Player Interaction in a Story

[J. Datie]

If I recall correctly, the first KN I read had a pretty good story. I wish I could remember the name now, but essentially it was about a guy whose job was to help people remember certain past events after a national disaster wiped the memories of many citizens.

He lived in a house with this girl and thought he was helping her, but it turned out she was actually stationed there to help HIM remember something.

That sounds a lot like True Remembrance, although, that was about a guy whose job was to help people forget things.

[Androol]

As you say interaction is as important as plot, sound or graphics to me and are generaly not the best point in the VN i played. Generaly it's almost the more the interaction is good the less the other are well done and vice versa.

For the head hash probleme of plot whrighter with to much interaction and branches, i think one solution is to mix interaction with effect and interaction with no effect. I mean in real life we do a lot of small talk who change nothing in our life, and sometime we say somthing who change our relation with other. We dont allways know when it will apend. Use 3 interaction without effect on the plot line folowed by two with effect on the next step of the story can be a good trick. It add interaction for the player, increase difficulty to spot when too say what to change the ending. Less head hach for the wrighter and more interaction and feeling of controling the story for the player.

All this to say, i like a lot of choice in vn too.

[quintai]

That sounds a lot like True Remembrance, although, that was about a guy whose job was to help people forget things.

Ah, that was it! Ironic that I'd forget a name like that. Like I said, it's been a while since I played it. Thanks for telling me.

I was actually looking at this problem as I write the script for my Ren'Py project. My method of trying to give the reader options while preventing the story from going out of control is to keep the essential storyline the same, but change the way the protagonist perceives his surroundings and the reactions of other characters to him. As in, each choice affects the character he's speaking to in some permanent, cumulative way so the ending reflects the way he's treated others throughout the game.

It's a suspense story, so the ending may change slightly depending on who saves him or if he saves himself. Not like a dating sim, although there will be 2 romance options. Not sure how many endings I'm planning yet, but so far the first two chapters have worked pretty well using this method.

[Cochise]

For me interaction with the plot is the MAIN strength of visual novels. Not the only, but the main, without doubt.
I really read few VNs. Really read and liked only Don't Take it Personally and Tsukihime.
"Don't take it" has only one storyline, with few optional details. Tsukihimi has five storylines, branched in different times.
But twice has enough interaction for i feel like a game, not a book.
We have many variables. Quality of text, charisma of characters, music, graphics and, interaction. The main for me is text and interaction. The branch of storyline is important mainly for relaying capacity.

The "one sentence at once" is a kind annoying. I'm no a native english reader, then read slow ant the slowness of text angry me sometimes. In Portuguese, or if i was a native english reader this wiil be a big issue.

And a little off topic here... the dominance of romantic visual novels annoying me a little.

[Anarchy]

Don't forget VNs were originally a pornographic medium.

[papillon]

Don't forget VNs were originally a pornographic medium.

Well, that depends on where you draw lines and when you claim something to be officially a VN. Murder mysteries, at least, go way back to the very beginning as well, and many sources cite "The Portopia Serial Murder Case" as the first visual novel.

[Cochise]

Well...
Pen and paper RPG started with boardgames, HQs started with yellow press and childish stories, cinema with free market curiosity.

I think all medias has potential to be Art, with capital a. The origin tell something about the past of media, but not limits the future of them.

[Anarchy]

Never said otherwise. Just saying you should consider the medium's historywhen judging its current state.

[Cochise]

I was trying to be a optimist, not a critic.
In the time frame visual novels are the newest in the list.

Sometimes my english sucks...

[meh]

When I want to play a fantasy-me, I play Skyrim.
When I want to feel a story, in which I/the protagonist grow/s, I play a VN.

I definitely agree with this. In that sense, I feel like as a VN creator, you shouldn't feel compelled to cater to your audience too much and to try and satisfy everyone. I think there are many different reasons why you would create a VN but first and foremost is that you want to tell a story. It's nice to give the player a little bit of control over the outcome, but I don't think anyone should go out of their way to account for every single thing that a player might want to do. If they really wanted to explore their options freely, they would play Skyrim. I don't think we play VNs because we want to feel like we are in control. Rather, I think we are interested by the premise of a certain VN and want to play it to experience that premise in a unique way defined by choices made by ourselves. Obviously, I'm not qualified to speak for anyone but myself so I'm basing most of this on my own opinion.

I think what I'm trying to say is that the VN is a form all by itself and is different from an RPG or simulator. While it may have the characteristics of both, the bottom line is that a VN is exactly what it sounds like, a visual novel. The point you are trying to get across is your own. Authors of actual novels don't feel compelled to give their readers a choice and I don't think VN writers should either. Multiple endings aren't bad at all. In fact, in many cases, they help the actual player get more involved with the story, but I feel that, regardless of which ending the player ends up playing through, the player should still be able to more-or-less grasp the core theme of your VN.

Sometimes I'll add random choice menus to my stories because I somehow feel that it's just something that I need to do to make it more VN-like. In retrospect, I feel that adding choices for the sake of giving the player more options is not a good idea. It sounds selfish but we write VN not to please players but to satisfy urges we have ourselves to tell a story.

[Egressus]

It depends on the game.
I don't mind sitting through 30 minutes of text as long as it says something. Sitting down and an exchange of names for that much time? No way. Something about the plot? Yes.
Choices are plus, but what mostly interest me is the story.

Visual novels, in the end, are novels. They have a story to tell, and if I feel like the choices are getting off-track and blurs the story, I'd say take out those menus.

I'm very picky about romance/otome games because of that. I like shaping the character, making him/her act nice to a character and neutral to some, yes, but it's hard to find ones that have drive. Plot. They introduce the "plot" later (if they ever do), making me ask "why am I here?" as nothing happens. No offence to high school romance lovers, but I find the "I am a normal student" thing boring. Because it's normal.

[curry nochi rice]

uhhg guys, I give choices every time, i mean every morning, afternoon, and night... basically breakfast lunch and dinner :O

isn't ti too much?

[LateWhiteRabbit]

uhhg guys, I give choices every time, i mean every morning, afternoon, and night... basically breakfast lunch and dinner :O

isn't ti too much?

You want choices to always APPEAR meaningful, whether they are or not doesn't matter as much. For instance, walking home from school or riding the bus appears to be a meaningful choice (or it may actually be one) because the player can imagine the choice causing different events to happen, while choosing waffles or pancakes for breakfast does not, because the player cannot possibly imagine why choosing one or the other would effect the story in any way.

[papillon]

Yuki-chan has made you delicious pancakes for breakfast!

>Eat pancakes
>Demand waffles instead

(Yes, I'm just being silly. But that demonstrates the difference in how a choice can be given at least the appearance of meaning. Even if she'll forgive you for not liking pancakes and it doesn't really matter, seeing the results would change the way the player felt about the relationship.)

[LateWhiteRabbit]

Yuki-chan has made you delicious pancakes for breakfast!

>Eat pancakes
>Demand waffles instead

(Yes, I'm just being silly. But that demonstrates the difference in how a choice can be given at least the appearance of meaning. Even if she'll forgive you for not liking pancakes and it doesn't really matter, seeing the results would change the way the player felt about the relationship.)

Haha. Yes. But in this case you are not deciding on whether or not to eat pancakes or waffles. You are deciding whether or not to be mean to Yuki-chan.