Welcome horror fans, game devs, VN aficionados, Catalyst gang affiliates, and all lovers of choices in games!! This month's devlog is a deep dive into the way I handle the biggest and most heavily branching route in Catalyst: Blind Faith, the "hard branch" for the Goddess of Mercy. This is the "trunk" of this biiiig game's branching story.

We're going to cover the nuts, bolts, and raw insanity of how I designed its 130+ chapters, numerous endings, hundreds of choices, and what can only be seen in many many playthroughs despite originating from one, BIG, and VERY TRANSPARENT player decision!

This content is my pride and joy of Catalyst: Blind Faith. It is utterly impossible to talk meaningfully about without some potential spoilers, however. I am keeping spoilers to a minimum, but if you want to ever check out the full game of Catalyst: Blind Faith totally unspoiled, proceed with caution!

If you would like to visit prior devlogs in this narrative series for some spoiler-free reading, you can find them here! They build a lot of context for this one, but are optional reading:

1. Narrative Design 101

2. Common Route Mechanical Madness + All Routes Preview

⚠️⚠️⚠️LAST CHANCE TO TURN AROUND ⚠️⚠️⚠️

Thank you so much for the support and taking the time to check out this devlog, whether or not you stop reading here! The remainder of this narrative devlog series will not always have spoilers, and I will label them accordingly whenever they do.

I am VERY hard at work on the material for our Steam debut this year and cannot WAIT to share more info!!!!! Feel free to pop on by our community Discord server for more memes and progress, or check out my Bluesky for frequent updates too! 💙

⚠️⚠️⚠️POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT!!!⚠️⚠️⚠️

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️😉YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! 😉⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

I see you mean business. Excellent. Let's fucking gooooo

I. INTRO

Due to the sheer amount of ground to cover, this will be a long devlog.

long

long devlog

I gave up trying to consolidate it more than this after three (3) weeks of outlining

Be not afraid of the biblically accurate devlog 👁️✍️🔀✍️👁️

It is broken into the following 6 parts! Six! You heard right! This one took several days to write due to its complexity, even at my speed lol. The word count is shorter than your scrollbar looks, because there's also lots of images. I hope you enjoy!

BIBLICALLY ACCURATE DEVLOG NAVIGATION KEY:

I. INTRO | 493 words | 1 image -> You are here 👋

II. SUMMARY OF THE GAME'S STRUCTURE | 462 words | 3 images

III. CASE EXAMPLES: CHOICES, VARIABLES, MECHANICS, & MORE | 1,405 words | 6 images

IV. HOW THIS ALL WORKS TOGETHER | 403 words | 1 image

V. BUT WHY IS THE MERCY HARD BRANCH IS SO EXCEPTIONALLY MORE ELABORATE THAN THE REST OF THE GAME? HOW THIS IS POSSIBLE WITH TEN HARD BRANCHES IN ALL? | 449 words | 2 images

VI. OUTRO | 218 words | High res downloads of all images

comes out to 3,469 words in all, about the length of a chapter in a book, with 13 images inbetween. get cozy. grab a drink. hope you have fun☕💖

II. SUMMARY OF THE GAME'S STRUCTURE

For those of you wild and crazy enough who may be reading a devlog from me for the first time with this one, welcome! This will be a quick and dirty rundown on needed context to understand what the fuck I'm about to talk about. (Those of you have have read my last two devlogs, feel free to skim or skip this section entirely.)

🔥🔥🔥 OBLIGATORY GAME BLURB 🔥🔥🔥

Catalyst: Blind Faith is a dark fantasy and horror visual novel, set in an apocalyptic world where humanity is on the brink of extinction. You shape the fate of a young and troubled priest who is obsessed with finding a cure for the strange phenomenon turning mankind into demons: the Catalyst.

While you dive deep into the ruins that cover the land, you can channel the power of any God in the pantheon through your weakened and fractured body. Every choice you make carries favor with different aspects of reality and influences the nature of your journey, for better or for worse.

Control unrivaled power—at a cost.

Be true to yourself.

Conquer your demons, inside and out.

I talked about the common route's structure and types of choices at length in our last devlog, but in short, by the end of the common route, the player will have had many choices to explore the game, its world, and which relationships matter to them the most.

The choices they make not only enable them to explore what themes they resonate with, but will have a thorough understanding of how the choices they make, and that those choices will have consequences that determine the fate of our antihero.

