How to do you approach branching story? Is it hard to do?

[Kupotepo]

Hello everyone. I hope you are doing well in general. Honestly, I have no idea how to approach this. I do think it would be a good idea to just keep making up the story along the story branches. Please provide of how do approach this problem. It is opinion and subjective discussion. Feel free to express your thought. Thank you.

Is hard to keep track of all of the multiple decisions and the consequences? I think it is a bad question but ask anyhow.

Here the previous discussions:
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/story-routes-branches.80257/
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/branching-story.56436/

 

[TWings]

There are a lot of way to branch stories. I will assume we're talking about some meaningfull branching on a consequent story (and not just "Bob had to choose between 3 colors of shirt before going on his date").
In any case, the coding is not that much of a problem. Sure it adds a lot of work, more variables, more switches, more conditon checks, more events, more maps.... Potentially it can add a whole lot of stuff that you wouldn't have to worry about with a linear story. But that's almost the easy part.
The real hard part is the writing. There are lots of way to branch stories, from those with options that converge back to the same path at some point, to those which completely branch out into further sub-branches. And you need to get every single branch to make some sense. Branching a story just for the sake of branching is meaningless. It has to mean something while behing coherent with your game's world. You need to keep track of everything and either be very ogranized or have a really good memory to be able to keep up with every possible scenario.

So to answer the second question, yeah, I think it's a lot of work and it's definitely a lot more harder than a simple linear story.

That beeing said, I love branching and meaningful choices/consequences games, so I try to do the same in my games. The project i'm currently working on has basically 2 story lines following the same patern with a lot of branching options along the way. I'm trying to do it smart so I don't get lost in too many alternate stories, but in the end I should end-up with about two dozens possible endings. That's some ridiculous amount of extra work for some stuff the average player will probably never see. So there's that...
When you go that way you'd better be sure that's really what you want to do.

 

[Kupotepo]

@TWings, thank you for explain and your knowledge. How far did you do for each of each choice like life and death decision or no? I am just being dramatic. What tries I to ask you is what is your scopes and criteria which you are considerate meaningful.

Sorry for starting the topic very broad that is unfair for you to get what I am saying.
For a tangible example of choice and consequences: When you recruit a ninja into your party, you will automatic not allow recruiting a samurai because they are both have a disagreement on combat philosophy.

I guess I have to create a relationship system, too. Pacifist vs Militarist of team members.
When the bar to the lowest point the members will leave the team.
A player can pick what to do with a defeated boss.
Pacifist- Try to defeat bosses, but not kill them. The player does not get items from bosses. It get more items from townspeople. Something like that.
Militarist- Try to kill bosses. The player gets items. Something like that. It does not get items from townspeople.

Sorry if I am going to specific.

Do you still time writing a lot? I am not the most organize and perseverance guy on Earth. Are you are a professional writer? The reason, I ask because you are sound very knowledgeable.

not just "Bob had to choose between 3 colors of shirt before going on his date"

That would be a funny game.

 

[TWings]

How far did you do for each of each choice like life and death decision or no? I am just being dramatic. What tries I to ask you is what is your scopes and criteria which you are considerate meaningful.

Well, not necessary life or death, but say we take back Bob, if the only change is that he's wearing a green shirt instead of a blue one... Sure there's a difference, but it has no impact other than visual (well unless that was his lucky shirt and a lot of special stuff happens to him just because of that green shirt). So that's not much of a branching "story".

Basically I think the question is not to branch or not, the question is : at this point X of your game do you have a need to tell a different story ?
I can take as a simple exemple a very small branching for one optional party member on my current project who has 3 different "introduction" cutscenes (if you do find her at all is).
1st case : You have her friend in your party, that's the best situation you can hope for, as it makes it easier to find her, and if you get there in time, it's a nice reunion.
2nd case : You don't have the relvant party member, but you still manage to find her in time. It's a tougher path, requires a bit more luck/instinct/research to get there, but eventually you'll get introduced and she'll join your party.
3rd case : You do eventually find her, but you're to late, you just find her body and imrpovise some funerals. (and there's also a micro-branching there, as if her friends are with you, then they recognize the body, making the scene sadder).
All of those cases actually don't have a huge impact on the main plot (thus the fact that it's optional content), so it was relatively easy to add. And I actually didn't planned for it before starting to code the events. It just made sense to me at that time considering the circumstances. But you can see how a very small simple thing can become quite the extra work just because of branching.

