I outline the story first, but find that I can’t separate writing and coding into two separate things: I do them together!
Another thing I do when I’m getting overwhelmed @Caspiera is just writing through one main route and doing the others later. The number one thing I get overwhelmed by is writing a different route that converges in the same point anyway because I’m already sick of writing the first one, so I find it helps to just write/code one linear story and then go back and do the others when your mind is fresh. If no one can tell which one was the ‘first’ one, there’s no harm done!
@hustlertwo and @Eiwynn I just came back to this thread after a long while away from the forums (and writing), and your comment made me aware of CSIDE - I didn’t know about it before! Don’t think it existed when I started writing ChoiceScript stuff. Just started using it and it’s so good! So, thank you
Glad you are enjoying it but I can’t take any credit… that belongs to @CJW for development and people like @Fiogan and others for their great testing and back-end work.
Hi!
I’ve been reading interactive stories for about two years and now I want to try making one myself.
I just wanted opinions and insight on how other people do it. Do you write one path and add more paths later, do you put the first draft on a word document first, edit it and then put it onto ChoiceScript?
For my first one, since I did not yet know much about coding I wrote much of it and then went back and converted as I went. For my second, since I was at least proficient in basics of ChoiceScript, I wrote directly in CSIDE with no Google Doc at all except as a backup for the code.
I actually reversed the process; for the contest, I wrote directly into CSIDE. Since then, I write the (manu)script first, send out my backups then script into CSIDE and send out back ups again.
I find this better (for me) because at times while scripting, I’ll think something needs changing, only to realize later, that I was correct the first time.
Happy anniversary @hustlertwo – we really love having you as an active community member
My cowriter and I actually do the code first. That is, we have a plan for what’s going to happen, and we turn that into a code “skeleton” with really basic descriptions of what prose eventually needs to go where, and then at some point (usually the end of a section or chapter) we go back and fill out the skeleton with the actual words. I think this helps because it kind of forces us to build detail on a core of “I know basically where this is going.” It’s nice, since not knowing where you’re going is an easy way to get lost.
Everyone works differently of course, but that’s how we do it. General outline of the whole plot and roughly what happens in each chapter, then chapter by chapter (or section by section) code, followed by the actual writing.
Hmm, I do something similar. I outline the entire chapter, then as I write in CSIDE, I outline ifs and things like that and then fill in the code, text. Most often first outline code grows a lot.
I usually roughly plan out where I want the story to go and then write it in chunks. Sometimes I come back and write alternative branches later, but I find this is usually more work than writing it as you go along as it’s fresh in your mind, and you don’t have to go back through the story to make sure anything else you’ve added to that branch fits ok in storyline and stats in the rest of the game.
I also code as I go. It’s up to the author and how you feel about it, but I find it’s a huge chore to have to add code in page batches afterwards.
One recommendation I’ll make, is start with a small project to get the hang of writing and coding in CS. Much more likely to get it finished as these projects tend to blow out in size and scope, and often you learn a lot from the first you can take into future projects.
Thanks, Eiwynn! And I am starting to boomerang back a bit as I spin my wheels on a third story. I may start writing more outside of CS and worry about the code after, since I can at least know now how it will work.
I used to love fictional writing, but haven’t written fiction in awhile (years, probably).
I’ve been thinking about creating a demo here. Maybe even a full story. And was curious what methods different writers have for writing IF.
Do you write the story first (or at least a chapter or certain path to a point) without coding and then go back and code?
Do you focus on coding first, writing just enough to have an outline, and then go back and “beef up” your writing?
Or do you code as you write (putting equal effort into both at the same time)?
Also, as someone used to writing stories (sans choices), how do you adjust your planning/writing process to allow for the choices? Do you create different storylines for different choices? Different ROs? Or is it just a matter of tweaking scenes occasionally? Do you write normally and then go back and identify places where choices make sense?
I have a core story, I identify what choice mechanics will work and then while implementing and deploying these, I change things depending on what is going on with the development.
I write and code at the same time, writing the “game” without doing a prose version first and vice-versa!
But before I do that, I outline my game’s entire story first as a Word document or what have you, having a general skeleton in place for the main plot of the story and how major choices will affect it and where different branches will split off and join up again.
As I said above, I have a “main plot” idea and outline how certain choices branch off of that main plot. Importantly, if I plan for different branches, I also plan for how they join back up to the “main plot” (with different story effects and consequences, of course) until the end, where they all start branching off permanently.
Example of this might be: In Chapter 6, you go on a mission to uncover what happened to your missing sister. You can sneak into the institution where she’s being kept with one group of companions, or bust in guns blazing with a different group.
In Chapter 7, you’ve found your sister (so both routes join up with meeting her), but your actions in the last chapter govern how she reacts to you. If you busted in, guns blazing, she runs away from you, and you spend the chapter chasing after her. She gets away, but your chase leads you to a storage room where you find important clues about her story. If you snuck in, you have an important conversation with her and she reveals why she went missing before she gets taken away by the bad guys.
So the major plot beats are looking for your sister, finding her, and finding out the same vital information that drives the story: this will be in your outline and will be the skeleton of your “main story.” But the paths to getting to each plot point differ according to your choices, and then they all “link up” at the same main nodes, like a chain. That’s my method for doing it, anyway!
Even as a beginner, I’ve found it easiest to code as I go. I’m focused on the writing mainly, but I make sure the code at least functions, even if it isn’t in its final form. I find inserting code around existing prose too fiddly, and when it’s already in code, you can play it back, which makes for a much nicer proofreading experience. Choicescript is pretty user friendly once you get going, especially if you use CSIDE I don’t worry about crunchier things like stat values on a first draft though (also because I still don’t really know what I’m doing with them!). I just put default increases or decreases, to be balanced later.
But I also find that, while I have a general flow chart of what the whole story looks like, I end up discovering extra choices to write as I go. Usually these are just small dialogue trees, but I have sometimes added in extra potential scenes that I didn’t think I was going to write, because I was inspired by creating the choices. If I weren’t writing in code that forced me to clarify all the choices, I don’t think I would have that same inspiration.
The main project I’m working on started life as a first-person short story, but when I started adapting it for IF, it turned into a bigger and quite different idea, and I ended up rewriting most of it. Choices are part of the DNA of these stories, I think it would be difficult to write a whole story normally and then add them in later, without a considerable overhaul.
Besides, for me one of the allures of writing IF is that it allows me to be greedy with plots. Can’t decide which way a scene should go? Make it go all the ways! Pass the buck to the reader!
I’ve looked at the CSIDE website a little but… what exactly is it? Like, what is the perk of writing using CSIDE?
Also, I’ve been writing and coding simultaneously so far but I feel like it… blocks my creativity. Since coding doesn’t come naturally to me, it feels like it pulls me out of the storywriting, which is why I started wondering if there was a way to write and code separately.
I’ve been using the tutorials on there, haven’t finished them but they’re in depth and interactive so far. Also it seems to do a lot of the stuff you need for coding like indentation automatically and points out errors. Still a learner so cant compare it to other ways of writing.
I’m still terrified looking at long pages of code, but I do feel like I’m slowly starting to get the hang of some of the symbols and commands and why they do what they do, hoping that It will be second nature soon. I’ve been jumping back and forth between a premade tutorial story and looking at the code on there for guidance, it helps too.
I don’t worry about crunchier things like stat values on a first draft though (also because I still don’t really know what I’m doing with them!). I just put default increases or decreases, to be balanced later.