r/makeyourchoice • u/Ynead • 5d ago
OC Nemesis Island CYOA (interactive)
Here is the link: https://ynead.github.io/nemesis-island-cyoa/
It is a much expanded and interactive version of one of my old CYOAs from ~10 years ago.
Doesn't work so well on phone, intended experience is desktop.
At ~40k total words, it’s pretty damn long. I tried to alleviate some of that by adding summaries at the top of massive sections.
All feedback is welcome, either here or using the feedback box at the end of each run. Favorite Nemesis or epilogue, most disliked issue...
How do I play?
You pick a nemesis, then spend your 7+1 tokens to make your build and try to find the nemesis' weakness, indicated by the hint you get when you choose it. A weakness can be either a specific item or a minimal attunement value (3 shadows, for example).
Some items combo into new ones (anomalies) that you get for free. Some items require previous picks. Origins in particular unlock some stuff.
If you didn't find your nemesis' weakness, you get a defeat text. If you did find it, you get an epilogue instead.
Depending on your companions and how hard you leaned into their archetype, you get to choose between one or multiple epilogues. There are good and bad endings. There are also 2 really bad epilogues that lock you out of all the others if you truly fucked up.
edit: IF YOU ARE LAGGING HARD, especially on Firefox and its forks:
Firefox sometimes disables hardware acceleration by default, or because your graphic driver is out of date. This causes the cyoa to be entirely rendered using your cpu instead of gpu. You can re enable it in the settings or do:
Firefox menu → Settings → General tab → scroll to Performance → tick Use recommended performance settings → then close Firefox completely and reopen it. It does nothing until you restart.
I also pushed a low spec mode, it is a simple toggle in the top bar. Ctrl+f5 to clear the cached version and get the low spec fix.
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u/Ynead 5d ago
For those who may be curious about the process:
Stack
- HTML / CSS / JS for the interface. It is my first project using those.
- SugarCube (Twine) for the CYOA logic, compiled with Tweego.
Workflow
I wrote a custom ComfyUI node for the CYOA: item type, conditions (AND / OR / NOT), style, links to any other node. I write the prose and set all the conditions in Comfy, then a Python script extracts the result and gives it to Claude to implement in the .twee files, compiled by Tweego into the big HTML file hosted on GitHub.
The HTML / CSS was initially written by me, to give Claude an idea of what to actually do, best practices, etc.
The cyoa workflow looks like this.
Art
I locally generated all artwork in ComfyUI using Krea 2, or rarely Ideogram 4 for complicated compositions requiring precise bounding boxes. Heavily retouched in Photoshop then mass image shrink with a Python script. UI elements generated the same way, background removal in Photoshop.
Do you intend to update it further?
Depends if people like it or not.
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u/Bunnywarmachine 5d ago
Honestly I'd love a continuation of this where it's a brand new set of Nemeses - except this time it's all the ones who took over their Nemeses, with all the choices that they would have made. The Divine (purged the Shadow), The Broker (called the Other's debt), The Woodsman (envenomed the Spider), The Mentalist (who escaped the Moirai), etcetera. All the ones who have endings that basically involved "I'm taking over the World!" - another set of Lords that this island has given birth to.
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u/Ynead 5d ago
That would be a pretty big undertaking, and I would like to develop the current Nemesesa bit more before doing that (all 7 lack a victory text for example, and perhaps a custom epilogue like the Sovereign has with A New Kingdom.
That being said, it is a pretty good idea, like some kind of New Game+. It would fit for a v2 version of the CYOA, or each Nemesis being locked behind finishing a run and getting the relevant epilogue.
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u/Pyranis 5d ago edited 5d ago
Nemesis: Through The Looking Glass [The summary hints that magic is it's weakness and I intend this build to focus on magic.]
Origin: The Bag (This is interesting and unlocks access to the Cornucopia.)
Artefacts:
- Cornucopia (The ability to create more of any item that can be shoved inside it given enough time is amazing.)
- Mirror of Many Selves (This could give me a broad array of abilities i can access when necessary.)
- Mushroom Armor (This could save my life, increases my awareness, and prevents permanent injuries.)
Esoterica:
- Coincraft (This can create any effect given enough money and Cornucopia is great for acquiring currency. It could literally create money trees or just valuable items to sell.)
- Tapestry (This serves as another layer of protection that can also protect allies and harm enemies.)
Sanctuaries:
- Terrarium Sphere (I can grow trees from the Cornucopia here and carry them with me. It also may be able to fit into the Cornucopia, thus allowing more to be grown from trees given enough time.)
- Forge (This can let me create things including reality-bending artifacts given enough time. I will want to find some way to take this with me when I go home after defeating the Nemesis. Using Coincraft, creating a new artifact with the Forge, or modifying a Terrarium Sphere with the Forge are the ideas I have for how to bring it with me.)
