How do you guys plan out dialogue trees/ mapping plot draft

[catgame21234]

I'm going to be working on exspanding my first game to get used to the program, you can check it out here just to get a feel of just what I'm trying to write, which means I want to start now just seeing how big I can make my game.

That is going to require planning.
I know you can graphically map out where all the twist and turns your game is going to take, ie something like this.



but I'm wondering what are your guys different ways or styles of keeping track of everything?

[Mutive]

I do a lot of my work backwards. So I'll start with an ending and figure out what I want to do to get there.

(i.e. I want the "good", "bad" and "neutral" endings. I might also sub-divide these into "good romance", "good no romance", "bad romance", "bad no romance", etc.)

Then I'll figure out what I want to do to get to each ending. Do I need a certain number of times that I've talked to a character? Do I want a certain dialogue branch to be chosen? Something else entirely?

I might, for instance, say that for the good ending, I need 10 good points. So a menu option might look like this:

Code: Select all

menu:
    "Do you want to save the princess?"
    "Yes":
          "Flavor dialogue"
          $ princess = True
          $ good = good + 1
          jump whatever happens next
    "No":
         "Flavor dialogue"
         $ princess = False
         $ evil = evil + 1
        jump something else

I try to keep major branches to a minimum (since woah do they take a lot of extra coding!), although clearly they exist (sometimes looping, sometimes not - I try to keep non-looping ones close to the end of the game, but can add some replay value by adding conditionals mid-way through that show different dialogue options depending on types of points or trues and falses. i.e., if you save the princess, maybe she comes back later to thank you and give you money, while if not, her father shows up and tells you how much he misses his daughter)

[Imperf3kt]

I don't really bother with graphical plans. Everything's in my head or jotted down as notes.

To keep branches organised, I write drafts in blocks and give the block a letter of the alphabet followed by a branch number.

I don't recommend doing it this way, but I'm too used to it that I don't change.


I also make use of some android software for writing screenplays. It comes in handy when you can rearrange an entire story in seconds.

[verysunshine]

I'm planning my events with a spreadsheet. Yes, this is weird and I could draw it out, but with the system I have, events won't always appear in the same order. This helps me keep track of all of them. Each event gets a title, a short description, what's required to get it, and what the player can get from it.