A Quick Guide to Creating a Visual Novel. Part 2: Plot
I continue the series of materials about the development of a visual novel. In this article, I will share how I approached the development of the plot. It may seem that in order to write a cool script, inspiration and a real passion for your idea are enough. In practice, however, this is a necessary but not sufficient condition. As is true in reverse: preparing a plot without inspiration and love for your game is like systematically throwing fuel into a locomotive moving towards the abyss.
Previous article “preparation”: https://habr.com/ru/companies/miip/articles/824424/ about the classification of visual novels, the choice of setting, art style and engine.
The first stage of the big work was writing the plot and texts of the game. Work on the text was not done sequentially, but in parallel with other tasks. But the general outline of the plot is what I started writing the game with. And here's why:
The plot plays a decisive role in a text-based game with pictures.
Without a game script, it's hard to come up with mini-games and do what we call narrative game design. Without knowing what mechanics to program, we can't fully assess the complexity of the code.
Without a script and a list of characters and locations, we can't start working on art and animations.
The scenario is needed to estimate the time it takes to complete the game. And it directly affects the price of the game in the store.
Estimating writing, game design, art, and coding tasks is necessary for budgeting. My goal is not to make the game forever, because my budget is limited.
I put off voice acting and localization until the end of development.
My novella reveals a small fragment of the history of the universe I have been working on for about 15 years. It all started with a browser MMOPRG inspired by vanilla WoW. We made it together: two student friends and outsourced artists.
Then there was the board game “Retribution: Shadows of Antara” and now I am working on the PC 4x strategy “Shadows of Retribution” and the visual novel “Azrael, the messenger of death“That is why the setting of the novella is already determined – space fantasy.
What tasks did I set for the plot:
Tell a fragment of the history of the world of Retribution;
To reveal the character of the main character, Azrael, his evolution and place in the plot;
To create an atmosphere of the majestic world of ancient gods – the creators of all living things.
Script documents
I divided the work into several blocks (sets of documents), each of which is necessary to start writing the plot and game texts:
A Brief History of the World (a short document with a general idea);
Chronology of world events (a document that puts events in chronological order, which we will check to avoid mistakes);
Character cards (a description of the backstory and motivation of each character, we will check it so that his dialogues are complete, and the player feels the development of the character depending on his actions);
Plot outline (a list of key stages that you need to go through to reach the end of the game).
I already had a brief history of the world of Retribution. It was compiled for previous projects: board games, strategies and MMORPG.
Same thing with the chronology. It is written for 10,000 years (like if you guessed who the reference is =))
Some of the characters came from previous games, some were created specifically for the visual novel. When writing their character, I had to decide which features of each character were important for this game. As a result, the following were highlighted:
Character name
Race (we have many)
Job Title/Position (what one does or is)
Faction Affiliation (External Loyalty)
Internal loyalty (whom one actually serves, for example, oneself)
Inner character (what it really is)
External image (how one shows oneself to others)
Motivation (what you strive for and why)
Hates (who are his true enemies)
Character background (what events influenced his character)
Features of speech (how to correctly write dialogues on his behalf, for example, the leader of the ancient Triumvirate always says “we” about himself, and the first hierarch Ozymandias avoids any use of the address “I”)
Visual description (what is important about his appearance for the plot)
For example, our protagonist, the dark prophet Azrael, is an “ancient” – a representative of the race that created all life in its galaxy: orcs, humans, elves. He serves in the Magistrarium and carries out the orders of the first hierarch during the game.
You probably noticed Azrael's position – dark prophet. It is close to a bailiff who is sent to execute a court decision. In order not to get confused, I had to write a separate document – the structure of the Magistrarium (the main ruling body of the ancient empire).
I needed Azrael to be gloomy, grumpy, but at the same time an executive and submissive careerist. He must have a mind of his own and have far-reaching ambitions. I do not tell about Azrael's childhood and backstory in this game. He is given to us as a “ready-made” template. But in order for us as developers to see him as a whole, I wrote him a background: why he became like this, how his character was formed. Ancients, deprived of physical needs, are ideal creatures for seeing their experiences, conflicts and emotions. And so I turned to to a psychologist I know for advice in order to correctly form the image of Azrael and other characters.
To get a deeper understanding of a character during the design stage, I often write a couple of test dialogues featuring them or their quotes. For example:
Triumvirate Elligos: “You hate and despise us so much… You put on a golden robe in our colors, you use our spells and even the pendant on your neck shines from our nano-swarm. Do you really think we are evil? Or do you just want to take our place?“
Elligos Mortariel: “Goddess of death? So it's not your first time dying“.
Below the spoiler is the text from Azrael's card.
