/cyoag/ - CYOA General

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OK, /cyoag/ what do you look for in a companion section?

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nothing cute about morally questionable precursors that are all either uploaded consciousnesses or so cybernetically enhanced that they don't look like living things
i'm in the middle of the missions, which is the last section, but it's still very slow work because it's where a good half of the writing is located
after this i also intend to rewrite all of the contacts/acquaintances so that they all fit uniformly into their allotted space - and then i have to create an additional page or two/three to include the unfallen, their heroes, their quests, the fighter/bombers added post-release, and the few random heroes that got added after release like the photobomber.
have fat laughing fish, the best hero, as a gift for waiting so patiently. sadly, i lost the webm, so you'll have to make do with a still image of him.

Alright fellas, I'm gonna try my hand at getting into the CYOA game, what would be some pointers you guys have for a beginner?

someone who can unfuck my builds problems

and waifus

Wasn't there a Water World CYOA out there (not the one with the submarines)?

While a lot more art is created favoring female characters rather than males, I usually enjoy a Male/Female balance between 1/1 and 1/2

Nobody wants males.

>OK, /cyoag/ what do you look for in a companion section?
What's the point of asking when you know the answer? Mostly everyone here are going to say "waifus!" This is why opener questions are stupid.

don't bite off more than you can chew - aim for something achievable in a reasonable amount of time before you stop caring about it and only come back months later
interesting ones that fit thematically with the build that i've created
i tend to purposely shy away from blatant waifu-bait and sexual stuff too

Start small. 1 or 2 pages can make a compelling CYOA, and you can probably get a few good sections of content out of that.
When writing companions, specific objects, or places, it helps to start from the picture. Find art that's close to what you want the feel to be, then make your writing match the image.

None of the male options in pic related have been orphaned, strangely enough

Speak for yourself, Tok.

>male options in pic related
Aw hell, forgot my image

Ain’t that the truth. Build and balance always comes first.

Not so much waifus, so much as I know I have needs. It’s like knowing where your next meal is coming from.

Eschew fancy design
Focus on readability (font size, font choice) as well as having text boxes and properly colored text
Don't try anything with points or companions
Mystery boxes are a godsend

Don't make your Cyoa cover more than 3 pics if you want replies

Space Refugee and some versions of Stardust cover more and those two are some of the most tremendously popular CYOAs to exist.

Yeah but you don't make Stardust as your absolute first cyoa

You don't know until you try. You're not going to suddenly make a good, large CYOA by spamming a bunch of choose-one trash. The skillsets are different. It takes actually trying to make something big, and your failures there will teach you how to do it better.

Post the CYOAs you've made to substantiate that massive claim

As a fairly recent author, has an OK gist. I'd say 4 or 5 pages is still fine, though? Of course, you're not wrong, you're not going to go from Magic Pills to PPP+. But a solid 3-4 page CYOA does exercise the skills you need to make a longer good CYOA like Royal Revival or Space Opera Battle Waifu.

Post yours.

The burden of proof is on you

Oh wait no you're fucking retarded and have never made a CYOA. Biting off more than I could chew was literally the first mistake I ever made as an author and I've never done so since. Started small then worked up to a 3+ page cyoa

Pastebin has a list of sites for finding images. There is also a stand alone java program listed in there that will do a basic layout / design for you. Just plug in images and text from what I've seen.

Not everyone is comfortable with making something big to start with, not everyone wants to limit themselves by starting small. Besides, what matters most is the idea, and how much material you can create with that idea. A boring CYOA won't have readers after the first paragraph no matter how many pages there are.

Tits....and not being an absolute cunt.

Disable anti-aliasing, turn on hinting, use a font with a good kerning and when using outlines ensure that the contrast between the background isn't too jarring or you risk making the text difficult to read.

Fading two thematic images on the top and bottom layered above something similarly colored is a 2 minute process that can make a decent looking aesthetic.

Try to stick to short and flavorful descriptions.

>The burden of proof is on you
You made the first assertion though.

Don't use supersaturated colors or colors that clash so bad they hurt the eyes to look at, like bright blue on bright red.

