so: sisyphus - built for ruin
what is it? is it edible? can i throw it in the air to be carried away by the winds? like a frisbee? is it a frisbee
first of all, Please dont
second, i want to immediately be as transparent as possible with you. i am awful with summarizing things. especially things as large as sisyphus. this thing i've been growing since december 2023 is a literal landscape at this point. every single time i get asked what sisyphus is, i always have to ask the person to be more specific.
however, this is text, and i cannot hear you asking things at the screen. so you can stop. No enunciating it like a child will not help. Okay now you're just being rude. Please knock it off Please please please
that being said, i will tell you what i consider is important. you will most likely discover everything else from the story itself or my development blog. on the main page, by the way
what's important
its a hypothetical game
sisyphus - built for ruin is supposed to be a game. its story, presentation and choices developing it are all tailored around that aspect, and i deeply hope that one day, when i finish a large sum of its content: paying people to make it will not be out of reach.
that being said, i have to familiarize you with the weird format i will be storytelling with: novel-script hybrid.
novel script in summary basically just means this.
- instead of following the conventions of a traditional screenplay or book, novel-script borrows from both.
- scenes are written like they would appear in a screenplay or video game, following script-like formatting for dialogue, rigid scene to scene structure and soundtrack cues,
- but they are given the emotional depth, care and descriptive wording of a novel.
- its main goal is to communicate exactly how the game/scene is meant to be experienced. how a scene is meant to feel, rather than worrying about formatting.
and so far, i have been successful. granted, pacing is tough to get right majority of the time, but it is the best i can do with what i know how to write. or in other words, it's the closest way i can translate a literal game to words.
unfortunately, there have been some hiccups with this format, specifically in the realm of how game logic functions. things such as event triggers, non-linear pacing, boss fights and the ability to make choices later on.
there are a Lot of segments in sisyphus so far that i am not too entirely proud of due to their choppy nature. there are sections i am dreading to write! but they'd make sense ingame, and just are absolutely a bitch to translate to narrative prose. so you'd ultimately have to just...bare with me.
though, there have been some benefits to this format! i specifically really enjoy the dialogue structure, soundtrack usage and later down the road: additional content. due to this project being a hypothetical game, i have the ability to expand on it as such.
after the core story/game is completed - legacy - i will most likely spend a while planning out the next installment, or in this case: dlc. yup! additional content. no you don't have to pay after you buy sisyphus.
there are currently two stories after legacy planned. lockdown and lucent. in novel terminology, lockdown serves as a prequel, and lucent as a sequel. there will be absolutely no more sisyphus content made after that. well, sort of. i'd still have to write the ends of the additional roads you can go down in legacy. they don't go far, don't worry.
**moreover, speaking of novel terminology, i have to familiarize you with something really quick. if we imagine sisyphus - built for ruin as genuine novels, there are a couple ideas relating to how i'm structuring the novelscript that i think would be helpful.
- each story: would be a book set.
- each chapter/act: would be an individual book.
- each "day"/whatever-other-terminology-i'll-use: a chapter.
got it? good. let's move onto something more fun.
whats important, two
its contents
sisyphus - built for ruin is probably a really easy to label story if you're not me. there are a lot of things you can pull from it due to how layered it is. not complex. layered. i follow a couple self made rules that will explain my writing choices.
1. causality is key/everything is connected
2. double meanings!
3. nobody is wrong. grey areas
4. subtext subtext subtext
5. overanalyze it! i do
i don't know how to segue into the next part, but i need to get something out of the way really quickly.
sisyphus will deal with difficult things. fortunately, primarily in subtext. but due to it being a character driven narrative, if you let your mind linger to certain areas, you WILL find something
that aside, sisyphus' plot is relatively linear. it has an origin. it has an end. it was always going to end this way, and you'll fail to stop it. that's one of the reasons it's named built for ruin. you're literally destined to fail. you're born in someone elses mistake. it's just a matter of whether you'll accept that as inevitable, or make choices to defy it.
the thesis of built for ruin as a whole is you cannot choose the shape you were given, but you can choose what you become. the main question the stories ask is if flawed beings deserve to exist.
the answer will be shown in time.
overall, there's so, so much more i can talk about relating to sisyphus, like how it's related to trauma and its effects on our characters. but i'm afraid i cannot say much else. you will just have to watch as it develops.
oh i will say though that im really slow with writing sorry. i aim to fix that at the timing of writing this page (7/3/2026). if i don't i'll prolly make fun of myself later down the road. LOL
however, take care. enjoy your stay. welcome to edenfall. this project is my child. it is beyond words what it means to me and beyond reason for me to even attempt to illustrate how it feels to finally create something you're proud of. something that's, by my standards, good.
i doubt you'll enjoy sisyphus as much as i do, that's impossible...but i'm confident you'll find something within it you like, even if it's simple as the main antagonist.
love you.
jade mae