was that I would get so, so overwhelmed. I didn't have a LIMIT, and so I would push and push and push and then the whole system would shudder and die as I'd hit the burnout point.

I had to almost like. Reconceptualize the idea of a "minimum" word count because it almost felt reductive and it felt bad to hit it and not surpass it. "Maximum" word count doesn't make more sense to say it out loud but it really is a relief for me some days to finish that one passage and go okay, that's it. A minimum word count isn't supposed to imply like, the bare minimum amount of work you have to do per day and then everything else is the REAL work you're doing, it's supposed to be the point on the road where you pull over to buy snacks and pee.

Anyway, this is rambly, but my advice broadly is to try something that feels like it isn't going to work because maybe it does because maybe your problem isn't not being able to do it fast enough, maybe your problem is you need to stop working like you have to undermine the guy that's going to eventually get tired and overwhelmed.

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Matchstick's IFs

While investigating the patron of the party you stumble head first into an ongoing heist. Will you team up with the charming grifter, the prickly muscle, or the excitable thief?   

Mingle with party guests, climb through vents, and fight against security as you traverse your way through the mansion and steal back from the rich.

Play Extempore (WIP)

A short exploration of the relationship between the Player Character (customizable), and Harper (male or female pronouns). Strengthen your bonds with Harper, and begin a romance, or grow deeper in friendship. 

The game takes place in a university setting. It contains 4 chapters, and a myriad of choices for you to interact with Harper and the world around you. 

Play Relationships 101 (Complete)

You’ve completed your mission. Your only remaining task is to make it home alive. How hard could that be?

Turns out, it’s a lot harder than you think.

Play Recurrent (Complete)

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Recurrent

New complete game! Made for the Single Choice Jam.

You’ve completed your mission. Your only remaining task is to make it home alive. How hard could that be? Turns out, it’s a lot harder than you think.

Recurrent was written for the 2024 Single Choice Jam, and you have one choice: Jump. Mind your timing, the obstacles are deadly and plentiful.

Play Recurrent

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Recurrent

New complete game! Made for the Single Choice Jam.

You’ve completed your mission. Your only remaining task is to make it home alive. How hard could that be? Turns out, it’s a lot harder than you think.

Recurrent was written for the 2024 Single Choice Jam, and you have one choice: Jump. Mind your timing, the obstacles are deadly and plentiful.

Play Recurrent

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A long struggle ends today.

You are the Iron Consort, partner and oracle for the Iron Scion—your wife, Drusa. The two of you have been locked in a prolonged war of succession against her uncle, and thus far your powers have kept the two of you one step ahead of defeat. The battle today will decide your fates.

Written for the 2024 Single Choice Jam.

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Single Choice Jam!

The Jam where you give only ONE CHOICE to the player!

The Single Choice Jam is a short unranked jam where there is only one restriction: you can give players only one choice or action in the game!

The rest... is up to you!

Constraints and Rules:

There can only be One Choice in the entire entry: only one page can have more than one option/action the player can pick/use.

With the exception of the multi-option passage (hyperlinks), there can only be one playable link on the page. Non-story passages, such as Title/Landing Pages and Menus (i.e. Settings/Codex/Credits/etc...) do not count under this rule.

With the exception of the multi-action room (parser), there can only be one playable action per coded room. Movement (i.e. N-S-E-W) and Inspection (X, LOOK AT, SEARCH, ...), and other active verbs, all count as ONE action. Non-story verbs, such as HELP, WALKTHROUGH, CREDITS, do not count as an action.

The Jam is open to any program/medium, as long as the piece can be considered Interactive Fiction (i.e. the game is interactive, and its focus is on the text).

The Jam is open to any language.

The Jam is open to NSFW content, as long as you indicate it in your submission.

Spam or hateful content will not be accepted.

During the duration of the jam and the two weeks following the deadline, the submissions should be free to play.

You can submit up to 3 entries!

You should aim for a 15-30min maximum gameplay.

Join the Jam!

We will track entries on Tumblr with the #singlechoicejam, but you can also tag @neointeractives!

Join the Neo-Interactive Discord

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Bad Ritual Chapter 5: Warlock

Thank-you for your patience everyone: I didn't realise Easter was in March this year when I planned everything OTL. Chapter 5 for Bad Ritual is now available publically on itch. Have fun and let me know what you think!

No new features or anything this time around, the only change is:

Chapter 5 for both Tahira and Siruud

Reblogs appreciated!

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Oh Harper my beloved 🫶🏾

So glad you like them 💙💙

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relationship 101 my beloved <3 harper has me swooning and sighing like woah ! the way you write characters in general has my heart fluttering xoxo

That makes me so happy to hear!! I'm really glad you enjoyed it 💙

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WIP - Harper Origins

Got an ask about the first things I considered about Harper. It's been so long since I started thinking of them that I had to go back in my WIPs to figure it out. This is their first appearance. It's the very first draft of Untitled Fantasy Game. I'll probably use some version of this in the final draft. A lot's changed since this version, so it'll need some tweaking.

This was supposed to be a quiet night; A routine check-in.

The building was burning when you arrived.

With a stifled curse you duck down behind an overturned table, narrowly avoiding the fireball lobbed at your head. Heat sears across the fine hairs of your arm, and you breath out assessing your position.