When you recruit a ninja into your party, you will automatic not allow recruiting a samurai because they are both have a disagreement on combat philosophy.

I guess I have to create a relationship system, too. Pacifist vs Militarist of team members.
When the bar to the lowest point the members will leave the team.

There you're more on a game design point of view. Of course if you want to do that, go for it !
The branching story part comes when you choose what to do with the situation. Think about how important those characters are to your story ? What are the consequences of having one or the other ? What happens if one leave ?
Could be that they don't make much of a difference (easiest way obviously), could be that they open up two completely different stories. That's up to you to decide what you do with that idea.

Do you still time writing a lot? I am not the most organize and perseverance guy on Earth. Are you are a professional writer?

I don't think I'm awesomely organized. Also, my branches have a lot of convergences too. So I don't have dozens of different stories, just one "core story" with different outcomes and different ways to get there.
As much as I like making stories, I'm not a writer. All I can offer is my own opinion and expericence. Maybe a true writer would have a different opinion and a easier time dealing with the writing part.
I actually tried starting to write a novel about 2 years ago. I eventually gave up and went to game making (lol). Writing a book is so much more than just telling a story. It is really not easy to get done right. You need to find the right words, the proper way to take the reader in, do some research, sometimes mess with the chapters, read what you've done, rewrite half of it, and so on. lol

 

[Kupotepo]

@TWings, thank you for at least response to me. I do not know what others are doing. They usually respond in the thread.

In your game, you are made the optional story branches. That is interesting. I see it would easier to manage.


However, many people talk about branches the whole story with a different ending. I think it is very hard can be waving the story together.

I plan to a game as a chapter. I think it would be less complex and I can jump to a different character. I hope it would not confused the players that much.

Nice to meet you.

 

[Another Ned]

There's some good things here that were said, but I have one practical advice for keeping track of branching:
Flow charts.

It helps immensely to have a visual of your branching story, no matter how big or small, so cutting and merging things is easier (which is necessary way more often than I'd like to think).

Personal anecdote: I once had to create a flow chart for a non-linear part of a main quest for a narrative design class in university.
I did some world building and game design to have a base (not much was provided with the task and it was necessary for me to work), and did some brain storming for the things that could happen along the way (note: beginning and end points were provided, it's much harder to do if you don't have those). My first flow chart was ridiculously huge, so by the time I was ready to hand in the assignment, I had cut about 75% of everything. It's still highly non-linear, but I added 'choke points', things that will happen no matter the choice.

Based on my experience, it's way easier to work when you have a basic... pattern you follow. Having choke points, or only allowing the player minor freedom with minor consequences (e.g. blowing up a wall instead of fighting their way out). It'll save you time, especially when you're not super organized by nature (like me).

My current project is linear, for example. I only allow the player minor choices, mostly pertaining to timing of certain things, but events will still play out with only minor changes. There is no way for the player to affect the ending, though there might be some choice for the optional content. It's still more than enough work, but that are the rules for 'branching' I set for myself.

Summary: Flow charts are good. Decide on a pattern of branching and stick to it. Cut story, branches, content when necessary (which is a lot of the time). Planning is pretty vital unless your memory is impeccable.

 

[Andar]

Every player likes branching stories - but they have two big problems from a developer's point of view.

