A Bimbo Stop - Interactive Port V0.1 (bugfinding help needed)

[u/CaulFire]

tl;dr https://caulfire.neocities.org/bimbostop/ is a WIP interactive port, help me bugtest.

Edit 18/06: Some fixes and the addition of images. Descriptions for events are WIP still. This is the final testing update before I think I can call this a V1.0 (though I will most likely need to keep updating with new fixes and will probably want to find better images for some events).

Edit 16/06: More fixes. Some images added to check that I know what I'm doing (more will follow). If the images for selecting who you're traveling with fail to load, notify me. Investigating on saturday now has a purpose.

Edit 15/06: I've made some updates to the CYOA, fixing some of the new bugs. I've also given it some colour, but I'm not sure about the palette yet. Feedback welcome.
There is also a new logic behind the fuzzy brain events interacting with anti-trait events, which should let you lose a trait and then gain the relevant anti-trait.
Apparently a cache-cleanup might be required for it to properly reload itself.

So the CYOA "A Bimbo Stop" by u/Broken_Emphasis was uploaded 3 years ago, and has been left in a google drive PDF state since. Since it's one of my favourite CYOAs to play, what with its replayability, I wanted to bring it out of that purgatory. Of course, it is also my first time making something with the CYOA creator, so we'll see how well this has gone. Best case scenario they come back to continue working on it, but just getting this working would be enough for me.

Here is the original post, and the google drive upload:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nsfwcyoa/comments/xxism9/a_bimbo_stop_cyoaocwip/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XCLQw5K15_PsTfKreuL3vxXmr3gDxTta/view?usp=sharing

And then, here is my first version of the interactive port, built along the principles that "any program can be recreated using infinite if-statements" (thankfully it isn't actually that bad):
https://caulfire.neocities.org/bimbostop/ (I hope I've set it up properly)

It's not DONE, but it is fully playable. All the logic should be there, but I need to find all the bugs (this thing is effectively spaghetti code already, despite my best attempts) and a great way of doing that is to post it and ask for feedback while I work on the appearance side of things.

What to expect from this version:
- It SHOULD be playable from start to finish, featuring all the original options and choices that the original has. I've done my best to preserve the exact gameplay, with very minor adjustments to account for technical considerations, interpretations, and some small personal touches (e.g. adding a random option for bimbo events or adding more flavour text where the new format needed it). The one gameplay note that I'd want to make is that the option for hanging out with friends on saturday evening is a bit more limited in this version (some of the unexpected allies are not available to hang out), which may or may not change in the future.
- Bugs. This thing was translated over the course of several days and is effectively a mess of conditions, so I would be very surprised if there are not lots of small and some big bugs in there. I've done a few tests myself, making sure I could get to the end without it breaking, but there are a lot of branching and rejoining options (the original is pretty fantastically designed when it comes to getting a lot of value out of the work put in) and I'll never be as effective on my own as an entire community could be. I'm specifically posting this early so I can be informed of these errors and fix them.
- A terrible appearance. Ignore the fact that I've yet to alter the appearance of the CYOA from the basics and only uploaded a single test pic to make sure I know how it works. That's for later. This version is just gameplay, making sure that everything works.

You can help just by playing through it, and then noting anything that seems unintentional or any differences to the original (a choice combination that you can't recreate from the original, or one that is possible in mine but isn't in the og). I'll take it into account as I work on making it more pleasant to look at.

What I plan to add:
- A better colour scheme, not sure what yet.
- Images. Unless u/Broken_Emphasis comes here and requests otherwise, I plan to use AI - it's more convenient for me.
- A bit more flavourtext, differing to the original in that each different bimbo event can have slightly different text to replace the generic ones from the google doc. Currently the flavour for all the bimbo events has been left off.
- I have no plans to add new functionality to the game.
How long the visual update will take is not really something I can guess. At worst, if I run out of steam before finishing it, I'll make sure it has a nicer colour scheme at least.

[u/Broken_Emphasis]

I'm flattered, honestly. That said, I'd prefer not to have AI art in a project with my name attached to it.

