Engineering Pride

So for the last two days, I’ve been completely obsessed with the StoryNexus game creation tools. It’s the system they use for Fallen London, a turn-based browser game (or I guess “Interactive Fiction” is the term we’re using these days.

They’re in open beta right now. I had been hearing about it for awhile—my friend Mur was working on something—so I finally checked it out and basically fell in sobbing “Where were you when I was fifteen and trying to write my own text adventures in AmigaBasic?!”

So I started building a little game for the stuffed animal world. (No, it’s not ready to even look at yet. No, it may not ever be ready. No, I don’t know when it will be done. You ever try to write a text adventure from scratch? Good lord, that’s a lot of words…)

Anyway, as with anything, there are design choices made by the people behind the engine that I’m having to work with (and sometimes around) and I’m still way in the beginning of the learning curve, so I keep breaking things.

KEVIN: That’s where the creativity comes in…

URSULA: No it isn’t. I’m plenty creative. Creative is not a problem. It’s dealing with other people’s engineering choices.

KEVIN: (suddenly misty-eyed)

KEVIN: ….sniff….I’m so proud!

URSULA: Eh?

KEVIN: I never thought this day would come!

URSULA: Swear to god, if you say “My little Ursula is becoming a woman!” I will shove my foot so far up your ass—

KEVIN: No! It’s like—like when the very sheltered child, instead of following his governess into the restaurant, turns the wrong direction and winds up in a dark alley somewhere.

URSULA: …I had no idea that watching me get stabbed by a wino would be such a source of pride.

KEVIN: Well, metaphorically.

 

(It should be noted that Kevin works with software, engineers, and technology, and is mostly used to me going “I don’t know! YOU make it work!”)