Hidden text
Azrael's Personality Traits
Race: ancient
Position: dark prophet
Serves (external loyalty): Magistrarium
True loyalty: first Magistrarium, then Mortariel
Inner character: calm, fatalistic, patient, purposeful, asocial, likes to rationalize everything
External image: cold, grumpy, boring, submissive and outwardly completely loyal to his leadership, reasonable
Motivation: a mild degree of schizoid disorder shifts his focus from personalities to events and actions; Mortariel's capabilities impress him, and her unbending will is incomprehensible to him, so he believes that she will win the fight against the Triumvirate, and he himself will be able to take a high place in the new world order, is ready to commit both good and evil deeds if they lead to personal gain and movement towards the better
Hates: those who stand in his way
Background
After birth, Azrael was raised in a harsh environment of obedience and doublethink. He learned that he should not expect anything good from others. Azrael found confidence in the laws and rules of the Magistrarium, for no one except the first hierarch could break the written rules. He behaved with the ancients in a manner that he considered socially acceptable, but felt no empathy for them.
On behalf of the Magistrarium, Azrael flew to one of the distant planets in order to collect equipment under a court decision. It turned out to be a relic of unknown origin. It expanded the functionality of the Void Generator, but was not made in the laboratories of the ancients. Studying the origin of the relic, Azrael came across a long-forgotten planet, whose civilization worshiped a god unknown to him. Thus, Azrael came into contact with Mortariel. Her power amazed him. It seemed that even the members of the Council did not possess such strength. Believing that he had finally chosen his true path, Azrael swore an oath of allegiance to the goddess of death. His main goal was to free Mortariel from the prison of the ancients.
Features of speech
Likes long, abstruse and technical phrases, example: “On this lifeless planet lie deposits of valuable minerals. It would be right to organize a mining colony here to supply our sacred mission”;
Addresses his superiors as “My hierarch” or “My master” and often demonstratively emphasizes his obedience;
Constantly emphasizes his loyalty to the First Hierarch Ozymandias and the Council.
The speech style changes depending on who Azrael is talking to, what choices the player has made, and what reputation he has in the eyes of the interlocutor.
I will note one more important point. To speed up development, I do not write script documents in a literary style. Only the final text, which will go to the players, should have a strictly maintained style. The mischievous priestess Nathaniel should cheerfully joke and tease her friend Azrael. The first hierarch Ozymandias should angrily shout at his subordinates. And the goddess of death Mortariel should address everyone as her still ignorant children. Under the spoiler, I will give a brief summary of the game's plot.
Hidden text
The player plays as Azrael, the dark prophet of the Magistrarium. Dark prophets are something like bailiffs who are sent to carry out court decisions: escort, seize property, take into custody, etc.
The main character is a god for mortals and a gloomy office clerk for his fellows.
The game begins with us going to work in Canaan (the capital of the ancients). On the way we meet our friend – the priestess Nathaniel. Together we go to the first hierarch Ozymandias – the head of the Magistrarium (the government of the ancients).
Azrael framed his boss, and Ozymandias exiled him for 40 years. Now Azrael is temporarily taking orders directly from Ozymandias. We are sent on a mission to confiscate a special relic from the merchant Yacatecuhtli and give it to Nathaniel for study. On the merchant's planet, Azrael hears voices from a certain force.
Having taken the relic, we report and hand it over for research. Meanwhile, we are given an urgent task: to go with the priestess Nathaniel to one of the orc planets, where the generator has failed. We must try to save the planet and its inhabitants. It will not be possible to save the planet, but the right actions will allow us to evacuate all the orcs.
Ozymandias is unhappy with the planet's explosion, but lets Azrael go about his business. There are two tasks on the work communicator: from the great seeker Veles and from the wing of shadows. The first wants Azrael to find and return to him a certain phial that disappeared on one of the planets inhabited by elves. The wing of shadows wants us to repair the infrastructure of one of the mining colonies damaged by meteorites.
Having completed the chosen task, Azrael returns to Canaan and learns that an attempt has been made on the life of one of the prophets. No one understands how one can harm an ancient, because we are all immortal and invulnerable. Ozymandias and the Triumvirate prepare plans for retribution. Meanwhile, Azrael receives a task from Veles to restore sapphire mining on his colony and from Sachiel to hold an auction for him to sell rarities. Having chosen the mission, Azrael successfully copes with it.
At the same time, while the Triumvirate was away from the capital, the very relic that Azrael took from the merchant disappears. Ozymandias, in anger, sends him to search the entire galaxy, but to find it. Azrael guesses where to start searching, because some force speaks to him, capable of communicating telepathically.
He arrives at the designated system, and it turns out that this force is the spirit of the goddess of death, Mortariel. The goddess herself is imprisoned in a dungeon from which there is no escape. But her spirit cannot be contained by any locks. Azrael is given the task of building a repeater, which will allow the spirit of the goddess to reach the minds of the ancients at a greater distance. In exchange, she will tell him where to look for the missing relic.
