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Multiple Plot Threads...
The Two Towers-old old game used this, ,following basically the same plotlines as the book did.
quite simple really. most games dont dwell on the plot as much as gameplay. since gameplay is ussually more important. furthermore non linear gameplay disallows mulitple plotlines unless you really work hard to ensure everything will work out correctly (ie no inconsistencies or other wierdness). highly linear games (like ff8) can afford to have mulitple plot lines going on since its a lower possiblity of the player causing changes in plot since he cant control it, only go through and follow it. more non linear games allow the player to skip sections of the plot (ie many subplots) which may be important to one of the ongoing plot lines. same with the player doing sections out of order. if the protaginist has freedom, the story writer loses freedom since he is allow the player to help create the story.
tv, movies, books, and other non interactive medias dont have the problem of a varible protagnist. the writer dictates exactly what the protaginist will do, and the protaganist does it. also most writers for games are not paid as much and have less freedom due to technological limitations (like ram, length of game, playablity, etc).
multiple plot lines in games are ussually donw by multiple characters you controle seperatly. this can be distracting since the gameplay is not consistence (ie the player may not identify with the particular character he is controlling at the time, or he dislieks the game may control one of "his" characters during part of the game while he controls someone else.
resident evil had a mulitple plot line element (though a loose one). you controlled on character, then after beating the game you controlled the other one yet things you did with teh first character will affect some of what the second character will have (items, etc) to deal with.
many rpgs though have some simple form of mulitple things going on at once (like master evil guy taking over something, master evil guy henchmen doing something, sneaky good guy helping, player going forth, etc). though you can create suspense without resorting to plot due to the interactive nature of games. low health, low ammo, string enemies, weak weapons, sounds, etc can be used. for instance having a powerful creature (thats wicked looking) taking out a group of enemies you struggle to defeat definatly will cause some fear in the player. especially if the player finds out soon after he must go after the creature to complete his quest. a further helper of stress is the "hyping" of the enemy creature that will be fought against. making it seem quite powerful, and when the player goes against it the player will feel a bit scared. make the creature live up to the hyp, and the player will shake in their boots. especially if it has a powerful attack that can almost instantly kill his party or part member. he will surly learn to fear the creature and stay away from it until he gets his level up or learns of a weakness (ie maybe special weapon, spell, technique, etc).
also most games are meant for a younger audience (ie teans to young adults) thus complex plots may confuse them and they may not like the game. same reason why many movies and tv shows are pretty simplistic plotwise compared to books. time elemnets play a role (books may take weeks to complete vs movies that are only 90mins-3hrs os so vs 30min shows which "chunk" the story a bit thus limiting flow).
tv, movies, books, and other non interactive medias dont have the problem of a varible protagnist. the writer dictates exactly what the protaginist will do, and the protaganist does it. also most writers for games are not paid as much and have less freedom due to technological limitations (like ram, length of game, playablity, etc).
multiple plot lines in games are ussually donw by multiple characters you controle seperatly. this can be distracting since the gameplay is not consistence (ie the player may not identify with the particular character he is controlling at the time, or he dislieks the game may control one of "his" characters during part of the game while he controls someone else.
resident evil had a mulitple plot line element (though a loose one). you controlled on character, then after beating the game you controlled the other one yet things you did with teh first character will affect some of what the second character will have (items, etc) to deal with.
many rpgs though have some simple form of mulitple things going on at once (like master evil guy taking over something, master evil guy henchmen doing something, sneaky good guy helping, player going forth, etc). though you can create suspense without resorting to plot due to the interactive nature of games. low health, low ammo, string enemies, weak weapons, sounds, etc can be used. for instance having a powerful creature (thats wicked looking) taking out a group of enemies you struggle to defeat definatly will cause some fear in the player. especially if the player finds out soon after he must go after the creature to complete his quest. a further helper of stress is the "hyping" of the enemy creature that will be fought against. making it seem quite powerful, and when the player goes against it the player will feel a bit scared. make the creature live up to the hyp, and the player will shake in their boots. especially if it has a powerful attack that can almost instantly kill his party or part member. he will surly learn to fear the creature and stay away from it until he gets his level up or learns of a weakness (ie maybe special weapon, spell, technique, etc).
also most games are meant for a younger audience (ie teans to young adults) thus complex plots may confuse them and they may not like the game. same reason why many movies and tv shows are pretty simplistic plotwise compared to books. time elemnets play a role (books may take weeks to complete vs movies that are only 90mins-3hrs os so vs 30min shows which "chunk" the story a bit thus limiting flow).
Well, you gotta look at the nature of multiple plots, if you are going to do plots in multiplicity where all POV''s are equivalent, then you would have to establish each plot with equality and parity in backstory, character establishment, dilemma, and etc on the rest of the dramaturlogical reqs.
However, not all plots have to have eqiuvalence. In fact, this can work against an audience perceptually. Usually, people just do subplots, where one of the lesser players would have their own issue to deal with that does not come up that often, usually as color and distraction from the main plot where decompression from a peak has just occured, and does not have to be exposited that often. People will remember if something is hanging, even if it is just part of a subplot, and it can add interest, color and distraction at necessary times, when conflict has been high, or some turning point has been reached.
Often, the subplot can be used to contribute to the final outcome of the main plot, but it''s not required. Nor is it required the multiplicity of subplots have to be quantified, though generally in film and in other major mediums, this is limited to two or three plots, one of them reserved as a love interest, for example. It really depends on how you want to add nuances to your game story plot. It''s like HTML, though, for safety''s sake, close everything you open, even if it is something as simple as killing a character off. The subtlety in multiple plotting is really in when you put something to sleep by removing it from what is onscreen, and when you reintroduce it.
