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Merry Christmas all once more! Once again, I've lumbered into the position where I can keep the game going for another year, so we may et get this story finished before we are all dead!

(Darth Scroogius insisted on that cheerful note being part of the Christmas message)

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Anyhow, today will be release day in the third part of my brother's interactive fiction prequel to the current Star Wars storyline, set in his own take on a KOTOR-style era (but entirely separate form that, time, us having many thousands of years to play with).

I can't actually put the game up until I get it hosted, which generally means waiting for Peach to get up, but I shall post it as soon as I can!

In the first episode, an unnamed Jedi found himself on the front line when the Sith invasion of Darth Malphas and his Jovano armies began. Although unable to prevent the Fall of Damaria, he was able to evacuate its ruling council and many of its people, and killed Malphas' agent Darth Trayas- the Sith in three bodies- before he was able to get his hands on a forbidden repository of ancient Sith secrets.

In the second episode, we switched perspective to an up and coming Dark Sider in Malphas' organisation who was taking part in the 'Island of Fire', Malphas' deadly competition to determine Trayas' successor. Malphas was looking for more than just strength and skill; he wanted something special that the trial would reveal. Despite the apparent superiority of many of his opponents, the Dark Sider was triumphant and was named as Darth Kazan.

Now we switch back to the perspective of the Jedi (who now receives a title he can be referred to as, just as the Dark Sider is Darth Kazan, so we don't have to call him 'that Jedi' all the time.) The war is not going well for the Republic. Malphas' fanatical Jovano forces- who view him as a living God- are winning battle under battle. Malphas' deputy, Darth Varas, has penetrated so far and so deeply into Republican territory that surrender has already been considered.

The Sith's advantage is unity under Malphas' leadership. The Republic's strength is unfocussed and their response poorly organised. The lack of any victories has destroyed morale at Coruscant and most planets are now just seeing to their own needs rather than acting as a co-ordinated whole.

Needing both a victory and a symbol, the Supreme Chancellor takes an unpopular risk- he is going to throw his authority behind the Jedi taking command of a Republican grand army. The Jedi he chooses is the one who killed Darth Trayas at Damaria- the one piece of good news in the war so far. If this Jedi can win a victory with a unified army, it will be the start of the fightback against Malphas.

However, it will not be easy. The forces the Chancellor can place at the Jedi's disposal will not be able to take on the coming Jovano invasion. Republican worlds with their own military forces must be convinced to lend their troops to the new army, and the Senate must be convinced that is is appropriate for a Jedi to have such control. Many are suspicious of the Jedi, or unwilling to lend their forces to another. Some are little better than the Sith themselves, but can the Republic afford to take a moral stand if it means a smaller army? Meanwhile, someone is doing everything they can to make sure the mission fails at every stage...

The Jedi must build his army and keep enough political support to be named its leader. Then he must throw back the Jovano invasion at the world of Gandilar. If he can do all this, then he is truly a General of the Republic.

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General of the Republic represents another shift in story structure. Fall of Damaria was linear, whilst Island of Fire presented an explorable area you could keep returning to parts of, which in the 'Choose your own Adventure' structure was a programming nightmare.

GOTR is modular. There is a short beginning and middle, and larger end as you fight the battle at Gandilar, but the main part of the story consists of four sections in-between as you attempt to recruit allies. There are eight allies to choose from, so the four you pick will determine what actually happens during your story.

GOTR also presents an achievement system, where you can achieve awards between playthroughs. Some bonuses are presented to those who unlock large amounts of these, so there is good reason to keep trying to find parts of the game even after victory!

As ever, the game will feature lots of callbacks (call forwards?) to the main RP game, so keep your eyes open.

I'll post it up ASAP!

Very cool news!

Happy Sithmas everyone!

Ok, and release!

