MOSQUITO HIGHWAY POSTMORTEM

Mosquito Highway USA is complete! With nearly 30k words, 5 endings, and a format i'm not used to... this was an undertaking.

When I say "not used to", I really mean it. I've made... One other game? But it was never completed and i doubt i'd ever post it (its about fina!). I had trouble here and there figuring out how I was going to do different endings naturally without having to basically write five games, but once i got the hang of ifs and unless statements, it got a lot easier. I imagine someone who's familiar with twine is probably going to dm me like "oh bless your heart, there was a much easier way to do narrative branching than this", but hey, i'm learning. 

Next time, i'll definitely work with someone else for the art, because that was the biggest time sink that took away from the narrative. I probably could've gotten away with not including them at all, but I like pretty pictures, and I wanted to draw Anastasios holding a gun. Definitely never doing one of these alone again!

I had to cut some stuff I liked (mostly with fina. originally, there was a big plot point surrounding her having explosive anger issues, but that was scrapped for time), but I saved a LOT of time by using pre-made OCs. Keshi and Anastasios are OCs I've had forever, with Anastasios being made for DND when I was 16. Keshi is based off of an old OC I made when I was 15, too. Fina was made for an RP by grimalkind, so she's actually only a few months old, and Flash was made for a big, rambly VTM AU fic I wrote with my best friend where 90% of the jokes were about vampire dick (im. not releasing that one <3)

At this point, I can totally live with not winning, because this was a great learning experience. I love vampire the masquerade (even if i've never gotten to play the table top), and I love writing character-driven works. Rudy was made for this game and I've grown very attached to this anime-watching, Weezer-loving gamer.... And yes, their gecko, Taquito, is just my own gecko. If I win anything, I'm giving him all the proceeds.

I'm definitely using Twine more in the future, and I hope my readers are excited to see more from me.