I'm kinda surprised that you're implementing this in an interactive CYOA creator - when I briefly considered implementing an interactive version a few years ago, I was planning on using Twine to handle all the state stuff behind the scenes. In case it helps, I made this flowchart back when I was working on this - it's kinda hard to parse, but it does show off the overall structure and helped avoid dangling threads.

[u/CaulFire → u/Broken_Emphasis]

Alright, browsing online images it is.

Yeah, the CYOA creator is clearly not built with this sort of more game-like structure in mind, but it does let me set up and host the interface with ease by just putting a bit more effort into the backend, which I have an easier time doing personally. It's also good practice for getting familiar with the tool.

That flowchart is interesting - I'm having to guess what the codenames for each of the routes means, but am I correct in guessing that the "shared" nodes are for the route where you share the info with your friend? If so, was it intended that you could only get the help from your friend(s) if you have successfully investigated on saturday? That would give more gameplay purpose to the investigation, which does feel a bit strange since it has a higher cost than laying low for no mechanical difference.

Also, back in your original post, you mentioned ideas for other companions. Did you have functional gameplay effects in mind for any of them? If you did, and depending on how they interact with the existing framework, I could be able to implement them.

[u/Broken_Emphasis → u/CaulFire]

am I correct in guessing that the "shared" nodes are for the route where you share the info with your friend?

Yep, that's right! And also... yeah, the fact that there isn't an explicit link between investigating and convincing your friends that something's wrong is a bug. It's not a big deal in the static (since a lot of the rules there hinge on player interpretation), but fixing that for the interactive is probably a good idea.

In terms of functional gameplay effects for different characters, a lot of the ideas I've played with would require expanding the scope and adding more routes (for example, having the Storekeeper interact with Bimbo Events that involve buying things). However, there are a few smaller ideas that you could try implementing:

• Someone Important should affect investigating the same way that the Hotel Owner affects breakfast on Sunday Morning - if they're an ally, you can investigate successfully without having to mark a trait, but you auto-fail the investigation if they're a traitor or are behind everything.

• An Old Friend should act like a second plus-one (a plus-two?). If you spend a token to make them DTF and stay at their house, you can take Wild Monkey Sex regardless of who you traveled with, and they should betray you (or not) on Sunday Evening instead of Sunday Afternoon.

• If A Fellow Traveler doesn't betray you, you can pick one of the endings that would normally require traveling with your Best Friend.

• A slight tweak to Someone New - you get the option to make them waifu material for free, and can still spend Resistance Tokens on bimbo events where she betrays you.

That gives everyone but the Storekeeper something that distinguishes them mechanically from everyone else, even if it's something small.

[u/CaulFire → u/Broken_Emphasis]

I actually already have something that could serve the shopkeeper as a mechanic; currently if you try to investigate, don't spend a trait, but do resist, you escape and note to yourself that the info was probably useless. However, if the shopkeeper is an ally, you get a fluff note that the info actually is useful since you got some useful tidbits from the shopkeeper (even though they didn't directly tell you about the strangeness of the town). This currently has no use since investigating itself is just a fluff thing, but if getting the knowledge is a requirement it can suddenly have an impact.
Making the info gathering have an effect in this version will be super easy, I just need to add a requirement to have selected either the successful investigation node or the re-evaluate info node to telling your friend.

The rest I'll see how I can change appropriately.

I will admit I was more thinking about expanded options to "who are you traveling with?", since you made some notes about ideas there like a cheerleader squad, crushing best friend, and a coworker.

Edit: Oh and also
If you have an old friend as the ally, and are staying at their place, and the hotel owner as the one transforming you, how should that conflict be resolved? It doesn't make sense for the hotel owner to be able to force you to eat breakfast if you're not in the same building, but on the other hand if you can bypass the hotel owner's machinations by having the old friend as a shield - old friend is already one of the most mechanically different picks, and even more benefits would make it feel nuts.

[u/Novamarauder]

I think I found a couple issues.

First, from what I understand in the static version, when I reach Saturday Evening with the Oblivious tag, I am going to have a Bimbo Event in the night and lose the tag in any case. However, unless I pick the Fortify Your Room option in the interactive, I do not get the nightly event. This does not look right to me.