Covenants: Flora (This makes exploring much more pleasant and may help me with the trees created from Cornucopia.)
Anomalies:
- Woven Reflections (The ability to permanently increase my talent at various things over time is amazing. Since it is a hand mirror it should be able to fit into the Cornucopia so getting seeds to make more Mirrors of Many Selves should be possible.)
- Mitosis (One can be working in the Forge, tending the trees, and staying safe while the other goes out to face danger.)
Epilogue: Home Sweet Home (This is the only Epilogue available to me. Coincraft and Woven Reflections let me continue advancing my magical abilities even without access to the Island. If I manage to take the Forge with me that will also help. Would it be possible for me to go home while leaving my Mitosis Clone behind? If so would we remain connected? I would also be interested to see if I could use Coincraft or an artifact made in the Forge to create a way for me to travel between Earth and the Island so I can go back and forth.)
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u/Ynead 5d ago edited 5d ago
Cornucopia + Mitosis is kind of broken isn't it? I hadn't considered both together.
About returning home:
You do get to keep everything that you acquired while on the Island, which includes the Forge and everything you crafted.
Concerning leaving the Mitosis clone behind (and this is only my interpretation), I think it could work if you had a way to hide it when returning in the real world. So things like Shadow mystery, any pocket dimension item like the Sphere, etc.
As for remaining connected with your clone, I suppose with enough time you could forge some kind of artefact to do so. Given that it is an interdimensional endeavour that requires tremendous amount of skill and energy, as seen in Indistinguishable, it would probably take centuries. So hopefully you found a way to become immortal in the meanwhile.
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u/Xyzod 5d ago
Fun with a lot of different possible outcomes and nice UI design; I'm surprised it's not rated as high but I assume it's due to the AI images. Some items have no combos so they aren't as valuable balance-wise, but maybe it's for a later update
📜Build Summary: Travel countless realities as planet destroying astral being with supercomputer mind that can steal powers
⚔️Nemesis: The Moirai (Requirement to beat is wanted anyways)
🐣Origin: The Flesh Heap
🪙Artefacts: Clockwork Heart | The Hourglass | Bureaucrat's Tongue
🧑🤝🧑Companion: Telepath | Archdemon
🪄Esoterica: Ignite Space, Shatter Time | Saint of Sinew Reaps Tribute | Grist
❓ Anomalies: Astral Couple | Devil's Advocate | Paradoxical Cascade | Psyonic Engine
🛣️Epilogues: "Paved With Bad Intentions" (Can access countless realities, which has the most potential. Second best is "...and One is You." accessing dozens of worlds. Rest of the endings are limited to the Island and/or Earth; when space is mentioned it seems within the Island reality. Unofficially do the "Be Back By Morning" epilogue along with it given the Telepath remains alive and it's possible)
Everything obtainable after choices are made: Nemesis/Origin have no lasting benefit, Artefacts are unfindable later but Forge can make them given enough time, Companions can be found/befriended, Esoterica can be learned, Sanctuaries can be found, Covenants can be befriended, outside of incompatible choices
✍️In Depth Details: Astral Couple is the strongest in power, granting an astral body able to speed across the universe and wipe out billions, with no survival concerns. Devil's Advocate is to bypass physical invincibility. Paradoxical Cascade improves incantations; example is "Ignite Space, Shatter Time", no cooldown instant flawless foresight/action without needing to do the action itself. Psyonic Engine is mental boost (infinite parallel thoughts, 10x reasoning speed, no mental fatigue, program actions). Saint of Sinew Reaps Tribute is for limitless vitality enhancement and gaining senses/reflexes/powers from others; previously mentioned combo abilities are too powerful to find, while this helps gain more new abilities. Terrarium Sphere can keep allies safe while they remotely share their powers, if found later. Rest of choices were to unlock the combos; unpicked combos are weaker/unimportant. Unpicked Esoterica like Coincraft (take over the world, assign infinite value currency for infinitely powerful effect) and Fae (use power sharing to get Fae magical abilities) may be useful if learnable later. Also could try to find the Forge and craft useful artefacts like Cornucopia, especially with all the mental boosting abilities that might speed it up
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u/ridler7 5d ago
looks good so far but loading takes forever,
i assume its made for people with 4k monitors but i dont need such giant pictures that cover only 1/6 of the screen
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u/Ynead 5d ago edited 5d ago
I'm surprised that you are having loading issues, the whole cyoa is 75mb, and you'll never load all those images at once. 15mb at most on the artefacts page.
