Thanks For The Compliment! You Have No Idea How Happy I Am That You're Enjoying It

Thanks for the compliment! You have no idea how happy I am that you're enjoying it ♥

Yes, hunger and thirst deaths will be implemented in the game, but for now, I'm treating them as potential issues just in case, lol.

So, if you don't drink and your thirst is maxed out, it's normal for MC to die. However, there's a bug with Dashingdon where, when you save and reload, sometimes your hunger and thirst levels stay the same as they were before you loaded. This means that if you reload to a point where your thirst wasn't as high, but you didn't drink before saving, MC might still die during the next stat check because the values didn't reset properly.

I'm working on an internal soft save system for the game, so I hope to fix this problem sooner rather than later!

Just came to say I died from thirst unu, I WAS JUST TRYING TO NOT GET MY SLEEP TO LOW!! ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ (I reached this before meeting Rain)

I am a good little kid who listens to the game they had been playing non stop for 3hs

Thank you for bringing this to my attention! Sometimes bugs are a little tricky, so I always need to check this kind of death scenes.

Questions, questions:

Were you getting your MC to drink water? If so, how much?

Did you save and reload this game before you died?

Great advice, and the last part is SO true!

How the fudge are you writting so fast??? I sit down to write and end up with nothing or reworking plot instead of writing 😭Have any tips you want to share? Perhaps the ingredients to the dark ritual you perform to get the motivation and remain focused 👀👀👀

So, first of all, you'll need half a newborn, shaken, not stirred…

lol jk (don't shake babies)

Believe it or not I'm the same as you, so here are some stuff that helped me tremendously, especially with my squirrel ADHD brain:

NUMBER ONE that I needed 20 years to learn, is that… forget editing, man. You can't edit if there is nothing to edit, so first you have to sit ya ass down and just fuckin' do it. It doesn't matter if it's shit at first. It's called work in progress for a reason. Who cares if it's shit? You can edit it LATER when the whole thing is already done. What you're reading in my game is literally my first draft. Lots of scenes might change later. In fact, I'm already changing scenes in the background, I'm just not always telling you. It doesn't matter. If anyone gives you shit for it, tell them to kindly fuck right off.

Have a plan for the book (written down. Not just in your head). Don't even start writing until you have a plan for the entire book. It doesn't have to be detailed. Mine is just bulletpoints, but you should know which chapter will contain what, including plot points, character development, relationship progress etc, otherwise you'll get lost, especially in a big IF. And then as you get closer to the next chapter, you can work out more details in the plan to help the actual writing.

If you don't feel like writing a scene, then don't write it. Leave a placeholder word there (I use 'mandarin' because that word likely won't come up anywhere else in the text), and instantly move on to another scene that you have inspiration for. Later, you can just search for 'mandarin' and add the scene when you feel like it. If you accidentally come across any MANDARINs in my game, that's the reason lol.

If you are writing an IF, it helps to start simple. Write the story until a choice comes up, then write the title of the choices, and continue ONLY with the route you feel the most inspired for atm (use mandarin for the rest). Don't let your momentum die by getting bogged down in choices. That's why I have so many greyed out choices when I start a new origin or chapter. I just write write write until the end of the chapter, THEN I go back to whatever choice is the simplest to add, and put the variations in the already-existing text if needed. Repeat until all the choices are written and coded in. This way, the text might feel more organic too, because you already have a pre-written skeleton that you can just add variations in.

Keep notes. It helps to have them on paper, next to you, so f.ex. when you make 9 different deities to choose from, you don't have to go back to the beginning of the chapter every single time to look up which deities those were and what they mean, you can simply turn your head to the side lol.

Take regular breaks. Exercise, stretch. Keep a daily schedule. Eat and drink enough. Try to keep a good health. Your brain won't work if it's starved.

Know yourself and your habits, and be honest with yourself. I know of myself that once I start working on the big plot points, I won't have any motivation to come back to the beginning again. That's why I'm writing all the origin stories first, because I know that if I start going into chapter 2, I definitely won't feel like coming back to start yet another route from the very beginning. So if you don't feel like doing something, then just… don't do it. Or do it simpler. Do it smarter. Trick that asshole brain into cooperating.

