kircholm
patreon
About the mechanics of the choices
🕑 Added 2021-11-03 13:36:07 +0000 UTCI've shared my experiences with the mechanics of choices in the Parity on some forums. Maybe you will find it interesting. :)
***
I want to give my CYOA game maximum repeatability. As I am in the middle of the development (11/22 chapters), I think I can share my experience about the choices, as most of my reviewers keep praising my game for the "choices [that] matter to the point of being overwhelming" or "you actually can feel that the choices that you make".
I based the core mechanics on the choices. There are 6 Approaches that I borrowed from tabletop FATE (Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick, and Sneaky). The highest three Approaches matter to the result of the challenges. If two or more are equal, the player chooses between them. There's information which Approach would rise after clicking on the link. As I try to have the choices balanced, there's a way to adjust the Approaches even in further chapters or to decide for a more consequent role play.
The challenges where Approaches matter are quite easy to notice - if MC escaped or persuaded NPC, how many actions are available, and so on.
The second mechanics deeply depends on the choices is a switch. Switches are the key points of my story. There are binary: the player earned the trust of the NPC or not, the NPC treats the relationship with the player seriously or not, and so on. The outcome of the switch depends on visiting certain passages, the set of Approaches, and the outcome of the challenges. The switches are visible to the player. There's a frame where you can see how many points you get and the final outcome.
The players claim that it would be useful if the passages that mattered in the switches were marked, so I add the headings inspired by Telltale's "The Walking Dead" "Caroline will remember that" (for example, "you acted friendly with Caroline", "Justin and Claudia had another squabble because of you"). I think that in the final version I will add the option to hide those headings.
Another idea I implemented from Telltale is the summary of the chapter. I put there the most important events that could occur differently. I publish the walkthrough for my supporters on Patreon and SubscribeStar based on those summaries.
I have to say, I'm very satisfied with how the choices work so far. My game follows the Branch-and-Bottleneck pattern, and I spend a lot of time on character development and worldbuilding. So, there are a lot of scenes that don't lead the main plot, but as they are the possibilities to get more points on the certain Approach or they could be important for the outcome of the switch in the further game, they don't serve only the narrative, but they are the integrated part of the game. And this is a goal I wanted to achieve.
