ChoiceScript and I.
Ahhh, ChoiceScript. I still thank Dan Fabulich. He genuinely might be one of the people who have permanently altered the path of my life without even knowing it. Without his open-source software, ChoiceScript, I wouldn’t be the bookworm I am today.
Story time:
So its 2018, im 14 and i think books are lame and a waste of time, basically just like every active young 8th-grader kid. at the end of 8th grade, we (ethiopians) have a national exam - which we call “ministry” (dont ask why, it doesnt make sense but we use it to this day) - and, as per the rule, i rocked it. not only that, but i had been saving up! i had competed in a Mind Plus Math competition, an abacus teaching institute that organized math speed computing competitions, and stood 2nd and won 2k etb! this is basically the price of 2-3 meals nowadays but back then, it is some life changing stuff. i could buy my very 1st phone by myself!
ecstatic, proud, relieved, i head to Dire Dawa, the home of contraband imported goods in Ethiopia and my dear cousin. i was staying there for the summer and it seemed the perfect opportunity to buy my phone! spoiler alert, i didnt buy it there. my mother insisted on buying my brother a phone at the same time so it was, sadly, delayed. i still got my phone tho, even if a month late.
TECNO T1! amazing phone! that phone unlocked sooo many things for me back then: i took sololearn coding lessons, downloaded tons of thenewboston’s tutorial vids, discovered minecraft . . . ahh life was good. near the end of the year (the ethiopian year, not gregorian calendar), my family went to the new year bazaar. for those who dont know what this is, its a huge fair with lots of stuff on sale. one of the things on sale was books. my mother insisted we buy one book. after multiple arguments, when we realized that she wouldnt budge, we decided to pick up the harry potter prisoner of azkaban book up. the movie was nice, the book must be meh was our reasoning.
. . . yeah, it sat on our shelf eating dust for months.
a random day, i was incredibly brain-fried after binge watching tutorial videos, so i decided to hop on apkpure, the then number 1 source for good games and their apks. as i scrolled, i noticed this app called 7th sea. hmmm, sounds interesting, i thought and downloaded it. after i installed it, imagine my horror when i discovered it was a book! but there was something curious about this book. it was interactive. i decided to give it a shot and i have never regretted that decision.
7th Sea: A Pirate's Pact was an experience. it showed me the wonder that comes with being given the freedom to imagine and draw scenes in the most vivid colors right in your mind. it whispered to me the power of words that i will take years to learn and master. it told me of worlds unexplored and yearning to be discovered. a door opened that i had foolishly and childishly closed early on, without seeing what was behind it. i didnt even peek through the key hole!
yup, i read harry potter after that. and boy oh boy was it an amazing read. 7th sea unleashed a beast and i devoured. i read so many books and interactive fictions, specifically ones released by choice of games, that my primary mode of entertainment became books and IFs.
it is only later that i learned that choicescript, the engine behind all these amazing games and reads, was opensource! i could literally go and read the source code anytime i wanted!
and so commenced my foray into exploring choicescript.
i will document my many failed (and very few successful) adventures with choicescript in another blog!
thanks for reading!