As ever, you need a z-code interpreter to run it. Although for many the default is still Windows Frontz 2002, there are all sorts of fancy decent ones around and I think WF2002 might not be able to cope with some of features included (though the game will still play). The one I use is called Filfre (named, like Frotz, named after a spels from the early 'Enchanter' series of text adventures, which I can recommend, btw) which works well for me, and there are some great ones for the Mac and I think it was working on the iphone when we released two years back as well (though irritatingly, development for Android has been slow). I've heard good things about one called Gargoyle as well.

You can find links to a bunch of interpreters for various platforms here:

http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/

(Filfre is inside the 'interpreters-infocom' folder)

Gargoyle is here: http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/


You are all smart people, I am sure you can find something. But... if this seems a pain, this game SHOULD work through any internet browser (which is the direction text games are going now. Just double click on the 'index' file to get the intro page and then click on the "play in browser' link on the left. We're all fancy these days!

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Thanks muchly to Peach- here is the game!

http://under-the-gun.org/christmas/GotR.zip

HAVE A MERRY SITHMAS ALL!

One of these years Ush will think to email me the stuff on Christmas Eve so I can get it uploaded before I go to bed, but yeah

A testing note- although not quite as much of a nightmare to test as Island of Fire was- due to the amount of stuff that could interact when you went back on your self in IoF- there was still a number of issues testing this, including one bug that just spontaneously ended the game on you. That bug SHOULD now be fixed, but do let us know if the game ends unexpectedly as that is obviously a game breaker. I successfully got all achievements on the current build with no crashes.

However, I did not test it quite as much as I may have liked, so we did not have time for a proofreading build. There is a vast amount of writing in this one and typos are still there as is. There is also one minor bug where mutual annihilation of friendly and enemy forces in the same battle sector causes it to say you have won, drawn and lost the sector at the same time, but it is a trivial issue that won;t affect how you play. It should all function!

Hey, Cassillis!

So I went Swordsman, with the Clarity bonus (yes I know I am predictable) but I just got this during a Force test:

"You need 7 (with Clarity bonus included) or less. The dice have thrown 2 and 5 to make 7. You have failed the test"

That should pass it! Happened on page 637. During that "WHAT THE **** JUST HAPPENED" fight.

Edit: The bonus not triggering properly just killed me >:{

Ok after a statistically improbable series of NOT throwing 7s, I finally tested this properly.

Seems Clarity isn't working. Boo! Sorry.

Page 639 -

"You mind clears and you experience a feeling of calm and piece."

There's a few things wrong with that sentence

I said the typos are still in! I have a huge list of them.

That one particularly amused me, hence why I pointed it out

If I picked out every typo I saw then I'd be spending more time copy-pasting than actually playing...

I started playing, seen a few typo's already, chosen adventurer, and clarity. About to begin.... A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

A page in and already...


^^

"A few things came up in the way back that I had to help out with."

I also broke Jumkarta.

(sigh) Yes, the timer is broken at Jumkarta, which is odd as it certainly used to be working.

I may withhdraw this if we keep getting issues.

I think I'm just really good at breaking games

Just recruited the Kamassians, and their full army, looking back in retrospect I probably should have accepted.... spoilers spoiler spoilers!

Oooh you're mean!

Originally posted by Jedireaper
Just recruited the Kamassians, and their full army, looking back in retrospect I probably accepted.... spoilers spoiler spoilers!

You pressed them into giving you their full army? Nice

I wins! (Also I didn't pressure them into anything.)

Final Score: 8
Adventurer (Leadership)

Recruited: Reith, Keiser, Kamassians
Failed to Recruit: Verichi

A high score is in double figures, but really this game is about the achievements.

Waiting for:

A. The first person who is made a true General of the Republic and hence gets the secret army

B. The first person who gets the plot of episode 4...

(Spoilers please if you get either)

Thank you, thank you! *bows* did I do something wrong?

Originally posted by Ushgarak
A high score is in double figures, but really this game is about the achievements.

