Multiple endings, and unlockable routes.

[Meatpie]

How do you guys feel about unlockable routes? Like, a route not really specific to the story, that is only unlocked right at the end.

Not like a true route or anything, just something like a side story. A bonus if you will, something to congratulate the player for hunting down all the endings.
The endings don't exactly have to be hard to get of course, that isn't the point.

Do you guys feel like there was a sense of achievement knowing that you got to see a little bit of content that not everyone will have access to unless they go and put the same effort in as you?

Or do you feel like "Oh boy, a hidden route that has nothing to do with anything, what a cop-out...should have done a true route."

I'm considering doing one of these for my project. Sort of like a pat on the back for my players.

Of course, I know unlocking these things can be a pain for some, so I'll be including an ending check list that fills out as you get the endings.

After completing half of the endings (I'm planning at least 8, the way I'm writing right now there could be more...I'm doing everything in my power to keep this as short as possible, which will probably impact on the quality, and the speed of the scenes is way above what you would find in a fully fleshed out Visual Novel because I absolutely HATE dragging out scenes for the sake of game play extension, the player should never have to read 1500 words on how annoying it is to be woken up by the protagonists childhood friend... not that you'll find that in my Visual Novel, I'm trying to be "unique") Hovering your mouse over the blank ones will reveal a small hint, giving the reader a vague nudge towards which option they should choose to get it. This primarily for people who did half the endings, and left it a week or... a year... and come back for the rest not remembering their previous choices.

I feel this removes the "grinding" aspect of skipping text until choice scenes, and then not remembering which one you've selected. (Or maybe I'll have them gray out as well... I don't know how to do this unfortunately. Hell I don't have persistent data down yet either,

Programmers needed!

) , but this is still just an idea.

The kind of story I'm writing sort of requires the player to get all the endings, if they are to have any real chance at understanding everything so I hope this also helps give people the motivation to do so.
This also means that each ending is cannon. Which could be problematic for future episodes..., but if you see it as a SoL, with a reset each episode but some elements from previous episodes it works just fine.


So yeah, lots of endings which unlock bonus content - Yay, or nay?
Ending check lists with vague hints after you've completed some of them - Yay, or nay?

[gundestiny]

I say 'Yay' to bonus content, but it depends on what the bonus ending actually contains.
If I like a story/game enough, I'll go for any unlockable content I can get my hands on.

That said, the bonus scene you unlock in Fate/Stay Night after completing all the bad choices peeved me off because it was a really short narrative of nothing which felt like I wasted my time :/
If the bonus content, (even though it may be unrelated) is something decent then by all means, go for it! After all, if you're rewarding the player, give em something nice, yeah?

Hmm an ending check list with hints is a hit or miss for me. It makes the VN much easier when previous choices made are dimmed out. However, if it's a short game, I don't really feel like it needs the feature. For maybe the longer games it would be useful, buuuuut I like the challenge of not trying to re-select the same choice =P (There have been many times where I've facepalmed due to picking the same fail choice, but I just restart and soldier on :3)

[PyTom]

It depends on how long the game is, and how important the bonus ending is.

I played deIz recently, and managed to get, as far as I can tell, all the unlockable ending, and all the unlockable bonus images. But that was a short game, that one can skip-mode through in a few minutes. The thought of multiple play-throughs of Clannad to be able to unlock the true ending is something that's put me off playing the game entirely.

[Taleweaver]

The thought of multiple play-throughs of Clannad to be able to unlock the true ending is something that's put me off playing the game entirely.

Uh-oh. Looks like PyTom won't like my current WIP...

I'm a great fan of multi-path, branching, multiple-ending VNs. For stories with only one outcome, I could just as well read a book or watch a movie, and there are only a handful of kinenos that actually connect with me - Gakuen Redux or Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, for example. (And one could argue that the latter is actually a multi-ending VN... if you consider all its parts "multiple playthroughs" of the same story...)

