Hello! I wanted to write something about Judge my Vow when I heard that itch added a blogging feature to their site. Then, I realized that this wasn't fit to be a blog, but rather a devlog. So I guess I'm making a devlog instead.

There are a lot of things I want to talk about. Right now I want to write about my plans for the future and ask for feedback. I wrote on a few other topics that I might publish later on. Honestly? I don't know exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to try and keep this casual rather than calculated. Let's see how that works out.

Since Twitter started going to superhell (since it's been regular hell for a while already), I have been rethinking my social media/internet presence. Using Twitter gave me an extreme amount of anxiety, mostly because of the attitude people have on there and the maximum length on Tweets. Honestly, my best social media experience has been on the official Apocalypse World Discord server. It has strict, well thought out rules; a specific topic; a well-meaning, highly experienced moderation team; and a time limit between messages. This created a perfect situation, where people could have friendly, formal, and constructive conversations about a shared interest.

Twitter embodies the opposite of these values. 

Maybe Mastodon or itch will prove to be better for me? It remains to be seen. You can follow me on Mastodon @trophyhusban@mastodon.lol.

Here's what I've been working on.

The Map

I've been adding more information and interactivity to the map. In particular, I wanted to add more information about the places in case the reader forgets stuff (as there are a lot of details, characters, and places) and include a visual for when Xanax "connects" a "dotted line" from the Fifth City to the Junkyard to Babble. After several iterations, here is what I have. 

I am currently really happy with this design. The idea is that each chapter you can pull up a different version of the map, which contains different pieces of visual and textual information. You can click on each of the places to see more about it, mostly to remember old information. In this screenshot, the map is being used narratively to display the map Xanax is drawing in her mind when the angels confront her and to give her thoughts on each of the places she may go. The rest of the map descriptions are written in third person. I'm also satisfied with the way I've wrangled CSS and Javascript to get this to work at all, though it's overdue for a playtest. 

Aha! An opportunity! Do you have an internet connection and computer or a smartphone? Do you use Discord or another voice call service that lets you share your screen? Do you have opinions on UI design or web design that you would like to articulate to others? Do you like reading fiction and providing feedback? 

If some of these things apply to you, then you are a perfect candidate to give me feedback on this project. In particular, I would like help with the writing part of it, or, ideally, a beta reader of some kind. Asking for feedback on the writing part of this is kind of a tall order, given how long the project is and the fact that each chapter does not stand on its own.

If any of this sounds interesting to you, leave a comment, DM on Twitter @trophyhusban, or DM me on Discord at trophyhusban#4546. To DM me on Discord, you'll have to add me first, which shouldn't be a problem.

Plans for the Future

With the map in place, I am perhaps considering Judge my Vow to be feature complete. I was considering adding an inventory system, where you could keep track of what the party members have on them (Xanax's wedding ring, for example, which she cannot get rid of), but this sort of lacks a purpose other than to contribute towards an aesthetic of looking like a video game.

That leaves revising and rewriting the remaining four chapters as needed, making portraits for the remaining fifteen or so characters who need them, and making stat blocks for each of those characters as they appear in the story. I would also like to make a print version of everything once it's done. Right now, I have a design for a print version of the first two chapters, of which I've printed and distributed ten copies. I might do another run of this in the future if enough people are interested. Let me know! I am willing to cover the costs until my fellowship money runs out.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think about this kind of post, or any other questions you have or anything else you want to talk about!

:-)