General concepts for IF - jackdarker/TwineTest GitHub Wiki

Here are some bundled up hints someone should consider when writing interactive fiction. I fetched them from different blogs/books and some are even my own thoughts.

Setting

Pick a cool setting. A great setting is critical and it will dictate everything else about your story.

Second person

IF is at most times using 'you' instead of 'he/her'.

No fleshed out Player

If not necessary dont flesh out the player's character. That will make it easier for the reader to put themselves in the character’s shoes.

Set a goal

You need to present a goal or problem to solve for the motivation to follow the story.

Limit Character swapping

Avoid to switch between player-character often because the player might find it difficult to re-adapt his mindset to them.

Sidekick

A sidekick can give you a good way to always have someone to talk with and help you. But also to get sudden changes in story and causing unforseen problems to solve.

Obstacles

Situations where something unexpected stops your lead character dead in their tracks are very importend. Complications can be almost anything: nature elements, random monsters, or just equipment failures.

Treasure

Include a handful of helping items. Scatter these items around and let your character find them on their travels. Good examples of helpful items are maps, healing charms, money or food and water. When your character faces a killing obstacle, make sure you occasionally include the option for an item to save them.

Other things to find

While treasures are helpful items, there might be other things that are not of practicle value but can give a divertion to the main story or a deeper knowledge about the lore. F.e. some scenes that are only triggered if you have some items with you.

Clues

The player might give up quickly if he doesnt know what to do. Clues provided by a questlog or another NPC are always welcome. If the story branches up into multiple large branches, its helpful to add a hint in which branch he is getting himself into.

Endings

IF only makes sends if there are different endings to achieve. But prefer in-depth story-branches to a high number of ends. There should be good ends and bad ones and maybe some in between.