/cyoag/ - CYOA General

Horror Edition

>Prior thread:
>Archives and other resources:
pastebin.com/vrqYhnpu

>Threadly Openers:
Players: How many builds do you make per CYOA? Why?
Authors: Where do you start on the design process? The graphics, the math, the writing?

Horror Edition? That's prime-time for nightmare waifus.

...

...

>"the only way to snuff out the candles is by the breath of a virginal boy"
>light candles
>exhale a little too hard
>candles go out
>die

...

Just one unless it's a quick but interesting lewd cyoa catering to my fetishes.

plan the core aspects in bullet points -> the writing -> the math (lol jk no need for that in waifu cyoas) and balance -> image hunting -> graphics

Dare you look to see what horror lurks within?

I start with writing, so I can get a feel for the tone and length of the finished product. From there I know how to size text boxes and where I'll want images versus only descriptions.
Math plays a small role in my design, but I try to get values and points squared away before starting on graphics.
When I get to graphics, I run an extra editing pass, for when descriptions for choices are lacking compared to others in their category. Sometimes, I match descriptions to images rather than the other way around, so I'll postpone adding in details in the hopes that I can match them better with the picture.

...

This is exactly why all CYOAs should have gender swapping options for free.

There are questions that I am no longer allowed to ask by order of medical professional and this is one of them.

Been away for a bit.
What happened to ZBG?

He is moving or some shit

>How many builds do you make per CYOA?
Usually just one, if it really catches my attention then I end up doing more
>Why?
I like to imagine different scenarios with different options, also autism.

Someone post vampire king or something please

Depends on the cyoa. I’ll go through the big ones like Traveller and Stardust everyone once in a while, with enough time in between to be a bit fresh again. Smaller ones I’ll throw a build together as they’re posted.

For the most part I save my builds, review, and repost, unless I feel like doing a 100% rewrite again. This is only because I’m fairly consistent with what I want out of a cyoa and there are only little changes when I take a fresh look. I have noticed some interesting drift, as I get older I’m more partial to immortality options. Also, I don’t save/repost expecting replies or attention, I do so because I feel that’s how we pay our dues to authors and content we like. I try to not do it every time a cyoa is posted, however, because then it becomes noticeable and obnoxious.

>How many builds do you make per CYOA?
One per update.

>Why?
It must be autism.

>Players: How many builds do you make per CYOA? Why?
Generally one of two. I like to explore the CYOA but generally there will be choices that are far more to my taste than others.

>Authors: Where do you start on the design process? The graphics, the math, the writing?
Writing.

>How many builds do you make per cyoa?
As many as I can, given there is enough flexibility in the cyoa for me to have fun with. I only make one build per post though.
>Why?
Because it's fun.

>Where do you start on the design process?
The writing, If I get an idea I write it down in a notepad document, save it, and come back to it later. If it still sounds interesting I'll make it, and from there I'll go on to creating the actual cyoa in gimp.

>CYOA
Bag of Making. First, I throw in a dictionary and several writing guides, then try and create a book detailing exactly what the bag can create.
After that, I load Wikipedia, the Library of Congress, and any pseudoscientific papers I find interesting onto a flash drive, then just sort of go wild.
Of note: If it just requires knowing how it's made (rather than any tested method for artificially making it), then I could potentially go onto a boat and create a hurricane using the 16 million cubic *kilometers* of water - then create another one using the same water, as well as the water in the air.

>Opener
I usually create one 'personal' build, based on what I would pick, and potentially a few gimmick builds.

... Doesn't boy also implies an age range?

I mean, you could be just an awkward teen, a manchild or a wizard and not die...

As long as you're a virgin, you're a boy.

post comfy CYOAs

If that is true how is /ss/ going to work?

/ss/ implies a certain age (shotacon), not status of virginity

>candles
eternal life and invulnerability in a single package, and all you need to do is go 300 years without a virgin blowing out your candle? this is the only option...

Shotas are boys and if you lose your virginity according to user you are no longer a boy.