Waiting for:

A. The first person who is made a true General of the Republic and hence gets the secret army

B. The first person who gets the plot of episode 4...

(Spoilers please if you get either) Spoilers? As in give them?

Nope; the game has moral choices within that do not specifically reward or penalise either way beyond the practical differences. It;s up to you what you think the right way to behave is.

For example, as several of you have noted by now, one of the factions you can recruit is outright evil, but if you turn them down on those grounds you not only lose their army but your basic force is weakened also.

Likewise, if you want the Kamassian army, you have to play hardball with their leader. You do get something if you play nice though.

Originally posted by Jedireaper
Spoilers? As in give them?

No, as in put them in spoiler tags.

I forget how to... I am stuck at the moment because of this typo...

The Reith - The Reith have a fair influence on the Select Committee. They will send armoured tanks if you recruit them.
Summanese - The Reith have a poor influence on the Select Committee. They will send very aggressive infantry if you recruit them

Originally posted by Jedireaper
I forget how to... I am stuck at the moment because of this typo...

The Reith - The Reith have a fair influence on the Select Committee. They will send armoured tanks if you recruit them.
Summanese - The Reith have a poor influence on the Select Committee. They will send very aggressive infantry if you recruit them

Not really something that should get you stuck; the first is the Reith and the second is the Summanese.

I wasn't sure which belonged to which lol enjoying it so far had protocol lessons.

Think I found a glitch that ended my game.

I died for no reason here what so ever I still had 20 or 16 Stamina left. I am really pissed off now. lol

Ooo, did it happen before a save? I hit a tree on Cassilis...

Also, Nations of the Sith in one of the Reith markets.

And WHAT THE HELL OSOKAN.

I've had one save but a lot of effort and hours ago...lol not happy.

Originally posted by REXXXX
Ooo, did it happen before a save? I hit a tree on Cassilis...

Also, Nations of the Sith in one of the Reith markets.

And WHAT THE HELL OSOKAN.

Yea I got both of those. Cool.

Did you have fun revisiting the Zhar in the past?

I keep catching little name drops, like the Mogarian transport and the Valinor Industrial Limited.

Originally posted by REXXXX
Ooo, did it happen before a save? I hit a tree on Cassilis...

Also, Nations of the Sith in one of the Reith markets.

And WHAT THE HELL OSOKAN.

I giggled at Nations of the Sith, and went "OH MY GOD WHAT THE ****" at the other one

Well, then I destroyed the second one like the Darkies wish they could. I got the achievement for it.

So did I.

Me too

Hahaha....
Although going back, I haven't had a chance to beat it a second time.
What character did you create?

I went Swordsman with a Leadership bonus.

Originally was Swordsman with Clarity, but Clarity doesn't seem to be working. So now I'm Swordsman with Acrobatic bonus.

Also, I dunno if this is a bug or I just don't know what I'm doing, but how do I use a bacta pack? I have some (several), but it says when I check my inventory that I'm not carrying anything and I can't figure out how to use them.

Edit: nvm, Jordan told me what command it is

Leadership has come in handy. I won the title with 24 votes.

Do the Charnal join you even if you don't win by that amount?

Finally won! Final score of 8; recruited the Chelonians, Kamassians (full army), and Summanese.

I won the title with 18 votes.

Won with 8 points. Hmm.

I won with 7 points, and recruited the Kamassians (full army), the Kenser Syndicate, and the Reith (one with the big tanks). My acheivements are below...

You have unlocked 12 achievements in this game:
Grandmaster (Win the Holochess contest by at least six points).
Kamassians Recruited (Recruit the Kamassians during play).
Oso-Kanned (Lose no more than six stamina fighting the Osokan).
Kenser Syndicate Recruited (Recruit the Kenser Syndicate during play).
Kenser Charity (Be nice enough to Beran Tarkell so he upgrades the D-Cannon with shields).
No Credits Needed (Trade your way up from the Cravenlator to the Bluewater Tear).
Reith Recruited (Recruit the Reith during play).
General of the Republic (Win the Select Committee vote to become General).
Traitor Trounced (Take no damage when confronting the traitor).
Saviour of Gandilar (Defeat the Jovano army on Gandilar).
Total victory (Win all three zones in the battle against the Jovano on Gandilar).
Untouchable (Reach the victory page without using a single medi-kit).