However, all the unlockables must we worth the trouble, and good unlockable content is no excuse for an otherwise shitty main plot or sub-par plot branches. I try to put the same effort into each path I create for my games, and I think it shows whether writers do that or not. It's what makes games like Kana Imouto so memorable and others like Tokimeki Check-In so forgettable.

[Crocosquirrel]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with Taleweaver on this one. If the endings are engaging, then people will be drooling and bugging you to find out what all the endings are. Bonus content or not.

Adding bonus paths to a game like that will be most outstanding. If you're lacking a bit on the main paths, then people may never see the bonuses, nor will they care.

As for Tom not liking Adrift, there are a number of ways to mess that up if you're not paying attention. Much fun will be had.

[Silvere]

Do you know Sengoku Rance? (It´s an eroge )

I pretty much loved the story & humor coming with it (Well, not to mention the gameplay <3).
It was so far the only Visual Novel/Dating Sim/Strategy Game which made me complete all the endings.
There it was like this:

1st Playthrough: "Original Story" and the Story followed with every playthrough.

Now, during your Turns (Turn based game when not fighting) you had the chance if certain conditions were met to "enter" another "route", following another story. This is possible for a certain time-span(turncounter), OR if the relationsship is high enough, a character got some problems now... etc. etc.
For example: A woman needs the child of someone of high ranks to restore the pride to her clan - During the normal play-through you are just using her and can´t impregnate her due to a spell of your slave. But if you get on her route and follow through the story (Which is something COMPLETELY different, as someone important dies, another demon appears and is kind of the new bad gu-uhm, girl.. And yeah.) and the ending with this one was something actually heart-warming x3

So, what I wanna say:
If you make different endings, make them as different as possible(Meaning something else happens). Like if let alone they could be their own story for a game. Don´t do something like "Oh, in this ending she does not die and.. everyone... is more happy. Yea. RULEZ." ... Cause that´s nonsense and won´t leave behind a good impression or good feeling for completing it (As long as you are not someone who just NEEDS to get every ending )

[Meatpie]

Do you know Sengoku Rance? (It´s an eroge )

Of course I know Rance, it pains me they kill my favourite character off in Rance Quest... God damn.

I will have endings that vary quite a lot.
Each ending is intended to shine a little light on the story, keeping certain parts of it ambiguous as much as possible in a way that will hopefully engage the reader, and not irk them.
Happy ends are fine and all, but I don't generally do them in such a way as you mentioned.
I'm not saying people don't survive every ending, but just because a character survives doesn't mean it is a happy ending, and just because one died it doesn't mean it is a sad ending.
Not everyone can come out of a ending happily. One persons happiness will almost always affect anothers, so I keep this in mind while I write.

I try to put the same effort into each path I create for my games, and I think it shows whether writers do that or not.

As do I.
It does mean that sometimes I having to sacrifice choice moments where players would want or expect them to be for the sake of plot, but in many cases I do my best to put them in with as much shine and polish as the other routes.
As I said before, I consider each and every branch of the plot to be cannon. Some endings may be more "complete" than others, but that doesn't mean the others don't exude the same level of quality.

It depends on how long the game is, and how important the bonus ending is.

It won't be Clannad long. That would require insane amounts of time, and more characters and routes than I am willing to put into it.
Not that I don't have enough characters, I actually have something like 30 characters each with a small back story written up.
It's just I don't feel that trying to throw in all their routes would be worth the effort at the point in time, and I do feel like it would impact the overall plot of the first episode if I did so.

I think by the time I'm finished, it will take about 1 hour for the first play through, and 10/15 minutes for each route while skipping previously read text, so it won't require more than two hours to finish, hell, if that.

[azureXtwilight]

Hmm, I'm using the same approach with my own game.

In Doppelganger, since it's also a mystery game, I make it such that you need to finish the routes that provides great hints for the final true ending must be unlocked first so that the true ending won't be a a deus ex-machina or a cop-out and also it would make the players go "So THAT's why X happened!" Aand of course to give more surprise effect.