Not exactly, because boy implies inocence rather than virginity. If you're at least somewhat responsible, aware of the full implications of death, etc, you can't be a boy. Not a man necesarily either, but not a boy.

>Most of my dreams I'm not even physically me, anyway. In at least half of them I'm a dude and the other half I'm a chick.
Note to self: Learn lucid dreaming.

For a new magical realm, what kind of things would you like to see? It'll be more detailed and refined, and more like a worldbuilder.

I'm talking different world options, biomes, wonders, custom, what kind of god or person you want to become and the different powers. I'll inquire officially now but I'll work on it slowly and more when I get time off during holidays.

I've no ideas about regular leaders/second in command skills

Maybe Osprey could bring in companion reinforcements, or fly your squad over an enemy node.

Options for customizing/creating Gods for your world.

Settings for the world, like do you want it to be a world where magic exists, or maybe a world where game settings are a natural part of life. There's of course other possible options here.

If you want even more detail, designing the sentient races that live on the world.

Oh boy, why are you taking on such a huge project when the first version was so nice?

Anyway, greater customization of the government/ (the personality of the ruler, priorities, etc.) that runs the realm would be my first desire.

There's not really a whole ton of advice most people can give in a vacuum - I can say that I'd prefer that it be reasonably streamlined, without forcing too many unnecessary or pointless choices that a particular reader might not care about cough cough Rosanon, but that tends to be something you're good at anyway.

Please try to avoid making it too much of a "magical realm".

For those not that into fine-tuning every single minute detail, how about some pre-built packages or choice-suggestions or the like?
Also please let the reader make their magical realm into their personal "magical realm".

Much more adventure, much more grim. Give me something that can customize the danger of say, Made in Abyss, and I'll be pretty damn happy. Worldbuilders should be about the world - being too large inside of it would make it just like every other worldbuilder we've had.

Any new shit that came out the last few days?

I would so much rather see you do something new and original. Not boring and short like your last few one.

These leader/second-in-command skills are insane. Some are really powerful, others are very meh.

Care to elaborate? Because my balancing efforts didn't go past these:

Mossberg 590 - Combat. All allies take 5 less damage for a turn and dodge 2 attacks each. Once per battle.

Ingram - Passive. Reliability. Your Disabled gear is repaired in 3 turns, instead of battle end.

NTW - Prebattle. Choose a target and reduce its hp to 10. Once every 3 battles.

AK-105 - Combat. Future tech. Gadget effect duration is increased by 1 turn.

Thompson - Map. Hidden cache. Choose a map node, put Add 2 ammo to your long range weapons event there.

Phantom2 - Wild Weasel. Choose an enemy, it no longer can fire missiles. One enemy at a time.

T-50 - Combat. MIRV. You can split the damage of your Heavy and S.Heavy weapons as you see fit. Once per battle.

SAAB 39 - Passive. VSTOL. Your hangar battle start CD is reduced by 1.

Tornado - Combat. S.Heavy bomb. Deal 50 damage to all enemies and 15 to allies.

Oh, M16 probably should make most of your squad immune to bad terrain for. Because jungle\urban\desert fighting.

Oh that is much more reasonable. NTW on the image made my jaw drop.

Post the current version for comparison?

I'd like options for being a hands-off god/ruler or even not having a character at all, maybe just being a kind of disembodied observer. The point being to allow making a world that develops on its own and has its own mortal rulers with nobody getting the kind of powers the creator has. It could be as simple as a "you don't exist"/"you are mortal" drawback as long as other options account for there not being a ruler (so if there's a pool of points for ruler powers, have something they can be spent on that doesn't involve being ruler or some way of converting them to other points, either as a default option or as part of the drawback/option that stops you being ruler).

>Options for customizing/creating Gods for your world.
I'll make an option for a pantheon, and I'll have a section for persons of interests too.

>If you want even more detail, designing the sentient races that live on the world.
Yes that will be a section of human(oid) cultures to choose from.

It will be a magical world.

