Past tense & Present tense

[Ryue]

Hi
I've got a question in regards to writing (past tense and present tense).

I'm currently in the process of creating a VN / RPG mix. For that game I've had 2 writers so far (currently the 2nd one) and an interesting discussion came up.
The first writer I had said the mood,... can be best brought over with first person and present tense. The 2nd writer thinks past tense would be more appropriate.
After some talk we settled for asking here what the general opinion there is.

The game I'm making is a mix between drama and horror. Death and sorrow is everywhere and the PC is one of the few beacons of light in this dark era.
The player has to make tough decisions with almost none being completely good or evil (for example: Someone got bitten by a zombie, does he fullfill his wish
and prevent him from turning, or does he ask him to hold out as he needs his help very badly .-.... at that point the player already knows that not all turn,
and additionally he could save a life if that guy lived for a bit more as someone else can only be saved with the help of that doomed guy) .

Moodwise I want to bring over a very dark mood where the player feels the sorrow, the loneliness and also the horror that the player character faces
as he is thrown out of a nice normal world into one that is only describeable as pure hell.


So like I mentioned before the question is there is that better to portray in past or present tense or is there any difference to that at all?
(also if any things need clarification or more infos are needed let me know tnx).

[Asceai]

My opinion is past tense, simply because it won't be distracting the reader from the tension in the story by making them constantly wonder 'why is this present tense?' There's a lot of successful horror in VNs and all the ones I know of are past tense.

It could be a valid exception, though, justified by the fact that present tense brings the reader closer, temporally, in terms of what is being experienced, but unless you're going to go second person present tense I'd probably stick with first person past.

[fleet]

This has been previously discussed here at LSF (see link). Whichever one you choose, be consistent.

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 47&t=24587

[Ryue]

Ah tnx there

[Taleweaver]

Locked for repetition.