The first problem is not the branching itself, but how to recollect the branches. If you don't recollect the branches, you'll end up with dozens of different stories that go farther away from each other the more the player progresses.
If you're OK with that then go on (although this would make the second problem greater).
However if you want to stay in a single story area, you need to guide the branches back to the main story sooner or later - and to do that without either making the decisions meaningless or break the story integrity itself will require a lot of planning. That is where the flow charts mentioned above would be vital, and where programs like Articy: Draft can excel.
Without a very good plan for handling the branches you'll end up in a mess that either doesn't allow the player real decisions or that no one understands what's going on anymore.

The second problem (and that problem is bigger for professionals than for hobbyist) is the ratio of work to play time.
If you have two story branches, both stories have to be developed - but a lot of players will only follow one of the branches, ignoring the other. That makes their play time shorter and effectively "wastes" work you put into the second branch.
Depending on how many branches you have and how good you are on recollecting them to the main story, that wasted time can be a lot or can be manageable, but some work on the branching will always be lost.
And that is why you rarely find branching stories from big professional companies - their employees are paid by working time, and they cannot afford to place working time for ten one-hour branches in when most players will only play them for two hours total. Sometimes they decide to do a minor branching for player attraction, but they literally can't afford to develop a game that has a complex story with multiple large branches.

That of course is why you find only few tutorials or trainings for such a process - if the big companies can't make such games, then the people who could create such tutorials also see no reason to do that (if they're professionals they won't get paid for tutorials no developer is interested in).

As a hobby developer that doesn't care for the development time you can go to branching stories - but you have to do and learn that mostly on your own, and the added problem that even a single line story is a lot of work for a hobbyist and a branching story would make that worse.
If you succeed in good quality however that will almost guarantee you big interest - as said players like games where they can decide on the story outcome, they're just too rare due to their work.

 

[Seacliff]

It's very hard to do. You have to consider the impact each choice should reasonably have. Choosing to side with one of two warring factions should have major effect on the plot, choosing between two pies you want to eat should not.

Then there's theming. If you plan for every possible route to have the same priorities and be roughly the same length, you need to write enough character and story development to make either one and all of them worthwhile to play. First impressions are important, If your goal is to have the player play every route, you don't want them to think they had enough after the first playthrough.

It's a punching bag I keep on using, but I'm going to rat on Fire Emblem Fates that heavily advertised two separate routes they were basically fruitless in the story when compared to the third route that later came as DLC. However, the gameplay and map design for the third route is so heavily panned and the 'grand reveal' is so contrived and underwhelming it just undermines the existence of the first two routes while being an even worse game by itself.

Honestly, if you have a good idea for an alternative ending for your game that greatly departs from the main game, just make a second 'what if' game that starts right before the decisive moment.

However, if your goal is to tell a story from multiple perspectives, make sure they all add together while still being solid stories in their own right.

 

[Kupotepo]

@Chiara, thank you for your tips. I see that a little deviate of a story is recommended because it is still a lot of works and keep the story focused.

@Andar, thank you. I see that why many RPG game companies do not want to do a non-linear story because it takes too long with phishing and cleans up the whole game. It also hard to predict the overall player's experience. Lucky, I am talking about it before doing it.

@Seacliff, thank you for your comment. I see the more deviate of the story will make the story confusing to players.

 

[kirbwarrior]

I'm going to rat on Fire Emblem Fates

I like the game (okay, well Conquest) a lot, but this is a perfect example of an issue of branching choice; they basically gave the budget needed to make one game to a team making three games. Even AAA companies aren't great at making branching stories well. I would even go so far as to say Mass Effect doesn't do it well and it might be the best game that does branching paths. The concept is great but it really needs a lot of thought put into it. The only real successes I've seen is when the effect is mostly mechanical; In Cave Story depending on your choices you can a jet pack or a much better jet pack and the last part of the game is designed with which choice you made, but the story is (largely) unaffected.