Keep your font size legible for everyone. Many anons have bad eyesight and if it's not readable then you lose out on potential audience. Also don't use a fancy font for anything but a header/title. The shape of the letters should be easily distinguishable for body text....this doesn't mean you have to use Arial but there's also nothing wrong with that.

Don't stretch/smoosh images. Crop them to your image frames. SDA has some tutorials that you can find on his drive or in the mega collection on "how to" if you're using photoshop. Otherwise perhaps start with that java program CYOA Studio that'll do the heavy lifting for you for layout.

Pick a subject you find interesting/FUN. If you don't enjoy what you're making it'll turn out to be crap.

Also KISS. Keep It Simple Simon. Don't go overboard on some complex point system and multiple stats.

Thalassonia by SymbioteAnon?

Label your cyoa with some sort of moniker/handle so people can ask you questions directly or they'll name you themselves. Just because you put a name in a cyoa doesn't mean you have to name fag and it seems that's usually not preferred anyway, unless you're an attention whore.

Put version numbers on your cyoa so people know what the newest version is. Putting it in the file name is good but people change file names all the time.

I don't remember names at all. If ya got it, post it please.

>Tits....and not being an absolute cunt.
>not being an absolute cunt.
Shit taste.

Sure
1/3

Just thought of a good one. Make sure to name your CYOA, preferably uniquely. Especially if you don't include some alias as an author somewhere on there.

It's annoying to remember which unamed unauthored CYOA is which just by the tags and forces us to write archiving scripts/programs with the idea that the names might not be reliably unique.

2/3

Twin CYOA 2.0 WIP posting

The only thing WIP is that there's just more content that needs to be added its perfectly playable at the moment

...

Ah yis. Been waiting for this one.
Shame I'm so sick and have to turn in early or I'd make a build.

>there's just more content that needs to be added
How much/ what other stuff we talkin' bout here.

Can someone post the world building cyoa that provided examples along the lines of "x+y+Z will give 40k universe". Thanks in advance.

Friends and girl/boyfriends obviously
House and setting, might include fantasy settings and/or sci fi settings but that could be for addon content later also maybe jobs/schools but this part is not set in stone at all
Goals/Plot hooks
And especially magic

3/3
can't seem to get my net to upload the last one. Here's a link to the mega with them in it. Will keep trying...

mega.nz/#F!SUJQyTAA!9MhQG9v-drQsIRSvDfqPdg

I disagree with fraternal twins only being able to share one trait and one hobby. There's no real reason for it.

>Friends and girl/boyfriends obviously
Who needs girl/boyfriends when we have a twin
All this shit sounds good. Keep up the good work lil author user.

Got you covered

mandatory time-stop chill zone post

...

>males have to have penises
>females have to have vaginas
nazi scum.

Looks good kitten

>Shellfolk
>Mage Sphere
>Blocking, Forging, Enchantment
>Shell Shield, Coral Staff
>Xianta, Thresh, Syria

>Monsters of the Deep
Kiandra went to sacrifice herself to save her students, but nobody expected the invincible crab-man to show up and buy enough time for her to escape after all. After helping in that crusade, we became formal buddies.
>Protect the Princess
I humbly reject the princess' hand in exchange for cash.
>The Maelstrom King
Apparently the Maelstrom king had a mentor he betrayed and thought he killed. I met this grizzled old squid and he taught me some crazy undersea martial arts, granting me Weapon Mastery.

>Intrinsic Memory
>Intrinsic Stars
>Intrinsic Familiar x2
Always able to teleport anywhere because never forget, and able to 3x luck modulate whenever. Either luck myself out and wait for good shit or go and curse the shit out of other people.

Include some non-romantic friends too. Maybe some other family.
Shoot for comfy magic, not robe and wizard hat.

I find myself picking mostly dudes in most cyoas, might be that the authors just write more useful things about them usually

Thanks! Living in the boonies gives me crap internet at times.

Looks good so far.

>single mothers get more choices than 2 parents in a healthy, loving relationship
Objectively wrong, though.

