Introduction; question about writing

Community Introductions
#1

Hi. I’m ersatz (they/them). I don’t hack or sprite, nor do I intend to start. Why, then, am I making a post on a forum primarily for hackers and spriters? Two reasons:

First, just to express gratitude and admiration for this community. I’ve played in full a number of Fire Emblem fangames that I found on this site (current favorites: Requiem, Storge, Blessed Heart, Vision Quest), and I’ve gotten many hours of interest and joy from them. They’re remarkable works of art, and the fact that they’re made in a non-commercial context makes them even more so. So thank you all for your collective efforts in developing this medium.

Second, I do write. Specifically, I have written a 90+% complete script for a Fire Emblem fangame of 24 chapters in the GBA style. Without false modesty, I think it’s pretty good. At any rate, it takes tonal inspiration less from medieval European history or Tolkien-style fantasy, and more from things like Ursula K. LeGuin, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the ancient history of the Mediterranean.

I wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate to try to share the script here. On the one hand, making a rom hack is a lot of work, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect anyone to want to do it for someone else’s script. On the other, I’ve noticed in my readings on the forum that sometimes, people whose interest is primarily in hacking describe writing or planning out a story as an obstacle to making a game. In this sense, a complete script could be a useful asset, in the same way a complete set of custom portraits would be.

My idea is that I could make a “Creative” thread, on which I would offer some comments on the story and make the script available to read. On the off-chance anyone wants to use it, they could get in touch with me and we could talk about it (certainly, I would give any game-maker total creative freedom concerning mechanics and gameplay, but I might want some input on visual presentation). But since, so far as I know, nobody has ever tried to offer up a complete script in quite this way on this forum before, I thought I’d first solicit community opinions about the usefulness and feasibility of it. I’ve probably already gone on a bit long, so thanks for your patience, and again, thanks for all the games.

3 Likes
#2

Welcome! As far as your question goes, it’s true that writing is not typically made into an asset like art or music, but I can’t see any reason not to make a Creative thread if you want to share yours. A lot of people who hack generally want to write their own story or don’t care enough about it to give much effort, but there may be some people inbetween that would be interested.

2 Likes
#3

I’d be interested in reading some excerpts! Also, welcome!

#4

Yeah, writing is funny that way. Many people aren’t very interested in it, but it’s still so central to a game’s identity that you’d hesitate to use someone else’s.

@Agro thanks for expressing interest! I tried to make a creative thread with a dropbox link to the documents, but the website said I can’t post links, and text formats are not supported for upload. Is there any other way I could get the files to you, if you’re still interested?

#5

This status will go away in another day or two once you get basic permissions (I think it’s just a security protocol to encourage following the rules and prevent bots and spammers from messing everything up)

#6

@PhoenixRadiant thanks for the help. I believe I have basic permissions though (at least I have the “earned basic” notification on my account). Is posting links at a higher level?

In any event, I made a thread sharing the documents in the “Written Work” Creative subforum on serenesforest. That might in some ways be a better fit anyway.

#7

hello!!! nice to meet ya!!!