Hey everyone. I’ve been inactive for a while (not that I was very active before mind you :P), but I’ve recently picked up ChoiceScript again and am wanting to start up a new project. Trouble is, I’m having a heck of a time settling on what direction I want to go. I don’t have any concrete plot ideas as of yet, at least nothing worth mentioning. I’m more stuck on HOW I want to implement any plot idea I come up with. So the questions I’d like to ask are, what do you look for in a good interactive fiction or ChoiceScript game? What draws you to them and keeps you interested? Is there something that turns you off to a story? Turns you on to one? Heck, what genre of story are you most interested in reading/playing? Any help is appreciated. Maybe with a little inspiration I can finally settle on an idea and go with it. Thanks in advance for your time!
I enjoy choices that trully have impact, believable dialogue, and an interesting plot. I don’t like circular gameplay or *fake_choices. I’m most interested in fantasy, but go with whatever you like best!
The most important thing for me is characters that are more than very thin paper doll types that serve specific roles in the story. I like characters to have their own minds and act as they would actually act, regardless of my choice. Otherwise, they may as well be a talking stick.
As for genre, I’m open to anything, though I do appreciate when the author clearly knows what they’re talking about. There are a lot of people writing, say, romance games because they think it’ll sell well who very obviously have no love for the genre. So, like, write what you love!
Last thing that counts as a win for me are games that allow you to fail but don’t kill you. The worst thing is playing for an hour and then having to start all over.
I like description lengthy game adventure murderd shooting games where you decide your past and it’s original I like it when choices have an impact
choices that have good impact on the game but also good detail on the characters and surroundings so people can get a perfect image of the world around them
It doesn’t hurt not to have any illustrations, but it definitely helps to have some, so I recommend having some cool art in there as well!
Perfection for me would be interesting characters, because the story is usually told through them. Also, as everyone else has said, decisions that heavily impact the game. I like when it takes me a long time to choose between choices. Not because I’m slow, but because it’s hard to make a decision between the choices presented.
I prefer fantasy stories, because the possibilities are endless. That’s about it… an interesting story certainly helps.
Thanks to everyone for your input! I’m definitely getting a better idea of what I want to do with things. At this point, I’m leaning toward a fantasy setting of some sort, since that is the genre I’m most used to writing in. It’s probably a bit ambitious of me, but I think I’d like to challenge myself to writing a story where your major decisions can heavily effect the plot, rather then railroading the story into set plot lines regardless. Of course, this will likely result in several separate and different plots which one can play through, making it a nightmare to write and debug, but I think if planned right, it would be well worth it in the end.
My next question would be about stats. Do you prefer a small set of stats, or is a large, more complicated stat dynamic preferable? Personally, I think I’m over thinking things too much and trying to create stat sets that will cover any feasible scenario. A related question would be on the implementation of the character creation process. I realize that ideally, working this into the story itself would be preferred, but I am a little hesitant to do this as I feel it can come across as quite contrived and odd feeling. What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks again for all the feedback!
less stats better because are easy to track code and easy to players know what they exactly do each, in some games with 20 stats is barely possible,
One of two physical strength and stamina for instance
Two about skills Persuasion and Leading skills
a intelligence stat and a fighting skill .
but of course, each game is different.
Life of a Wizard has a bazillion stats - and it’s all about playing those stats in different combinations, so it works. But most games do better with just a few key variables. I see lots of WiPs with twelve stats that end up doing nothing much…
I’d recommend trying to work character creation into the narrative; the fact that you’re worried about it feeling contrived is a good sign and should help you avoid that problem. Do the work, and only take it out of the storyline if you just can’t figure out a way of writing it in that has good flow.
Well, at the very least, I’ve thought of an interesting (I think so at least :P) way of getting the player’s gender through narrative, so that’s a start I guess! I’ll likely have to hammer out exactly what I want the player to be able to choose before I make a final decision. Can’t plan something without ideas after all.