Where does the relationship begin?

[WolfHunner]

I'm writing a 3 Act structure, In the 1st act the MC will make a choice on who he would like to be in a relationship with. Then in Act 2 the real relationship things begin. But how should I approach that in the story? I don't wanna make some kind of click to select prompt at the end of Act 1 like: "Who do you like more? A or B? Okay, on to Act 2".

[LVUER]

You can have plenty of choices in the first act to determine which one the protagonist likes more. Like when the protagonist is lonely, who's he think of. Or when he have a free time, who'll he go to? Like the old formula used in many VN.

[WolfHunner]

Thanks. By the way you're almost at 4000 posts now.

[gekiganwing]

I'm writing a 3 Act structure, In the 1st act the MC will make a choice on who he would like to be in a relationship with. Then in Act 2 the real relationship things begin. But how should I approach that in the story? I don't wanna make some kind of click to select prompt at the end of Act 1 like: "Who do you like more? A or B? Okay, on to Act 2".

That's a good question. A few things to think about...

* The term usually associated with events in a visual novel prior to the story branching into different directions is "common route." I did a search or two for the term, and found articles that cited a variety of examples (Key's VN Rewrite, Dramatical Murder, Persona 1, and Atelier Elkrone). Read what people are currently saying about common routes, and think about what you want to write.

* The three act structure is a well-known storytelling model. You might want to read up on it, if you haven't already done so. Look for a story analysis of a movie, especially one you already know. Having said this, three acts are far from the only way to shape a story, and it's not necessarily the best method.

* Sometimes it's good to be straightforward, and at other times it's better to be subtle. You don't always want to give the player a really clear indication of what will happen after a choice. But you don't always want to present the player with ambiguity and choices that are difficult to understand. Though if you have an unusual theme such as deception, postmodernism, or surrealism, maybe you can justify using unusual choices...

[Nisa-chan666]

I would say that it depends on what kind of story you're trying to tell. For example, I'm writing a VN focused on arranged/political marriage, so I have a very short first act, seeing as the "getting to know her" part has essentially been skipped; while I have a very simplistic way of choosing a love interest to follow, there's a scene beforehand that has to be passed in order to get to the main route. If I were writing your typical high school romance, I wouldn't do that; I'd probably use particular points to indicate what love interests you're leaning towards and whittle the possibilities down. Does that help?