Most people don''t do this, which imo is the major reason why so many things go unpublished or unproduced, but you ought to consider putting in everything you want to on the first draft, and then rewriting it sufficient number of times in order to really understand what should still remain and what has to be cut. The biggest single mistake I see in stories is a writer who has not ''written themselves out of the story'' far enough so that the idea appeals to only those like minded with the author.
FWIW
Adventuredesign
However, not all plots have to have eqiuvalence. In fact, this can work against an audience perceptually. Usually, people just do subplots, where one of the lesser players would have their own issue to deal with that does not come up that often, usually as color and distraction from the main plot where decompression from a peak has just occured, and does not have to be exposited that often. People will remember if something is hanging, even if it is just part of a subplot, and it can add interest, color and distraction at necessary times, when conflict has been high, or some turning point has been reached.
Often, the subplot can be used to contribute to the final outcome of the main plot, but it''s not required. Nor is it required the multiplicity of subplots have to be quantified, though generally in film and in other major mediums, this is limited to two or three plots, one of them reserved as a love interest, for example. It really depends on how you want to add nuances to your game story plot. It''s like HTML, though, for safety''s sake, close everything you open, even if it is something as simple as killing a character off. The subtlety in multiple plotting is really in when you put something to sleep by removing it from what is onscreen, and when you reintroduce it.
Most people don''t do this, which imo is the major reason why so many things go unpublished or unproduced, but you ought to consider putting in everything you want to on the first draft, and then rewriting it sufficient number of times in order to really understand what should still remain and what has to be cut. The biggest single mistake I see in stories is a writer who has not ''written themselves out of the story'' far enough so that the idea appeals to only those like minded with the author.
FWIW
Adventuredesign
What about a game where there aren''t really multiple plot threads, each following a different character, but more one where the character gets hit by "currents" from plot lines. Take for example, the book Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom Robbins. The main character, Switters, is the focus of the entire book, and yet in under 600 pages, he manages to:
Visit his hacker grandma, seduce his cousin, carry a parrot in the amazon, touch another man''s genitalia, sleep with a nun, convert two fundamentalist Muslims, learn to walk on stilts, discuss the finer points of Finnegan''s Wake, meet a man with a head in the shape of a pyramid, discover the nature of the universe while tripping on homebrew acid, and race sailboats down the side of the street with schoolchildren. Btw, this is one of the funniest books ever written.
-- Aikido? Here we call it oribito
Visit his hacker grandma, seduce his cousin, carry a parrot in the amazon, touch another man''s genitalia, sleep with a nun, convert two fundamentalist Muslims, learn to walk on stilts, discuss the finer points of Finnegan''s Wake, meet a man with a head in the shape of a pyramid, discover the nature of the universe while tripping on homebrew acid, and race sailboats down the side of the street with schoolchildren. Btw, this is one of the funniest books ever written.
-- Aikido? Here we call it oribito
Shining Force 3 did this perfectly.
It actually consisted of three separate games, called ''scenarios'', that were independant in their own right, but together formed an epic, and very interesting story and idea.
In the first scenario, you played as one character, who was a member of a Republic dominated by an Empire. In the second scenario, you played a character who was a prince in the Empire. These two stories ran simultaneously, and things that you did in the first scenario affected things in the second scenario (like characters you could find, or hidden secrets etc...).
The third scenario joined the two characters together, with a third protagonist.
This is much like the idea of my game, because I want to investigate a very large area. I feel that anybody playing the game would just get the idea that they were running around here-and-there pretty much aimlessly, so I thought that if in the first game, one character went to some places, and in the second the other character went to different places, they could combine their knowledge and in the third game, join up and do whatever.
That way, although the player sees a huge and varied world, each particular game is much shorter and should keep their attention span up.
It actually consisted of three separate games, called ''scenarios'', that were independant in their own right, but together formed an epic, and very interesting story and idea.
In the first scenario, you played as one character, who was a member of a Republic dominated by an Empire. In the second scenario, you played a character who was a prince in the Empire. These two stories ran simultaneously, and things that you did in the first scenario affected things in the second scenario (like characters you could find, or hidden secrets etc...).
The third scenario joined the two characters together, with a third protagonist.
This is much like the idea of my game, because I want to investigate a very large area. I feel that anybody playing the game would just get the idea that they were running around here-and-there pretty much aimlessly, so I thought that if in the first game, one character went to some places, and in the second the other character went to different places, they could combine their knowledge and in the third game, join up and do whatever.
That way, although the player sees a huge and varied world, each particular game is much shorter and should keep their attention span up.
Author
I will have to check out some of these game you guys have been mentioning.
Im really interested in trying this in a game. Whenever I get a good sci-fi book I always end up reading it to 3 AM because I keep telling myself that I will read just one more chapter. But, a well structures book always leaves of somewhere that makes the reader horribly curios as to what will happen. I think it would work really well in games. So the story will be more than just keeping the player interested in killing the next monster.
PHRICTION
Im really interested in trying this in a game. Whenever I get a good sci-fi book I always end up reading it to 3 AM because I keep telling myself that I will read just one more chapter. But, a well structures book always leaves of somewhere that makes the reader horribly curios as to what will happen. I think it would work really well in games. So the story will be more than just keeping the player interested in killing the next monster.
PHRICTION
I agree with Jimmy the Nose (inward giggle).Wildarms is the best example of what you''re trying to do.They had a very interesting storyline .If you don''t have the game get it.It might give you some good ideas on how to implement that in your game.
The road to hell is paved in good intentions
The road to hell is paved in good intentions
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