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Post by BookwyrmBOTPH on Jul 26, 2016 4:03:44 GMT
I never planned to copy Homestuck entirely or go for a regular "hey let's win Sburb Sverb normally" type adventure; SR is currently seeming like the latter, but will deviate quite a bit from this in the future. I do have ideas to keep it interesting in the meantime, though - adding new mechanics, twisting around and even overlapping some of the existing ones, unique Medium entry setups. Personally, I think the best way to handle an adventure is to start with a "regular" Sburb session, then add something else to it - something going wrong, a unique outside force, stuff like that, but of course not taking too many ideas from Homestuck, and while still having a bit of a focus on the session itself. I always felt Lands were a bit underexplored, even in Homestuck. I definitely agree a lot of Sburbventures suffer from pacing issues. I think each character should have a decent amount of time to be introduced and acquainted with the reader, instead of rushing to introduce everyone and their sprite and their god tier title and their Land and their dream moon all as soon as possible; as a reader, that makes the adventure overwhelming and its characters almost impossible to remember. I also have a bit of a pet peeve when Lands become introduced, then are immediately referred to by acronyms and only acronyms. "What even is a LOCAF." Personally, I think the biggest reason behind pacing issues is from authors becoming too excited to reveal all their cool plans - like the twist of who dies, or what sort of unique powers a character will gain upon god tier ascension, or some crazy sprite shenanigan. I think it's easy for such plans to make current parts of the story seem "boring" in comparison. My advice to authors struggling with this idea anxiousness is to compensate by finding ways to make earlier situations more interesting, rather than skipping to the planned future scenarios. Have fun with the characters, play around with pre/early-game setups, try to appreciate each moment for what it is, maybe even hint at your plans without revealing too much about them. Just think of it from a reader perspective - keeping things like god tier titles or important plot points a mystery for a long time before revealing them gives them a lot more impact than suddenly skipping to and revealing it all, right? Mystery is one of the biggest things that made Homestuck so great, after all. Also, try to make the characters themselves interesting - they're the most important part of any story, at least in my opinion. And interesting characters usually lead to interesting scenarios, too. Anyway, thanks for the responses regarding consorts. I think I'll take the time to make them unique, after all. I just wasn't sure if fanmade consorts were a thing that irked people or not, but I still stand by my decision to include fan classpects despite knowing those bother some people, so I guess it was somewhat silly of me to ask about consorts, hehe. I don't want to say a whole lot about this since talking too much about my plans for Dreamscape will be delving into spoiler territory, but I can 100% agree with you that "regular" Sburb sessions are made much more interesting with the addition of something unique to that session. Personally, I think that having an antagonist that's a bit more interesting than just the Black King and Queen is an important factor, or at least creating some sort of barrier to the player's success rather than just the Dersite Monarchs, as I feel like without more development they're sort of flat character-wise. In general, I feel like the Homestuck format and Sburb/The Medium as a setting should not be the focus of the story but rather a vehicle to tell an interesting story about the characters. That was why Homestuck never went into detail about the classpect system, the denizens, or other "normal" Sburb mechanics, because that was never the point of the story. My hope in making my fan adventure is that if you replaced all references to Sburb and didn't do it in an MSPA format, that the overall plot and character arcs can still hold up. Pacing issues is one of the things I've had in mind since I started planning Dreamscape, since I have pretty much all of the major events planned out up to the end of the comic, and the introductory Act 1 portion so far is proving to be the most difficult plot-wise. Most of what I've got planned right now is setup and foreshadowing for later events, but it's definitely hard to resist immediately jumping to things like god tiers and plot developments. I've personally gone back and reread Acts 1 and 2 as well as the trolls portion of Act 5 over and over to help me find a happy medium in terms of pacing, since I know I can't spend as much time on my characters as the Beta Kids had, but also not as little as the Trolls session got. I think that one way to help address pacing issues could be having a second person who's not involved with the creation of the comic itself, but is familiar with the full plot of your adventure. That way, they can help from the position of an informed reader to let you know if you're moving to fast or getting too bogged down in trivialities. In fact, if anyone who frequents this forum would like to be my second pair of eyes, I've been looking for someone to help me do just that. If you're interested, let me know. I'd also be happy to do the same for anyone here if I have the time. |
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technotoad
Juvesquirt
Posts: 16
Pronouns: she/her/hers
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Post by technotoad on Jul 26, 2016 19:34:49 GMT
Yeah, having a pinned post, instead of just an open topic, would be a good idea. Although that makes me wonder if it would be edited from time to time, because it feels like there's still tons we could talk about and haven't covered yet, that would thus need to be added to said "Tips" column. Well irc, the tgchan " Advice for Running a Quest" page was posted somewhere in the first version of this sticky |
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Post by continuityofficer on Jul 27, 2016 11:47:52 GMT
OK, so i've finally been able to release a twist in my adventure that I had planned from the beginning (or extremely close to the beginning) and i'm super excited about that because I think it was one of the best strokes of genius i've ever had (if i've ever had any).
