As someone who did this, I did it for three reasons:
1: I figured Fallen Hero: Rebirth implied that there would be a series, without putting part one in there.
2: I had ‘an’ ending (not a cliffhanger), though it’s really just a pause before the story is really getting started.
3: The biggest one: I did not want to kill my sales.
In short: I accept the bad reviews of “this is only part one”, in exchange for possibly hooking the people who would not have bought it if it was a part one. It was a conscious choice. I did not hide it, but neither did I point it out.
Hell, I did every single thing I could to get people to pick up that first book, including lower price than I should have, and slightly bland text that didn’t go into some of the things I would later touch on. I made a gamble that people would like the book once they picked it up, and the people I really wrote it for would find it by word of mouth and not by reading the sales text.
So far it works out, I accept the bad reviews of “just part one”, “I don’t understand the mc’s motivation”, or “I have no idea where this story is going.” Those are conscious choices I made.
Hell, I even managed to convince CoG to include a save system from the start, I had no idea that was not even standard…
tldr: Being part one of a series hurt sales. Sometimes it’s worth it accepting the odd bad review for it.
@Eric_Moser
Yeah, pretty much no one know anything about my story at this point
I really don’t know if the whole “conflict” is resolved but I think it have some kind of “ending”. Maybe I’ve just created like an introduction to the world instead of a proper book. I guess I’ll know more about that once I beta test it and gather opinions from other people that know more than me.
@LeBaloo
Well, thanks for the encouragement, I’m not expecting to make a masterpiece by any means though, this is the first time I write something and it is something that is really hard particularly for me, so I expect bad reviews too, that won’t be a problem nor a surprise.
4/ By the way it ends I think it wouldn’t need any clarification (maybe?).
@poison_mara
I by any means would not like to imply that I’m just dividing the book to make the players pay me more for them. Less than everything tell them something like that.
I’m not trying to excuse me or anything, but this project took a god chunk of my life, maybe if I see some “reward” (wheter it be monetary or just a simple word of encouragement, I don’t think one weight more than the other) for what I made until now would be a nice motivation to put even more effort into it.
Well, I hope you don’t read my book then (just joking, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll like it, just as any other reader, so I’ll expect bad reviews from you and many others)
I hope I could do that
@malinryden
Thanks for your feedback. I guess I’ll have to face similar problems then. At least now I know what could happen.
One thing is to separate your story to obtain a deserved revenue. And another What Do Bethesda or Ea does with DLC ENDINGS
I am a writer myself trying to be published and writing my game. But the first point of any author has to be Respect the player And Give a game with plot holes, not different endings and a cliffhanger. It is dishonest. It is like if you pay for a 3 dishes dinner and when the desert comes you get CONTINUE maybe?
I mean calling something part one just sucks, it’s not even about the idea behind it, it’s just not appealing, I probably would not have read Harry Potter PART 1 haha
But yeah I imagine it must be really hard to decide how to handle this. Anyway thank you for the insight
I have a doubt, would the same paragraph at the ending of the game count as different ending if you have different variables on the game that would continue in the series? or that count as just one end?
Not that I intend to do that, but the variables that could be important as if a character dies or lives on the game can impact massively on the subsequent games, though you may end on the same point on the first book, how that would be considered?
Would be a rose called by another name stop being a rose? No, It is still a rose.
I pay for a Interactive product that is by definition supposed to have different endings.
Stats for a supposed maybe the future product is not what the consumer expects, or pay for. Maybe the stats in a future will change something… But the player is buying The current game and not for the future. So it should be given Real different endings.
I would say that depends on the paragraph and what comes before it (ending can be longer than one paragraph after all. Ending to, say, ”Sun was rising.” wouldn’t mean the endings aren’t different, if what comes before that differ). Of course, that’s just my opinion.
For Community College Hero Part 1, I just used one real ending. Sure, stats would vary, and I strung together a series of little scenes at the end that talked about your friends, your motivations for next semester, etc., but ultimately all playthroughs end up with you getting on a bus to go home for winter break.
Had I allowed for true different endings, I would have never finished Part 2 and I would have long ago given up because you can’t let things get wide THAT early in a series, even just a trilogy.
Your ending for the First volume didn’t read as the same endings at all due to the use of lots of variables. Yes, the ending could be partially the same, but the relationship character perspectives and romance aren’t. So the player doesn’t find the same paragraph each time the game ends
That’s exactly what i was thinking. Even if you just have only two endings that would mean that you’ll probably have to make two beginnings for the next book. And it only gets broader the more you go.
So that’s like a recap of all the things that happened to the player but it really ends on one way. As I understand you are cool with that.
It is logical that a series has limited scope in the endings. Always that variables are integrated well in the ending and write an accurate record of the game events and different results It is okay If all the game ends are failing the college last year.
Always reasons WHY you fail are different. and relationship to games are well tracked and meaningful for the plot that playthrough. But with those variables will never the same paragraph
@Loudbeat – The terminology I feel you should be referring to is end-states. The game’s ending should be consistent and the same for everyone, but the state they end the game in should be different based on stats, achievements, success and failure.
My goto example is Tin Star – the ending is always consistent, but where the MC ends up in each play through is much different.
Now, if your game is part of a series, this might be more limited and subtle, but it still should be meaningful.
Games that are focused on romance will exhibit these qualities in the relationships moreso than other genres, and two good examples of this are Wayhaven and Shadow Society.
Agreed that a story should be self-contained so I can be content with a stand alone work…what I hate is when an author,not necessarily here on COG-although there are one or two-leaves a reader hanging for a long time with what is clearly unfinished business. Examples of authors who have tortured many of us- Stephen King with his Gunslinger series-years and years until he got back to it-,and of course George R.R. Martin. But I guess as readers that’s the risk we run for our enjoyment.
(just joking, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll like it, just as any other reader, so I’ll expect bad reviews from you and many others)
