Making a game more interactive?

[Morhighan]

So, I've been working on AIdol off and on since I've picked up a few side jobs, and the constant question on my mind is interactivity.

Currently the player has two types of interaction in AIdol:
-Options/Choices (which pertain to the story)
-phone hacking mini game (which can be skipped or played in normal/hard modes.)

Now, I've made a transit map that I hope the player can visit various locations with, but I can't really think of a good way to implement it.


I also am debating having the character be able to wander locations in the convention hall during the convention (almost like the transit map), but I'm not sure.

It's been suggested that I should use location based gameplay like the Phoenix Wright games, and I think I might aim to do that, but I wanted to get ideas from you guys before I settled on anything.

Thank you for reading!

[Marionette]

Adding interactivity is fine but, you just need to make sure it actually fits with the game. If its just shoehorned in for the sake of being there it might feel pointless or out of place to players.

If it actually makes sense that the player would visit other places, and that different things would actually happen at these locations then it would be ok. But if a player clicks on other locations and only gets like "Nothing is happenening here" or something each time untill he clicks the place with the next part of the story it'll seem like a pointless addition and players may resent having to trudge through it each time just to advance the story.

[Morhighan]

Adding interactivity is fine but, you just need to make sure it actually fits with the game. If its just shoehorned in for the sake of being there it might feel pointless or out of place to players.

Indeed, I quite agree. I just feel that the game is lacking and I want to give the player more freedom to explore the world.

If it actually makes sense that the player would visit other places, and that different things would actually happen at these locations then it would be ok. But if a player clicks on other locations and only gets like "Nothing is happenening here" or something each time untill he clicks the place with the next part of the story it'll seem like a pointless addition and players may resent having to trudge through it each time just to advance the story.[/quote]

Yeah, I definitely want to avoid that, as I've had too many games to resent for that. Thank you!

[gekiganwing]

A few thoughts:

* What does the main character achieve by moving from place to place, and exploring? Does he/she gain any benefit by choosing not to roam around town?
* How random is it? If the person goes to the convenience store, is there a chance that nothing will happen?

The main character in *Persona 4* is often allowed to explore the town. It's possible to do part-time jobs / go places / talk with specific people during an afternoon or evening. None of these events result in negative outcomes. Even if the MC doesn't immediately benefit from the choice, it will be beneficial in the long run.

The town exploration segments in *Sakura Wars 5* are vaguely similar but also different. Going to a place requires five minutes. There is a chance that an important NPC might be there, or that nothing will be going on.

In *Heartache 101*, the main character sometimes finds bicycles, which let him find new and different locations. There is a lot of randomness in the game. However, having multiple options for places to visit can be beneficial.

[Tyrantauranox]

This seems to be the eternal conundrum for video games in general. How do we make the world "feel" big, without having a lot of content that doesn't go anywhere? Even big open-world games like Grand Theft Auto and Infamous have tons of repeated content.

For a VN, I want interesting and impactful dialog choices the most. By "interesting" I mean something other than the obvious "be nice" or "be mean" choices. It'd also be nice if characters sometimes remember what you said or did, acting accordingly later.

[Katy133]

A good example of VN interactivity would be The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead games. They give the players not just important choices that drastically change the story's direction (which character to save), but also smaller choices, like variations on what to say to another character (with variations on how polite/threatening you can be) in conversations.

[Mirrowdothack]

As i had mention in another post with a similar topic:
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 47&t=28371

I think you should not really bother with this. If your story don't need interaction that's fine. But if you'r story provides the possibility to interact then that's great, too.

In my opinion the story comes first. It's really hard to write one good story. But if you allow the player to make choicec that leads to mulitple endings you will have to write x good stories. It would be strange to have choices in your story but... well it doess not matter what you chose. If your story does not allow changes or variations then there is no realy point in giving the player this kind of gameplay, right?
If your story is something you can read through in about 10 minutes it might not be necessary, too. If you have a certain message in your work and want to deliver it to your audiance then maybe choices will lead your audience to an ending that does not support your message.

On the other hand, if your want to put pressure on your player or if you want him to be able to explore his/her surrounginds you can add maybe quicktime events or point-and-click-gameplay. But again it really depends on your story.
When I started with Y;N it was pretty easy to find some gameplay elements, because the story "allows" it, or in other words: The story itselfe "includes" the gameplay. I did not thought about it in the first place. In general, it is a story abot a girl who tries to escape from a strange world, where monsters are and where she has to face trial: So: Exploration, quicktime events and trial simulation.
When you're doing a game, you may start with the gameplay. When your writing a story, well of course you do start with the story. I have to admit that VNS try more and more to add "gameplay"-elements, which is pretty cool. But again, if you create a great story, believeable characters and a nice presentation that's pretty cool (and hard enough).

But to "answer" your question: This is what I do: Write down your plot/notes. Think about its parts and then "try to be in the story". Imagine you are the hero of this story: What are you doing? Why are you doing it? How will you move on? Are there any dangers you have to face? Do you have to talk to people? Are there any challanges? What goal are you triying to achieve? => What (in his/her feets would you do in a certain situation, if there are more then one possibility you may have found a good base for a gameplay-element), etc.

What is your topic?:
- Do you write about survival => maybe you can include survial gameplay
- Do you write a love story => maybe you can include some multiple choice
- Do you write an detective story => maybe you can include some point and click (investigation), or mulitple choice (questioning people) etc.

There are several possibilities. But it should always match your story.

For example, when I played "The Walking Dead" there is a ridicoules riddle you have to solve. It includes "Repairing a radio" by finding "batteries" and turning them around. First this riddle makes the quest-npc looks pretty stupid, because she wasn't able to put in the batteries the right way + this radio was never used again in the whole storyline. So, as a player, I was asking myself: Why the heck did I do this. There are zombies outside who are trying to kill me and I fix a bloody radio???!!
What I'm trying to say is: Don't include gameplay just to have it in your VN. Do it to support your story. That's what works the best (at least for me)^^

Hope I could help you. If you have anymore questions, just let me know^^

So, if you feel your story is lacking somthing, maybe start with thinkig about your plot first and then aboput the gameplay^^