I don’t think its a bad thing and a telepathic hero could be a lot of different things and as long as you aren’t literally copying scenes you should be fine.
Just be mindful that there are readers who will point out the similarity between games.
For example I had a comment that said UnNatural was a copy of Wayhaven chronicles despite being done before that even existed.
Put effort into the story and let your own style weave your own story and I am sure people will enjoy it 
Anyone have any idea on how to know if your game’s pacing is too fast or slow? Like I read it myself but since I wrote it idk if I’d be a good judge of that, also some friends who have read it said the pacing’s fine but my anxiety’s a b so I was wondering if there are other ways to know.
I kind of struggle with this too. I think the main thing is that the sections don’t drag, so that the reader doesn’t lose interest – that said, if every few scenes something jarring occurs, that’s a problem too. I try to space out all the drama and chaos I throw at the prot with some cozy moments as well, or at least that’s my goal. Of course, if there’s many diffferent paths, that can be tricky, but I suppose each path could have its mix of cozy and drama. Now that is on the macro level, for micro level stuff, with the writing, in general different sentence sizes and tone can help.
Hope some of that helps at least a little.
I agree. At some point even the most similar games and stories will be different, as the writer will naturally create the tones, themes, and tensions that resonate for them, and this will probably be different for every writer in terms of resonance. Legally thinking, as long as your writing is different, the characters are different, and the setting is different enough, I think you’d be more than fine.
Honestly, it all depends on how much of it is coincidence. You can’t copyright a concept, and a story about a protagonist reuniting with their team after a tragedy isn’t exclusive to Fallen Hero. That setup could just as easily describe Mass Effect 2 or Avengers: Endgame.
But if your protagonist also happens to be a telepath with glowing orange lines, out for revenge, lives in a fictional L.A., and their best friend has a Hispanic name that starts with O and ends with ga, yeah, that’s when people here on the forum might start squinting a little. Still, like Nocturnal said, comparisons are inevitable. As long as you know you’re writing your own thing and it makes you happy, the rest really doesn’t matter.
It really depends. You can have EXTREMELY slow pacing if readers are fine with that. As long as it serves a purpose.
holy shit i finally got the wip out. i was going through a phase of wicked headaches for the last few days so i couldnt really enjoy the feeling but now i can and its nice. not a lot of attention garnered but the small bits have been universally positive so i cannot complain.
my updates will roll out as such:
1: finishing one branch and overall chapter
2: finishing the other branch of the now mostly finished chapter
3: finish second chapter
i realized if i have all the missions/chapter be branching this is going to take forever so im going to bump down the branching to half the chapters. there will still be a lot of mini branching and variables and all of that, just not full on different paths like in the first chapter.
also i cant edit my topic for some reason. the little pencil icon is nowhere to be seen.
Congrats!
That’s a trust level thing. You can ask a mod for help.
Oh I have cribbed that story from way too many other comics and books, it’s a classic! Go for it, don’t worry about it! Telepathy is a fun power to play with.
Two cakes. As long as you aren’t plagiarizing or recreating characters with the names swapped around, you’re fine. There’s so many ways the dynamics in Fallen Hero could be altered to make a vastly different story even within the same setting, your story will diverge enough in the telling to be its own thing. Wear your influences proudly and step beyond them, there’s no shame in it.
Pacing can be pretty unique to each story and it’s tricky to give advice without more context. Good pacing for a murder mystery is not quite the same as good pacing for an action adventure, for example.
But generally the best way to find out if a game’s pacing lands well is to field test it on an audience. Luckily the forum here is very kind about such things. People often ask for feedback on specific elements like pacing when they post/update a WiP. There’s also this thread, where people can post snippets and ask each other for help with rough-draft issues.
But if you don’t feel ready for any of that and you want some all-purpose advice on identifying pacing issues with the tools you’ve already got:
Sometimes all you need to do to find and fix a pacing problem is get a bit farther into the story. In my experience, when I have a gut feeling that there’s something wrong with the pacing - but everyone I ask says it’s fine - that means the problem involves unwritten events only I know are coming up.