This verrrry large image is best viewed at high res! I've scrunched and compressed it down to fit on itch.io's teeny tiny filesize limit. This image, and all other images in this devlog, are also attached to the crosspost of this devlog on my Patreon (for free!) at high res for your viewing and downloading enjoyment. This shows a hyper-simplified version of the choice structure for the full game of Catalyst: Blind Faith.

At the end of the common route, the player is given a detailed choice menu, where they can transparently decide which one of these relationships they want to further. As shown in the image above, all 10 "hard branches" of the story split off from the common route. Each one of these hard branches has an appropriately thematic structure, complementing the themes of that respective character or deity.

You may have also noticed that one of these hard branches—the one in the center—is NOT like the others.

Strap in. This is as simple as it gets and we are not slowing down until the devlog is over lol

Today we will be talking about this monstrosity: the hard branch for the Goddess of Mercy, whose content comprises the "trunk" of Catalyst: Blind Faith's VERY BRANCHING gameplay.

COMIN AT YA HOT AND FAST WITH EXAMPLES LETS GOOOO

(I actually listened to this piano cover on loop while editing most of this. Truly how it feels to be sharing this content in any detail with you all after spending over a year writing the game's script: https://youtu.be/TBMf3mcIGkw?si=vqKsSBQQ6IV2WAX2 )

III. CASE EXAMPLES: CHOICES, VARIABLES, MECHANICS, & MORE

SO, [cracks knuckles]

In all ways, Mercy is the Goddess of forgiveness and compassion. Her hard branch's narrative structure and its choices keep to that theme by being the most forgiving in the game.

That doesn't mean your choices are without consequences. 🙂

It is because of Mercy's themes and this design decision that not only does this hard branch have the most choice, but almost all other hard branches can merge into this content at some point without an exponential explosion in the game's scope.

"BUT HOOOOW, ALARIC," YOU MAY BE WONDERING

"TEACH ME THE DARK ARTS OF MANY MEANINGFUL CHOICES WHILE ACTUALLY FINISHING WRITING CONTINUITY AFTER CONTINUITY AND IT NOT BECOMING PLOT SPAGHETTI"

I hear you I feel you and the burning desire for arcane indie dev knowledge

LET'S BEGIN WITH SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

ALLLLLL THE EXAMPLES

In my humble* opinion, it is exhausting in long games for every single choice to be a matter of life or death. It's also terrible to not telegraph transparently to players what their choices might actually do, if the point of the game's choices isn't a mystery.

(*I obviously have opinions about choices in games)

SPEAKING OF WHICH:

I did a talk about different types of meaningful choices in games in this VNConf video, and will be elaborating in great detail on the implementation of those types of choices in CBF now! Yippeeee!!!

Please also enjoy the beautiful fanart and old Catalyst lore memes, largely courtesy of our magnificent Discord community, in my glorious attempts at not spoiling the game's story in any significant way. This is nothing we won't be sharing with basic marketing, like with party member names, but I will be omitting spoilers as much as humanly possible nonetheless. The spoiler warning for this devlog is moreso for players who do not want to know about the type of narrative structure for Mercy, or knowing anything under the hood for the full game. 👍💛

• Cosmetic choices
  • Plenty of choices exist for player expression, allowing for levity, pacing, and other nice narrative considerations without massively branching consequences.
  • This might result in unique dialogue, a hidden scene, or a small reminder here and there throughout the game about your choice, while keeping the scope of the game in control.
  • Funny non-spoiler example, art by Alaric age 33:

There is immense merit to any and all of these options. Possibly more than a life or death decision. (Definitely more than a life or death decision.)

• Weighted choices (most traditional, for relationships)
  • This is a traditional VN through and through in terms of mechanics. We are NOT reinventing the wheel, but making something heartfelt with tried and true methods!
  • A core part of the player's journey is the relationships they form (or ruin). Because of this, almost EVERY choice influences at least one relationship you have.
  • That also includes your relationships with the deities in the pantheon!
  • A single choice might not make or break that relationship in every instance. These are powerful because over the course of this long game, they are gradually reflected in the narrative and on our MC's characterization. More on that in a bit!
  • Funny non-spoiler example, fanart by Coolighost:

Though Malimos will no doubt be amused with whatever you pick, you can't please everyone all the time! You shouldn't have to guess how these options could affect your relationships with Yech or Gwen either.