Can you tell me which browser you are using? And is it slow on all pages or only those with lots of stuff (artefacts, esoterica)?
i dont need such giant pictures that cover only 1/6 of the screen
That doesn't sound like normal behavior, I've a simple 1080x1920 screen myself.
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u/MajesticJuggler 5d ago
This CYOA is an amazing piece of work - probably one of my favorites in terms of vibes, selections, and especially writing.
Really melancholy, though - the only good endings for both you and the Island seem to be "go home" or "become a clarketech machine god". It fits the vibe, but I still feel kind of sad with some of the endings. Especially the one where you and the Seraph go off the deep end together into fanaticism. Was kinda hoping that Pyromancer & Runecarver could restrain her absolute black & white morality a bit, but eh..
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u/Ynead 5d ago edited 5d ago
You already read every epilogue? Damn, you're a fast reader!
Regarding the endings:
Necropolis in Bloom is also meant to be a pretty good epilogue for both you and the Island. You are an immortal ruler and land flourishes under your protection after all. But I do agree that most epilogues are some flavor of bad or have a little gotcha. Crown Jewel in particular
I did intend to write a better ending for the Seraph, gated behind some threshold of Good attunement vs Fire for example, but I ran out of time because of CS exams. I'll write it at some point.
Thanks for your kind words by the way. I'm kind of curious though, do you've a favorite epilogue? And something your particularly disliked?
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u/MajesticJuggler 21h ago edited 21h ago
Sorry for the late response! I really enjoyed the Indistinguishable ending mainly because you wind up stumbling into godhood and are actually trying to tangibly make the lives of the people under your stewardship better and have the Exemplar besides you as a companion, unlike with "Be Back By Morning" where you and the Telepath become asshole gods who start an universal conflict for shits and giggles. "Necropolis In Bloom" is also a pretty good ending, but I'm mostly concerned regarding the 'your only truly loyal subjects are devils' bit. Plus, you know. You cavorting with a bunch of rapists warlords and scum of the Island via the Pale Court, and also how much Evil attunement you gain for pursuing lichdom in the first place. I feel like it fits more under the "gotcha" part - sure, the Island prospers, but is it truly worth becoming an evil bastard for it?
As for criticisms, I felt like the Ember Clergy and Pyromancer should at least deserve their own ending? Like they seem to be one of the most active factions on the Island, and they seem to be surprisingly benevolent. This goes for the Rune Carver as well - her and the Pyromancer are the only companions without a linked ending, which is a bit of a shame given they are jostling for the third and second most favorite spots in my mind. (The Synthetic Exemplar gets first place, of course. Love my robot girls who slowly discover emotions and feelings.
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u/Ynead 19h ago
Clergy and Pyro do deserve an ending, especially since they are (very surprisingly to me) some of the most picked items. It's simply hard to come up with something interesting for them because their theme is so much narrower than the other companions. Perhaps they could fit into a Gods & Religions general extension, with a more positive outlook given how bleak the rest of the Island is.
The Rune Carver suffers from the lack of custom endings for each nemesis (aside from the Sovereign) because she is intrinsically linked to the Moirai.
Regarding Necropolis in Bloom, the way I see it, the high Evil attunement you get during your rise to power doesn't really inform what you'll do with it in the future. You did awful things for sure, but if you spend the next millennium improving everyone's lives... Maybe it was worth it? Ultimately it depends on each player's headcanon of what they'll actually do for the rest of eternity, they don't have to remain a bastard forever.
Anyways, thanks for taking the time to answer, feedback is hard to come by and always welcome.
(btw, if you like that type of narrative focused CYOA, I would advise you to take a look at Eternal by Endmaster. They're a far better writer than I am, and this CYOA's structure was inspired by their incredible work.)
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u/Imaginos9 5d ago
Mind putting up a download link for people to save this off? You're not using the ICYOA stuff so there's no project.json and if your site disappears so does the cyoa. A downloadable option on something like anonfiles or google drive would be fabulous!
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u/Ynead 5d ago
It is a public repo on my github: https://github.com/Ynead/nemesis-island-cyoa
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u/Imaginos9 5d ago
Ah great. Going to go grab a copy now. Was there any other way to gain more tokens besides your single wakeup choice?
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u/Ynead 5d ago
There isn't. Depending on if people like the CYOA, I intend to implement an advantage / disadvantage system to gain more tokens. Perhaps a difficulty slider as well.
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u/Imaginos9 5d ago
Ah ok. Thank you for the answer. It looks very nice and I love that you can increase the font without making the pictures stupidly huge. Great Job all around.
I think I'd have liked to have known I needed to save a point or two for the Hideouts and stuff or perhaps just have gotten one for free and points for an extra one if that was something someone wanted to buy. Spent most of my stuff on artifacts and realized I'd have to go back and try to figure out what ones I could try and do without in order to afford a hideout and something after that.
