Tool for writing Stories

[FeaR616]

hello there folks,

I want to ask if someone knows a program to write the story... 

at the moment I just use MS word... but it would be nice if there is a program out there where I can make seperate text fragments and link them with others to make different story lines...

I (poorly) draw a picture what I imagine...

just to have a better overview over different story lines... 

 

[Ramiro]

You have a lot of software options to write stories:

• Scrivender
• Writter's cafe
• Plume creator
• PageFour
• Organon

Most of them are free (or not too expensive)

You also have to make diagrams alternatives like Microsft Visio or Dia.

Hope it helps

 

[Andar]

Or you can use Articyraft


http://store.steampowered.com/app/230780/


(if you can wait for a steam sale, you can get it as low as 40€ as well)

 

[_Shadow_]

Or maybe use Twine if it fits your needs (open source).

http://twinery.org/

 

[Dalph]

I reccomend Articyraft aswell. It's a bit expensive but extremely powerful and versatile, you can keep track of everything regarding your games with it.

 

[optimum45]

I have never used anything but Open Office to write a story.  But it is my given talent, and my own experience in writing shouldn't be a guideline for anyone.

I use Open Office for all of my writing, and I use physical Pen and Paper to "bulletpoint" and "storyboard" stories before I put them into print because it's easier for me to "grind" on a story when I don't have to sit at my desk.  

 

[Seriel]

http://draw.io

Maybe?

 

[Andar]

I have never used anything but Open Office to write a story.

For writing a linear story you don't need more than that, and I also use the pen-and-paper approach for a lot.


But judging from the picture the OP attached, he wants to design a non-linear story with interactions and different story branches - writing that in a linear program like any text processing program is not only tedious, but you can miss changes and branches that are on other pages, especially if you want to enable a few dozen story branches.


For non-linear work, you need something that can store and visualize connections between the independent facts and descriptions.


World design is also a lot easier that way...

 

[optimum45]

I'm a special case, as my writing ability is far beyond what most people can do.  But I still believe all stories, even divergent ones, should start on paper.  That way you never actually lose anything should a malfunction actually happen.

I do agree though, that Articy is a good starting point for a divergent story.  It seems easily accessible to even the beginning developers.  I would be interested in using it myself...

But I have pledged my loyalty to VX Ace, and I have years worth of work to do on these visual novels as it is.  

 

[Banquo]

If I want to use ArticyDraft for creating a commercial RPGMaker game, Do I have to but the commercial license? That's another 100 bucks.

 

[Andar]

But I have pledged my loyalty to VX Ace,

articy:draft is NOT a game engine, it's for organizing your development data and to simulate/visualize a branching storyflow.
You still have to build the game in a different engine (like Ace)

If I want to use ArticyDraft for creating a commercial RPGMaker game, Do I have to but the commercial license? That's another 100 bucks.

Yes, but appearently you can start with the non-com and only need to upgrade before your game is really sold (if I read their descriptions correctly)
You can also try it for two weeks: https://www.nevigo.com/en/articydraft/try/

 

[Banquo]

There's no way to verify that I used this for a game, right? I'm curious if someone really bothers to check, because that just seems like a rip off, compared to other, far more complex game-dev tools.

Gotta give the free version a try some day.

Still, with all these free tools articy:draft hardly seems worth the money, even on sale.

 

[Sol Fury]

I've got an app on my phone which I use, called "Card Board". It's little more than electronic postcards to jot ideas down on, but it is good for shuffling things about, and you can have different coloured cards to reference different types of events / branches of the plot.

Main thing that works for me is it is mobile, so when I am out walking somewhere if I find something inspirational I can note down my thoughts / feelings / reactions.

 

[Chiakscare]

But I have pledged my loyalty to VX Ace, and I have years worth of work to do on these visual novels as it is.  

MV will be love. MV will be life.

 

[Archeia]

Before I got articy I used two programs. Storyboard and Celtx. I can't find Storyboard anymore since its name is really generic and hard to pinpoint but this is Celtx https://www.celtx.com/index.html

 

[FeaR616]

wow, thank you all for your replies and suggestions, I will look at all and decide then. =)

have a lot to do at the moment...

@optimum45 & Andar:

writing ability or overview is not the problem. I already have a part of the story (just the beginning) in word over 28 pages with different story branches ...

but I really love organized things and want my work organized well. and it would be much easier to follow the different story branches using other software than word or plain text editors... ^^

/E:

alright, I looked at your suggested tools and have to say articy looks just like what I searched!! Twinery looks good too, I think I try both of them and see with what I can work best.

Thanks for your help @all. =)

 

[_Shadow_]

Bibisco is truly brilliant but it is not really alternative to Scrivener.
Manuskript can be considered an alternative, but it is at a very early state at the moment.
No matter what, I am a free software fan (free as in freedom and not as "free beer") I still have to admit that I bought Scrivener and I enjoyed my purchase a lot. It is a magnificent tool.
But yes Bibisco is also great!
I do think though that we both necropost here, thus I will self report my reply and let the mods decide.