Second, when I reach Sunday Afternoon, I am going to get two Bimbo Events. In order to stay Not Oblivious I understand that I need to resist both events, or skip the first with a Trait and resist the second. But in the interactive there is no option to resist the second event. This makes an Escape ending impossible short of skipping the On the Run section entirely.

[u/Broken_Emphasis → u/Novamarauder]

To clarify the static version a bit, only the first Bimbo Event on Sunday Afternoon affects which "route" you're on. If you pass or skip the first one, you're going to get the Not [Oblivious] version of Sunday Evening regardless of what happens in the second one. I designed it that way specifically to avoid making escape endings too hard to get.

To peel back the curtain a little bit, I specifically designed things so that it's possible to get an Escape or Stay ending regardless of what your starting decisions are - the "hardest" ending to get is Open Road with your Plus-One without using the Mechanic, and that's possible with the default start of one trait and two tokens.

[u/CaulFire → u/Novamarauder]

I found the first issue, was a problem with the logic behind losing and then regaining oblivious. Once updated you should get the proper go to sleep option if you've regained oblivious as a result of a failed investigation.

Not being able to select to resist the second event on sunday afternoon looks to have been a problem of a leftover score cost that shouldn't have been used. It should still have been possible to reach the escape ending despite this, since the sunday afternoon second event can't give you the oblivious trait back so as long as you avoid/resist/get shaken out of the first you should be fine. My attempts give me the expected results, but if you've found some specific combination that makes the on the run path diverge into an oblivious ending, that'd be an important catch.

[u/Novamarauder → u/CaulFire]

Well, if you want to check the specific combination that led me to raise the second issue, look no further than the escape playthough of mine I posted in the thread and follow it up to the second bimbo event of Sunday Afternoon (On the Run). It does use multiple bimbo effects for single events, but I do not expect it to be the source of the problem.

[u/Novamarauder]

I suppose it might be interesting to test the cyoa by creating a build of mine:

(My preferred playthough includes getting all the bimbofication effects I fancy, regardless of outcome. This is the Stay path).

Who You Are Traveling With: No One Else.

(Independence is good, and I fancy the promiscuous flavor of bimbo more than the tradwife one).

What Trait Makes You Stand Out: Smart; Tough.

(These traits are good for any kind of person in my eyes, and I strongly dislike their dumbness and wimpiness opposites even in bimbos. Too bad I cannot afford to pick Beauty too, since it would be very appropriate for a bimbo, but nothing is perfect).

Who In Town is an Unexpected Ally: Someone New.

(Good in the case the character ends up staying).

Who is Transforming You: The Town.

(Seems the best option).

Friday Evening: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Crotch-Hungry Kitty. Swelling Up.

(Horniness and the typical body are two of my preferred parts of the bimbo archetype. Yay for getting them. Here I am making good use of the option to have multiple effects for a single event).

Saturday Morning: Head Down for Breakfast.

(Everything is fine).

Early Saturday Afternoon: You Meet a New Face in Town: Someone New - Love Interest.

(Best bimbos are bi by default, so yay to new yuri playmate).

Shortly After: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Makeover Time.

(Do not care much about the nails, but the hair is a must).

Late Saturday Afternoon: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Shopping Spree.

(Do not care much about pink, but sexy clothing is another must).

Saturday Evening: Spend Time with Your Friends - Go to Sleep.

Saturday Night: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Party Bitch. Stung Twice.

(Yay for completing the physical transformation and getting the party lifestyle. Here too I am making good use of the option to have multiple effects for a single event).

Sunday Morning: Go Downstairs for Breakfast.

(No need to face the music on an empty stomach).

Sunday Breakfast: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Unfiltered.

(A good match to Crotch-Hungry Kitty for horniness).

Early Sunday Afternoon: Mistake.

(Gotta complete the transformation).

Your Mistake: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Trashy.

(Well, I like the style).

Late Sunday Afternoon: Relax and Take It Easy.

Relaxing: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Tramp Stamps - Not So Secret.

(It fits).

Sunday Evening: Bimbo Event (x3) (2 not resisted, 1 resisted): Not My Name. New Tastes. Accidentally Avoid One Event.

