Defining branches/choices in a non-linear story

[Yoto]

I'm a programmer and I'm working on a non-linear story as a hobby for almost a year now(on and off). The game/story is made out of successive events that occur based on certain conditions, while the player can make choices along the way. Pretty similar to a dating sim, only without the dating in this case. However this results in a massive amount of events that can occur and it's very hard to keep track of during the writing process.

Currently I've pretty much nailed the technical part using an several XML documents that map out every event and it's condition to run in. The nested structure of the document determines when the event will occur.

However I'm pretty stuck on actually keeping track of all the events and writing out everything that happens during a certain event/scene. I've tried several software solutions to help me map them down, but none of them seem to be completely what I'm looking for.

First I've tried using generic story writing software such as Celtx, Storybook and Scrivener. While these tools are great for writing and keeping track of individual scenes the lack of being able to define the relation between them doesn't make this a complete solution.

After the I've tried the obvious, using diagramming software to map down the flow of the story. Not even halfway through I just didn't have enough space to place the nodes and it all ended up being useless with arrows crossing each other like crazy.

The only suitable solution I found was articy:draft which allowed me to add nodes, link them and later add nodes inside nodes which help keeping track of the complete flow of the game. However since this is just a hobby project I'd like to avoid using any commercial software. (While $100 is not unrealistic for this piece of software at all, I find it to be a little steep for a hobby project.)

Since branching is not something unique in VN's I'm wondering, how are you keeping track of your stories branches, choices and what not?

[Obscura]

Saguaro was doing something with Twine here earlier that might be of help?

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 51&t=19563

(For me personally, I use iThoughts on the iPad to mind map the major paths in my story, and then start writing everything directly in RenPy, since I figure I'll have to do a lot importing/copying/pasting anyway. It does sound like your game is far more complex than mine, however.)

[gekiganwing]

On the community wiki, we mention a few more writing tools. If Celtx and Scrivener didn't meet your needs, be sure to look into the others.

(Off-topic: when you're ready, let us know what sort of game or story you're creating. This forum isn't just about romance stories/games, and there are plenty of fans on this forum who like other content...)

[Yoto]

Thanks for the advise. Based on that and an additional search on the forums I've decided on a couple of things.

First of all I decided I'm actually creating a RPG with VN elements not the other way around. So I'm going to scrap everything I have in Ren'Py and use RPG Maker which I already have laying around anyway.

As for the story I decided to scrap all the insignificant details leaving only the major point of the story. Then I mapped the flow of all the major parts I had left in multiple FreeMind files which I manage in Celtx. Finally I use basic Celtx features to map everything and to keep my data structured. While not as perfect as I'd hoped, it works pretty well.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

I know this is super late but I just couldn't help making Ana count to answer this. I think what you want is a flowchart, in which case here are countless of websites and software (free, I think) that you can use.

I haven't used them yet but I plan to. Just type in Flowchart or Flow Chart or flow chart website/software to find one.


First of all, this is good if you're going to follow these guidelines:

Make a flow chart.

For each step/route/divergence, mention the name of the document you're going to write the paths on.


I don't know if I explained it correctly, but I think you'll understand when you see the websites. Good luck !!