I found the idea of the Choice Echo system interesting. When I was trying to make a game, I tried to make something very open-ended with several possibilities. I am excited to see the story getting longer to see how this will turn out. I think it would be cool to make a map of a section, like Nonary Games or Detroit Become Human, just to give a taste of how the Choice Echo system works. Well, I don't know how far you'll want to go with this, but I think it's a good way to show the implications and maybe demonstrate interest. And Harry left me with mixed feelings about trying to be a good person for him or being toxic. I hope there are many possibilities of ways to interact with him both socially, romantically and intimately. (Sometimes bad people can win :v)
Hey richex123! Zak here.
Really loved your comment, it got me thinking and gave me a great opportunity to share a bit of what’s been on my mind too.
I’m personally very happy with how the Decision Echo system is working. Even when I test the game myself, I enjoy seeing how certain options or reactions change based on past choices. That’s exactly the kind of experience I wanted to create.
That said, I’m still figuring out how this system will hold up in the long run. Both from the writing side (how it affects my creative flow), and from the player side (how much people actually enjoy it). Right now, I’m deep into a very branch-heavy section, with a lot of dialogue changes depending on past actions… and honestly, it’s a bit overwhelming. I really want to move forward and start writing what comes next (the end of the pong act and the fight against Diego), but I feel stuck juggling all the consequences of what people did or didn’t do. Just yesterday, while testing one of the routes for the beer pong (there are currently 2, possibly 3), I had to account for 14 past decisions and I spent the entire day on just that 😅
Which brings me to the big question: Is it worth it? Or should I reduce the number of consequences in sections like this so I can keep the story moving more smoothly and increase the amount of content per patch?
It’s something I’ll be reflecting on over time and the feedback from the community will definitely help shape that.
About the games you mentioned: I’ve always meant to play The Nonary Games but haven’t gotten around to it. I do know Detroit: Become Human, but never played it either. I did enjoy similar games such as Heavy Rain and Until Dawn a lot back in the day. Of course, those are studio-made games and right now, aside from two close people helping me out occasionally, I’m making Trueclash solo 😅 But hey, let’s see where this goes!
Now, about Harry, yes. I’d really love to offer a wide range of interactions with him, depending on your relationship and how he sees you. I’m already using a scoring system to track this behind the scenes, but I guess we’ll see how well it holds up over time or if it is a flop.
And finally regarding“Sometimes bad people can win.” I actually agree with you.
Early on, I even planned to allow a more “evil” route. But as I’ve been writing, especially during 0.1 and now 0.2, I’ve noticed something important: I don’t really enjoy writing “bad” or cruel actions that much. And that brings up again the same challenge of being a solo developer: time. Should I spend my limited dev time writing things that don’t bring me much joy and that slow down story progress as well?
Your comment was really timely, because I’m literally working on a scene right now where I’m debating whether to allow a toxic route... or to focus more on a well-developed main path with lots of variation (and maybe expand into darker routes later if the game grows).
So yeah thank you again. I hope you enjoy what comes next and that I can count on your feedback once again. 💙