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games and words

@hpowellsmith / hpowellsmith.tumblr.com

royal affairs @choiceofgames out now! honor bound wip | noblesse oblige, crème de la crème, blood money | king of the castle, fallen london, love island | they/them
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Hey! I’m a narrative designer making games and stories. My pronouns are they/them.

I’ve created four games with Choice of Games and have one in progress. That's what I mostly post about on here! I also worked on King of the Castle, Love Island the Game, made an Exceptional Story for Fallen London, and created lots of interactive fiction. Find more on my project page!

If you're interested in skintone references for characters in the Creme de la Creme series, there is a collection here based on the Humanae Project; there are also character descriptions on each of the Creme de la Creme forum threads. I also have a small FAQ post: feel free to ask me questions if you don't see yours there.

On my Patreon you can find in-depth progress reports, early access game chapters, and more! You can also tip me on my ko-fi!

Buy Blood Money, Crème de la Crème, and Noblesse Oblige on Steam at a discount in the aptly-named Harris Powell-Smith bundle!

Crème de la Crème Series:

My series of standalone games with different protagonists in the same setting. Expect romance, dark academia, and intrigue!

Book 1: Crème de la Crème. Climb to the very top of the class at your exclusive private school for socialites! Will you study hard, find a perfect match, or embrace scandal? A 440,000 word interactive novel published with Choice of Games. Winner of the 2019 XYZZY Awards for interactive fiction (Best Game, Best Writing, Best Story)

STEAM | PLAY STORE | APP STORE | FORUM THREAD

Book 2: Noblesse Oblige. Spark romance amid secrets in a crumbling mansion! What will you sacrifice for love? Can you trust your own heart? A 140,000 word interactive gothic novella published with Choice of Games.

STEAM | PLAY STORE | APP STORE | FORUM THREAD

Book 3: Royal Affairs. At your exclusive boarding school, will you rule the roost or be a royal disaster? Court publicity, sway the fate of nations, and find love! A 440,000 word interactive novel published with Choice of Games.

STEAM | PLAY STORE | APP STORE | FORUM THREAD

Book 4: Honor Bound (WIP). Protect an elite boarding school from peril as a military bodyguard!

Honor Bound is an interactive novel currently in development, under contract for publication with Choice of Games. Read more about it here, on its announcement post, and on the Honor Bound tag on my blog.

STEAM | PATREON DEMO | PUBLIC DEMO

Blood Money: By the power of your blood, you and your ghosts will take over your crime family! A standalone dark fantasy 290,000 word interactive novel published with Choice of Games. Selected for exhibit at AdventureX 2018.

STEAM | PLAY STORE | APP STORE | FORUM THREAD

#choice of games#interactive fiction#game#royal affairs#blood money#creme de la creme#noblesse oblige#creme de la creme series#honor bound#indie games#text games#king of the castle#love island the game#amare games#game writing#romance games
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Along with 50+ authors and artists, I'm contributing to the Interactive Fiction Community Raffle for Palestine coordinated by @northern-passage! The raffle is running until 21st June and you can enter by donating 5USD/5€ to one of five verified fundraising campaigns.

If you win my prize, I will write you:

An interactive playable date scene with an RO or polyamorous duo of your choice from one of my released games or WIP. Non-explicit - please specify if you’d like a kiss and/or fade-to-black included in the scene.

Characters you can request are from Crème de la Crème, Noblesse Oblige, Royal Affairs, Honor Bound, and Blood Money from Choice of Games (find out more about them here), or from my other interactive fiction here.

Check out the other prizes on offer here and enter the raffle here!

Please share - we'd like to raise as much as we can for these fundraisers before 21st June!

#interactive fiction#choicescript games#creme de la creme series
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pts-fic-notes-and-blog asked:

I just read your answer to the ask about Noblesse Oblige face claims, and I was really impressed by how concisely you managed to specify what you wanted your characters to look like.

When describing characters' appearances, what kind of things do you do to capture their look so effectively?

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(this is referring to this post!)

I really appreciate that! Honestly, it's been quite a journey getting more comfortable/confident with describing characters in detail, because I don't always visualise images in my mind very clearly and rarely imagine images like watching a film when I read. The characters in Noblesse Oblige and Honor Bound have felt visually clearer in my head than ones in my earlier games, even though I've have a strong sense of their personalities and mannerisms throughout all of them.

In short, as I've written more, I've got better at it.

I tend to write the sort of descriptions I like to read. With all descriptions I want it to make sense why the narrative is focusing on them. So if an MC and NPC are having a chat about something important, I'll likely not linger on their blonde hair or brown eyes unless the MC happens to have got distracted by how nice the NPC looks today or is specifically looking into their eyes for whatever reason. Unless there's a reason to mention it, the details are incidental and can become repetitive and distracting.

If the character's appearance is unusual or has changed, or the MC is romantically interested in the NPC, that's more of a reason for me to focus on particular elements but I try to vary it.

