Saturday, November 27, 2021

Rewrite

 Earlier this year I threw myself into the experiment of writing in installments a solo adventure for Talisman Adventures. The results, "Nor Gloom of Night", can be found here. I had intended to put out installments on a weekly or fortnightly basis, and figured that the pressure of writing to a deadline would work its magic on my efforts: that it ought to be reasonably easy to put out something playable and at least mildly entertaining. It proved to be a more challenging task than I had anticipated, and took me several months to complete the three installments and 99 paragraphs of adventure. I'm conscious that the end result hardly be described as overwhelming, or even whelming. Page Views tells the sorry truth: Chapter One has had 80 views, Chapter Two 19, and the grand finale Chapter Three a mere 7. 

Undeterred however, I have decided to work on a Second Draft, using the Game Book Authoring Tool (GBAT). Just copying the paragraphs written into the program has been helpful in identifying where there is room for improvement. In particular, this is helped by the resulting Flowchart (see below for an excerpt from the beginning of NGON), which makes the next step of the redrafting process - removing redundant and repetitive entries simple and straightforward.

Current Design Goals: Follow the basic plot established, remove repetitions and generally trim down, then add small encounters and options (bringing the paragraph total back up to 99/100) to flesh the adventure out. It is intended to be an introduction to the various systems within Talisman Adventures, but I will put a little bit more emphasis on trying to make it entertaining and fun to play. I will be sure to let y'all know how I get on.


 

 

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