Creating an episodic VN

[ThisIsNoName]

I noticed that there is a bit of a rise in episodic VNs, and thought it would be nice to have a brainstorming thread for what people would like to see, and what unique issues people might face when creating episodes.

Do you think that we should look at anything for inspiration (TV episodes, Triple A games, etc. ) or do you think it would be better to forge our own path?

How much do you think choices should flow over from one episode to the next? Do you think each episode should be self contained, or a slice of a larger story?

How do you think creators should deal with readers being able to jump in the middle of the story line? If choices do roll over from previous episodes, is it best to set a standardized path or is there another way?

Is there anything you would like to see that would be unique to an episodic format? Are there any pitfalls that people should avoid when writing episodes?

[Nuxill]

I don't see any harm in looking for inspiration in series that are episodic; They've sort of set a standard in that sort of thing haven't they? Though because VNs have the ability to be interactive that allows for all sorts of things that you can't do in a television series.

On one hand it would be cool to see choices flow from one episode to the next, but on the other if you're going to have choices go into completely different paths it might just be better to make it a regular style vn. Especially if you're not releasing the vns in one package. I would just be harder on the creator, and the I'm pretty sure the reason someone would make an episodic vn would be in part because it's easier to work on than a big vn. Of course if the choices were tiny and only affected a line or two of dialogue it wouldn't matter much.

I'm also pretty sure that if the series has episodes where it's required to watch previous episodes to understand where the plot is going then most people wouldn't read it out of order. It's not like a television show where you have to wait until the show is on again and hope that it's the episode you missed. You can just download the next one no prob. And if they do feel like jumping around setting a standardized path would be fine. Mass Effect did that if you didn't have a save from the previous games.

I would love to see episodic stories that are released in one package once the 'series' is over. For convenience's sake. Or even releasing them in one package every time you created a new episode. Making a site where you can download all the episodes, having all the episodes in one thread, whatever. Keeping everything in one place so it's easy to access.

[LVUER]

Do you think that we should look at anything for inspiration (TV episodes, Triple A games, etc. ) or do you think it would be better to forge our own path?

I don't really get this question. We should look at EVERY thing for inspiration. And what do you mean by forge your own path? Do you mean original story VS story inspired by TV series? There's nothing original anymore, so you might as well as do what you think is the best.

How much do you think choices should flow over from one episode to the next? Do you think each episode should be self contained, or a slice of a larger story?

You can go both way (self-contained or slice of larger story), it doesn't matter and it depends on what you seek. Be creative. But for sure, I want the same protagonist (hint: don't do something like Apollo Justice)

How do you think creators should deal with readers being able to jump in the middle of the story line? If choices do roll over from previous episodes, is it best to set a standardized path or is there another way?

Now, this is the risk of having episodic format. If you have something big going on in the whole series, of course people who don't play other episode will be left in the dark. Though you can avoid that by providing some kind of back information in later episode (like what they did in Dead Space, Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect, etc) but still, it can't be avoided that some people will felt to be left in the dark.
For choices that take over from previous episode, I think Mass Effect is the best example we can get (it's massive). You can either:
- Have a standard format when the player want it or don't have save file from previous episode
- Have the new episode continues off from "canon" ending of the previous episode, which is far simpler than the first method.

Is there anything you would like to see that would be unique to an episodic format? Are there any pitfalls that people should avoid when writing episodes?

Rather than unique, I want each iteration to be better (new feature and more refined old feature). But I still want to feel familiar since this is a same game.
What you want to avoid is that, no matter you want each episode to be self-contained or a piece of complete cake, each episode need to solve something. The recent Alone in the Dark is a worst example of episodic game (if it IS episodic). You end the game cut like that, leave audience hanging in the dark. Really, the audience will feel cheated...

[papillon]

I noticed that there is a bit of a rise in episodic VNs

... There is?

Not that I'm saying episodic VNs would be a terrible thing, but... What rise?

[Nuxill]

I noticed that there is a bit of a rise in episodic VNs

... There is?

Not that I'm saying episodic VNs would be a terrible thing, but... What rise?