I also like thinking about non-visual elements. When I've included MC heights and builds, I keep track of where NPCs are physically and how they stand in relation to the MC, whether they're looking up or down to talk to them or how far the MC's arms go round them if they have a hug. When an MC gets physically close to them (friendly, romantically, for practical reasons, etc) I try to think about details like how they smell, how their body and limbs feel, what facial or body hair they have, how their voice sounds and so on.

In particular when writing kiss scenes or anything else more intimate, I focus on showing what they're feeling about the MC and the moment, and how their body feels to touch as well as how they look. It makes the scene feel more grounded in reality for me and less like I'm posing action figures!

Even when they're not physically close to each other, I try to think about how characters move, sit, or stand, and what it's like to see them across a room. All of this combined with their dialogue helps make them feel like a fleshed-out character rather than a stationary cardboard cutout or a talking doll. If I can picture how someone talks and looks while they're doing something else, like eating dinner, cleaning, walking, fighting, pulling up weeds, etc, I can better translate that onto the page.

Thank you for the ask, it was really interesting to think about!

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northern-passage

Here are our contributors for the Interactive Fiction Raffle for Palestine!

Over 50 artists and authors from the IF community here on tumblr have joined together to run a donation drive this month! The raffle will be running from June 7th - June 21st. A separate post will be made with more information, including the rules and ticket submission form, once we're ready to launch.

Our goal is to raise as much money as possible for five specific fundraisers; we hope with us focusing our efforts we'll be able to make a tangible impact for these families. Tickets will be the equivalent of the minimum GoFundMe donation ($5USD/€5), and you will be donating directly to the families and then providing us proof of donation in exchange for your ticket(s).

We plan to raffle off all prizes. Below the cut is the list of contributors for both prize tiers, along with the prize they'll be offering. (Beware, this is a long post.)

#interactive fiction#raffle for palestine
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northern-passage

Interactive Fiction Community Raffle for Palestine!

Over 50 authors and artists from the Interactive Fiction community here on tumblr have come together to offer an array of prizes for a focused donation drive! We are aiming to raise as much money as possible for five families who are currently trying to evacuate Gaza. These fundraisers have been vetted by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi (thank you for your hard work!)

RULES:

  1. You MUST donate a minimum of €5/$5 USD to one of these five fundraisers to qualify for a ticket. These are the currencies the GFMs are in (3 in euro, 2 in USD). We chose this amount because it is the minimum GFM allows and we are hoping to encourage as many donations as possible. Please be mindful that GFM does not show the conversion rate if you're donating outside your currency.
  2. Donating once to all five GFMs will get you five tickets. And for each extra 5 you donate, you will get an extra ticket. (ie donating 10 to one GFM gets you 2 tickets, 15 gets you 3, etc.)
  3. There are two tiers we will be pulling prizes from: one tier for writing, and one tier for art. When you submit your proof of donation, you will be asked to specify which tier you want your ticket to go towards. If you are submitting for more than one ticket, you will specify the tiers for each ticket-- you can spread them out between both tiers or put them all towards one.
  4. You will be required to share a receipt/proof of donation via uploading a picture through google forms. We will not be handling any money. You are donating directly to the GFMs, and then showing us proof that you have done so. Please include the GFM and the amount you've donated in the screenshot you upload. We are only taking donations starting from June 7th onward.
  5. We plan to raffle off all possible prizes using a random generator. Once the drive concludes on the 21st, we'll take a few days to gather up & organize the tickets and draw names, and then we will be in touch with winners both on tumblr and via email.

You can find the full list of contributors and prizes here.

Please understand that these prizes are pulled blind and assigned at random. You cannot pick or choose which writer/IF or artist you get. It is completely randomized. You get what you get-- even if you aren't familiar with the writer or their game. Artists and authors also have the right to refuse your request at their discretion. Please be respectful and remember that our main goal and focus here is fundraising for these families.

Abdullah Mohammed and his family

www.gofundme.com

Mohammed Bardaweel and his family

www.gofundme.com

Bilal Salah's family

www.gofundme.com

Suad and her family

www.gofundme.com

Firas Salem and his family

www.gofundme.com

We encourage you to share these families and their fundraisers here and elsewhere. We're hoping by focusing our efforts we can really make a big impact for all of them.

Ticket submission form:

Google Forms: Sign-in
Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).
forms.gle
#interactive fiction#raffle for palestine#my prize is a playable date scene with an RO from one of my games - take a look at all the other amazing prizes!
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Anonymous asked:

random but harris is such a good name, i still don't know what to choose for my legal name but i thought yours was cool <3 (i will not steal it)

Aww I really appreciate that. It took me a long time to figure out what name I was most into so take the time you need!

Here is a Harris hawk which is quite a lot cooler than me

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if-30x30

Advertisement

I am shilling out to big itch.io bundle this gay pride month. The Queer Games bundle includes two of my games this year and if you buy the bundle you will be supporting me, a Queer who has no money after spending it all on uhauling in this economy and is saving to uhaul my chest clean off (top surgery).

