Hi guys & gals,

I'm a writer of online "interactive fiction" games in which the reader plays the lead role in the story, using a "multiple choice" system called ChoiceScript.

In Vendetta: Rise of a Gangster you assume the role of a young man on the verge of delving deep into the shady criminal underworld of a large American metropolis during the Prohibition Era (1920-1933), with the initial aim of seeking to avenge the bloody murder of a close relative.

Where the story goes from there is entirely YOUR decision. Perhaps you will pursue your family vendetta, and perhaps not. Perhaps the lure of power and wealth will instead become your main driving force, as you strive to claw your way up through--and ultimately aim to dominate--the ruthless, violent, blood-drenched criminal underworld of a major city in the "Roaring Twenties".

The demo (about 20% of the whole) is now available online and playable in most browsers. While the game has received terrific acclamation from playtesters and fellow developers on the actual ChoiceScript forums, I'm very keen to hear what fellow gangster & mafia enthusiasts in general think of the project so far--especially if you've never tried interactive fiction games before!

If you can spare some time I'd be grateful for any feedback:

Play the Demo: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/82562041/web/vendetta1/index.html
Facebook Homepage: http://www.facebook.com/Rise.of.a.Gangster
Twitter (game update news): http://www.twitter.com/#!/vendetta_game

Many thanks!

You owe the Board's owner some courtesy to ask permission to advertise your website. I'm fairly confident that Geoff, the owner of these boards, will allow you to ask our members for feedback. I suspect he would also wish you the best of luck with your endeavors.

Geoff is out of town now and will return in a few days.

Thanks for the advice; it's a fair comment. I did look through the various FAQs for some guidelines on the subject before actually signing up, but didn't spot anything suggesting that this type of post would be unwelcome (unless spammed, or placed in the wrong section of the forum, etc).

Would it be best if I edit / remove links until I have chance to seek his permission directly? I certainly don't want to cause any problems.

Thank you, GF, for that offer. It's really Geoff's call but by virtue of knowing him as I do, I'd bet he would give you his blessing. Your post is out and has already been seen by some of the members here. I'd suggest leaving this message as it is.

I'll add my own good wishes to your new game.

Thanks SC, that's very reassuring, and your kind words are much appreciated. Geoff sounds like a decent enough guy so I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Sure, as long as your interests don't conflict with ours...

Thank you, Don Geoff. In the first week your share would be three or four . . . posts. Then it would go up. The Tattaglia family will guarantee your investment also.

NEW UPDATE NOW ONLINE

This update leaves just the "Heat"-related (law enforcement) sections to implement (ETA: within the week) for the Demo to be complete, but it's completely playable as is--it just means you get an easier ride for a few days more!

SO, WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Think Vito Corleone in his younger days, around the time he's struggling to find his way in the world and first meets Clemenza and Tessio--and decides to kill the Black Hander, Fanucci, rather than submit to the will of another above his own.

The difference is, YOU play the lead role in this story. Vendetta #1 "Rise of a Gangster" will cover the first year or so of Prohibition (of which the available Demo covers the first five weeks), as you establish your reputation, build and protect your businesses and rackets, compete with rival up-and-coming gangsters as well as the old, established gangs, and ultimately aim to carve out your own little empire--and thereby begin to establish the roots of your own Family.

Your destiny awaits! But do you have what it takes . . . ?

Play the Demo: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/82562041/web/vendetta1/index.html

Feedback would be very much appreciated. Even if you don't enjoy the Vendetta: Rise of a Gangster story, or the game system system behind it, please let me know why. Many thanks.

I gotta say I'm impressed I look forward to when you decide to release the full game will it be free or will it cost money?

Thanks, South_Made, I appreciate your kind words. It's hard to get people to give something like this a fair chance, but when they do, they usually find they really enjoy it!

