The Black Hare Log #6

The Black Hare is perhaps my biggest and most ambitious interactive fiction project yet. Given that I haven't worked on many others and certainly haven't shared the ones I have worked on with players (save for a few short ones for game jams, under a separate account), that may not be saying much. But there's a personal joy in working on this interactive fiction, with its routes and little features. 

And, as spring would have it, I come bearing more little features. 

 

 

Current Status

• Completed a quick sketch map of Talesmoth, a sprawling city with over 50 locations to explore.
• Heavily editing the previously completed Vigilante Route Prologue.
• Completed plot overview for each route.
• Playtested, identified areas for improvement in the coding for better player experience.  

The Map

Before I sat down and created the map of Talesmoth, it was a fragmented idea of a city in my mind. And when I started making the map, I had no particular concept of what I wanted it to look like, apart from some steampunk and gothic elements. Thankfully, that issue is no more. I took an hour to sketch out a basic idea of the map that I needed, and color-coded the buildings while mentally considering which quests would lead the player to which areas of the map.

Given that the game is an IF that won't have an interactive visual map (probably; we'll see 👀), I think the map I've created is more than suitable enough for the purposes of my game design. Having something I can look at and refer to helps me figure out how to help the story proceed.  

 

I want to note that I've been considering the fantasy elements in this story, and am teetering on the line between choosing to keep it its own separate entity or setting it in the same world as A Cure for Happiness, which has a very lush and vibrant fantasy setting. I am leaning more towards the former, but I've not made a decision yet either way. I think it would suit the steampunk/gothic/almost Victorian vibe of the game quite well. 

Prologue Edits

After taking the time to playtest and see the game with a fresher set of eyes, I've decided to include a few more puzzles or clues in the Prologue than originally intended. The Prologue, which is meant to serve as a tasting tray of all the different features found in the game, is perhaps a 20 minute experience. It includes an introduction to your journey and a choice of Main Route, followed by breakfast with one of two supporting characters (either Kane/Genevieve, or Lavender/Reed), after which you are free to explore the train as you please and interact with the other passengers and activities you can do on the train. Finally, there is a late evening meeting with one support character, and a good-bye scene at the Talesmoth Train Station where you usually end up making plans to meet the support character again at a later point. 

All of the activities must be completed thoroughly to ensure that players have explored all of the important elements of the game. In a way, it's like a tutorial for the game, letting you get a feel for the experience. From card games in the player's lounge to chatting with different characters in the vista car - or perhaps even snooping through guests' rooms - there are a lot of things to explore in the Prologue, and you're encouraged to explore it all, without leaving anything behind. Also, there are a few important clues that will come in handy later on in the game.

Because of this, I want to make sure that the Prologue is fun to play in all of its different moments, and right now, I'm not convinced that the scenes, as they stand, are all that interesting or engaging for readers/players. So, I'm revamping them slightly to give them more bounce, more life. And by slightly I actually mean significantly. 

I'm completely changing the way the evening meeting works across all routes/paths, I'm adding and changing elements in the breakfast scene, and while I'm happy with the train exploration elements, I would like to add a few more Core Trait-focused options (like how if you have a certain Core Trait, you can sneak into guest's rooms and explore).   

Ironing Out the Plot Framework

The plot finally has a general structure to it! For every single route/path that is taken, the general progression of the game will look like this:

1. Prologue - introduction to the game, your journey, core character personalization, support character, and game features 
2. Chapter 1 - you help your chosen support character with their first quest while exploring Talesmoth and trying to learn more about The Black Hare on your own
3. Chapter 2 - you help your chosen support character with their second quest while exploring Talesmoth and learning more about The Black Hare - often finding some odd overlaps and coincidences to do with your support character
4. Chapter 3 - you help your chosen support character with their third quest - things are starting to look a lot more suspicious now, but you can feel yourself getting closer to The Black Hare
5. Chapter 4 - you attend the grand gala event, where, if you play your cards right, you find what you seek, but at what cost?
6. Chapter 5 -  the final showdown, where you face a dilemma; a choice must be made, but what choice will you make in the end?
7. Epilogue - the aftermath + any unlocked secret endings