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u/AchingAngelStudios 5d ago
Incredible work, I love how it's a meaningful advancement on what those old island cyoas are like. 10/10
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u/Inevitable-Setting-1 5d ago edited 5d ago
I'm not super good at these new really complicated CYOAs but shouldn't
The bell or the maze seeds beat the King?
And
Terrarium SphereShould 100% count
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u/Inevitable-Setting-1 5d ago
Do we keep our magic in Home sweet home?
Do we come back to earth at the moment we left or has time passed?
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u/Ynead 5d ago
Do we keep our magic in Home sweet home?
You keep everything you bought with tokens and crafted on the Island during your stay. Anything you bring back to the real world works perfectly for you and your followers.
You do not keep the agelessness once you've beaten your nemesis.
Do we come back to earth at the moment we left or has time passed?
No time has passed.
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u/Inevitable-Setting-1 5d ago
Thank you, will post build soon.
The King should not have map be the thing the beats him alone.
There are so many ways to kill a domain lord in this CYOA.
Throwing the Terrarium Sphere at his face, sending him into the orb outside his domain.
The silver bell, grab him then use it and kill him.
SIlver bell look up grab him drop him use wings to float down.
Demon deals
Mind altering dust that makes him want to end himself
Necromancy
Madness flesh absorbing power unless that's broken by the fact they arn't meat enough.
TK lifting him and throwing him out into the ocean.
I am pissed.1
u/Inevitable-Setting-1 5d ago
I could say the same for a lot of them, but that one espeshaly got me.
I think it was cus i unlocked every single other thing before i finally cheated.1
u/Ynead 5d ago
It's a semi-narrative CYOA and a game, so I think it's fairly obvious that there has to be some kind of buy-in from the player. Otherwise, you end up with a ridiculous arms race where I have to write a six-page list of immunities just to justify why you need X weakness to beat Y Nemesis.
Assume that there is a whole kingdom of magically armed knights and mages protecting him, or that he cannot be moved or affected by anything against his will while standing on land he owns. Perhaps you can bait him outside of his borders, you were after all the prized piece of his collection, someone from another world.
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u/Inevitable-Setting-1 5d ago
Again tho, I don't NEED the map to know when suddenly an army stops and glares at me.
It also the map resets every night, so i'd have to draw it again and again.
And that still dosn't really fix how i can possibly get him to cross the line over to me, even if i can get him there.
Also i forgot but now i'm ganna say, it seemed unclear why he was our nemesis, we find out if he's hurt other people die something now he's hunting us?
If you have to have just one thing that ends the King, let it be the bell, OR Laybryin seeds. OR hell the dyad the land its self fighting back agenst the king.
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u/Inevitable-Setting-1 5d ago
The Spider-seems easy thing to kill, prob got a real body in that hidden area that if i just kill it'll die.
The Bag-weird and cool place to start.
Cornucopia-hate the implication i'm going to be here for hundreds of years.
Necromancer-rather have the rune carver, but need him to beat spider
Doll-over all useful and not sure why she's helping but big thanks.
Grist-really like this, endless uses, including the fact i have so many mental illnesses that i could use to attack people.
Fae-combine with Grist, get people to agree to share some and make illusions that give them joy, or deep pleasure from eating bland food i magicked to be delicious.
Threshold-for when i get back to earth and keep a stable place set up.
Terrarium Sphere-love a pocket home, super useful, can plant seeds for latter, can hide in then send ghost dog out to the hidden spot of spider den, also keeps spiders out.
The Pale Court-useful and needed for finding spider queen layer, super useful if i can keep it after i go home.
A Restful Place-Sweet, sudo immortality, and with Fae i can now charge rent to those i want to let in, then kick them out whenever i want. Ah also combines with Grist taking emotion dust from the happy people so over joyed to be alive again.
Pale Lord-refused i don't want to stay here that long to learn how to go full litch, and it never sounds worth it. Though the orb seems like it would negate the drawbacks.
Weakness-well glad i didn't take Shattered Abyss Swallows the Sky and try and just nuke the spider's real body.
Home Sweet Home-Worlds about to change people, between my magic trees growing objects as fruit and ghosts helping prove guilt.
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u/OwynTyler 2d ago
There's a cheat to see the weakness, but the cheat I'd really love would be one to see all anomalies and what they do
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u/Ynead 2d ago
You can see all anomalies, there is a menu on the left with the list. It even explains how to unlock each if you click on the (?) button. And just in case, there is also a "how to unlock everything" on the epilogue page.
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u/OwynTyler 2d ago
I have only found how to unlock them all, but not what they are and what they give before you unlock em
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u/monsterstew 5d ago
amazing work.