Azrael is engaged in trade, construction, gathers a squad of heroes and helps the inhabitants of the system solve their daily problems. Having restored the infrastructure and built a repeater, he learns that the relic was there all this time, but Nathaniel took it for personal study.
Azrael returns to the Magistrarium and faces a choice: to hand over Mortariel or become her secret agent. If he chooses the former, he receives a promotion and an audience with the Triumvirate. If he chooses the latter, he begins to secretly serve the goddess of death. This ending is considered canon.
In internal documents, I do not limit myself to either stylistics or even literary norms. For comparison, here is what typical character lines look like:
Dark Prophet Azrael: “Canaan… The capital of our great Empire. Its power extends to the very edge of the galaxy. All living things here are our creation.“.
Moon Priestess Nathaniel: “I know, my dear. I'll study the relic. Maybe it's just broken. These dealers sell all kinds of old stuff.“.
First Hierarch Ozymandias: “Azrael! It has been reported to me that a trade representative of Yacatecuhtli, exiled from the Magistrarium, has come into possession of a forbidden relic. I have instructed you to deliver the relic to Canaan.“.
Death Goddess Mortariel: “He who accepts my gift will receive unimaginable power. My enemies will see the greatness of my deeds and fall in despair.“.
Designing a plot
Now that we have written the basic documents that reveal the world, events and characters of the game, it is time to move on to writing the plot and then the script of the entire game.
In addition to the creative component, the playfulness of games with a deep plot and inspiration, it will be useful to study the material part. Personally, I have read several books:
V.Ya. Propp “Morphology of a fairy tale” (about the principles of plot construction in fairy tales cool and hardcore)
J. Campbell “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” (This is a bit lighter, Campbell wrote his book based on Propp's research)
L. Sarycheva, M. Ilyakhov “Write, shorten: How to create a strong text” (not a bad book overall about texts)
I built a hero's journey for Azrael based on Propp, drawing parallels with the plot functions he described in his books. Examples:
Parents leave their home: The Triumvirate flies away from the Empire's capital, Canaan;
The hero gets motivated by losing something or wanting to gain something: a relic disappears from the Magistrarium, Ozymandias sends Azrael to find it;
The hero is going on a journey and meets a magical giver: Azrael flies to a distant system and meets the goddess of death Mortariel, he receives from her as a gift dice made from elven bones;
and so on…
Next, I divided the script into three parts: the introduction, which reveals the protagonist's current character and teaches the possibilities of changing it, the main gameplay, and the climax, which gives one of three endings depending on the player's actions and choices.
The next step is to detail each block, indicating the key events that occur in it. To do this, I used the same visualization, dividing the script of each block into chapters. For example, let's look at the plot diagram (the first 7 chapters of the script).
When creating a plot outline for a novella, I indicate:
The place where the events of the chapter take place.
Many chapters take place in the Empire's capital, Canaan, and specifically in its government, the Magistrarium; however, this does not mean that the player sees the same background in each chapter. The Magistrarium itself consists of a number of locations: the Prophets' Wing, the Traders' Wing, the Hierarchs' Wing, etc.
The main idea of the chapter, expressed in a couple of phrases.
The idea of the first chapter is a prologue. It's an introduction to the game and an introduction to Azrael. Then we're quickly thrown into the fire, demonstrating the future gameplay.
Connections between chapters.
How and where the player can advance. For example, from Chapter 3 we temporarily fall into subchapter 3_1, and in Chapters 4 and 5 we need to make a choice: which mission we will go to complete. It is impossible to complete both missions at the same time, which means that this choice affects the further plot.
Availability of gameplay and mini-games.
I marked with an orange footnote where and what type of mini-games will be available to the player. This is necessary in order to always have the overall picture in front of your eyes and quickly decide whether to diversify the gameplay.
The last stage before writing the actual text is to present a specific chapter in the form of logical blocks of the script. To make the work go faster, I first drew the options by hand, threw them out and drew new ones, and transferred the final materials to Miro, plus or minus.
And now the longest part – we write tons of text. And, of course, we play, we play a lot, to check on ourselves how the lines we wrote are read. But I will tell you about playtests in a separate article.
I tried to show the approach to writing a game script using my novel as an example. I hope this material was useful and will help many to make even cooler games!
Thank you for reading to the end! I would be very grateful for likes, so I will understand that it is worth continuing to talk about the features of visual novel development.
To learn more about the story and follow the game's progress, join:
I talk about how to work with narrative design and scriptwriting using large games as an example in my course “Narrative Design” as part of the educational program Game Project Management.
I can also recommend an online school Narrativewhere you can not only learn how to work with a script, but also find links to useful articles and lists of books on narrative on their website.
I will be glad to hear any questions, your opinions and experiences in the comments.
