Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me. I really do genuinely appreciate it. Went into it on my own thinking it would be a lot of work for not a lot of payoff, but readers like you make me feel like it was worth the time I put into it. 

I'm glad you noticed and appreciated my design decisions. Glad, too, that you enjoyed my prose. I'd always wanted to tell a VtM story in a wilderness setting. I've played with the idea of a Malkavian detective story, so stay tuned. Cheers, friend, and thanks again.

Thank you so much for saying so! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And that it felt cinematic and interesting to you. I'm not sure there's actually better praise than "I couldn't put it down," so I'm just very humbled and grateful. Especially coming from someone who also made a narrative game--we know what it's like on the back end. Cheers, mate! And thanks again. 

Thank you for playing my game and leaving a comment! I see that you have good taste from reading some of your other comments, so I'm especially grateful for your good opinion. Cheers!

Wow, thanks for taking the time to read and compose such a thoughtful response. This is helpful, especially where you describe the problems you had. I admit that around mid-point, where you mentioned, I really started to feel the time restrictions set by the contest sponsors. I'd originally only planned a 60k story, but got ambitious once I started going. Feeling my way through, there was this direction I wanted to go, and I ended up with 1.5x my intended scope. I think it might have been more solid but less spansive at my original target. 

The problem with fake choice is real. It becomes super difficult in IF to give customizable paths while keeping the project manageable. My average playthrough length of 55k against the game's 90k words is far from CoG's "optimal" ratio of 75%(?). Mine at >50%, shows shorter playthrough length, higher customization--I was banking on people wanting to play multiple endings. Using what's called "delayed branching," much of the story remains the same until Chapter 5, where every sect has a different ending. Think of it like a wrist that follows one line, then opens into a hand with many fingers. If you open too early, you almost can't complete. So, for the wrist part, I was hoping I could lean "unique playthrough" on player build: Discipline (Animalism, Fortitude, Protean), Skillset (Physical, Mental, Social), and Weapon (Firearm, Melee, Brawl). Even though the results are similar, the way differs so that the player can express themselves. I'll have to wait a while before I read it with clear eyes to see whether I agree with you about how it lands. I'd definitely do a better job now, having learned what I did doing this, but that's just how life goes, I guess.

TL;DR: thanks so much for your time and thoughts, actually. Cheers, Skeepanovan!

Thanks for saying so! I think there would be as many different kinds of Kindred as there are people. I like stories about people who wouldn’t tell you theirs. I wanted to write about quiet outsiders (Gangrel) who eschew undead politics (Autarkis) and use those character-sheet skills which are dump stats for most people: survival, craft, drive (horses). I’m glad I’m not the only one who was interested! I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts if you make it all the way through! Thanks for reading and taking the time to write. Cheers!