To draw, or to write...

[ShiraiJunichi]

How heavily should a game maker rely on visuals to tell the story? Should images be only an addition to a script that could already stand on it's own? Or should the script be dependant on images to depict objects, situations, and the passage of time?

Should you attempt to describe the visual appearance of something that the player can already see? Or should you let the visuals do all of the describing?

Of course, the natural answer is a balance, right?

My particular trouble is continuity. At the beginning or ending of a scene, I'm not sure how to begin or end it. Do I show the scene, and just jump into it? Or do I describe what's happening that led to the beginning of the scene? And when I want to end I scene, should I just fade out, or should I write some sort of conclusionary sentence?
I just feel like I'm falling into the trap of saying: "This happened. Then that happened. Then I did this. Then that." Sure, it's continuous, but it seems like it's going to be as boring as heck.
Perhaps I just need to be more descriptive and interesting when I need to indicate that something has happened.

Any advice?

[lordcloudx]

i think I've got a good idea... which I'll be using for the ending to "wings edited"

Kinda like what you see in the last pages of some good manga. The text narrates the story, but the image also has its own message not told in the text.

[Vatina]

I think it depends on what kind of mood you want to create, when you choose to either let the images or the text dominate. Like in Narcissu there are very few images but a lot of text, and some of the pictures don't even reveal the entire scene for effect. This works well for dark and poetic stories I guess.
Then there are others where the images change often to show emotions and movement. Maybe those are better for fast-paced action/cutesy "go-for-the-girl!" stories instead.
It's probably important to decide what kind of story you want to tell first, then plan on how you are going to balance text and visuals.

I'm not an expert when it comes to that, though. Just some random thoughts on the subject ^^;

[Alessio]

That's a difficult question since it can only be answered with "it depends". I'm sure the same story can be successfully told in many different ways by different authors.

My own approach is to avoid too much redundant information (i.e. describing in text what can already be seen in the graphics) unless I want to make a point. Basically, I aim for a good balance between "cutting the crap" (to keep the pace up), and providing enough information so the player still understands what's going on.

About continuity (introduction and ending): Several authors seem to propose cutting everything out that is not needed to understand the story. Basically starting the scene as late as possible and ending as soon as possible, preferably with a hook. (On the other hand, many VNs make a point of stretching events... and I have the feeling many players like that approach.)

P.S. I found it very helpful (and, most importantly, fun) to read a few books on the subject. I would recommend three books:
David Howard's "The Tools of Screenwriting", Stephen King's "On Writing", and maybe Eugene Vale's "Technique of Screen and Television Writing".

[monele]

Hmm... I'll be agreeing a lot with Alessio here : "it depends", "just tell what you can't show", "show what's important".

But really, the most important one is "it depends". If you want ambiance, you might do it better with lots of descriptive text. If you want pace, you might get it better with good music and graphics (and short text). If you want realism, you'll want continuity. If you want focus, you'll want the shortest scenes with the most important events.
Actually you could probably do it one way for a scene and change for another one... Depends on the mood you want to give it

[musical74]

Wow...that's tough. I'm more in favor of letting your imagination run wild when it comes to the graphics/text part. This is what I get for playing those old ZORK games, which was all text-based...you let your imagination run wild as far as graphics went, because there weren't any...BUT a few graphics would have been nice, espically on the *You are in a maze* rooms (BAH!). I'm more on story though...I don't care a whole lot for what I term *filler text* where the author feels the need to put SOMETHING in, when it isn't needed...

OK this isn't helping much, but here's my view on it. A good mix of graphics and text, where you aren't going overboard on text, but enough to keep the player interested, and the graphics are decent - maybe a little dated? - that gives you an idea of what's happening, but not giving everything away, works for me.

[mikey]

Also, I'd say don't leave your heart out of it either - have your own style, and write and create what you feel is good. Some will like long dialogues and some long monologues, some enjoy lyrical writing, others factual - you can't do anything about it. And a compromise will always be a compromise, so it's not like balance is the all-solving approach. I for one, I don't generally like compromises.

Once you forget about the Laws Of Good Writing, stop having things in the back of your head, and just write what comes into your mind, that's when writing and concepting will become incredibly natural and more a matter of the soul than the mind. And I think it's very important that the game appeals to you as well - I would see no point in making a game that is popular, but never really feels like something I did, that doesn't have something from me (except I would like to sell it).

