turncoat chronicle
Turncoat Chronicle is now in open beta!
After nearly five years, my fantasy intrigue text game Turncoat Chronicle is now officially in open beta, undergoing the last round of testing and editing before being submitted for publication.
Writing the game has been a long process, from its conception as a villain-centered story in April of 2018, to the first round of feedback for chapter 1 in June of the same year, through several rewrites and round after round of private testing. As I put the final touches on the game’s epilogue, I had to revisit old code, written years ago and left untouched since then. I received valuable feedback that allowed me to improve areas of difficulty that I hadn’t anticipated but also reassured some of my other concerns.
At this stage of writing, I’m incredibly proud of the game that I’ve created. I’m happy to share it with my readers during this beta period, and I hope they can love this little story as much as I have done, for the past five years.
Version 0.11.1 of Turncoat Chronicle can be played here, or through the official development thread, where feedback can also be left.
Mid-November Goals Post
November is a curious month. It feels as though winter is well underway, even when I know that the rains have only gotten started and the coldest months are usually January and February. It feels as though 2022 is almost gone, even though there is still a month and a half left in which to achieve my goals. It also feels as though I spent most of November fighting off various colds and unfriendly viruses, which is… not far off-mark, actually.
November is also National Novel Writing Month, which is when my local writers’ group generally dusts itself off and picks up new projects and a few stray members. This year, I’m honing my peripheral skills, outlining and editing, in the hopes of producing not the first draft of a new novel, but rather a shorter, but more polished text. Working on a short story allows me to focus on the processes of writing outside the straightforward putting down of new words, and what’s more, I can balance the new story with working on my ongoing projects.
Turncoat Chronicle is currently in the last stages of drafting the final chapters. The Flower of Fairmont has been on hiatus for almost a year. It will go back on the front burner once I’ve wrapped up the last loose ends with Turncoat Chronicle. After a long break, I’m looking forward to diving back into the complexities of telling a story through the exchange of letters. It’s a unique challenge that never fails to surprise me.
Still forthcoming on this blog are my reviews of the farming sim Wylde Flowers and of the Motts Cold Case Mysteries book series, by Dahlia Donovan. These two have occupied my time very pleasantly, this autumn, and they deserve wider recognition. I’m excited about going back to posting the occasional review on this blog, though reviews and blog posts must take a back seat to my ongoing fiction projects.
All in all, it’s been a productive autumn, hopefully, to lead into a productive winter, regardless of the goings-on in the wider world.
On Writing and Quarantine
It’s been some time since I wrote an update. A lot has changed in the world, and that has naturally affected my work, as well. After a difficult winter, during which I was sick more often than seems entirely necessary, March brought the Covid-19 crisis to my doorstep. Since March 13th my part of the world has been under the onus of social distancing, which has gradually affected more and more parts of my life. Although it may superficially seem that my normal routine is not much different than what I’m doing now, the constant barrage of news and the worry for myself and those around me take an emotional toll, which can make productivity quite difficult.
Return of the Revenge of 2019
It’s been a long time since I updated this blog. Life is full of twists and turns, and sometimes new priorities have to override preexisting obligations. I spent the latter half of 2018 focused on my two ongoing projects, Turncoat Chronicle and an unnamed novel. I chose to prioritize those works over reviews and blog posts. Then I had a long stretch of time where my day job had to take priority, and even finding time to work on my game was a challenge. Once I had reclaimed my writing time and started making major progress on the game again, another thing popped up. And so on, so life goes.
Lately, though, it occurred to me that it was time to post a small update on my recent writerly activities. During May and June I have been hard at work on both the game and the novel, while at the same time planning ahead for what my next ChoiceScript project might be. I examined and discarded a large number of promising ideas, which is why I am holding back on discussing the details of the current idea, at least until I’m certain that it’s taken root.
Since February, Turncoat Chronicle has been undergoing a closed beta testing process. Both feedback and changes resulting from it have been extensive. Some of the comments were expected, others less so. Revising and expanding chapter two, the meatiest section of the game, has also helped me rethink the structure for chapter three, which will require further revising when I get back to it. Readying the next beta version is my top priority at the moment, and to that end I’m working full-tilt on the second half of chapter two, including the much-anticipated romance scene.
In other exciting news, I’ve relaunched my Patreon account in order to support the process of developing games with ChoiceScript, which can be quite lengthy. My Ko-Fi account remains active, as well.
Hazel Gold 