When this happens, I often realize there’s nothing wrong with what I’ve got written; I’m just unhappy with something I’m about to write.
In that case, I’d suggest taking either taking a step forward and feeling out how the things evolve in the next scenes – or taking a step back to re-evaluate how you feel about the direction of the narrative as a whole.
And if, like me, you suffer from writing anxiety to the point where you just can’t let a scene be finished – then I suggest spending time enjoying a piece of silly media that you love. Noticing the ways you can enjoy somebody else’s work and be happy with it despite its flaws is often a good way to keep perfectionist anxiety in check.
Stand-up comedy, advertising, and poetry are also mediums that demand a lot from their creators in terms of timing, momentum, and pacing. You can always study how people think of pacing in those contexts and see if there’s anything that can apply to your own work as well.
Finally finished writing the upcoming chapter! Now to review, check the spelling and grammar, playtest it…
Honestly this was some very helpful advice, thank you so much!
VERY TRUE!! i don’t remember where i heard this (honestly maybe on some random writers’ subreddit or something?), but i saw someone say that if you’re struggling with tightening up your prose, study poetry for a few months and you will see a huge difference. that got me really into writing poetry for a while actually, and now i’m way more adamant about searching for bits of ANY writing that i think drag/don’t fit/don’t work and i trim and polish like a maniac. super effective, especially because i haven’t done any actual formal writing study (like an MFA or whatever)
also, @dozendietcokesaday omg that’s awesome! congrats, also your writing pace and consistency both inspires and terrifies me
Thank you! I average around 400-500 words a day, but I’m pretty consistent, like a tortoise! Everyone has their own style though, I know many writers who pump out 2k words a day, then take a week off.
As I’ve gained a bit of experience, what I notice is that my writing skills haven’t improved, but, I’m more willing to write what I want and hope the reader figures it out. For example I just changed my opening hook to this:
Three months ago, you joined a Mong Kok boxing gym tucked above a small char siu eatery. Now you’re leaving work early to punch accountants in warehouses and empty rooftop bars.
Yesterday, you traded blows inside the half-abandoned Kwun Tong ferry pier. The crowd cheered for fighters they didn’t know the names of. Technically, you were the victor. You won a glutinous rice dumpling in a thin plastic bag, and a lukewarm Vita lemon tea with its paper straw missing.
No money, no glory, just another night getting hit. But some fighters do things that shouldn’t be possible. Some say a man threw a fireball. Others call it an energy wave, splitting the air.
There’s no final boss. Only basements, abandoned nightclubs, and a city disappearing at the edges.
You’re not here to save the world. Just here to see what happens when you stop sitting it out.
*page_break
A half-open ding uk rooftop, the rusted metal floor fan doing nothing against the heat. A volunteer at a white plastic folding table, empty poon choi basins stacked nearby. “The form’s in English, but I don’t read English. Just write something.”
I’m dropping multiple uncommon and hyperlocal terms (char siu, ding uk, poon choi) with no explanation, so that it’ has more authenticity, and I believe in the reader to infer it.
Do y’all think each path divergence needs equal content? Cause I’ve been worried about that for a while while writing.
IMO So long as the story and pacing still makes sense I can’t see a problem with different length branches.
The only main issue I can think of is if you have a large amount of content that is difficult to reach for the player. But this is more about balancing personal effort and player experience/rewards.
I’d say that depends on how different. If you have, say, one path that has playthrough length of 1k words and another that’s 100k, I’d say there’s a problem.
Do y’all like playing older protagonists btw? A lot of IFs have young adult or even teen protagonists but some of the most popular ones tend to be on the more middle-aged range. Just wondering cause I’m working on a 37 year old pc rn.
i’m happy playing basically any age PC as long as they’re interesting/i enjoy the story they’re part of. but like you said, i think older PCs are really really popular, and beyond that they can be really fulfilling to read