Last but not least, guys, 90% of my motivation COMES FROM YOU! Your engagement, your messages, your feedback, every little interaction is what keeps me going! So write me! I will answer! (if you aren't a dick). Literally, about anything. Even if it's just "hey I really liked this small detail here", that will already make my day, seriously. I LOVE talking about my work, and I'm pretty sure every author is like that, so keep engaging with writers, because that's 90% of the reason when a novel gets finished! I'm writing for YOU! Your enjoyment, your fun, because I love telling stories, but those stories don't mean anything if no one is reading them.

Totally unrelated to the height thing ☺️ but what do you say the AD cast wear? 🤔

What an interesting question! I won't give you detailed descriptions, but rather some general ideas about their outfits and style.

MC: He's wearing what he threw on the first night—basically, a hoodie and jeans! Of course, it's hot during the day, so he’s wearing them over his pajamas, meaning you can picture him in reverse—a plain t-shirt and jeans during the day, and a hoodie at night when he wants to feel cozier.

Michael: I imagine him in a semi-sporty look ☺ he also has a baseball cap!

Rain: Casual gamer style, but since they were at a party, think something more like... streetwear-trendy vibes.

Abigail: She's in maternity clothes at first, but she switches to comfier stuff after the baby's born (clothes that Michael gets her from her home). She's very casual—100% comfort over fashion.

Divya: super-duper nerdy vibes, she's probably rocking a snarky t-shirt or something like that.

Max: clothes similar to Divya, but way more subtle. Think of a plain shirt with a tiny symbol on it of something you've never heard of—that’s them.

Some questions about After Dark that I received today on Discord!

Q: Does an MC's sibling not exist if you don't choose them at the start? A: The standard family is MC + parents. If you choose for them to have a sibling, then sibling it is! Q: Do we have the choice to check out the locked mall mentioned by Rain? A: No. Q: So still no saving the parents? A: No. Q: The nightmare scenes are implemented already or not? I don't think I'm triggering any nightmare scenes A: Not yet, but they will be implemented very soon!

For After Dark, I wonder if in a timeline where MC was bitten (or somehow contracted the disease), how would the cast react to that? OR! Would there be a chance that one of the casts be bitten and the MC has to choose with the group whether to kill them or simply let the bitten one leave?

What an interesting question! I can’t reveal if that will actually happen in the game, but I can tell you how the group might react!

If MC were to get infected...

Michael:

It depends on the relationship, but he’s the group's paladin, and he believes the greater good should prevail over the individual. He would opt to kill MC, but if they were close friends or in a romantic relationship, it would lead to A LOT of drama.

Abigail:

It depends on whether her baby is alive or not, because if her baby is dead, she's much more cynical. In general, though, she has a strong maternal instinct, which would make her hesitate and wait until the last possible moment.

Rain:

Their response would be a lot of "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!" and in the end, they'd probably follow Michael's lead. If they were in a relationship with MC, it would turn into full-blown panic, with them scrambling for increasingly unrealistic solutions until they have no choice but to face the inevitable—and then they'd fall into despair.

Divya:

She would want to kick everyone's ass and find a cure on the spot, especially if she's in a relationship with MC. She’d probably clash with Michael and would get some support from Abigail. Abigail would then comfort her once it's all over, but despite understanding the logic of it, she’d likely hold a grudge towards everyone.

Max:

They'd cry.

If it were another group member... MC's behavior would obviously depend on their character, but their decision would create some friction or alliances:

Michael:

He would try to reason with them, even resorting to force if necessary. If it were Michael himself who was infected, he would ensure the group could move forward without him, pass on all useful information to Kay, Abby, and MC, and then he would kill himself.

Abigail:

She’d be torn because of her strong empathy, but if she were the infected one, it would depend on her baby's fate. If her baby was dead, she wouldn’t have a problem killing herself.

Rain:

He would vote to kill the infected person, but if they were the one infected, they'd probably try to hide it from the others.

Divya e Max:

Their situation would be a bit more complex. They'd likely prefer to leave the group together rather than let one of them get killed or abandoned. If someone else were infected, Divya would vote to let them go, and Max would do the same.

Just came to say I died from thirst unu, I WAS JUST TRYING TO NOT GET MY SLEEP TO LOW!! ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ (I reached this before meeting Rain)

I am a good little kid who listens to the game they had been playing non stop for 3hs

Thank you for bringing this to my attention! Sometimes bugs are a little tricky, so I always need to check this kind of death scenes.

Questions, questions:

Were you getting your MC to drink water? If so, how much?

Did you save and reload this game before you died?