>Horarium

Vagina
>Refactored Production

General
>Void Adaption
>Artificial Neoteny

Advanced Augmentation
>Power Stacks
>Supplemented Musculature
>Glacier Mind- Athena, Ares, Dionysus
>Sublinguistics Package

Training Courses
>Neokama Tantrism
>Pilot School
>Marketeering Class

Ship Class
>Courier Yacht

Purchases
>Boosted Engines
>Cargo Bay Extension
>Processing Bay
>Support Hardpoints
>Hydroponics Bay
>Processing Platform
>Additional Augment x3
>Familiar Personality- A mix of Comptroller and Assertive
>Designer Lifeform w/ Voucher

Familiars Choices

>Pumila

Penis
>Enhanced Gonads

General
>Void Adaption

Advanced Augmentation
>Glaciermind- Athena and Dionysus
>Computronium Tissue

Training Courses
>Stellar Navigation
>Naval Engineering Applications
>Marketeering Class
>Neokama Tantrism
>Pilot School

>this could go rather badly if you say the wrong thing. "oh and by the way, I picked someone else over you so I cant stay with you"

Yeah... Maybe not the best idea. I'd at least like to fuck up Penelope's bullies. No one deserves what she's going through.

upon further evaluation, I've noticed that the sjw author actually put a trans option in the cyoa.

>Merrow
>Abyss
Survive anywhere
>Weapon master
>Blocking
>Shape mimic
Good at combat, can grow tentacles and shell if need be

>Magma trident
>Coral staff
I have air and "fire" under water, im sure I can pull off some cool tricks with this

>Sea-drift
>Tia
>Hammon
Team should offers good support and they all seem like nice people who are really goin places

>Strangers
>Abomination
Shellfolk
>Protect the princess
Hope ill be a good king

the 2 parents get 2 options each, so more total options. I'm fine with this compromise for balance purposes even if it's wrong.

So I took some feedback from last thread about the map, updated the Not!Korea region. Look better now?

Also to all the people who posted nations, what if instead of them being nations, your suggestions were of vassal provinces of the nation that one could have as stewards of an area? So the Bakun Isles suggestion would be stewards of the islands and servants of you, the player.

...

Ehhh, not so big about that idea but it's your CYOA. Good improvement on the map, though.

Kingdom: Monster CYOA when?

...

>Archetype
Columnae (and all of Column B)

>Chest
Structural Reinforcement
Variance Compressor (I assume this also covers the gap from tits to pecs)

Vagina
>Optimized Channel
>Surplus Musculature

Permanent Activation seems like too much of a hassle. I can wait a couple minutes if need be.

Penis
>Toggleable (Dirk Diggler sized, but I'll make it toggleable for formal events, funerals, etc.)
>Embellished Shaft
>Enhanced Gonads

General
>Void Adaptation
>Kustom Mods (Veeky Forums as fuck, prehensile tongue)

It's the future. Why limit myself when there's a universe of freaky space sex to explore? I will be a living good of hedonistic excess.

Advanced Augmentation
>Robust Cybercolony (nanomachines, son)
>Sublinguistics Package
>Pygmalion Carapace (I think I've made hotswap genitalia kind of irrelevant for my purposes)
>Ψ Initiation
>Supplemented Musculature

Training Courses
>Naval Operations Training (free)
>Command Academy
>Marketeering (Capitalism, ho!)
>Ψ Discipline

Ship Class
Mobile Habitat (like Babylon 5, a melting pot of different cultures and societies to promote diplomacy, the sciences, and the arts. There will be a central technological hub that can be adjusted at the inhabitant's choice.)

Design Elements
>Passenger Quarters (permanent settlement is the goal, but allowing for temporary stays can help the ship serve as a vacation destination of sorts for travellers and migrants)
>Gravity Settings

Crew
>Voidsmen
>Commandants (no psychers here, though)
>Engineers + Horologists
>Reseachers + Arcanists
>Bioreactors + Crucibles
>Negotiators + Sirens (some matters may have to be negotiated in my quarters)
>Security Crew (no psychers again)

Bridge Crew
>Tenni (for her intellect and analytical skills, obviously)
>Xora the Peregrine (ooh, baby)

Crew Uniforms
>Functional (for crew)
>Daring (for bridge crew, just don't tell HR)

(1/2)

So, how do I "play" this CYOA?