• Weighted choices (less traditional, used selectively in encounters that need them)
  • Some encounters have need for special mechanics over a lengthy period of time. This might be a long exploration sequence, a very complex fight, or something crazier (you see me dodging these spoilers right? 🥲💖)
  • These point systems are tied to player choice, independently of character or deity relationships, and are often contained solely to that encounter.
  • That doesn't mean they won't factor in choices from elsewhere in the game! Their complexity and execution is used as needed, as all the mechanics in CBF exist for whatever each scene's need is.
  • Funny non-spoiler example with Renaissance level perfection fanart by Coolighost:

There's a LOT of variables being accounted for here, and all are tied to the player's physical condition. This scene accounts for all of it, since it makes sense to narratively. The player's new options are also gated or opened by previous choices, when it makes sense to!

• Life or death choices
  • Some choices abruptly end the game. This is as simple as it gets. Do you literally live or die (or suffer a fate worse than death)?
  • As you might imagine, it would get VERY boring VERY fast and cheapen the game immensely if only a handful of choices actually continued events. I don't do these too often. You will know when your life is in immediate danger. 🙂
  • The stakes are EXTREMELY high, but that doesn't mean I want to punish the player for fucking around and finding out. On the contrary! Very often, when an ending can happen abruptly, we use a forgiving rollback mechanic. The player can revert to the choice menu that led to their early ending and pick a different option, so they do not have to restart the game from the beginning, even with autosave on. You can get right back into the action this way (and continue fucking around and finding out if that is your preferred playstyle)! 😊👍
  • Non-spoiler example, with fucking awesome fanart courtesy of Grub (Catalyst has an original fantasy pantheon, but the real-world religious imagery here was the artist's choice):

Pretty obvious which one leads to an early ending, right? And that might be an ending you still really want to see!

• Life or death choices part 2 electric boogaloo
  • Less often, choices create a permanent divide in the game's narrative, and things do not end there. These are things that CANNOT ever be backpedaled from. Not even in Mercy's hard branch!
  • You may have lost a treasured possession, ruined a relationship, suffered a catastrophic injury, or worse. An important part of CBF is that your actions have consequences, and that continuing on your journey can be well worth it, especially when things look grim.
  • It could also mean a huge boon has occurred and a permanent narrative consequence resulted!
  • As with any other life or death style choices, these are EXHAUSTING in excess. I use them sparingly, and these permanent divides often come near the end of the game, and are VERY clearly telegraphed when they are coming. They are intended as a reward for players who commit to their decisions, honoring your choices and furthering the narrative as a direct result of those actions!
  • Funny non-spoiler example, with stunning character fanart by Seraph!!:

Hopefully you are picking up what I am putting down: the choices themselves telegraph what will happen next, no matter how zany the context or how high the stakes.

• Life or death choices part 3 featuring dante from the devil may cry series
  • Lastly, we have some choices that have such extreme consequences that they are gated by our extreme content filter.
  • The luxury of having enough branches in the narrative to do this is wonderful. I will be talking about the extreme content filter in much more detail in the last devlog in our narrative series, given the sheer number of considerations that went into its implementation!
  • These are decisions that often must be built up to over long periods of play, and not only permanently fracture the narrative, but lead to such abhorrent situations that I have made them entirely optional. I hope this makes some of you reading very excited. I think there's immense merit to games that explore extremely dark content at length, and as a horror writer, it is some of my favorite material in the game. We'll talk a lot more about this in future devlogs in this series.
  • Non-spoiler example, horrific photobashing by yours truly:

It's very important to me to clearly telegraph that content like this can be in the game, but that it's only there for players who want to engage with it. Reaching a scene like this might not even be possible with the extreme content filter enabled! The top option would never appear at all. For players who want hectic content, though, this might be right up their alley, and that's cool too. 😎👉

IV. HOW THIS ALL WORKS TOGETHER

For a harmless example of how this works over the course of our long game, let's look at the jokey fanart with Ray and Yech working out.