I guess that the government type will be added to people. And it won't be that big of a project, probably 2 pages. It won't be as vast as magical realm. I intend to make it so it's more like a contained world for you to mess around in.

Mostly how the world will turn out will be up to your imagination. Like with the Biomes and People and Wonders, I can hopefully paint a big enough image.

I always make my CYOAs SFW, and it will be more of a powertrip/adventure CYOA.

It won't be single minute details, not to worry. The choices that are provided are there to paint a picture of the world.
>Also please let the reader make their magical realm into their personal "magical realm".
I could include that to your personal powers, and maybe certain world or custom options.

>Made in Abyss
Haven't seen that yet. But grim, I could add that to what type of god you want to be and certain people cultures.

>I would so much rather see you do something new and original. Not boring and short like your last few one.
It will be a personal project mostly. My last project, even though it was quite popular, was a quick project to get me back into finishing something. I have a ton of WiPs that I lose interest in but this is something I'd really want to see through.

It's different from the last magical realm. Very different in terms of choices and style, but somewhat of a similar premise. So yeah Observer sounds nice.

I'd like more specific suggestions if you can think of whatever you'd like to see.

Might as well post the cyoa.

Every CYOA should have sexy choices. You wouldn't be forced to buy them.

...

...

The problem is that it sets the tone for the rest of the CYOA, which makes it hard to take seriously as a worldbuilder or whatever it might be. The amount of CYOAs that have lewd elements but manage to avoid being defined by either them or the lighthearted "dude it's just imagination lmao" that comes with them are very few.

...

All I want for Christmas is Traveller 2.0.

What are your Christmas wishes /cyoag/?

I want a gf or 2.

...

...

Which CYOAs have their tone set by just one or two lewd options when the rest of non-lewd?

Personally if a CYOA has magical and/or sci-fi options then either/both tend to define it. Previous worldbuilders that could be used for non-magical/non-futuristic worlds tend not to be if those are possible. Those elements define CYOAs much more than lewd ones and I'd argue they are the kind of choice that needs to be split into a separate CYOA rather than only being an optional part of one, not lewdness.

There was an option like what you're describing. You could be a normal guy, a rich guy, a king or seen as god.

A CYOA becomes real

>CYOAs that have lewd elements but manage to avoid being defined by either them or the lighthearted "dude it's just imagination lmao" that comes with them are very few
Examples?

I want a Time Stop Chill Zone.

>Every CYOA should give a free waifu!
>Every CYOA should give free immortality!
>Every CYOA should give a free gender change option!
Yes definitely, every CYOA should destroy its theme and mood by appealing to your dick instead...

I felt that Nemesis did a pretty good job of this. Which is a bit surprising, given how the author turned out.

tbf, my dick has better taste than most anons.

...

...

...

Even if becoming a girl is dick-appeal, surely immortality isn't?

Anyway just Sartre/meta-CYOA those three. Lots of posters probably do already and authors must know it.

Does Necromancer count? There’s not explicit lewd options, but the door is more than open with many of the powers present. Especially the biomancy school.

Alternatively, things like Edritch Estate or the original Magic Realm itself? Both give you options to create an attractive, sexually inclined populace without making it a focal point.

>Players: How many builds do you make per CYOA? Why?

I make one build. That is the entire point of a choice: choosing one thing means not choosing other things. I might think about several builds but in the end I only ever choose one.

>Players: How many builds do you make per CYOA? Why?
Usually just one. If I really like the cyoa, and there are a lot of viable builds, then I might make more. I don't think I've ever done more than three.

>Haven't seen that yet. But grim, I could add that to what type of god you want to be and certain people cultures.
Probably the best adventure genre anime for the last few years.

>Lots of posters probably do already and authors must know it.
No, that would actually be new to me. Sure, I know that people can imagine whatever they want since it's all fiction. But do people really feel the need to change every situation to become immortal hot chicks banging all the other hot chicks?
Why even bother clicking on the images if that is the case? Grab a few nouns from a random word generator and use that as a paintjob for your usual fantasy.

amen

The reasoning as was given to me is that since "obviously everyone" is going to spec towards being immortal, hot girls, or immortal hot girls, if the CYOA doesn't give you that for free or for negligible costs then all builds will be centered around that, thus it is poor game design to not include it.