Yeah to be honest the only episodic VN I've seen on the forums are the ReSet series... not much of a rise. Maybe this thread will inspire others to make episodic games? I know I've been wanting to make one for some characters I have.

But for sure, I want the same protagonist (hint: don't do something like Apollo Justice)

Seconding this (Apollo's not a bad character but I wanted more Phoenix! Or at least a better turn out for his character.

Poor guy lost his badge WAY too early after the last trial of the third game

)

[ThisIsNoName]

I noticed that there is a bit of a rise in episodic VNs

... There is?

Not that I'm saying episodic VNs would be a terrible thing, but... What rise?

Yeah to be honest the only episodic VN I've seen on the forums are the ReSet series... not much of a rise. Maybe this thread will inspire others to make episodic games? I know I've been wanting to make one for some characters I have.

I guess I was talking more about WIPs than completed games: Death Rule: TFR, Zzombie Infestation, Symbol Chronicles, Undead Chronicles... all within the last year. I'm not sure if all those are what you would consider episodic, but they seem to have the basic structure.

But yeah, part of it is to encourage people who are thinking of creating one, but are wary of the problems.

[Nuxill]

I guess I was talking more about WIPs than completed games: Death Rule: TFR, Zzombie Infestation, Symbol Chronicles, Undead Chronicles... all within the last year. I'm not sure if all those are what you would consider episodic, but they seem to have the basic structure.

But yeah, part of it is to encourage people who are thinking of creating one, but are wary of the problems.

Ahh okay, I didn't realize some of those were episodic, or were considered episodic.

I like the idea of games having 'episodes'; being broken up into little chunks makes it easier to get through a story. Other games have levels and books tend to have chapters.... since VNs are kind of like a combination of both it would make sense to at least try to have something like it. Though then there's always a fear of having it disrupt the flow since showing there's a new chapter in a visual novel would be more disruptive than showing a new chapter in a book. Though if you're doing something with episodes then you've probably already taken that into account and each part will have a mini climax and resolution to satiate the player over the course of the story.

[Destiny]

Well, I guess it depends on the story that goes through the series.

(P)lanet reuses the place and shows a few characters again, but the story and main figures differ, simpley reusing the "world" the previous part played in.
Kind of perfect for love games, since it would seem kind of...awkward if the main figure would change partners every episode.

For a fantasy or mystery game it is more easy. The story can unfold more and more without being exactly cut off. The different parts can even show the life of side characters.

Thriller/Horror/crime
This would NORMALLY be no episodic material.
But I could imagine something like "Higurashi no naku koro ni" or the movie "Vantage Point".
The first game shows everything from the view of the detective, the second from the view of the witness, the third from the view of a relative of the defendant and the final would be the view of the defendant himself.
You could play around with it, making the player doubt in the defendants guilt, then building it up again, then making it doubtful again, etc.
It would even open the possibility of different endings when the defendant is innocent in the final episode. You as the player would have to find the real murder, resulting in you being sentenced when you did find nothing, you being called free and the police searching the murder when you can show evidence that you are innocent or even find the murder himself.


So I see a lot of potential in that idea.
But the story has to fit in, just some "Hey, episodes sound cool, I use it!" will result in something, where the player asks himself why that was made a episode at all.

[Percon]

I noticed that there is a bit of a rise in episodic VNs, and thought it would be nice to have a brainstorming thread for what people would like to see, and what unique issues people might face when creating episodes.

The game I'm currently working on (Exit/Corners) is currently slated to use an episodic model. Right now, we're looking at a new episode every two weeks that is between 5 and 15 minutes long (depending on how long puzzles take the player/reading speed/number of viewed hints).

We weren't originally going to make the game episodic, but after careful consideration of what's best for both the development team and the players, we've decided to switch to the biweekly format. To make this easier, we're coding the game in haXe, which can push to Flash applications.

A couple of months ago I wrote a blog post detailing why we're using an episodic model. It might be a little long, but it's a good read; check it out if you're interested: http://www.exitcorners.com/?p=152

Do you think that we should look at anything for inspiration (TV episodes, Triple A games, etc. ) or do you think it would be better to forge our own path?