By the time the player reaches this scene, we can pretend they have finished the common route, and their choices all ignored taking care of Richard physically. He's not only neglected lifting weights, but also has sprained his ankle previously. ❤️‍🩹

What we are doing mechanically is honoring the player's previous choices. By that I mean: Every time the player previously took a choice to neglect their physical health, that was stacking up as characterization with a different focus. They could have paid more attention to socializing, or studying, or exploration. What matters is that it created a negative relationship with Richard's physicality. When we reach a scene deeper in the game where that's relevant, we check for that relationship status, and have a whole scene where it's a point of interest. ❤️‍🩹‼️

This might be a big divide in the narrative. You bet in future scenes, Richard is going to be aware he's weak. Maybe he'll get a few more chances to work out more! ❤️‍🩹🔀💪

This scene hammers in those repeated decisions made previously, reminds the player that their choices matter, and does a few other cool things.💭 🔀

While the player is locked out of the option to work out here, even though they definitely might want to, a new option opens because they're injured. By MERIT of having a previous injury, they actually got a positive choice for this encounter. ❤️‍🩹‼️🙌

It would be predictable and shitty for every risk you take to be purely a bad thing. I strive to reward players by incentivizing them to engage with the game, test their limits, and try weird things. 😏💭 🔀

We also leave a less ideal option here, with a shitty excuse, even when there are two other, obviously positive choices this scene can have. The player still has the choice to intentionally do something less than ideal, if they want to see what would happen next. 😏 🔀📼

This example reflects not only what happens in the "trunk" of the story if the player chose Mercy's hard branch, but also if the player comes into it midway from a different hard branch. That characterization will still be respected! Our next narrative devlog will talk in much more detail about the execution of that too! 💪🔀❤️‍🩹

V. BUT WHY IS THE MERCY HARD BRANCH IS SO EXCEPTIONALLY MORE ELABORATE THAN THE REST OF THE GAME? HOW THIS IS POSSIBLE WITH TEN HARD BRANCHES IN ALL?

In my last narrative devlog, I listed the themes, structure, number of expected endings, and some cool notes on other mechanical consideration at length for the other hard branches in the game! (You can ctrl+f "PART 2: THE END OF THE COMMON ROUTE" in that link to jump to that!)

The scope is actually incredibly doable, thanks to me carefully picking and choosing what content is a tighter story to tell, and where we can have this breadth of choices and branching.

We also get this extreme luxury of abundant choice due to the unfathomably forgiving nature of this content, and me taking excruciating pains to outline and account for every possible permutation of these events in the game. Not only is our KILLER editing and QA team there to help me with ensuring there is consistent characterization at each and every check for these relationship thresholds and big, life or death choices, but I also restrict this insane abundance of choice to this one hard branch that can have numerous endings right up until the end of the game. Most choices do NOT create permanent divides before then, barring a few extreme exceptions.

Part of the struggle with outlining this devlog came from trying so hard to not spoil any major content, and to not talk at great length about just how involved things get. Below is a snippet of a flowchart for one (1) social encounter in the full game, which spans across 3-4 parallel chapters, can have an entire path gated by the extreme content filter, and is still NOWHERE near all the content with this one character. It chronologically spans a single chapter for the player in one playthrough too, so a minimum of 3-5 playthroughs are needed to remotely see all the ways it can go loooool

Blurred the text to remove spoilers. You can imagine why I decided that it's best to just have you guys be excited to play through stuff like this when the game is done, and keep the examples relatively simple!

So, though almost all other hard branches are quite linear, none are as forgiving. The entire rest of this devlog series is going to be dealing with the immense considerations that are going into the hard branch for the God of Vengeance, who is opposed to Mercy in every conceivable way—including how rigid and brutal His hard branch's narrative design is. There's just a few choices in that hard branch. They're all horrific. It's gonna be great.

It ain't much, but it's honest work.

VI. OUTRO

You faced down the biblically accurate devlog and came away understanding narrative design horrors WITHIN human comprehension! Hopefully. It's okay if you didn't. The funny images are attached in high-res to the crossposted Patreon devlog if those were just as enjoyable, and I can't wait for you to be able to play the game in full and see this all in action.

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you really enjoyed!

Also wanted to thank you all again immensely for the support not only here but across all our community. This last month, there was a fundraiser that many of you did to help me get a better desk chair! It was so successful, within less than a day we hit the goal, and my back and arms have you all to thank ever since. Thank you so much. It means the world.☺️💖

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this maximum effort devlog! Feel free to leave any comments below or meme in our community Discord.

Next month will be a look at the foundational structure of the Vengeance hard branch. Looking forward to seeing you there! Hope you have a great rest of your week too!