That said, i've had a couple of twists i had planned dissapear over time due to changes in the story, and i'm worried I might have left some potential loose ends. What should I do in this kind of situation. Should I ask people when I start approaching the end of the story to tell me any loose ends that they want to see covered incase i forgot them.
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immemorAugur
Bravesprout
"I'm a Wizard, Lizard, and about to cast a Blizzard." -My level 109 Argonian mage
Posts: 88
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Post by immemorAugur on Aug 3, 2016 0:16:58 GMT
I have a random question. While picking out background music, I saw an advertisement for a movie called hardcore henry, you probably already know its filmed completely form a first person perspective, and it got me wondering: Has anyone done that with an adventure yet? Would this kind of medium even lend itself well to that type of perspective? I thought about dropping this is the u4g thread but I don't know if I want to do it myself. Just wondering what the community would think of something like that.
EDIT: Quick clarification, mostly for myself because I feel like that might have been rather vague: I specifically mean the drawing perspective. Because we always see the protagonist, but we never see what it looks like to them. I don't think the writing perspective would change at all, likely it would remain in 2nd person because I just think that fits these things better regardless, but again, I mean the way everything is drawn. That probably wasn't all that confusing for everyone else but you know how when you stare at a post for long enough you notice those errors that only you pick up? It might have been that but whatever
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Post by continuityofficer on Aug 3, 2016 0:25:02 GMT
first perspective would probably do really well. It does naturally well for twists, and it might help with the 'you' immersion.
That said, its harder to draw.
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Post by tailortf on Aug 3, 2016 0:26:48 GMT
Well, 1st person puzzlers aren't unheard of, like Myst and such. That'd be a pretty simple way to make a 1st person forum adventure.
However, a 1st person more action or story-oriented adventure isn't something I've heard of before, so that could be a pretty cool idea (and probably good practice for drawing strange angles).
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immemorAugur
Bravesprout
"I'm a Wizard, Lizard, and about to cast a Blizzard." -My level 109 Argonian mage
Posts: 88
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Post by immemorAugur on Aug 3, 2016 0:39:49 GMT
Well, 1st person puzzlers aren't unheard of, like Myst and such. That'd be a pretty simple way to make a 1st person forum adventure. However, a 1st person more action or story-oriented adventure isn't something I've heard of before, so that could be a pretty cool idea (and probably good practice for drawing strange angles). Yeah, drawing everything in constantly shifting perspective would be way more difficult especially since you can't be as lazy and reuse sprites. Or I guess you could but I think that wouldn't look all too great. What's Myst? I don't think I've heard of that. Though I kind of live under a rock, so it might be really popular and I just don't know it. |
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Post by tailortf on Aug 3, 2016 0:48:28 GMT
Yeah, Myst is pretty popular, though it's more of a 90s thing I think. It was a whole series of 1st person puzzle adventure games, it basically made the whole 1st person puzzle thing that stuff like The Witness uses now popular. I just sorta brought it up as an example of how you could make a 1st person forum adventure easily - just make it a series of puzzles.
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immemorAugur
Bravesprout
"I'm a Wizard, Lizard, and about to cast a Blizzard." -My level 109 Argonian mage
Posts: 88
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Post by immemorAugur on Aug 3, 2016 1:11:58 GMT
Yeah, Myst is pretty popular, though it's more of a 90s thing I think. It was a whole series of 1st person puzzle adventure games, it basically made the whole 1st person puzzle thing that stuff like The Witness uses now popular. I just sorta brought it up as an example of how you could make a 1st person forum adventure easily - just make it a series of puzzles. But since when has easy been the most fun option? I'm kidding i'm a rather lazy person, however I have not done puzzles in years. I could keep it as a possibility, though I might not be able to two things that strain my brain at the same time all that well. |
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quixoticTokki
Void
baby gangsta
Posts: 702
Pronouns: she/her/hers
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Post by quixoticTokki on Aug 3, 2016 3:56:12 GMT
First person could work well with an escape-the-room type scenario. You could cheat a little and just have perspectives of each of the four walls, plus more detailed looks at things when you needed. It sounds simple, but I've played point and click games like that which still had a cool story underneath it all.
I don't see why you couldn't do something like that as an adventure.