To answer your query: the developers of the ChoiceScript system usually release completed games as apps for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) and also Android devices (and now, on Kindle also), usually for a low fee ($0.99--$2.99) or perhaps funded by advertising (which, optionally, can be removed for a low fee). Revenue from 'hosted games' is shared with the authors, but they also produce their own official "Choice of . . ." games, e.g. the excellent (IMO) "Choice of a Vampire".

However, to date all of their offerings--both official and hosted--have also been made available to play on the web entirely for free, and there are no plans for this policy to end any time soon. For other (complete) games of this style, visit:

http://www.choiceofgames.com

Alright thank you I'll keep that in mind, any idea when we can expect Vendetta to be completed? Looking forward to getting past chapter three.

I'm aiming to finish the remaining seven chapters by around September or October, but it's too early yet to be more accurate than that. I should have a much better idea towards the end of the Summer.

As you can probably tell from the end of Chapter Two (where you choose between joining the Ginelli mob, or Chuck's crew, or taking over the leadership of Dino and his boys, or going solo) the storyline diversifies even more at that point. It's good for replay value, but it does add a lot more work for me! I'm enjoying the challenge though.

UPDATE ONLINE

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/82562041/web/vendetta1/index.html


The Demo has been updated to include all the early "Heat"-related aspects. There are six different agencies / branches of law enforcement all seeking your downfall. These investigate you for crimes committed within their own jurisdiction, until they have gathered enough evidence to have an arrest warrant issued for your apprehension. In effect, you now not only have rivals to contend with as you claw your way to power in the underworld, you also have to stay one step ahead of the law!

Amazing game i love it and want more. Also i woul love to help anyay i could.

I love it anyway i could help please let me know. I also have a game idea.

Thanks, I'm really glad you're enjoying it--makes all that hard work seem worthwhile! I still have quite a few more chapters to go for the Full Game so I'm always open to fresh ideas for interesting storylines and new plot twists. Even if I can't use them for this one there's a good chance they'll be useful for Vendetta 2, which will follow on from this one as you go on from being a prohibition era Gang Boss into the 30s, and the subsequent rise of La Cosa Nostra. All good fun.

Is there any way you could possibly add another chapter to the demo?

Probably not, but it may be possible. The demo is intended to be released as a free app (for iOS & Android devices) in the not-too-distant future, but that side of things is out of my hands and has to fit in with the release schedule (and any other requirements, such as content size / restrictions) of the main guys over at "Choice of Games", as they do all the work porting the game to those devices.

Truth is, the Vendetta Demo is already larger than many other full games released under the CoG banner in the past, so I'm already pushing the limitations!

Will you be able to load your guy from number 1 into number 2 when it comes out?

Yep, that's the plan anyway. They've done it for one or two other CoG games so it's certainly possible, although in Vendetta's case it will be a little more complicated as I'll also be wanting to change some player ratings and the data for certain game mechanics (to better suit the new era, since in #2 you'll no longer be a lowly Gangster / budding Gang Boss but instead a rising Mafioso).

If the game proves popular enough I'd like to continue the series in installments--e.g. Vendetta 3 would be set during the mafia's "Golden Age" of the late 40s & 50s and be heavily influenced by The Godfather (obviously!), and your character would be close to Don Vito's age. If we ever reach #4, or even #5 though (the latter would be Sopranos era), by then you'd be playing the son or even the grandson of your original character from Vendetta 1 . . . But one step at a time.

Sounds greatto me bud i cant wait to run the speakeasy to begin with. I can tell you putting a lot of work into it cause it shows. Kep it up man.

Thanks, I'll do my best. The vaguely 'sandbox' style I'm aiming for does make it a tougher design challenge than most multiple-choice style games (which tend to be more linear overall) but I think the end result will be worthwhile--especially in terms of replay value. Well, the theory's good, anyway . . .

Hell ive played thr demo every way possible.

Cool. Did you manage to get Angel to stay with you until the very end of the demo? That's the one thing many seem to have had the most problem with! In the meanwhile . . .

