How death could be applied without losing the readers interest?

I think more games need to have a sort of checkpoint system in there, especially if they’re on the longer side. (Not saying it’s a long game, but the option to replay a chapter in Choice of Rebels when you bungled things up royally in the winter cough cough got everyone killed was such a huge boon to me.)

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I checked it out with relevant words but couldn’t find one. If we do, @moderators can merge this. (Then sorry for inconvenience :pensive: )

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As @Redthegamr said, I think it depends on the length of a game and how far into it you have these scenes. Having chapter saves or something along the lines helps greatly here.

Then you can give the player an interesting chunk of plot relevant information/some insight to a character, that could not be obtained otherwise. That, at least for me, will definitely make these situations far less annoying.

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A lot of this depends on the game itself, and whether death could be avoided/mitigated.

People have mentioned going through a long game, and then dying. Considering most CoGs don’t have a save system, this could be a death knell if you end up spending a long time making a character (think of the time it takes to make a PC in Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven).

If I’m playing a serious game, then I also want to be able to avoid the death if I do things differently, but not having to do a perfect min/max game. (This is one reason the Infinity series isn’t as high on my personal list as other games)

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From doing my own research on the topic on the forums, it seems like many people would actually like to be able to “fail” their way through a game rather have to start over again, especially if we consider any form of surprise deaths that lead to game overs. I know I’ve set down games and have never touched them again for something like this. :weary:

As for normal deaths, if there’s a good story reason for why I died, or it’s obvious that I backed myself into a corner with bad choices or stats, then that’s fine most of the time. :slight_smile: It does get tiring/discouraging if I die repeatedly and can’t seem to figure out why or how it keeps happening, though.

And for my thoughts on the reincarnation thing: one way to subvert this is to establish early on that this is a part of whatever world the reader is a part of. There is a chance that someone will be turned off, but if the author does a good job of describing the world’s beliefs or explaining the innermost workings, then it won’t come as such a shock later on down the road and bring readers out of the story.

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I would prefer the death but only if there is a checkpoint system in place. I usually take my time reading and simmering in the emotions and becoming really immersed then to just die and have me start all over again really is a turn-off. I don’t mind if I die and have to do things a different way from the checkpoint, cause it’s only a small hiccup in the experience. If anything the threat of death reaffirms the need to complete the game with a good ending.

I honestly just wish that the saving function in demos was available for the finished product. (I was told that apparently, the save system is only available if an author implants their own. Please correct me if I’m wrong. :confused:) THANKFULLY THEIR IS A PLUGIN

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We clearly need it visual novel style with a million and one bad ends.

Make the funny or give story tidbits you wouldn’t have otherwise.

omae wa mou shindeiru

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Well, I don’t mind dying if it is for a plausible plot. And the checkpoint system is a good choice if the game is longer.

I think that dying should be for encourage the player to pay more attention to little details or in what they’re failing, not just in stat.

Uh, that sucks :anguished:

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I think death is fine as a failure mechanism so long as there’s some kind of checkpoint system. It’s disheartening to spend 1 or 2 hours reading through the story only to die and have to hit the restart button.

THAT SAID now I kinda want to make a story where MC dies about 1/4 of the way through and then comes back. They now have to deal with the consequences of being dead for x years, while all of their friends and family have moved on without them, aging and living their life while MC is still the same age they died at. All your college friends are now married and have jobs, and your parents and siblings have moved on with their life. Now they all have to deal with the grief of your loss again coupled with the confusion of you returning, and MC needs to find a new place for themselves in the world.

Alrighty that’s enough nerding out for one post.

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That moment when the sibling you teased for being younger is now older than you…

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I love it, even if it makes me a little sad, but i would definitely play a game like this. I’ve seen a writer prompt in Pinterest similar to that and it was really good.

First of all metal af, secondly I feel like there should be some sort of cop-out option at that point. A choice worse than death. basically a way of continuing the game but still having a consequence such as stat reduction or another character dying.

I would play the fuck outta that but I feel like that would just be the main focus of the story instead of just a pitfall. and if not then you would have another storyline to deal with it by some miracle they happened to live.

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Isn’t this the (sadly possibly dead) WiP From Ashes We Rise? :thinking: (Except I think the MC somehow ages while they’re dead, so they’re not underage any more…)

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I thought they didn’t age but we till had a two year time skip?

Also it’s not dead. Just on hiatus.

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Character death would be totally a turn off for me, I play interactive fiction to read stories and the plot, not min-maxing my characters.

The thing is, unlike action games like dark soul, clicking through the same choices over and over again is just not fun, whether it’s because I died or I need the right stats for an ending, having a checkpoint would mitigate a lot of the irritations of this.

One infamous example being High land, deep water. where it’s possible for you to die right before the final confrontation with zero check point, I just quit at that point even though the novel itself is actually really well written.

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I would definitely play that and try to die to see the consequences :upside_down_face:

Although it should be well adjusted into the plot unless you want the death to lead to whole another scenario :thinking:

It can be either encouraging or discouraging, depends on how you reflect it. Good luck with that :+1:

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I 100%ly agree with you here. A checkpoint system would definitely be a good solution for the frustration of picking a wrong choice which results with dying and then having to restart the whole game.

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With some glue, I guess.

Now, I’m going back to the shadows if you don’t mind.

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Solution #1!
You could kill the MC for the only ending you made and no one needs to play it any further!

Solution#?
Kill the main character at every ending (hahah) but make more good endings like becoming a legend after sacrificing for the world or die for a lover who remains forever loyal to you?

MOSTPERFECTSOLUTIONIKNOW
:Kill the MC at 10 endings and make only one ending that he/she survives
-7
People will claw their way and kill for that one good ending :stuck_out_tongue:

Other than those, most people will just lose interest and think about how worthy the book waa of their time.

As for me, I don’t get turnes off by a death. I only stop reading if the plot is too simple and boring.

IHAVEANEVENBETTERIDEA (For ending or failure)
Character Switch
Kill the first character and the second will be the REAL MC who continues the 1st character’s legacy or mission or something.

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If there’s a good story reason, I don’t mind, but I’d rather the result of a failed skill check be more permanent. I know that sounds silly—what’s more permanent than death?—but if I had to play the rest of the playthrough with the consequences of my character’s actions, I’d be more motivated to play again. Losing a connection to an NPC I care about, or that NPC dying, has more affect on me than my MC dying. That said, dying wouldn’t make me put the game down forever if I liked it.

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