Weekly progress log #7

Hey everyone,

In in this week's progress log (one without a cover illustration for which I am sorry!), I'd mostly like to introduce a feature that has been promised for some time - the codex.

Not to take undue credit, 99.99% of the coding framework is from an asset provided by Skolaztika which I found on itch.io. So, as much as I'd like this to be my own doing, all of the credit belongs to them!

The codex will contain information about characters, locations, events, and maybe a bunch of other things. The categories of which you see a glimpse below are from the asset, so I am likely going to change them somewhat so I am not entirely copying Skolaztika's homework. The codex can be accessed either through the main menu, the option menu (the one that comes up when you press right click in-game), or in the small selection of options you can find under the text box. 

(And don't mind the rubbish quality of the image, converting to GIF seems to have taken its toll)

Although the codex is easily accessible and neatly categorized, I do not think it is entirely convenient. Yes, if you are not sure what some character/location/event is about, you can look it up in the codex - but it's a bit of a hassle to click through a bunch of windows and look for what you need, isn't it?

Thankfully, you won't have to do any of that because Skolaztika's code also taught me how to easily link to the codex entries in the text of the game itself.

This way, although accessible at your leisure, the codex itself is more of a database from which you can seamlessly access relevant entries while you play to refresh your memory about who/what someone or something is. One of the few minor adjustments I've made to the original code by Skolaztika was move the text of the codex entry to make space for the character sprite. I've played around with some ideas on how to make the image in the entry more presentable, e.g. stylize it into a character card, but I couldn't come up with anything I liked - and it's not too big of a priority anyways, so for now the relevant character images will just be presented the way you see in the gif above.

That being said, I will probably use the "hyperlink" in the game text very scarcely for most characters. I don't think anyone needs a reminder of who Sunny or Anasteya is, though it might be handy if a character reappears after being gone an entire episode.

Regarding codex entries, I now have two things I need to figure out - both of which are somewhat connected. The first thing is the content of the codex entries itself. I think the very first paragraph will be just a brief overview of who the character is and after that, I considered including a bit about their story as well as any meaningful interactions with the protagonist down the line.

For example, with Becky you would first have an entry describing that she is a barmaid at the Putrid Gander who the protagonist first met while investigating Rodrick's murder. Then in the next paragraph, you would have info about how she moved out of her parents' place because of a disagreement and that she has a budding interest in matters of commerce.

The second thing I need to figure out is whether to make codex entries persistent - by persistent I mean that they persist once unlocked even if the condition that unlocked them is no longer met. For example, you play through the game once and meet Becky - this unlocks her codex entry. You play all the way to the end, where you find out that she moved out of her parent's place and has an interest in commerce. Then you decide to play through the game again and start over. If the codex entries are persistent, you will still have Becky's information unlocked in the codex, even though you haven't actually met her in this playthrough.

It might seem like an obvious thing to keep the codex entries unlocked, i.e. persistent, but there's a caveat - some codex entries might differ depending on what choices you've made. Take Amaya, for example - depending on whether you revealed her to the Ealdorman or not, her codex entries will be very different (at least in the second paragraph and beyond, where her interactions with the protagonist would be included).

The easiest solution would be to make codex entries very simple and brief, essentially limiting any info they provide to the first paragraph, thus creating no conflict if they are made persistent. While this would mean the least amount of work, I am not very fond of it as it can make the codex fairly useless at times. If you pick up the game after a few months and run into a character who is upset with you because of something you did in the last episode, I feel like the codex could be used to remind you why the character is upset with you. For that reason, I do not think this option is viable.

The second option is to not make codex entries persistent at all. I haven't tested it out yet, but what it should do is essentially clear out your codex the moment you start the game over. I am not sure how it would impact other saves, but with how Ren'py stores variables, it should basically mean that loading a save where you've unlocked some codex entries will mean that they are unlocked again, and then erase the moment you start a new game, etc.

The third option is to make some codex entries (those that depend on player choice) not persistent, while keeping general information about characters unlocked. So, if you play through the game once and then start a new game, you would keep the codex entry about who Amaya is unlocked even before you meet her - but the codex would no longer contain whether you revealed her to the Ealdorman or not.

It's still due for a bunch of testing to make sure that things work the way I think they should, but if they do - then it all really depends on what works the best for players. I think the third option is the best and it should not be too much of a hassle to implement - at worst, a few bugs might slip through where you get an entry in the codex that doesn't correspond with what actually happened, but aside from that it's a thing that I will have to do once and then never worry about it again.

So, if you've read all the way here, do let me know what you think!

On another note, I finished a detailed outline of the next episode last week, using a new little method that involves Word tables so I have a very clear, structured overview of every scene, its description and any extra notes I might have. It might sound trivial, but it's been an absolute gem for making my workflow easier since I have everything I need in one place this way.

Aside from that, I have about 1/4th of all dialogue finished for the next episode. It's very rough right now and it will definitely need a lot of polish, but that's nothing new - I don't think there's a single line of text in the three released episodes that survived from the rough draft stage.

Based on my plans, I will have a lot of drawing left to do even once I am done with the dialogue, but we will see how that goes - I might cut down on some things that I want to do just to be able to release the episode in a reasonable time, but I can tell you in advance that it will not be in March, since the last of March is the deadline for my diploma thesis.

Anyway, that's all I have this week! Next week's progress log will likely be a fair bit shorter (and hopefully with an illustration). As always, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

Love you all,

Worlaix