Getting some advice for making a game

[Unsung]

Hey all,

I ended up getting an idea for a game (still in the concept/planning/world building stages). I'm planning on using Twine 2 w/ Sugarcube 2 as the engine. The concept was more based around a CYA/text story since I thought that would be a better format given time/life constraints. In general, I know the arcs/locations in a broad view and a direction for the story to hopefully minimize excessive branching.

In terms of features, I was thinking of doing a variable system to customize some of the choices/scenes based on the MC's choices/characteristics. I was thinking it would be easiest if it was an iterative system like Kingdom of Deception (where choices add/subtract to different variables). Vague thought would be that some variables would represent sub/dom and a few others like persuasion, perception, power, and resourcefulness that would offer different options to achieving or failing an objective or some result. The general thought was that KoD is visual novel and Twine, while less visual, would be better suited for that kind of system on the novel piecel.


I wanted to get some advice on some best practices and common pitfalls for making games that people have run into while developing them. I have a very, very minor background (like less than intro to comp sci, heavy on the theory - know what recursion is).

Or really any advice/suggestions/thoughts. Really want to learn from everyone!

[Godspeak]

Originally Posted by Unsung

Hey all,

I ended up getting an idea for a game (still in the concept/planning/world building stages). I'm planning on using Twine 2 w/ Sugarcube 2 as the engine. The concept was more based around a CYA/text story since I thought that would be a better format given time/life constraints. In general, I know the arcs/locations in a broad view and a direction for the story to hopefully minimize excessive branching.

In terms of features, I was thinking of doing a variable system to customize some of the choices/scenes based on the MC's choices/characteristics. I was thinking it would be easiest if it was an iterative system like Kingdom of Deception (where choices add/subtract to different variables). Vague thought would be that some variables would represent sub/dom and a few others like persuasion, perception, power, and resourcefulness that would offer different options to achieving or failing an objective or some result. The general thought was that KoD is visual novel and Twine, while less visual, would be better suited for that kind of system on the novel piecel.


I wanted to get some advice on some best practices and common pitfalls for making games that people have run into while developing them. I have a very, very minor background (like less than intro to comp sci, heavy on the theory - know what recursion is).

Or really any advice/suggestions/thoughts. Really want to learn from everyone!

Twine is about as straightforward as you can get. The documentation is your friend! As far as best practice, it's pretty hard make a bad Twine game, but be careful about overscoping! Twine lends itself to branching narratives, but remember that every time you branch, your workload increases exponentially. Even just a simple game with 3 or 4 choices along its playthrough can branch into 20 or more unique paths if you're not careful! My suggestion would be to have one choice over the course of the game that affects the ending, and have the other ones all come back around to join the main story thread.

[Unsung]

Originally Posted by Godspeak

Twine is about as straightforward as you can get. The documentation is your friend! As far as best practice, it's pretty hard make a bad Twine game, but be careful about overscoping! Twine lends itself to branching narratives, but remember that every time you branch, your workload increases exponentially. Even just a simple game with 3 or 4 choices along its playthrough can branch into 20 or more unique paths if you're not careful! My suggestion would be to have one choice over the course of the game that affects the ending, and have the other ones all come back around to join the main story thread.

Thank you so much! That's super helpful and I'll definitely try to prevent too much branching. I'll have to think of some ways to make things tie back to the main story or at least prevent them from branching too far out.

Not only with story branches, but overall, I would advise you to to make sure the scale is manageable. Also make sure BEFOREHAND you know how to implement every feature you want/need.

I just put a project of 100+ hours of mine on ice in favor of a more manageable and simpler game, after i found out the hard way, that the RPG maker engine really does not play nicely with large amounts of dynamic/random NPCs.
The scripting went over my head as i had to push beyond what the engine was usually capable of. Every workaround I created caused more issues in need of workarounds, that again caused issues, leaving me with a huge mess.

Point is, think things through and make sure your skills/engine are capable of what you want to do.

[aka]

Always exciting to see more CYOA's. Here's some advice:

1. You are going to spend WAAAAAY more time on this game than anybody else will. Full stop. So make sure it's a game that you like. In particular, I would make sure there's something in the game that keeps you interested above and beyond spankings. Every spanking scene I write stops being sexy to me long before I've finished writing it, so make sure there's something else in the game (i.e. characters, plot, setting, *something*) that makes you excited. For example, I get super excited about interesting combat mechanics, and I spend a lot of time developing a plot, characters, and setting that I find interesting and want to write about.

2. As a rule of thumb, if you're bored writing it, people will probably be bored reading it. Don't get me wrong, there are parts of writing that are boring, but can make it much more enjoyable for your readers, but I generally find that to be editing, and going through previous content to try to catch continuity snarls and the like. Usually, the act of creating the content should be exciting.

3. In terms of choices, here's what I do to manage the complexity for each episode in my game:

a. I usually have a very small number (at most two, often zero) choices that I consider Big. These are choices that significantly impact the course of the story. One example of a Major event is in episode 2 and you decide whether to pretend to be a potential customer for Megawater, or make Juliana do it.

b. Most of my choices are Minor. These are choices that have a significant short-term impact, but they quickly converge. One example of a Minor choice is in episode 1of Scarlet Moon where you choose how to get into the warehouse at the docs. Each choice gives one or two events, and then converges back on finding Buzzsaw.

c. I also have a bunch of Empty choices. These are "choices" that don't actually affect the course of the game, but rather give the player a chance to roleplay. These are usually low effort because you only need to come up with a bunch of responses, but they can help keep the player engaged. Maybe. I haven't actually done any sort of useability analysis on this.

One thing that I also like to do is view my game as an elephant, and the player as a blind man. I try to slip in little details and hints into the consequences of some choices but not others. Some choices can even dictate which characters you first meet when. This I think can enhance the replay value, and make the player feel like their choices have a consequence. As they play through it and try different choices, they see more of the story, or understand more about the setting.


I also generally make the spanking scenes fairly static. The dynamic part is whether the player makes choices that *lead* to a spanking in the first place or not.

Finally, don't be afraid to be ambitious, but keep most of your ambitions to yourself. That way, when your ambition inevitably crashes against the hard rocks of reality, you can dial down your plans without disappointing anybody except perhaps yourself.

Good luck!