I also spotted a book called Nations of the Sith in The Emporium which was trade-able.

What's with all this weak single digit win scoring?!

Rexy- nope, you got something big there!

I am playing second time as acolyte, first time I died during chase on Casilis, now I lost the Verichi allliance.

How exactly is the Jedi supposed not to save these people that Verichi are to sacrifice to their bull deity?

Yeesh, the iron bull always sickens me for some reason. I had intended to go through with recruiting the Verichi anyway but that method of torture really unsettles me.

Is Episode 4's plot trying to kill Malphas? That seems too obviously.

Nope, tpt already tried that! For a start, that would be episode 5. Secondly, if you know the plot for 4, you know the title.

Glad to see you guys take the moral part seriously! It's a straight 'ends justify the means' call. There's no bonus for doing the right thing- indeed, a penalty form a practical point of view.

-

Meanwhile, there are easier ways to do just about everything, Getting the Verichi does not have to be on sheer luck, you can get a big edge for playing chess, the quality of item you swap for the bazaar can very greatly...

Has anyone recruited the Ensionites yet? I consider them the hardest.

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My brother has been informed of the existing bugs and they will be fixed, but I am afraid any new builds will blank your saves and achievements so it is up to you whether it is worth it.

I have no idea how to recruit the Ensionites, I come close but get beaten out at the very last minute. Eventually (Due to death or army failure) I gave up and went for the Summanese instead.

After some effort, I got it! The Ensionites are mine to control.

Is there a way to get the Kenser AND the Chelonians? I've been trying to see if there are alternatives but failing each time.

You cannot, no, as the Adventurer finds both pretty easy.

Very! I keep finding that the Leadership option is very effective.

I haven't been able to raise my score of 8, but I'm fairly certain that 25 votes in the Committee is the most you can get.

There are some bugs with Bazaar on Reith, I got stuck there.

I lost final battle with Kamassians and Chelossians on my side, Jovano had overhwelming advantage.

Odd, those two work really well together. If in the same square. Craft and I discovered that last night.

The reason you can get stuck with the Reith is because the countdown timer is broken; if you have no more trading options you should then time out and fail.

Has anyone gone for the Kamassians and NOT gone for the full army?

Originally posted by Ushgarak
The reason yo can get stuck on Reith is because the countdown timer is broken; if you have no more trading options you should then time out and fail. I was stuck on that with an item and two stores left, but they would trade me nothing for the medical droid. I forget now, but my saves disappeared, so again I am not happy. There is also a glitch before the market if you attempt to calm the lizard with the force, and fail you will be given two options with continue beside it. Wondering what the second option was I pressed it. It ended the game straight off, no warning. Didn't even say what happened. I died apparently. But with 16 Stamina left, I was quite confused.

Obviously the lizard ate you.

I've had better luck on Reith when I started out with the map for trading, then the ship-piece-thingy I can't recall the name of.

Yeah, some of the options just kill you outright, Denz.

So far I don't think I've got for the Kamassian full army at all. I've done Takara and his Guard every time that I've used them. I feel bad for ruining Takara's Presidency...

Can't remember the name either, but Mox didn't like the idea of me trading it. I had great luck with that, the map is the one I failed with. Though I traded for Nations of the Sith...

In the context of the game, you don't actually want the book. It was just something to snicker at.

Really, something for us Darkies to snicker at (I certainly giggled at it), but yeah

Why in my current game the Traitor is different person than before?

Because the traitor changes every game!