There are three considerations with choices;
Is the choice open or closed? Sometimes a choice changes the direction of the story, other times it merely changes on part of it. For instance, there could be a choice of which country to travel through. In one game, this determines the story since you end up in a war between them and thus accidentally choose a side by going there. In another game it might only affect some fights and cutscenes, with either choice coming back to the central story, maybe even without it affecting things further.
When does the choice happen? Very early and it's effectively multiple games you are making (see FEFates above). Very late and it's effectively just different endings.
Does the choice modify the main story? Things like having to pick between allies, equipment, and other mainly mechanical effects can easily have no real effect on the story. Deciding which kingdom you save from a massive monster when you can only stop the destruction of one can be the crux of a story.

There's also the "game of choices" route I love. Instead of making one 60 hour story, instead there are 30 2 hour stories, made up of many small and sometimes "invisible" choices. Those games can be fun but require an entirely different outlook both in how to make it and how to show it to the player (namely, showing it in a way to make them want to play many or all choices to see everything).

As for actually implementing it, absolutely have something outside the game to help you keep notes and flow charts for how and when and where branches can happen and what they affect. Trying to do that only within the maker itself would be incredibly easy to mess up.

Mind, you don't even have to put the choice in game. Drakengard has an insane choice to make. It has five endings. Each game in the series continues* from each ending as though that ending is canon.

*Okay, one of them takes place I think 400 years before ending C but still treats ending C as canon. Did I mention the series is insane?

Honestly, if you have a good idea for an alternative ending for your game that greatly departs from the main game, just make a second 'what if' game that starts right before the decisive moment.

I really like this idea. The game doesn't even need to stick to the same genre; One game might be an rpg, but the other could end up a platformer if it ends with a "single person party". Look at Dragon Quest; In the original, there are five possible endings... but then Dragon Quest Builders shows us the "bad" ending (that's basically a game over) instead is an ending and ends up being an incredibly different game.

 

[Kupotepo]

@Seacliff, about this:

However, if your goal is to tell a story from multiple perspectives, make sure they all add together while still being solid stories in their own right.

Yeah, I plan to start to introduce the main characters one by one at the beginning, then, they will be travel together. That is how I will put together the story.

 

[Tai_MT]

Hello everyone. I hope you are doing well in general. Honestly, I have no idea how to approach this. I do think it would be a good idea to just keep making up the story along the story branches. Please provide of how do approach this problem. It is opinion and subjective discussion. Feel free to express your thought. Thank you.

Is hard to keep track of all of the multiple decisions and the consequences? I think it is a bad question but ask anyhow.

Here the previous discussions:
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/story-routes-branches.80257/
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/branching-story.56436/

I'm probably pretty experienced with dealing with this (and all the headaches, because I'm stubborn!). You're going to want an Excel Spreadsheet. I mean, I don't have one or use them... but it would make my life easier if I could afford one and use that instead.

Basically, you're going to want to write the story as you would any other story. 10 Plot points. Your story must hit all of them. Then, a 5 sentence description of that plot (summary!). Then, you can add/remove details as you work. For each "Branch" of the story that changes something significant, you need these 10 plot points and the 5 sentence summary. Minor changes can be dealt with as if you were "flipping a switch", so via Flow-Chart, essentially.

What I've done for my story is have the "major" decisions change the story in significant ways. The opening choice of the game determines which party member you get first, the "boss" of the game, and how the story actually moved forward from that point (the choices are made via flashbacks, so the player is pretty literally building the story as they go along). So, with that in mind, I knew I wanted two "end states" for each beginning choice at the end (6 possible main endings, though the binary choice is the same for each of them). With that known, I also needed to know how many "major choices" the player would make throughout the game and what those triggers would be. So, each party member obtained contains one of these "triggers". A few other events that are significant to the main character also are these triggers. So, I think I had roughly 20 "main choices" across each of the 3 branches. This is why you need Excel... it gets messy... FAST.

I then also divided the game into what KIND of choices the player was making. World Choices (affects the current state of the world the player is playing in). Personal Choices (only affects the party member they pertain to). Quest choices (only affects the current Quest, or the chain of Quests it is related to). History Choices (only affects the history of the world before this point). Their importance affects major or minor things. Personal Choices and Quest Choices don't really affect much at all, so there's no need to "split" anything off of them. They can exist as "stand alone". World choices affect the world the player interacts with, so they're major things that require a lot of consideration and far reaching effects. History Choices affect the story previous to the one you are living in... so it affects the characters themselves and certain events in the world, but nothing beyond that... They're not "stand alone", but they are "background".

