reviewing existing content, updating code

For half of July I have been reviewing all the existing content of the project. This is why I haven’t been able to post the next update (but should soon because I need to put the project on hold for a while in August). and here are some result of that review:

• Found many typos… 😭

• Originally I was very consistent with the period usage between interrupted speech. But I learned that it was grammatically/stylistically wrong. I didn’t fully understand the correct rule and this current fix is probably still wrong. I’ll just have to “fix” them slowly over future updates. 😔

• Hopefully corrected subtle logic errors (not displaying certain content when it should, or displaying others when it shouldn’t, typo in variables or flag names, etc.)

• Changed many variable names, removed some, merged some, added some (especially more trust counter, which can also track if MC has met that character before, although this can get out of hand quick), updated stat and trust values more often (because otherwise some branches might be impossible to reach?), etc. Too many and too involved for a simple save-file patch.

• Moved many multi-flag-value-checks in the passages to Javascript functions instead, so the raw document becomes easier to read for review (at least logic-wise). Example:

setup.mutineersSentAway = function () {
    return (flag("c8_z_camp2") === "invite" ||
            flag("c8_z_camp2") === "entice" ||
            flag("c8_z_camp3") === "scold" ||
            flag("c8_z_camp3") === "repay");
};

• Finally bit the bullet and set love and lust counter (in addition to trust counter) for the Emperor and the Princess as well, when before those values were not tracked for these two characters. My strange reasoning was that they were at a special position in the power hierarchy that somehow made them unapproachable using the standard “romance formula.” But the more I write the romance part for each allegedly romanceable characters, it seems like they are all not easily approachable anyway (largely due to shortage of interaction, etc.). So I might as well treat them the same way. Code-wise it’s a simpler measurement, as opposed to checking which exact combination of interactions took place for a relationship to advance to a certain state… (although I still need that to be a factor)

• Added a few more choices to clarify some confrontation with one character’s “truth”. The way this character’s truth is dealt with in this story is multi-faceted/layered, and thus the code logic involved can be complicated (or at least until I sort out the logic in my own mind). That complexity (aka degree of how easy bugs can be introduced) may continue to haunt me till the project is done, but how it’s presented is important to me.

What this all mean is that I recommend you replay from the beginning after the next update (hopefully it’s not full of new bugs T_T).

Thank you for your patience. ^_^