Thank you for taking the time to read this. I’m kind of stuck in this situation, and it is really bugging me because it is keeping me from publishing the demo. 
First of all, I posted a few months ago in the Interest Check Thread my idea and a lot more people than I expected liked the idea. For those who clicked here but didn’t see my post there, here is the summary (and for those who did see, if you read the summary here you’ll see I changed it a bit):
Summary
In “Olympus: Protogonos” you play as young adult, still haunted by a traumatic past. Because of it - or thanks to it depending on the point of view - you have gained a lot of different capabilities (combat, deduction, persuasion and knowledge), and that’s what makes you a valuable candidate for the Olympus agency.
Join a secret international agency, explore the world and finally get the truth about your past. Use your set of skills to fight for what you think it’s right.Will you be hailed as a hero or recognized as an anarchist?
Features
- You can play as male, female and non-binary, and be straight, bi, gay or ace.
- You can choose your previous job from these 4 options: a detective, a scientist, a university teacher and a political activist. These will influence the way fight.
- There will be 5 love interests, but one of them will be really hard to get. Their gender will change depending on your sexual orientation. The romance won’t have a direct impact of the game (win or lose, gain allies or lose them, etc.), but you will have more scene and more angst.
In Olympus, the MC you play has a very complicated backstory. I can’t say much more without spoiling everything, but to be understood, I wanted to recreate something similar to Black Widow’s past.
At some point in the story, the MC is face to face with the people that put them through hell, and has to explain their story to their new teammates…
So I have trouble knowing WHEN to show/write/explain the MC’s past.
At first I wanted to explain everything in the prologue, thinking it would be easier for me to write and for the reader to understand the MC’s struggles throughout the book. But then I thought it will maybe spoil the reader too soon, and make the rest of the game less interesting, especially the moment where the MC has to explain their past.
Then I thought about inserting a memory, a bit of MC’s past at the beginning of each chapter, and explain it clearly and properly when the MC talks about it. It will certainly keep things more interesting, but wouldn’t it be a bit confusing for the reader?
So I finally thought about explaining MC’s past as if the reader was one of her new teammate, meaning I will let some clues all throughout the book, and when the MC tell her past to her teammate, the reader will learn along with them.
I really am confused and I honestly don’t know which way to do. So, I’m asking you, which way is the best for you and why? And if you have another suggestion, please let me know!
- In the prologue.
- Throughout the story and then “properly” in the key moment…
- Everything in the key moment of the story.
0 voters
Also, here is a minor poll, I’m just interested to see.
If you ever play Olympus, which career would you choose:
- Detective
- Scientist
- University lecturer and researcher
- Politician
0 voters
Thank you for even taking the time to read this! And pardon my English, I’m French. 