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PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 12:23 am    Post subject: Storygaming tips Reply with quote

This site is for interactive stories, or storygames. Unlike standard rpg or other games, storygames are based on a story told by an author to an audience, via text and graphics. Unlike traditional stories, in storygames the audience affects the course of the story. The City of IF FAQ describes how this works at the City of IF.

Storygames represent an unusual and new form of entertainment, and everyone on this site is helping to explore what's possible and discover ways to make them work. But since the site has been around for awhile, we've learned a few things about what makes a storygame engaging. Here are some tips we've figured out which you can use as an author when you tell your storygame. Please tell me what you think about these and what else you've discovered.

1. Follow one character. Tell the story from one character's point of view, and make the audience's choices be that character's decisions. I don't mind if people break this in the interest of experimentation, but my experience is that it generates the best story if people are identifying with a single character. Sometimes when you have choices that switch back and forth between characters, or are meta-choices about the direction of the story, it feels more like writers giving each other feedback than an audience enthralled in a story.

2. End each chapter at a decision point. The whole point of a storygame is that the audience influences the course of the story. If you end your chapter with your hero tied up and being hauled away by the villains to an unknown fate, that might be a perfectly good and dramatic ending to a chapter in a linear story, but it won't work in an interactive story, because there's nothing for the hero to do except wait.

3. Make the decision point important. Your audience needs to be talking about and deciding on something that will have a big impact on the story. Don't write an exciting first chapter in which the hero's best friend gets gunned down and then have the decision be what color tie the hero wears to the funeral.

4. Make your decision point evenly balanced. To generate good discussion, you've got a have a decision that really could go either way. If the choice is between committing suicide and continuing with life, again that might work great in a linear story, but in a storygame it's boring, because it's obvious what's going to happen. Even a more reasonable example, like the choice between staying at home and going on an adventure, probably won't generate much discussion. Everyone's going to choose going on an adventure. Why not just assume that and continue the chapter until you come to a real decision?

5. Create "hooks" but leave things open to creativity. When you create your decision point, there's nothing wrong with having a few options already thought out and mentioning them in the story. But ideally you should also allow room for audience creativity. For example, suppose that your hero spies a fire-breathing dragon from his hiding place. You might mention that staying hidden or attacking the dragon are two options. But you also want to allow the audience to come up with other choices. Maybe the hero could talk to the dragon. Maybe he goes back for help. Sometimes the best thing is to put in elements that could be important without saying how they might be used. So maybe you mention that there's a river nearby. The hero might run and hide in it if he's chased by the dragon, or maybe he lures or tricks the dragon into plunging into it and drowning. You just create the situation; let the audience figure out what to do with it.

6. Think ahead, but not too much. It's a good idea to figure out more about your story and its world than you show in each chapter. That helps you foreshadow and hint at things to come just as you would in a linear story. But unlike a linear story, it's important not to figure out too much. If you've got a perfectly-plotted out linear storyline that you try to turn into a storygame, I can guarantee you that one of two things will happen: a) the audience will frustrate you by picking the "wrong" choice and wrecking your carefully-constructed plot, or b) you'll frustrate the audience by forcing them down a path they don't want to go. Much better than having a complete story is having a bunch of half-formed ideas. That way you can flesh out the ones that the audience chooses.

7. End. Since the plot of a storygame is based on audience feedback, it's often easy to lose track of the plot, and just keep going and going based on audience feedback. That can be fun. But it's much better and more satisfying to tie it all together into a satisfying story that has a beginning, middle, and dramatic ending. It can be pretty tough, because as you're heading towards one ending, the audience can take charge and steer you away. But if you can stay on top of your story, constantly rethinking your plot but always advancing it toward an ending, you can get the best of games and stories: a satisfying and complete experience that the audience has helped create.

If you'd like help with your Story Game then post the idea in the Open Forum and ask for feedback, or PM a Moderator.
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