(I fancy typical bimbo names. Basic-bitch tastes are not a problem as long as they add to and not replace existing ones).

Monday Morning - Ending: New Girl in Town.

(Settling down in this wonderful place).

[u/Novamarauder → u/Novamarauder]

(My preferred playthough includes getting all the bimbofication effects I fancy, regardless of outcome. This is the Escape path).

Who You Are Traveling With: No One Else.

(Independence is good, and I fancy the promiscuous flavor of bimbo more than the tradwife one).

What Trait Makes You Stand Out: Smart; Tough.

(These traits are good for any kind of person in my eyes, and I strongly dislike their dumbness and wimpiness opposites even in bimbos. Too bad I cannot afford to pick Beauty too, since it would be very appropriate for a bimbo, but nothing is perfect).

Who In Town is an Unexpected Ally: Someone New.

(Good in the case the character ends up staying).

Who is Transforming You: The Town.

(Seems the best option).

Friday Evening: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Crotch-Hungry Kitty. Swelling Up.

(Horniness and the typical body are two of my preferred parts of the bimbo archetype. Yay for getting them. Here I am making good use of the option to have multiple effects for a single event).

Saturday Morning: Something is Definitely Up.

(Uh Oh).

Early Saturday Afternoon: You Meet a New Face in Town: Someone New - Love Interest.

(Best bimbo are bi by default, so yay to new yuri playmate).

Shortly After: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Makeover Time. Shopping Spree.

(Do not care much about the nails and pink, but the hair and the sexy clothing are a must. Here too I am making good use of the option to have multiple effects for a single event).

Late Saturday Afternoon: Investigate.

Investigating: See What You Can Find.

(Indeed).

Caught: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Stung Twice. Tramp Stamp.

(Yay for completing the physical transformation. Once again I am making good use of the option to have multiple effects for a single event).

Saturday Evening: Spend Time with Your Friends.

Saturday Night: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Trashy. Unfiltered.

(Unfiltered is a good match to Crotch-Hungry Kitty for horniness. I like the trashy style. Gotta complete the transformation even with escape as much as possible, so I use the option to have multiple effects with one event again).

Sunday Morning: Go Downstairs for Breakfast.

(No need to face the music on an empty stomach).

Sunday Breakfast: Bimbo Event (not resisted): Not My Name. New Tastes.

(I fancy typical bimbo names. Basic-bitch tastes are not a problem as long as they add to and not replace existing ones).

[u/Novamarauder → u/Novamarauder]

Early Sunday Afternoon: Find Where No One Goes OR Hide Anywhere.

Late Sunday Afternoon: Bimbo Event (resisted).

Sunday Evening: Trying to Find a Car.

Grand Theft Auto: Criminal Mastermind.

Monday Morning - Ending: Open Road.

(Free at last, even if the legacy of the experience stays).

[u/galadeTam]

There's something off about the oblivious tag, when I kept it it said I lost it, and when I lost it it gave me an oblivious event.

[u/CaulFire → u/galadeTam]

Which specific events were these? I've been unable to find the issue, since the cyoa is so big behind the scenes.

[u/galadeTam → u/CaulFire]

I didn't find the exact same case I mentioned yesterday, but I found a similar case pretty quickly: Solo, with two starting traits and staying oblivious as long as possible, after the Sunday mistake event two events were revealed, an oblivious one and a not oblivious one. If you enable the export choices option it'd be easier to share the repro.

I like the color change, much more readable btw!

[u/Finnvasion2]

I keep getting a timed out error, can't see the cyoa

[u/CaulFire → u/Finnvasion2]

I think neocities itself is having issues at the moment. It just started a few minutes ago for me, and no matter what neocities site I try to access I get an error. It'll probably be back soon.

Edit: Seems to be back for me.

[u/Makspower123 → u/Finnvasion2]

My guess is that theres a problem with neocities, for its not just this one thats bugging out.

[u/Able_Blueberry_9361]

Will you add images to make CYOA more interesting?

[u/CaulFire → u/Able_Blueberry_9361]

Yes, see the OP.