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The One Guy
Rust Maid
Posts: 1,148
Pronouns: he/him/his
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Post by The One Guy on Aug 3, 2016 16:31:17 GMT
I've seen a few first person adventures before (but all on the old forums, so I can't really link to them). I feel like it's less about mechanics and more about atmosphere. And really you should choose the perspective to fit the adventure, not choose the adventure to fit the perspective.
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Post by Arashi500 on Aug 3, 2016 19:58:03 GMT
I don't think I've read any first person adventures myself, but I can prolly predict a few of the pros and cons of one, at least as I'm imagining it. For pros: you'd get a lot of dynamic poses, action would feel more visceral, and it could add to the second-person-perspective narrative that most adventures use. Cons: You'd have to be careful with your visual composition, because it's easy to lose the illusion of perspective and depth of first-person if your composition doesn't make sense. You'd also be limiting the audience's field of view, so making the most out of what you do have will be critical.
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Post by therationaldove on Aug 17, 2016 22:24:04 GMT
This is not related to anything, but I have finally started updating my adventures again! I feel so bad for my audiance  As far as FPAs go: It would be an interesting technique, but I also feel like it would have to be more than just a gimmick. Like, there should be a reason why you choose that kind of setup over something else. The use of first person might be a good idea if you want to heighten perception or you want the audience to only see through one person's eyes (literally.) |
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Post by oven on Aug 19, 2016 3:28:14 GMT
So this thread is the fanventure general, right? I hope I'm asking this in the right place :\
Anyway, does anybody know when oceanfalls' resuming? did the author say anything about it?
It's been like 2 months..
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Post by Sharkalien on Aug 19, 2016 4:31:57 GMT
She said she had to handle some serious business IRL. Here, I'll quote her: Sorry the update is so late, but I am trying my best to make it a really good one! hopefully!! I've been working very hard on it!!! But just a heads-up I'll probably be on hiatus before finally updating for a while. I know I said I'd update soon before, but my current irl situation has gotten suddenly very heavy right now so I couldn't really work on the adventure. But I'm staying positive! Neverending hiatuses seem to be the fate of most adventures on MSPFA, but I promise I wont abandon my adventure!! the hiatus wont be very long too, hopefully! See you soon! |
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Post by Sharkalien on Aug 20, 2016 2:48:29 GMT
Spoilers ahead, maybe. What do you guys think of this? Honest opinions pls: |
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quixoticTokki
Void
baby gangsta
Posts: 702
Pronouns: she/her/hers
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Post by quixoticTokki on Aug 20, 2016 3:30:01 GMT
Spoilers ahead, maybe. What do you guys think of this? Honest opinions pls: I like her! She's cute. I kind of wish her glasses were connected though, lol. |
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Post by Sharkalien on Aug 20, 2016 3:52:35 GMT
I like her! She's cute. I kind of wish her glasses were connected though, lol. Curiously satisfied |
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Post by Piono on Aug 20, 2016 23:57:46 GMT
That's a wonderful sprite. I like it a lot.
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Post by Sharkalien on Aug 21, 2016 0:06:31 GMT
I'm glad you guys think so! I made it just yesterday, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I can finish the others
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NeoTTolemo
Gadabout Pipsqueak
Posts: 126
Pronouns: he/him/his
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Post by NeoTTolemo on Aug 22, 2016 20:10:39 GMT
Ok so when is it acceptable for a fanventure to update without reader prompts?
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Post by Piono on Aug 22, 2016 20:21:50 GMT
Well, either when you've waited for a day and gotten no prompts, or when you paused reader prompts to do a cutscene.
I think that about summarizes it.
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Post by Arashi500 on Aug 22, 2016 22:34:43 GMT
Ok so when is it acceptable for a fanventure to update without reader prompts? Dealer's Author's Choice, really. But if you want to leave the best impression on your readers, it'd prolly be best to wait the same length of time as you would normally allot to see responses so as to keep updates coming at as consistent a rate as possible. Maybe add half again as much time (so 150% of your normal interval length) if you feel like giving potential commentators some leniency, but then you risk slowing down the whole adventure on the chance that someone will submit a command before you next update. |
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Post by therationaldove on Aug 23, 2016 0:32:32 GMT
Yeah, I agree with this. I try to update my fan adventures once a week at least, twice if I have a bunch of responses. I tend to have some story lines and things for the characters to do in case I need to update without any responces.
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loading
Raise of the Conductor's Baton
Posts: 435
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Post by loading on Aug 23, 2016 0:36:35 GMT
I feel like it may be a little late to ask this but does anybody mind the whole thing going on with ThreadStuck trying to infiltrate as many stories as he can? Personally I love the way you guys have been handling it, I just want to make sure I'm not upsetting anyone with it.
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