Version 26 is now up, correcting one absolutely horrendous bug where it was possible to stall out conversation entirely during the hart’s dialogue by addressing Snow White in a certain way. The game went ahead and switched interlocutors, but didn’t stop the scene, so the player was caught in a strange limbo of talking to both-but-neither, and unable to fulfill the conditions to end the scene.
Boys and girls, mechanical testing is never enough.
Version 26 also includes some presentational tweaks, of which the most notable is that I have slightly greyed the “You could ask…” sentences. This is an optional setting that can be turned off in the game’s settings menu if it doesn’t appeal, but I find it makes these suggestions look/feel a little less spammy and allows me to focus my primary reading attention on the actual dialogue each turn. That’s just my take, though — feedback is welcome.
I’ve been thinking also about other presentational aspects. E.g.:
- Once we make the final, for-players version of this, the status line should no longer contain a bunch of cryptic data about Snow White’s mood and the number of available quips remaining. What should usefully go there instead?
- Do we even want a standard status line, or would we prefer a left-hand graphical bar? I’ve been slightly fantasizing about having a border with a (fairly restrained) black-and-white line drawing of the person we’re currently talking to, possibly with a couple of variations of the image of Snow White depending on just how freaky she is being at the moment, and whether the player knows a couple of key facts about her. But if done well, that might actually convey all the information that the status line would, and in a more classy way.
In other news, OmniGraffle has capriciously decided to cooperate again, so this is what the graph looks like at the moment, writ VERY TINY:
That’s 67 facts and 362 quips. The game also recognizes 47 subjects other than the physical items found in the game world.
Emily Short's Interactive Storytelling 
I vote for the graphical bar at the left. I don’t think a status line would provide much in the way of useful information. I think varied illustrations of the current interlocuter would be a very nice addition. Incidentally, I looked for changed descriptions of Snow White at various points–expecting her description to update as her mood changes–but didn’t find them. Might be a nice touch (though made less necessary perhaps by illustrations).
Re the graying of the “You could ask about” hints: This seems fine to me when they are simply bald suggestions. However, there are many cases in the game where the hints have been nicely embedded in text that conveys the PC’s character, mood, and/or thoughts (e.g. “Your instinct is to put her off. You consider excuses and distractions: say that the safe haven is too far away to reach tonight? explain that you must stop here to collect the heart?”). In these cases, the graying serves to undercut somewhat the artful incorporation of the hints, by indicating to the player that both the well incorporated and the blunt force hints have the same status.
Incidentally, I looked for changed descriptions of Snow White at various points–expecting her description to update as her mood changes–but didn’t find them. Might be a nice touch (though made less necessary perhaps by illustrations).
Okay, I’ve added that.
When trying to download the pdf, I get an all-white (apparently empty?) PDF with roughly the same aspect ratio as the bitmap in the post.
I am using adobe acrobat reader 8.1.3