Your opponent is easy to track. Judging by inane, uncontrollable cackling, and the fireball you just dodged, you'd place the creature by the far wall to your left, blocking the exit. Damn.

The once-elegant ballroom is in shambles. Fires have erupted across the carpeted interior, and furniture lies in haphazard piles. Black smoke chokes out the light from the chandeliers, and the ominous orange glow of the fires lights up the chaos of the room. A few unfortunate guests lay dead in the debris. You arrived too late for them.

To your right, you notice Landrian cowering behind a food cart. Their gray eyes are open wide, dark skin ashen in the glowing embers. They're chanting quietly, a sickly purple light pulsating between their long, trembling fingers.

Beside them Harper raises his pistol and fires two rounds into the creature, hitting center mass. He’s broad where Landrian is slim, and a head taller than them, short, blonde hair loose and framing his face.

You look around for Avery, but can’t see her. You could have sworn—

You start when Harper ducks behind your makeshift cover. He's flushed red from the heat, but smiling, wide grin dimpling his cheeks.

"Never a dull moment, huh?" He chuckles, and reloads his pistol.

"Not with you around." You return his smile, winking.

Harper's always been something of a magnet for trouble. Ever since you were kids.

He chambers another round, and you duck behind him, stepping out of cover to aim at the creature.

You fight fire with fire, and launch a spell.

It hits dead center, the creature's pale, sickly skin bubbling and blackening as your spell burns across its body.

It shrieks in agony, clawing at itself with enough fervor to tear its own flesh. The sound reverberates through the room and you have to steady yourself as a wave of magical force slams into you. A chair chatters to the floor beside you. To your left a scorched corpse lurches upright, and you take a startled step back, hand pressed to your chest. It takes you a moment to remember the source.

You pause, twisting to glare at Landrian. They mouth “sorry”, but continue their chant and move the abomination forward. It shambles toward the still shrieking creature, dead fingers clasped around a discarded steak knife. With unnatural speed, the corpse stabs the creature, dragging the knife up its torso as black blood oozes out over the carpeted floor. The creature babbles out a deranged laugh then slices through the corpse with razor sharp claws. The corpse drops and the creature turns, tossing another fireball at your position.

How the fuck is this thing still standing?

With an irritated sigh you aim another spell at the creature, but your concentration falters when an enormous panther leaps from the shadows.

Ah. There's Avery.

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If you're still accepting the OC question asks, could we have 1 + 19 for Harper? <3

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

Oh, hard question. I had to go though some old drafts to figure this one out (product of that search here, if you're interested in an old WIP).

I think the first thing I decided on Harper was that they would be the MCs childhood bestie. It's my favorite dynamic and I wanted to include it in my game!

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

Umm. I think I got most of the interesting stuff about R101 Harper into the game. I really like that they're an artist. The reason that they never have a ride is that they suck at driving and didn't bother getting a license.

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Just read relationships 101 and it’s literally the cutest story 🥺🥺 giggling and kicking while reading it, well done!!

Yay! I'm so glad you liked it 💙💙💙

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Harper’s originally part of a different IF, but I wrote R101 to nail down their characterization. Not a lot changed between the two iterations. The main difference is that in R101 Harper gets to stay an artist, which isn’t really possible in the adjacent story.

Harper’s heroic but just a lil bit dumb about it - a hold over from their original IF. They’re also effortlessly friendly.

Could you tell us about the other IF that Harper was originally from? Is it still something you're still planning on writing?

For sure!

The original IF is more ambitious, and will probably take me a while cause I write slooow. It's a fantasy game, as yet untitled. I'm thinking I'll divide it out into shorter serialized IFs so I don't get too stuck.

In the game, MC and the crew have access to magic in a world where it's rare. The first part of the IF will define your background (musician, thief, or hunter), and Harper is your childhood best friend. Things happen, the two of you get separated, only to be reunited years later in less than ideal circumstances. I'm planning 3 major ROs, 2 minor, and one possible flirtation. Like I said. Ambitious.

I've actually posted an excerpt of it here. For ease of access, I'll paste it below:

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4 and 14 for harper? 👀

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

It was really important for me that Harper start the story as a close friend to the MC. I wanted a strong foundation so I could practice writing romance.

Harper's originally part of a different IF, but I wrote R101 to nail down their characterization. Not a lot changed between the two iterations. The main difference is that in R101 Harper gets to stay an artist, which isn't really possible in the adjacent story.

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

Harper's heroic but just a lil bit dumb about it - a hold over from their original IF. They're also effortlessly friendly.

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Could you do 5, 6, 7, and/or 19 for the Extempore crew?

5. 6. Is there any significance behind their hair/eye color?

I didn't think too hard about the Extempore crew's hair/eye colors. The drawings came first, before characterization, so I was mostly going with what worked visually.

7. Is there any significance behind their height?

Lei had to be the tallest, for obvious reasons (bracket based humor). Ali's built to fit in vents. Ramal is 5’9 for no reason.

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

Lei - Despite their prickly disposition, Lei has a pretty wide circle of friends. They keep unintentionally befriending people.

Aliyah - Ali is a big collector of useless things. If it's pretty, it goes on display. Her apartment is one step short of hoarder territory.

Ramal - Ramal is incredibly skilled at applying makeup. If the cops find out he can shapeshift, they're going to tell the church.