[lordcloudx]

I totally agree with mikey about putting your heart into writing.

And as to developing your own style of writing. I think it's also important to know what you don't want to do so that there is some consistency to your work. At least that's what I practice.

[ShiraiJunichi]

Thanks for all the advice- and I hope to recieve more, if anyone else has anything they'd like to add.
I found Mikey's advice especially pertinent and applicable in my case. Worrying about others expectations or perceptions just drained all the fun out of writing, and nothing flowed.
Now I'm conflicted though... should I read a book? Or forget all the rules and just have fun? I think the best solution might be to first read a book, but only let it affect the writing subconsciously.
Whatever I decide, one thing's for certain- from now on I write for Me. And maybe, just maybe... other people will like it too.

[rioka]

If you read a book, you might fall into the trappings of observing and then imitating that author's particular writing style - which makes the whole point of having your own style moot. Just go for it, I say!

Start writing down passages and when you're all tapped out of lines and scenes, take a brake, and then come back to polish it. (Of course, it would help if you had an outline to keep you in line... ^^)

[Wolfrider]

The "it depends" approach is the only truth, but it's not very useful for giving advice. My only experience in writing was at School and University Literature courses, son don't take it too seriously.

First, try to put yourself in the place of the reader. It's not the same as worrying about OTHERS pont of view, It is YOUR expectations what it counts, but noy you as an author, but you as a reader. Than you can decide what is better.

A good balance point is using words to describe what the graphics does not. How many graphics you will use? If there are many you prabably will want to use less words. There is no need of writing "She hits me with a paper fan" if the graphic shows a girl very angry, with a harisen, and even the screen shakes ('vpunch' in RenPy) and a loud sound is inserted.

(Sounds redundand, right?)

Another thing is the 'speed' of the story. A detailed (and probably poetic) story wil be slow-timed; a good approach of this is Narcissu, where the text describes almost anything and the images only add the atmosphere of the story (and, there are no 'character' images) Another good examples are Gakuen Redux and Metropolitan Blues.
In the other side, the action-packed stories, like Princess of Fire or Dual Hearts will probably require the images to fly at the reader (try counting the images!) end the text to be concise, to not making it boring.

And, as a middle side, you probably want a story with 'action' moments, and 'calm/romance/younameit' times, or a 'active way of showing internal thoughts' that makes the narrative an hybrid... well, for that I don't know any mehtod to do it right, but you do something and it looks good, then it's good. An example: Wings.

And, let me say a personal opinion. It's not only graphics and text: Music also counts.

Well, i wrote too much. Keep working. And remember that at the end, the only real answer is "It Depends". I only tried to help.

i think I've got a good idea... which I'll be using for the ending to "wings edited"

I knew it!

[papillon]

To me, the important thing is to test frequently.

I can write a lot out on paper, but then when I plug it into the engine and see it on the screen, it's a whole new perspective. I can see that certain things are awkward, certain things need more spacing, etc.

And then I go get my poor long-suffering tester to play all the new text as well.

And this is why the temporary graphics are important for me - I need a sense of what the picture *will* add to the presentation, even though I don't have quite the right picture yet.

[Watercolorheart]

I always choose writing over drawing in the end; Lord knows I've drawn for enough projects that didn't have finished scripts. Unfortunately, I lost them all in my format .

Oh, well ...

Always get your story done first, especially if you're doing the art yourself. Figure out what you want, and write it well.

Myself, I prefer descriptive text just like novel-quality. Some fantastic doujinshi games with that kind of atmosphere are Narcissu, Planetarian, and Kira -snowdrop- are some great examples. Strive to emulate those, and you won't fall flat.

Unfortunately, they all have sad/nostalgic endings, but I guess that just comes with the territory ... (Oh, I left out a Midsummer's Day Resonance ... which ends that way too. Bittersweet.)

[lordcloudx]

random haruhiism advice:

When unable to transition into the next scene, why not do a shot of the sky?

[RedSlash]

IMO, I think writing is the most important part, after all, its a "novel". The pictures are there to enchance the presentation of the story, whereas the text would described everything else. I would think that should you have decided that you'd want images to dominate more over the text, it'd be better as a comic. That's just a thought though.