Storytelling Help

[Skyler]

The game that I'm making, Shattered Gear, doesn't rely heavily on storytelling, but I've always felt that a game isn't complete without a good, compelling story to push the player along to finish what they started.

There are two ways that I want to tell the story.

Linear
The player joins one of the three factions and ultimately completes missions to reach the endgame one event at a time. Probably the easiest of the choices. The player achieves victory when all 5 planets have been conquered. Depending on the player's skill and resources, that could take anywhere between 10 hours to 100 hours. Even if a planet has been 100% conquered, it can still be attacked by one of the two other factions and even retaken if the player loses all 7 battles or fails to act in time.

Non-linear
The player joins one of the three factions, but under a set contract. In other words, the player can see what every faction offers in one playthrough and change the course of the standings of each faction in the gameworld. Example: The player signs a contract with White Raven Incorporated, who have a powerful Flight Assault Gear that no other faction has. Say that they win two of their three battles with WR (even if you fail a mission it's never game over). The player can choose to re-sign with White Raven or go to another faction and sign a contract there. If the player has a particular faction that they like, they can do one of two things; re-sign and try to fight off the other two factions, or join another faction and act as a double-agent and sabotage them from the inside. I think that this brings an interesting twist to the way that the story develops. In order to actually "beat" the game, one faction must have total control of all seven areas in all five planets of the galaxy. There really isn't a story as much as a progress report on the battlefront. In other words, after every battle, there is a menu that gives you a recap on how much you've progressed through the game. You basically get resources and Action Points every turn, which you can spend on researching, development, or attacking/defending your planets.

The second one is the one I like the most, and I think it would give the game much more replayability. The thread for my game can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=68743

This is very important, and I can't move on until a decision has been made.

 

[Pokémaniac]

The second one is the one I like the most,

Even if we tell you otherwise(Which I find unlikely), you've already made up your mind.

 

[Skyler]

Yes, but other people's opinions and some helpful examples are kind of what I'm looking for here.

 

[coyotecraft]

Do you think that you are capable of writing a story that branches off depending on the choices that the player makes? It sounds like a lot of work to me. With 3 factions there will be 3 possible endings, right?
Each faction has it's own set of heros; When you switch to another faction are you playing with the same hero? Or just that faction's heros?
For me, a compelling story needs to be character driven. I find most tactical games boring because it's just a bunch of static characters along for the ride.

 

[Skyler]

Actually, coyotecraft, after one faction conquers the entire galaxy, with or without player help, there's a surprise twist that involves all three factions forming an alliance against a greater threat, therefore eliminating the need for multiple huge endings.

And you are the same character throughout the game, whoever you choose to be. When you create a charcter, you get to start off with one "perk" that will increase in valuability as you continue to level up by winning battles. Just as well, you might get perks from one faction that another one might not have, which should interest the player in switching factions often during their first playthrough, or discourage them entirely if they wish to beat the game as quickly as they can.

Truthfully, there isn't a lot of character development through the story. The only truly static characters are your own and the Faction Heroes. The Faction Heroes are sort of like... very important NPCs. If they die, then you're pretty fucked. Your faction will pretty much collapse into itself. Your character and the faction heroes can develop a relationship, which may mean giving you more experience after missions, unlocking certain weapons or assets, and other things like that. Basically, what you do on the battlefield, and whom you do it to, will change your standing in the universe. If you complete missions for one faction and then join another, you won't get any significant rewards other than just getting paid. However, if you go back to the faction you've worked hard for, you'll still be welcomed with open arms. The longer you're away from a faction and its Heroes, the lower your Relationship Status gets. So, basically if you end up sticking with one faction and building relationships with their heroes all the way to "Best Friend" status, and then leave for 20 or so missions, you'll be somewhere around "Acquaintance" again.

 

[Kuahewa huki 'ino]

The longer you're away from a faction and its Heroes, the lower your Relationship Status gets. So, basically if you end up sticking with one faction and building relationships with their heroes all the way to "Best Friend" status, and then leave for 20 or so missions, you'll be somewhere around "Acquaintance" again.

This sounds impossibly hard for a player to balance. It reminds me a lot of how things worked in DW: Gundam 2, and for the record, I could never figure that thing out which is probably why it's the only DW game I never really voraciously picked apart.

A few things strike me as odd:
1) If the player chooses the "not the winning faction," fights for them for a long while, then it turns out that they "lose," you run the risk of him or her feeling inadequate and not bothering to finish your game.

2) Again, your relationship mechanic sounds kind of wishy-washy. If you get a player who likes to do everything an enjoyable game has to offer--like me, yes, yes, OCD, blah-blah-blah, shush--then you get a very unsatisfied player, so from my personal point of view, you'd be best off making three original faction stories and locking the player in one in a linear fashion. If your storytelling is good enough in the first place, players will play your game more than once to see the other stories.

3) Honestly, it sounds like you want to focus on your faction reputation mechanic more than your story. If that's what you want, then great; run with it and have fun making something! However, if you seriously want advice on your storytelling, my advice is this: focus on that instead. It's not a case of "you can't have one if you have the other," it's a case of "one creates so many factors that it's no longer "one or the other"; it's choosing between two different games."

 

[Nachos]

non-linear story telling owns everything.

flashbacky!

 

[moxie]

The second option sounds pretty neat, in that "it makes my head hurt trying to figure out how to program all those variables" type of way.

I would be particularly impressed if you could pull off the double agent stuff well - but, with your relationship mechanics does the PC still lose 'friendship ranks' or whatever if they venture out for too long, even if they're sabotaging the enemy faction for the good of the organization?

 

[candle]

the problem with non-linear is that every section has to be strong enough to stand on its own. this means more time planning and writing your story because you are essentially making several.

 

[Skyler]

@ Kuahewa huki 'ino:

1. Yes, I can see how that would discourage the player. However, there is no true "game over". Even if you lose your home planet, you take the form of a kind of small band of rebels, in which you will have to build up your armies once again to recover what you lost. Though that sounds like an impossible task, I would hope that some players would take some kind of enjoyment away from this experience if I do implement it.

2. I can see your point here, and understand entirely what you're talking about. Maybe my non-linear POV is a little ambitious for this little game I want. Three separate stories sound fine with me to be honest. It'll be much easier to develop around that, as well.

@ Nacho: I forgot to make a no faggots allowed graphic and put it at the very top, my bad. :x

@ my.opium.eyes: Yes I actually contemplated how exactly I would implement it, but it seems that I might go the easy way And for the record, once they establish a sort of relationship with a character, the lowest they can go is "Acquaintance". However, some players would have become enemies after too long.

@ candle: Yes, I understand that, and that is one of the reasons I've decided to do linear. Non-linear sounds like a great idea for a future project when I get a little team around me, but there's just too much work to be done for me to have to worry about a million possible variables for a story that will probably only play for about 5-6 hours.

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I'm very confident that this will help push Shattered Gear in the right direction