Queer Games Bundle

Queer Games Bundle (pay what you can edition)

you can also support me directly through my ko-fi. that'd be cool too.

Without further ado: The Games

Protocol

You are the first, last, and only crewman aboard Observatory Station Calypso-54414d. Everything you know is a lie.

Awarded Best in Show, Weirdest Horror, Cheapest Hallucinogen, and Best Visual Design in 2023's Spring Thing Festival of Interactive Fiction, Protocol is almost 50,000 words of dread and abstraction as you, the unfortunate not-Administrator, receive the gift of head trauma and wander an abandoned-ish space station to either escape or repair it.

Described by reviewers as a "desperate crawling journey" and "not a game. Not really," with "mesmerizing, haunting repetitions, both of phrases and entire paragraphs (with small but telling differences)" that "draw the player deep into the bowels of the story", Protocol is "not 100% perfect," but it is my pride and joy and it'd be neat if you purchased it. If not -- you can play Protocol for free here.

constellate

A dying lord of a dying people seeks comfort in the arms of a soldier turned sower. The distant sun rises over an artificial moon hung gently in orbit of Saturn's rings. You fear the encroachment of the frost as winter takes hold.

constellate was written for NeoInteractive's Smoochie Jam, and yes, it includes kisses. A bunch of them, actually. At just around 9,000 words and 9 endings, constellate is a short, sweet game about two of the most morally reprehensible lesbians in the Solar System figuring out that yes, they do actually like each other and yes, this will damn every other living being.

Don't want to support their eventual regime by purchasing the game? That's okay -- you can play constellate for free here.

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Anonymous asked:

Do you still answer asks for character reactions? Those were always fun to read.

I do!

I answer most asks that I get sent, albeit slowly - I have a bit of a backlog in my inbox and a lot of draft posts that I've been trying to work through and queue lately. I make exceptions for anything rude or unpleasant (luckily that doesn't happen very often), or anything I feel is more personal about me/my life than I'd like to share.

For reactions specifically, I don't answer ones about pregnancy and childbirth - various other things too, but that comes up the most often so I try to mention it when talking about what I do and don't respond to.

I'm also more likely to answer it more quickly if it's:

  • About one or two characters (eg "how would the Creme major characters respond to XYZ" takes quite a while for me to make time for as there are quite a lot of them!)
  • Broad (sometimes if a scenario or reaction ask is really detailed/specific my response may boil down to "this would be a whole story in itself")
  • Related to the setting (eg things like "how would XYZ respond to seeing their name with a heart on in the MC's phone" for a setting where phones don't exist are quite hard to answer).

Thank you for asking!

#asks
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hpowellsmith

Honor Bound Early Access: Chapter 7

I'm delighted to share Honor Bound Chapter 7 for £6+ subscribers on Patreon! You can skip any number of chapters to start at the chapter of your choice, or you can play through the whole thing. You can try loading an old save, but you may need to start a fresh one.

Chapter 7 and various earlier edits add around 31,000 words, bringing this latest demo to around 294,000 words - that's nearly the whole of Blood Money!

In this chapter you will encounter:

  • a lot of bad things

Enjoy! (or endure)

#honor bound#honor bound patreon update#interactive fiction#dashingdon wip#romance games#interactive novel wip#if wip#dashingdon#amare games#text games
Avatar

Honor Bound Early Access: Chapter 7

I'm delighted to share Honor Bound Chapter 7 for £6+ subscribers on Patreon! You can skip any number of chapters to start at the chapter of your choice, or you can play through the whole thing. You can try loading an old save, but you may need to start a fresh one.

Chapter 7 and various earlier edits add around 31,000 words, bringing this latest demo to around 294,000 words - that's nearly the whole of Blood Money!

In this chapter you will encounter:

  • a lot of bad things

Enjoy! (or endure)

#honor bound#honor bound patreon update#interactive fiction#if wip#interactive novel wip#dashingdon#dashingdon wip#romance games#amare games#text games
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Anonymous asked:

What time is the patreon chapter uploaded today?

Probably around 3pm UK time. I'm sorting it out as we speak!

#honor bound
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reblogged
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northern-passage

Here are our contributors for the Interactive Fiction Raffle for Palestine!

Over 50 artists and authors from the IF community here on tumblr have joined together to run a donation drive this month! The raffle will be running from June 7th - June 21st. A separate post will be made with more information, including the rules and ticket submission form, once we're ready to launch.

Our goal is to raise as much money as possible for five specific fundraisers; we hope with us focusing our efforts we'll be able to make a tangible impact for these families. Tickets will be the equivalent of the minimum GoFundMe donation ($5USD/€5), and you will be donating directly to the families and then providing us proof of donation in exchange for your ticket(s).

We plan to raffle off all prizes. Below the cut is the list of contributors for both prize tiers, along with the prize they'll be offering. (Beware, this is a long post.)

#interactive fiction#I'm doing some writing for this!#I'm going to be making a playable date scene for a romanceable character of your choice 💕
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