UPDATE ONLINE

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/82562041/web/vendetta1/index.html

This is the final, revised & updated version of the Demo chapters, which includes a new (but conditional) sequence in Chapter Two, plus various final balancing tweaks.

Hints, spoilers & discussion can be found in the Vendetta playtest thread on the CoG forum at:

http://www.choiceofgames.com/forum

Suggestions invited . . .

I'm just putting together various stuff required for the intended release of the Vendetta Demo as an iOS and Android app, including new artwork for such as Chapter title pages (which I'll also include in a new online update as soon as its available, so you can have a sneak preview).

One of the requirements is to choose four appropriate scene sections / choice lists from the actual game for displaying as screenshots on such as the Apple store. I'm thinking perhaps two showing sections of narrative and two focusing on example choices. I have some vague ideas of what might suit, but I'm having trouble actually deciding which bits would best represent the game and be most likely to encourage someone to click "Download"!

So, simple question--anyone care to offer any suggestions? Which parts of the narrative and / or particular choices did you find most appealing, for whatever reason? Bear in mind that typically a phone screen is limited to displaying about 80 words.

Many thanks for any suggestions.

The Demo was pretty awesome. I've never seen these types of interactive fiction games before, aside from the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book format. I found the narrative pretty satisfying honestly.

I really like the "missions" and empire-building facets of Vendetta. Expanding rackets and eliminating rivals. Altho I feel kinda bad I stopped vehemently pursuing the Gina murder plot. Overall I really enjoyed it tho. Can't wait to play the forthcoming chapters.

Thanks for taking the time to give it a fair shot; I really appreciate it (that's the toughest challenge I face in this "eye-candy" games age we live in!). I'm just working on chapters 3 thru 5 at the moment and then it'll also be released as an iOS and Android app, which should make it easier for fans of the game to help spread the word.

After a looong break from this (stemming from a personal tragedy), I'm pleased to announce that development of Vendetta: Rise of a Gangster has once again resumed. The online demo has been updated and a single full playthru -- i.e. one in which you survive to the very end of the demo -- will take roughly 1.5-->2 hours, but it is playable entirely within your browser; no downloads or plug-ins required.

Never heard of "interactive fiction" games? Quite simply, these are multiple-choice stories in which you assume the role of the lead character (in this case, an up-and-coming young gangster in the 1920s) and the story unfolds based entirely on the decisions you make along the way. In the process you build up your rackets, businesses and 'henchmen', carry out hits and heists, pursue romantic interests, increase your skills and talents, do your best to avoid heat (and the inevitable consequences of generating too much!) and generally try to claw your way to the top of the local underworld by any means, fair or foul.

Although experienced players of these types of games rate Vendetta very highly indeed (which is obviously extremely gratifying), I am especially interested in hearing from players who have never tried anything like it before, for a fresh perspective. Thoughts, comments, suggestions for improvements -- any / all of these would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/82562041/web/vendetta1/index.html

Demo Update: Permanent Save System enabled

Being quite a long demo (1.5-->2.5 hrs average for a single playthru, depending how fast you read and which routes you choose... and whether or not you survive to the end!) the Vendetta Demo has been updated with a permanent save system.

This uses your browser's local storage cache, saving at three specific checkpoints along the way, enabling you to quit and resume at a later time rather than always having to start again from the beginning.

Of all the devices & browsers tested to date, the only problems reported so far have been for Firefox on Linux -- Chrome on Linux works fine, however.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/82562041/web/vendetta1/index.html

'NOLA is Burning' is the latest 'Choice of Games' release now available for iOS, Android & Kindle devices and on the Chrome Web Store. I hasten to add that I haven't played it yet as I don't want it to influence continued development of 'Vendetta: Rise of a Gangster' in any way. I'm bringing it to your attention simply because it's also a Mob / crime "interactive novel", in which you assume the lead role in the story and where your choices determine how the plot unfolds... I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

http://www.choiceofgames.com/category/our-games/