So, towards the end of the "writing" process for these "trees", I just have them spread out towards the middle... and then "collapse back" towards the end. Most things will resolve themselves similarly... I just change the relevant dialogues/events to get them back onto "same paths". So, my first choice has 3 options... 3 branches... then each of those branches has 3 options... then depending on what happens with those choices, you may get 2 or 3 options again... and another two or three again... then the trees begin to "collapse" and the options will put you back on the road you're meant to be on, but will change dialogue and other things within the game as the choices are now "less important" overall.

I know this all sounds pretty vague and nebulous, but it's how I've approached it. "Choice A leads to these three options. Choice A of these three options has these options and these effects and special dialogue".

Excel is really fantastic for something like this.

 

[kirbwarrior]

You're going to want an Excel Spreadsheet. I mean, I don't have one or use them... but it would make my life easier if I could afford one and use that instead.

Google Drive has spreadsheets and only requires an account to use. Libre Office and Open Office are both free. I enjoy all three of them for this kind of thing.

Ah, one thing I missed in my last post are "meaningless" choices. These are even less of a concern than "what color shirt do you wear?" and usually come up in the sense of "what order do you do the events in?". For instance, early in FF6 there's a part where the party splits in three to solve some problems then end up in the same place. The story doesn't change at all, it just lets you play in the order you want. Same as Wild Arms, the beginning sequence is letting you choose the order you play the three mini-stories in and they all end in the same place. This isn't as important as actual choices, but I thought I should bring them up just in case.

 

[Basileus]

I see that why many RPG game companies do not want to do a non-linear story because it takes too long with phishing and cleans up the whole game. It also hard to predict the overall player's experience. Lucky, I am talking about it before doing it.

Just want to add that a non-linear game is very different from a branching game. There are actually a lot of AAA games that have non-linearity because it is a lot easier to do.

A branching story is basically like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. If you choose to go to the forest instead of the castle on page 1, then you are locked out of everything following the castle branch. Each choice builds on the other, taking the reader further and further from the starting point. One of the reasons it is so difficult to pull off is that the choices are mutually exclusive - you either have to make the following branches completely separate or work out how to get back to the other path, but alter the events to account for the previous choices. The reader might end up at the castle either way but the way the castle scene plays out needs to be different if they chose to go to the forest first. Or the writer can just make 3-4 completely different stories that all share a setting and a starting point and have a little variation down the line.

A non-linear story is basically like a sandbox where the different parts are all mostly self-contained and may have token interactions to show the parts can affect one another. Open-World or Sandbox games are like this by default. Skyrim doesn't care when you do things as each event/quest is designed to happen whenever the player feels like doing it (like how the player can choose not to go to the Jarl in Whiterun like the plot says and wander off in a random direction, but if they go to Whiterun later then everything plays out exactly as if they went straight there).

The Metroidvania genre is built on non-linearity. A few segments in the beginning may be scripted or linear but they quickly open up into multiple paths so the player can complete the objectives in any order, or can opt to sequence break and do things out of order once they know the layout of the world on a second playthrough. The first Legend of Zelda game has almost everything available from the start and the player can complete the dungeons in any order, but the world is set up to make some things easier to find while other things can only be accessed with dungeon items. Dragon Quest III gave the player the goal to find 6 orbs scattered all over the world and they can go after them in any order, but each orb is tied to a location and a smaller, regional story which will play out the same whether that orb is the first or the last the player goes after.

Rather than have completely separate storylines, you can break your story into chapters and allow the player to complete them in any order. This would only require a few switches and variables to slightly alter events to acknowledge content that the player has already cleared. It may not be what you are going for with your story, but just know that you don't need to be locked into a linear story if branching choices end up being too much.