Purchases
>Biodome (Internal, Free, x1)
>Shuttle Dock (External, -1)
>Hydroponics Bay (Internal, -1)
>Laboratory (Internal, -1)
>Meddeck (Internal, -2)

Crew
>Augment Assistance Program (-2) (Glacier Mind, Athena Architecture for Engineers, Researchers, and Negotiators)
>Ψ Conclave x3 (-3)

Personal
>Additional Augment x2 (-4)
>Tuition (-1)

Launch
>Merchant (at least at the start, since it'll help pay the bills and keep the lights on while connecting us to different worlds)

And I'm all set. My body is maximized for power and built for adaptation, while my ship should hopefully serve as an interesting diplomatic/cultural experiment. Given the tensions with the Juxubus Hierarchy, that may be just what the doctor ordered. In any event, I have a whole universe to explore. 10/10, would awake from stasis again.

(2/2)

Shouldn't the younger age options get more hobbies? It seems intuitive because when you're young you have more free time, and it would serve as a benefit for having to endure puberty again.

Any way to not be blood related?

Fuck yes, been waiting for this.

>Twin type: heterozygotic (male and female)
>Age: 18
>Body type: cute boy (me), cutesy (her)
>Hobbies: sports (fencing), creative writing, gardening (me), cosmetics, cooking, cosplay (her)
>Personality traits: quiet, smart, gentle (me), charismatic, gentle, honest (her)
>Relationship: inseparable
>Parents: together
>Mom: role model, extra loving
>Dad: lenient, extra loving
>Parent trait: supermodels

Can't wait for the update user.

>twins
>not blood-related

Then you're not twins, user.

It's magic. We could be doppelgangers.

I can sex my twin?

Well, would you fuck you?

...

> sex my twin
> sex my trap twin
> sex my trap twin while I am not a trap
> sex my trap twin while I am not a trap, but my single mother is also a trap and encourage sexual endeavors between the hole'some family

>trap twin
Jesus Christ why did I not think of that.

Even degeneracy such as this can be considered art.

>Ehhh, not so big about that idea but it's your CYOA. Good improvement on the map, though.
Thanks.

What would you suggest? I recall asking people if they'd prefer other nations being already there and the players picking last, and most responded with a no.

However it would make this feel less like a power fantasy.

>mfw dickscord-user got purged

Sometimes /cyoag/ has great ideas.

Would having a choice between two narrators be inadvisable? The cyoa itself will stay pretty much the same, only with different flavour text and a single option having similar but different results based on which narrator you choose.

There was a cyoa that did that semi recently. You chose different paths and each path has its own set of adventures/stuff/companions inside the whole cyoa storyline. Like you chose natives or city and each path was similar but from the viewpoints of what/who you chose to help/become part of.

Seems like a waste of a gimmick to me. Now, if each narrator had exclusive options that were on their side of the screen...
It does feel like you'd need to limit your writing to make it fit within the format. Like, you have a paragraph with 100 letters centered, with the gimmick you would have 2 paragraphs in the sides of the page, each having max 75 characters,

This one?

...

...

...

I was going to do a single small page where you pick the Narrator, and then the second page will be done twice with each narrator.
I guess it is a waste of a gimmick, but I don't mind. It's more for about recognising the source material really.

...

Did you miss the update?

There was a thread with CYOA a few days ago that had conclusions, it was about a martial arts fight and you got to choose your rewards. Are there any more like that one?

Thats it. I'm now making a pair of super Aryans who will hunt down and purge this kind of degeneracy

who have a secret hardcore BDSM fetish. She's the dom

Yeah that's the one.

Posting this again, BECAUSE...

...I made a sequel, for all the boob-minded anons out there who'd prefer something up top instead.

You can combine the scenario from both cyoas if you want, so that's why I avoided repeat options, since you can pick up ones you want on one as well as the other.

Enjoy.

Last time I couldn't understand if I had to become a female in this cyoa, is that true? The answer will determine if I will think this is a great cyoa or a terrible one. The hint is I am a heteroman and not a crazy tranny

>Last time I couldn't understand if I had to become a female in this cyoa
So, you didn't read it and find the be the girl option? I'd think that would make it pretty clear.