3rd person, present tense

[FairyGodfeather]

@Reluctant_Sloth

I agree with you 100% on the movies/books thing. That’s what I’d like to accomplish. Just with a bit of choice thrown in.

As far as the formatting goes - yeah I was thinking to write the whole thing in screenplay format. Action, Characters, Dialogue, capitalized SOUND effects, the whole deal. But that’s up for debate, as I’m unsure how people will react to that style of reading… not even considering its application to a CYOA.

Any reason you’re going with choicescript, and not something that might better lend itself to that format, like say Ren’py? Not that there’s not non-standard games out there, like The Ascot for instance.

[Duck]

@FairyGodfeather

I say write whatever comes easiest to you. If you find it easier to write in third person, present tense, do that.

Personally, I find second person so very difficult to write in. It just seems completely unnatural to me to do it. I don’t like that omniscient narrator of the ‘yous’. I prefer first, (or even third), but both of those have their own limitations. That said, when playing, ‘you’ does often just become invisible.

I’d actually really like to see a story written from the perspective of that character, but in second person. A 1920’s noir hard boiled New York detective kind of thing. I suspect it would be hard to do well though.

Personally, I find second person so very difficult to write in. It just seems completely unnatural to me to do it. I don’t like that omniscient narrator of the ‘yous’. I prefer first, (or even third), but both of those have their own limitations.

[FairyGodfeather]

Two of my favourite adventure games take heavy influence fron that hardboiled noir detective thing. I’m not into the genre itself, but I think this is a fun idea.

[Doctor]

@Reluctant_Sloth, I think it’s just harder to connect with the character, that’s the only real difference. Those games weren’t really all that bad, but they could have been better, and since I’ve only seen two, I’d like to see if you can do it any better, and maybe it was just those authors’ style which made it hard to read.

[Shawn_Patrick_Reed]

The Royal Legacy (New Poll on post #1466) (Hiatus)

Imortalia is a dangerous war-torn land in which the warring nobles vie for its throne as the nation itself pretends unity. The Immortal’s throne of Imortalia promises great power for the one who can learn its secrets and grants the undeniable right to reign over all of Imortalia. Prove your worth and take the throne. You have been called forth to take your place as a noble and rule over your own land. Whether you can keep control of it or protect it from foreign forces remains to be seen. Your …

Here’s the link for the story I was talking about, putting names before dialogue.

Additionally, my CScomp game ‘Monsters’ uses 2nd person perspective. The tense is even present tense- huzzah, how’s that for an example.

Okay, so I actually only realized this after I had previously commented. It turns out that 2nd person, present tense is actually very natural for me to write in, as well. Though I can do third person well, also. First is more challenging, in my case. So, yes, I am with you.

[ShadowWhoWalks]

I usually dislike first person in writing, but first person works really well in interactive fiction since describing what is inside the head of the other characters isn’t as important, and exploring the world and characters through a single viewpoint can be quite immersive when there are choices or customization options.

I find the role of an observer who is not shown doing anything but controlling that single character creepy.

[JimD]

I say try anything you want. Maybe the norm is wrong. If the story is compelling, the readers will be there.

[Reluctant_Sloth]

@Shawn_Patrick_Reed Thanks! I’m gonna check it out right now

@Doctor Yeah, I hear you man

@FairyGodfeather

Any reason you’re going with choicescript, and not something that might better lend itself to that format, like say Ren’py? Not that there’s not non-standard games out there, like The Ascot for instance.

Well I like the way COG games look. And I don’t want to include so much art – which VNs seem to have a bunch of. hmm…

[Shawn_Patrick_Reed]

Eh, wasn’t the name of this thread ‘2nd person, present tense’ as of yesterday?

[DavidGil]

The trick is to make the choices all feel like they’re valid choices for the ‘set character’.

It works anyway. Telltale’s games, for instance, have set characters with some leeway in shaping them.

And well, third person doesn’t mean you can’t have choices that matter. (Also, one key thing, due to the nature of the beast, you’re usually confined to telling a story from one character’s perspective if second person is used. Being able to bounce around characters if the third person perspective is used? It can make for a much richer experience, I reckon.)