If you feel the game has suddenly ended without cause, do please try and provide a copy/paste of the text involved- thanks! A lot of bugs like that got squashed but it is the number one thing we are still looking out for. I'll be mass mailing all discovered bugs to my brother soon, though I dunno abut the typos- first things first, get the game working fully!

Originally posted by Peach
Obviously the lizard ate you.

I've had better luck on Reith when I started out with the map for trading, then the ship-piece-thingy I can't recall the name of.

The infamous cravenlator!

And if you know what game that comes from then well done. It was from before some of you were born.

Did followers of the Mage game see the reference to that one?

How do get a two digit score? I won decisevely the Comittee voting, recruited everyone I aimed for and got only 9 points.

Edit - I know now, you can get two points by winning the battle on all three fronts.

Did it have to do with the Verichi bull, Ush?

Nice try but no...

Guess I'll have to play it again! I'm sure I saw it but it didn't click.

That is literally true. Just about everyone will have seen it.

Is it possible to get bonus army without going for Zhar?

I think so! Not certain though.

Well well! The ultimate challenge to learn the next game's plot continues...

Was the next games plot hinted at in any of the previous games?

Nope.

You'll sure as heck know it if you have found it- it's a very specific reference, as in, it directly tells you this is the plot of the next game, alongside the title.

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News! The bugs have been fixed and a new release will be out shortly.

And here it is! Thanks as ever to Peach for hosting.

Warning-0 this will invalidate saves. However, your achievements will be fine.

http://under-the-gun.org/christmas/GotR3.zip

Is the plot of next game about the Temple of Senbar Daris - it is mentioned as being found at the very beginning?

(If I am right you can reward me by updating games on Peach's board, I am staying at home due to leg damage and getting bored).

Haha- no, it is literally explicit. It will tell you "This is the plot of the next game."

Was Galder the only guy to get the Charnals, btw, or did people just generally not care? I thought it was a big deal...

(Ascar actually heavily hinted that the Charnals fought the Jovano in the Jedi thread, but his hint about the Sith/Charnal link wasn't followed up by anyone)

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Haha- no, it is literally explicit. It will tell you "This is the plot of the next game."

Was Galder the only guy to get the Charnals, btw, or did people just generally not care? I thought it was a big deal...


I got them as well. But I think it is only possible if you go for Zhar. I am also not entirely sure what determines your sucess in final confrontation against the Traitor, it seems random.

What is the maximum score you can get?

I believe Wentar got them, too.

Oh, I edited in a plot point related to the Charnals, btw.

I have an 11 listed; I can't remember if I beat that on an earlier version.

Perhaps the next game will be about the conquest of Tarantis?

Well we know who wins at Tarantis...

Anyone know if/how I could load and play this on my ipad using frotz?

Yep! I got Charnel! My ideal army was Charnel, the Kamassians (Private Bodyguard), the Chelonians and the Summanese.

Though I wouldn't say no to replacing the Summanese with the Ensionites... Either way they're both tricky to get in their own right.

Time to replay the game and try find the reference to the next plot, I'm suspecting it involves getting all the achievements. Or possible just getting a crazy high amount of them in a single play through.

I think the best twist would be that the next plot revolves around Thalos, the Harmony and their involvement in the Sith War.

Summanese are easy to get with a Swordsman. Ensionites are a pain always...

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Summanese are easy to get with a Swordsman. Ensionites are a pain always...

They are not a pain after you figure a right order of talking to people there.

Yeah, I figure as long as you talk to the right people at the right time, you don't need the extra money from Owen and you can get everyone to stand down.

Originally posted by REXXXX
Yeah, I figure as long as you talk to the right people at the right time, you don't need the extra money from Owen and you can get everyone to stand down.

As I remember the extra money from Owen is still not enough to outbid main contestants.

Yeah I noticed that too. I have no idea what the extra money from Owen is used for other then the Ensionites.

Yeah I haven't seen another use for it.