"Anything" is pretty broad, but I think that following the pacing of a TV show or webcomic might lend itself well to the format (depending on the genre of course).

How much do you think choices should flow over from one episode to the next? Do you think each episode should be self contained, or a slice of a larger story?

This is a very tricky question to answer because no matter how you do it, you need to give something up. You could have everything be completely kinetic and not worry about choices, but then it wouldn't exactly be interactive fiction. Still, if Broken Saints is anything to go by, this won't necessarily hurt your viewership.

You could have the game keep track of every choice for every player, but the farther along your story goes, the more different paths/outcomes you'll need to write, and it could get really messy really fast. Unlike a non-episodic VNs, you'll have multiple deadlines to meet, and if your story branches too much they'll be tougher and tougher to meet.

What I'm doing with Exit/Corners is a bit of a bastardization of the popular "Branching Paths and Stored Values" model. Every episode, the player will make some decisions for the protagonist. With the exception of decisions that take place at the very end of the episode, every path you can take will eventually converge back into one before the episode is over. We're going to use playtomic libraries to keep track of how our players are making decisions. The choices that are picked the most become canon and will influence events in future episodes.

There are some obvious pitfalls of doing it this way. For example, this means that some people will not be able to see what happens as a result of their choice if the one they chose wasn't the most popular. Still, we think the pros of doing it this way (mentioned in the blog post above) outweigh the cons, and that we'll manage to maintain a healthy release schedule while still having an interactive adventure. Of course, the story still need to be written in a way a that any player will be able to understand what is going on even if the choices they made in earlier episodes aren't congruent to the canon.

We've been throwing around the idea about releasing a full game once the episodes have ended that includes an actual branching system (if there's a demand for it), but that's so far away/up in the air that I shouldn't have even mentioned it in the first place!

How do you think creators should deal with readers being able to jump in the middle of the story line? If choices do roll over from previous episodes, is it best to set a standardized path or is there another way?

I am going to heavily encourage new players to start the story from the beginning. This is one of the reasons we're going to be pushing the game in Flash - it is very accessible, so it wouldn't be as much of a hassle for a new player to switch episodes if they start with the wrong one. Indeed, there could even be a reminder on the title screen akin to "First Time Playing? Start with Episode 1." that could be a hyperlink that leads to the pilot.

I mean, there wouldn't be any technical problems if a new player started on a new episode, but because the game is in the mystery/intrigue genre, the continuity is important.

Is there anything you would like to see that would be unique to an episodic format? Are there any pitfalls that people should avoid when writing episodes?

I think episodic interactive fiction is certainly worth exploring; I can say that much.

I might write some more a bit later, but I need to head out at the moment. Cheers.

[ThisIsNoName]

How much do you think choices should flow over from one episode to the next? Do you think each episode should be self contained, or a slice of a larger story?

This is a very tricky question to answer because no matter how you do it, you need to give something up. You could have everything be completely kinetic and not worry about choices, but then it wouldn't exactly be interactive fiction. Still, if Broken Saints is anything to go by, this won't necessarily hurt your viewership.

You could have the game keep track of every choice for every player, but the farther along your story goes, the more different paths/outcomes you'll need to write, and it could get really messy really fast. Unlike a non-episodic VNs, you'll have multiple deadlines to meet, and if your story branches too much they'll be tougher and tougher to meet.

One model that I was thinking of is based off the Bioware model: having a single main story but with choices that change how the character reacts to what's happening. For example, Mass Effect 3 is largely the same game regardless of the choices made in Mass Effect 1 or 2. The story will acknowledge the choices made, but doesn't change significantly.

With a more episodic format, it could be even easier to write, since not all episodes would have to track all choices. For example, episode 7 could track one choice in 3, two in 4, and another in 6. Episode 8 could track choices made in 1, 3, 6 and 7.

Of course, the main downside is that the story would have to be driven by exterior forces, instead of by the player character. Choices would also have to be largely independent of each other. In a genre where readers are used to picking "paths", they might be a bit disappointed.

What do you guys think? Are there any other models you think could work well?