That’s exactly what I proposed in my Defork! I’m proud that similar solutions are used, Twine+Twinson is really a powerful tool 
So, it looks like your story could be pretty nonlinear, is that true?
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That’s exactly what I proposed in my Defork! I’m proud that similar solutions are used, Twine+Twinson is really a powerful tool
I’m really enjoying Twine, and the extensions saved my life! I had already designed my dialogue system before finding out about Defork, so I found it easier to just re-invent the wheel 
And yes, non-linearity is quite key to the story. The endings vary depending on your choices, you can fail/succeed in rescuing your friends, and of course NPCs end up in different situations depending on what you choose. Saving in the game is automatic, so there is no save-scumming. (Scary? Yes. Frustrating? Hopefully not!).
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Wow, looks like a really vast amount of informations that need to be saved and parsed then. Would you mind describing someday how you are managing the data, elaborate about a structure, and something that should be important when designing such system and not fall into troubles I would be thankful!
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Sure! I could tell you what I did and what went wrong… Best practice? That’s probably up to someone else’s analysis 
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Hey everyone! Another week, another devlog 
We designed and implemented all of the maps for the fungal biome, the High Kingdom of Hyphae. This is an isolated island, populated by… Well, you’ll just have to find out for yourself!
We also designed and implemented the treetop biome. This is a set of structures high above the canopy of the deep forest. This area presented an interesting visual design challenge. We have a parallax layer of leaves, intended to convey a feeling of height. The problem was that we also had pillars that extended down. Where those pillars met the leaves, the effect was jarring and confusing. The solution we landed on was to extend the pillars beyond the edge of the map. This had the bonus impact of amplifying the illusion of height!
We added some key NPCs to the courthouse in the grasslands, including a couple of bickering lawyers and a judge. This is an important area for a main questline.
Finally, we worked on implementing some functions related to management of money in the game. Ort has three types of coins, each corresponding to one of the three Sisters and their respective element (Life, Mind, and Shadow). This means that there are cases where NPCs would like to only accept a specific type of coin, or a mixture of all three. We designed functions to handle all of these scenarios.
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Hm… that game looks really interesting to me.
is there a playable demo already? It looks like.
Sharing demos with the community here may help to find bugs etc
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Thanks
People here have been twisting my arm about it… I had previously decided to do a closed beta to get testing and feedback. I am also more and more convinced to release a demo to the public, which would be for marketing purposes!
Currently - there isn’t anything playable available.
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No pressure, we just can’t wait to check this out, but there’s nothing we can do about it, the trailer and everything is so tempting 
I can feel your worries, so don’t hurry yourself, take your time and polish it we’ll wait anyway and yeah, it could be great marketing move and how was this closed beta testing?
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Oh, I haven’t done the beta yet - I just meant I have decided to do one!
And thank you very much, it means a lot 
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So, if possible, I’m in!
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Me too. lets test it!
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Wouldn’t say no either.
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I have no problem to record my test play.
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Time for another devlog! I tried adding a voice over this time - please let me know what you think.
We finished a questline involving a shady NPC. He is first introduced in the dungeons of the castle in the north. If the player decides to free the character, his help can be enlisted in releasing the Master, who is standing trial, from his holding cell.
The maps for the Dragonfly Fen were implemented. This is a large marshy area, reclaimed from the sea long ago. It is situated to the east of the Ort grasslands, and is accessible via airship.
We implemented a puzzle which is located in the ancient Temple high in the mountains in the north. The player is tasked with guiding a rolling rock into specific locations in order to unlock doors and passage to further areas.
To the east of the Dragonfly Fen lies an ancient forest. The entrance is guarded by an old and secluded people. In the forest are key areas, such as a giant tree and some sort of factory.
Finally, we added a sleepy and grumpy giant to the Dragonfly Fen. The giant isn’t particularly interested in anything the player has to say, so it is up to the player to figure out if there are any magic spells that could help the giant take a nap.
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Devlog time! Another attempt at a voice over - please let me know what you think. Accidentally only had the left audio channel for the last video, which should be fixed this time.
We have worked on the quest introducing Bracs the Gnome, to make it more impactful. Helping him repair his airship is now a great gameplay moment. Previously, the airship wasn’t taking off after being repaired. Adding this animation (and an accompanying musical track) has really helped lift the significance of the moment.
We have designed and implemented the maps for the capitol city of Ort. This is the epicenter of the events that are taking place during the game, and is a path to the final showdown. Even though this is a late stage area, it is available at the very beginning of the game. This is in keeping with the choice to encourage free exploration of the world, and tackling different areas in the order that the player prefers. There are of course some obstacles that prevent access to specific areas, but the order in which these are experienced is still very free.
We added a musician character to the Dragonfly Fen, and his beast companion. The beast is sick, and the musician needs help to cure it. This is another example where a use of an animation and accompanying musical track (obviously) has really helped the impact of the moment.
Finally, we worked on designing a particle effect to represent a vortex portal to another dimension - the Soul Plains. This was quite tricky to do, because the isometric perspective of the game is difficult to capture in a Defold particlefx component. The vortex may be tweaked further in the future to make it look even better.
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This week we focused heavily on adding more areas, all with a very otherworldly theme. The first one to show is this skeletal underworld. This area is an aspect of the afterlife, and is usually not accessible for the living. The particle effect for this area came out really well. We used the snow particles as a baseline, but inverted the direction upwards instead.
The next area is the internal workings of a specific character’s soul. I won’t reveal too much about it at this point to keep the mystery alive!
The last area to show is the Howling Plains. This is another aspect of the afterlife, a kind of purgatory for lost souls. You will get hopelessly lost here, unless you have someone (or something) to guide you. The area is inspired by the Lost Woods from Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Without a guide, the player will loop around in the plains aimlessly.
Finally, we added this magical barrier that serves as an obstacle to those who aren’t yet sufficiently skilled in the arcane arts. This will be used in a few places as an optional opportunity to find loot and rewards.
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Such a vast world! And yet filled with interesting stuff. Really, can’t wait to see it in action Btw, how big is your team? 
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Thank you! It’s grown pretty enormously, yes…
There are three of us. One doing the music, one doing all the art, and me doing all the rest (coding, writing, business/marketing, etc).
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We’ve set a release date! 
I am currently taking applications for beta testing! Use this form if you are interested: Sign up here
Bonus points if:
- You can get me video of your gameplay
- You can test on a Mac or Linux computer
- You can test Steam cloud saves on Mac or Linux
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Signed! I am waiting so impatiently for this game, surely amog many others! 
Amazing trailer! Gameplay looks lit! 
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