FLY SOUP

Readership has ticked up on the Tales: Choose your own story app, and since a bunch of folks have asked for more Darkendore, I've decided to give it to them. I really enjoy writing Darkendore and all its weird and wonderful characters.  Darkendore: Knight Defender will focus more on developing friendships and love interests, but you can still expect plenty of plot twists and turns, as you attempt to beat back the forces of evil threatening to overwhelm Castle Darkendore this time around. You can play Darkendore: Knight Defender here:  https://link.talescreator.com/qJRhANAwwBb or the original Darkendore game here:  https://link.talescreator.com/No4wDnkHfxb

Tales has chosen my branching narrative Darkendore as one of the first stories to upgrade to a new format that is so awesome it blows my mind. I've read a fair bit of branching fiction on my phone over the past few years and a lot of it is visually a bit samey, but this Tales graphical upgrade is next level.  I used to think my characters looked pretty cool (or at least okay) but I've done a side-by-side and, well there's really no comparison. The art is just...better, in every way. Sure, it doesn't change the story, or the outcomes, but in the same way a good close-up can be compelling in a movie, the extra detail in this character art really makes you fall in love with these characters all over again (at least for me).  You can check out Darkendore here...

The first four chapters of my latest branching narrative gamebook: Dreamwalkers  are out on Tales: Choose Your Own Story and looking good. I'm enjoying writing this story on commission for Tales and have great hopes of getting all ten chapters out by May 2023.  The story is about a group of teens who find a way to visit one another's dreams, but (you guessed it) when their dreams turn to nightmares, some of them wind up dead. I'd describe it as the Goonies meets (the original) Flatliners . Hit this link to download the app and read the story:  https://link.talescreator.com/Q2PRVqqgqsb Also, loving the cover art. It's so nice when publishers spend the time (and money) on artists who're able to capture the vibe of a project like this. I have no complaints about any of the covers or interior art they've created for my work so far.

For the past 4 years SIFTER has released a list of all video games made in Australia in order of their release date. This years' list, boldly titled 2022: The Definitive List of Australian Made Video Games,  can be found here . I have no idea exactly how "definitive" it is, but it does contain great new titles from Australian game companies like Mighty Kingdom, Tin Man Games and Playside. Tassie game makers have 5 games on the list, 2 of which are mine: Cat's Claw and Darkendore . Yipeee, go Tassie! The industry is small here but we do our best.  The other 3 Tassie games were released by MarineVerse (a VR sailing game), Smash Attack Studios (party minigames), and Motely Pixel (fun side-scroller).  I'm pretty sure there are a lot more games being developed in Tassie than are on this particular list, but finishing what you start is important in this industry. I write on a contract basis and I'm paid for completing my work, which gives me a strong incentive to...

 Much as I hate to brag... *Ahem* My branching narrative stories Cat's Claw and Darkendore have recently shared top spot on the Tales: Choose Your Own Story app. This makes me very happy. The app management team are still in the "writer and community building stage" right now. But even so, the number of readers appears to be steadily growing. There must be over a thousand stories/games on the app now and I'm so happy my stories are being read, even at this early stage. I hope that, when Tales team switches from app development, to the serious business of attracting readers in large numbers, that the stories will enjoy a similar degree of popularity.

Just going to drop these here. I'm only a few scenes away from finishing Darkendore. Some of the art is still pending, but have a look at this. It's a fair indication of what you'll see if you choose to download the Tales: Choose Your Own Story app for iOS or Android (still in beta I think).  Apologies in advance for the poor graphical and sound quality. That's on me. Between my sub-par video screen-capture skills, and the video conversion here on Blogger, it hasn't translated super-well. Still, I figured they're worth worth putting up to give an idea of what I'm up to.