I think quite a few anons are extremely narrow minded in their fantasies and interests, both authors and players alike. This is pretty evident when horribly autistic arguments break out over small details of no consequence. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say more than a few people Sartre content a bit to their liking. Not in the “I’m an immortal girl” way, but in much smaller ways. In fact, I think that’s preferable to obnoxious whining about minute issues.

You can do the same to fap with the CYOA instead of the author ruining it.

TFW disjointed viscera girl will never be real D:

Any sauce on that image btw?

>because a few losers scream really loudly if immortality is expensive, it should be free
How this place has fallen. Remember when cyoas weren't about being an immortal NEET with more chicks on your dick than you could count?
Gotta agree with this user. I'll take someone "cheating" over another thread dying thanks to memories or culling or what have you.

I didn't say I implemented it, just what the reasoning was. I'm not much for power fantasies anyway.

No idea where it's from but here it is.

I think the user you first replied to is just projecting a few perceived issues onto the thread as a whole. You see this shit a lot, where one or two anons being autists causes other anons to pull this “everyone is stupid, except me” thing, assuming every user is like that. Both are equally stupid, but it isn’t exactly surprising considering it’s a site wide phenomen. Hell, humanity wide.

>How this place has fallen. Remember when cyoas weren't about being an immortal NEET with more chicks on your dick than you could count?
I don't think that every cyoa has to include immortality, but if it does, I think his argument applies. Immortality is in almost all cases magnitudes better than every other option. If everybody is going to take it, may as well make it free or something.

Does ignoring the immortality/lifespan options count as Sartring? I want to have fun, not pick a bunch of drawbacks to balance the obviously the best, uninteractive choice

mortalityfags dont reply pls

>Immortality is in almost all cases magnitudes better than every other option
which is why it has to be expensive

Pleasant to see that you're still alive.

The line between Sartre and authors intentionally leaving things up to interpretation has a blurred line. IMO, if you’re straight up taking priced options for free, you’re on the wrong side of that line.

In order to be a man, you must be at least 18 and not a virgin.

Under 18 and a virgin? A boy.

Under 18 and lost your virginity? Still a boy.

Over 18 and a virgin? Still a boy.

Over 18 and lost your virginity? A man.

but that almost always just results in the same cookie-cutter min-max builds.

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any negatives with immortality or anything, but in a point based systems immortality almost always makes builds just way less interesting.

>but that almost always just results in the same cookie-cutter min-max builds.
making the "best" options free doesent fix that

making them more expensive does

I've actually been posting plenty of times with all the Monster Hunter discussions and hype going on. It's just preferable to remain anonymous at times. I also made super science not too long ago.

I just try to make things that interest me, or really get my imagination going. Occasionally it pays off as a complete project, and sometimes I move on. Also I'm quite busy of late, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

are you even reading what I'm writing?
Making immortality more expensive doesn't stop people from taking it. You could make immortality cost as much as everything else combined and it would likely still be the best option.
If everyone picks immortality, making immortality cost more does only one thing: it reduces the amount of points that people have to spend on the things that actually make them unique. Even worse is that instead of going for thematic choices, people are more likely to just go full pragmatism.

Appreciated senpai

>making the "best" options free doesent fix that
That's literally how you fix it. It's that or making it impossible to achieve with the options offered. The fuck are you on about!?

>people pretending /cyoag/ ever changes

if they want to be immortal and powerless then so be it, the best options must have the biggest drawbacks, be "it in option" or via cost

God I feel old and tired.

Where's the rest of this?

>Which is a bit surprising, given how the author turned out.
was that the /cgl/ girlfriend disney thing?

Anyone suggesting otherwise is new. The content may look different, authors come and go, but the song remains the same

The author is Tok, user. Although his eventual....Tokness was already in the cards, considering his first batch of drama concerned him reposting the fucking thing constantly