Repository
Introduction
Procrastinating Simulator is an interactive fiction, where you are an aspiring game developer who gets easily distracted. Through the choices, you either get some progress done or get distracted all day without any result.
How the game typically looks to the player.
While the legacy version is on Itch.io & GameJolt
All these versions will be replaced sometime in the future.
Their download links are available in the repository.
The interactive fiction was made using Twine/Twinery 2 engine's with some CSS changes for the look and feel. The last private version was released two months ago (August 2018) and now the source code is published on Github as an Open Source project.
Why "Procrastination Simulator?"
This might not be the only Twine open source project, Twine itself is open source and it's so well-documented. Still, as you'll see below there are unique elements in Procrastination Simulator as an open source project:
It's relatable: since many game developers have their "low" times where they get distracted from their work. They can relate to this interactive fiction choices and maybe learn how to avoid them.
It's expandable: even if no more endings are added. The distractions along the way can be expanded upon and improved by more minds better than one.
It's changeable: anyone can make a version of the game that relates to each one's life more, or change the role of protagonist to something else.
It's easy to edit without programming knowledge, and one of the goals of the project is to make it easier. So anyone can add sound & images to make it more gamey and fresh.
It's short: While compared to well-known stories, that's a bad thing. The ideal Routes in my imaginary ideal Procrastination Simulator shouldn't take more than ten minutes from the player. It's about relatability over quantity.
This Open Source Project Goals
The first goal: "Improving and Bug fixing," can be achieved easily with the help of the community.
The Second Goal: "Anyone Make Their Own Variation" is partly achieved now, but can be completed with a good documentation in the Github repository.
The Third Goal: "To Teach Writers Developing Similar games." This one depends more on the community, but I'm rather positive for #utopian-io ability to promote such project to writers who have ideas but can't make them reality alone.
Procrastination Simulator: Past & Future
How It All Started
I remember I was fascinated with the many ideas people on itch.io came up with. The games might be very bad to play but the ideas I saw were amazing. I tried to make a game that has something unique, but all I come up with were playable unfinished games.
One day I decided to work on something and finish it! February 2016 saw the release of my (arguably) first finished game, I was proud at the time.
The Legacy version Logo ^
When I wanted to upload it to @steemgg two years later I noticed how bad the language was. So I hastily made the #SteemGG version, correcting what I can from the start to finish!
Where The Project is Going?
Even with edits I missed some phrases, made many mistakes and in my haste, the Source Code became harder to read. Now that I made the project open source, I'll make sure to fix these errors.
No one can know the future, but while I want to keep the main Procrastination Simulator project for myself and those who help contribute to it. The source code itself is for the community to learn from, work on and fork/edit as they want.
to see your variations of this interactive story.
This is how the Project looks inside Twine.
Editing The Source Code
The current version of Procrastination Simulator doesn't use Variables other than the ones hard-coded/hidden in the engine. You can edit the code via downloading Twine 2 & importing the runnable HTML file, or you can just edit the HTML file yourself with any text editor.
The Editing Screen.
Expected Project Roadmap
What I'll focus on next, and I'm open to ideas is to work on fixing the errors and make the Source Code easier to read for future contributors. My priorities are:
- Finding all the typos & fixing incorrect verb tenses. (Priority)
- Adding more comments on CSS for newbies to the language.
- Cleaning the Project Documentation, adding more value to it.
- Re-publish on SteemGG, Gamejolt & itch.io
- Creating more alternate routes and endings (long term.)
Final Thoughts
I wish this project gets accepted into @utopian-io. I might make tasks for people to improve the project. But in my current plan, I wish to work on cleaning the code and fixing issues. From now on, as I make updates I'll do so through Github.
@steemGG community for encouraging me to work on the project after two years of inactivity. And thanks to #utopian-io Discord community for helping me deciding the approach to write this post with.
Resources
- For cover background I used this (public domain) image from pixabay.
- Utopian & Github Icons are from their official sites.
- You can download Twine 2 engine here, and here's its dcumentation.
- The Reposirty link: again, & My Github account.