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A n00b having two question here, esp because I'm pretty confused by it
but before that, I'm sorry if this thread is a re-post of another thread

1.Introduction(Starting Point)
What, in your opinion, a good introduction in VN, is it start with a monologue of the M.C.(Main Character)? talking about himself, like "My name is Alex, I'm 16, I used to be a student, but now I'm dropped out and working labor, and living an average life now."

Or, the profile of the M.C. is being told by his friend, so at first, you don't know anything about this character, but by continuing the game, slowly you got to know the M.C.(this usually happen at the start, like when there's a friend, they called the M.C by his name, and that is the time we know the M.C.'s name).

The other way is do not give any introduction, we start the game in the middle of something, the M.C. have no name(imagine the story goes like the_question in renpy).
which one do you think is the good one? You could give your own opinion if what I said above is not good for you

2.Perspective
Um, it's like a pretty stupid question, but I'll still ask it
If, you made the M.C is awake from sleep, what is the perspective of the Background(BG) that is usually used?

is it like this(credit of picture goes to the uploader) or the perspective is from the bed, so there is no bed in the picture, there's a door and the surrounding of room?(The other way to give the second perspective is that we treat the bed as our roommate's bed).
So, which is one is the perspective that is usually used? Or maybe it's stupid for me asking this because every VN use the first perspective(since when I search for bedroom BG it's usually look like the first one) XD

I guess this is the questions from me, thank you for everyone that give response, and sorry for the stupid question or the bad English or both, and if this thread is in the wrong place, feel free to move it.

Well, your introduction has to fit with your game. There's no one size fits all. For example, my game is sort of a historical fantasy and it's supposed to feel like reading an old book, so it starts with a prologue that sets the mood for the story. If my game started out with the heroine introducing herself, it would feel terribly out of place. Any of those ideas for introductions are good provided it fits with what you want your VN to feel like. A self-introduction tends to be more personal, and starting in the middle of the story is good for mysteries or action-oriented stories. I've even seen some stories that start at the end and go backwards!

If the M.C. just woke up and the game is from their perspective, the first thing they see is actually the ceiling, but the BG isn't usually supposed to be actually from their perspective. It's just there so that the player knows where the current location is. XD

Alot of films and books like to start by introducing something exciting in the plot that happens later on the story (like the protag is about to meet his end) and then picks up at the beginning. It's almost like a taster for what's to come.

1) My intro point changes really. I've used both the intro by the MC (Perfect Renassonce & Cherry Love) as well as the MC's partner introducing the person (Kismet & Day Of Reckoning)
2) Perspective if they're sleeping? A black background and centered text. Or a black background with text where the character is '????'. You could always start with a dream (hazed edges on the background) and a short scene before it black outs and you wake up in the MC's bedroom (or whereever the MC is).
It's up to you and what you deem as suitable really

Camille wrote:Well, your introduction has to fit with your game. There's no one size fits all. For example, my game is sort of a historical fantasy and it's supposed to feel like reading an old book, so it starts with a prologue that sets the mood for the story. If my game started out with the heroine introducing herself, it would feel terribly out of place. Any of those ideas for introductions are good provided it fits with what you want your VN to feel like. A self-introduction tends to be more personal, and starting in the middle of the story is good for mysteries or action-oriented stories. I've even seen some stories that start at the end and go backwards!

If the M.C. just woke up and the game is from their perspective, the first thing they see is actually the ceiling, but the BG isn't usually supposed to be actually from their perspective. It's just there so that the player knows where the current location is. XD

Thank you for the response and genre-based starting point Camille, I really appreciate it
well, the type of VN that I'd like to make is a usual life setting though, maybe kinetic novel.

clannadman wrote:Alot of films and books like to start by introducing something exciting in the plot that happens later on the story (like the protag is about to meet his end) and then picks up at the beginning. It's almost like a taster for what's to come.

thanks for the response and I don't really like that I guess, it's no use seeing the intro if we already know what's going to happen.

manga_otaku wrote:1) My intro point changes really. I've used both the intro by the MC (Perfect Renassonce & Cherry Love) as well as the MC's partner introducing the person (Kismet & Day Of Reckoning)
2) Perspective if they're sleeping? A black background and centered text. Or a black background with text where the character is '????'. You could always start with a dream (hazed edges on the background) and a short scene before it black outs and you wake up in the MC's bedroom (or whereever the MC is).
It's up to you and what you deem as suitable really

I see.
and the second question is not if they're sleeping, it's when they waking up, but still, thanks for your response
it's already answered by Camille though, but I guess it's okay to get more response XD

1. I've had the main character introducing himself. If the main character is not narrating the story, I like having some introductory slides that give background on the main character.
2. I don't use scenes where the character is awakening.

Obviously, you need a hook. Something to grab a reader's attention. As the exposition is usually low-action, this often results in bringing up or foreshadowing a subplot which won't be expanded on until later. Clannadman touched on this. Ironically, an excellent example comes from his namesake: "Clannad" begins with a very strong hook set in the surreal alternative world which acts as a thematic element throughout the game.

Don't introduce your character. Show, don't tell. As long as you write your character to be consistent, people will come to understand his or her personality; there's no rush. If she goes to high school, we will know she's a student. If he gets in trouble for doodling at work, we will guess that he's an aspiring artist. If she wakes up her daughter before leaving the house in the morning, we will know she's a working mom.

fleet wrote:1. I've had the main character introducing himself. If the main character is niot narrating the story, I like having some introductory slides that give background on the main character.
2. I don't use scenes where the character is awakening.

thank you for the response :3
introductory slides, still don't know about it :/

pondrthis wrote:Obviously, you need a hook. Something to grab a reader's attention. As the exposition is usually low-action, this often results in bringing up or foreshadowing a subplot which won't be expanded on until later. Clannadman touched on this. Ironically, an excellent example comes from his namesake: "Clannad" begins with a very strong hook set in the surreal alternative world which acts as a thematic element throughout the game.

Don't introduce your character. Show, don't tell. As long as you write your character to be consistent, people will come to understand his or her personality; there's no rush. If she goes to high school, we will know she's a student. If he gets in trouble for doodling at work, we will guess that he's an aspiring artist. If she wakes up her daughter before leaving the house in the morning, we will know she's a working mom.

ooooh O.o
such a nice word and you're right, thank you very much! I guess it's okay to have no introduction at some point then, because we could show the profile of the character rather than writing it, again, thank you very much for your response >///<

I've had a similar problem about deciding on an introduction lately, and I've sort of decided on starting on a like view (like the town), and zooming in on the beginning location (a house), and then changing the scene to a room, and then introductory monologue (like "oh no, I'm going to be late for work!"). Then if you still feel that an opening monologue of the background of it is necessary, put it after that. For the perspective, I'd show the view of the room from the door, so the bed would show. Then I'd show the character in the room.

Regarding introductory slides, the demos of the commercially released Vera Blanc games use about 15 slides to introduce the two main characters.

I've always found monologues kind of boring, and straight-up wall of text introductions are even worse. I like games that get right to the dialogue. It's just another way of introducing the characters, but it's a way to do at the same time as moving along the story. Any information that requires an internal monologue to present can be broken up between events.