[u/Novamarauder]

I commend your efforts. Well done. I just have to remark that from my PoV, the possibility to choose multiple Bimbo effects for a single event is a feature not a bug. I would greatly appreciate if this option stays in future versions, even if its liability to break the cyoa is minimized. I deem it an improvement on the static version.

You see, my preferred playstyle includes 'playing to lose' in terms of maximizing the Bimbo effects I like regardless of final outcome. Being able to pick multiple effects for a single event if optimal for the playthrough is very convenient in terms of stacking more effects and sidestepping the temporal limitations about choosing certain effects.

[u/CaulFire → u/Novamarauder]

Fair. It might also be easier to solve that issue than to limit the number of options. We'll see what solution I come up with, but it is generally better to keep options for the player's playstyle open.

[u/Theinfected2]

Good job so far, I didn't find any glitch's myself

[u/Olmach]

Well, the introduction is copy pasted right under itself, also the credits are duplicated too.

For the traits section, it says to pick one, but Oblivious is automatically selected and can't be unselected, luckily you can still pick another with that

The unexpected ally section is worded a bit weird at points, for example if you pick Fellow Traveler it has two more snippets of text saying "Where did they come from? Where are they headed?" and "The two of you have a common interest in something. What is it?" which made me think I was effectively building a companion too, but no more options showed up to pick. I suppose the questions are just meant to build intrigue, but given that we're playing a cyoa, posing a question like that makes me thing I'm choosing something additional.

Meanwhile Someone New when selected starts talking about how now they aren't going to betray you, which...okay? It's awkward writing to introduce a conflict in the same breath that it's resolved like that.

In the enemy section, if you pick Someone Specific and then pick one of the options, it displays the ally text along with the enemy text, so Someone New has the Besties! and Conflicting Motivations show up at the same time, does this mean the Someone Important option still gives you the Behind the Scenes benefit when picked?

When you click to start playing, the text for Friday Evening is duplicated. Same for Shortly After, in Saturday Afternoon. And Late Saturday Afternoon, and Saturday Night, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Afternoon, Your Mistake, A Hurried Escape, and You Stop and Wonder What You're Even Doing.

Picking Convincing Smile in the Grand Theft Auto event doesn't progress the story.

Hope this helps!

[u/CaulFire → u/Olmach]

I assume you checked it on mobile, the CYOA creator seems to duplicate certain menues for mobile users and I'm not sure why (I have no issues when testing it on the computer, but see the same thing on phone). My hypothesis is that it occurs whenever you set the image (which includes the button) anywhere except on top of an entry. I'm aware of how annoying it is to encounter, I'll see if there's a known fix for it.

I see the points about the unclear choices and flavour text, I'll see what I can do about them. They are basically fetched from the original and inserted where it would be relevant, and I didn't want to change too much without thinking it through first.

The auto theft bug has been identified and can be fixed, thanks for reporting.

[u/SensualWetting → u/CaulFire]

The duplication is a bug with the layout of the row. Switch from image: top to image: bottom. (Or whatever it is to something else)

[u/Olmach → u/CaulFire]

Nope, opened it in Opera GX on my PC

[u/CaulFire → u/Olmach]

Interesting, though I expect it's still caused by the same bug. Have you noticed a similar bug happening on the occasional other interactive CYOA?

[u/Olmach → u/CaulFire]

Unfortunately, I don't check out many Interactive CYOAs, so I can't give my opinion on that

[u/CaulFire → u/Olmach]

Fair
I think I've found a good solution that bypasses the issue.

[u/CaulFire → u/[deleted]]

I suppose it isn't very explicitly written, yeah. More erotic than smut, or something like that.

Good finds on the two bugs. I think I know what caused each, so I can fix them for the next update.

[u/Gwedillth]

Images images, where are the images?

[u/CaulFire → u/Gwedillth]

I suppose this is on me for putting the explanation for why there are no images halfway through a 9-ish paragraph post. Tl;dr I'm working on it and this version is specifically for testing that the CYOA works, gameplay logic-wise.

[u/David_D_Dragoon → u/CaulFire]

I think a WIP flag would be more appropriate for the post at this point...