{"id":85,"date":"2014-02-23T02:06:21","date_gmt":"2014-02-23T07:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/?p=85"},"modified":"2014-02-23T02:06:21","modified_gmt":"2014-02-23T07:06:21","slug":"types-of-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/types-of-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Types of Decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my book, Interactive Storytelling for Video Games<\/a>, I define the three types of choices used in branching path stories (such as Aurora\u2019s Nightmare).\u00a0 They are as follows:<\/p>\n

Minor Branches
\n<\/b>\u00a0 These are used for decisions that split from the main story path only briefly, changing no more than a single scene.\u00a0 For example, early in Aurora\u2019s Nightmare Tia and Aurora have a disagreement about clothing.\u00a0 Ars (the main character) is asked to weigh in and can choose to side with either one of the girls, or to choose something else entirely.\u00a0 His response only affects the remainder of that relatively short scene.\u00a0 No matter which option he chooses, he\u2019ll end up back on the same story path soon.\u00a0 However, while this might not seem like a big deal, your choices in this and other minor branches can potentially have long reaching effects on the story, even if you don\u2019t realize it at the time.<\/p>\n

Moderate Branches
\n<\/b>\u00a0 Decisions that result in a moderate branch cause the story to split for a longer time (often several scenes) before rejoining later on.\u00a0 One comes right at the start of Aurora\u2019s Nightmare, when Ars can choose whether to go to work early or take his time getting ready.\u00a0 Depending on the option chosen, he\u2019ll encounter and spend time with different people, learning more about them and potentially deepening their relationships (which could have future implications).\u00a0 However, by the time the normal workday has begun, the two paths will rejoin.<\/p>\n

Major Branches
\n<\/b>\u00a0 This final type of branch reflects a more drastic change, marking the start of completely new and different story paths.\u00a0 Aurora\u2019s Nightmare will feature three such paths, all designed to show the player another side of the story and characters.<\/p>\n

To get the most out of Aurora\u2019s Nightmare, players will need to become familiar with all three types of branches above, choosing the right options to fill in the story and ensure Ars\u2019 survival.\u00a0 And even then, only those who have fully explored all of the major branches and many of the minor and moderate as well will be able to grasp all the different aspects of the story.\u00a0 Fortunately, Aurora\u2019s Nightmare will make it quick and easy to revisit past decisions and make another choice, whether to reverse a fatal mistake, or just to see what other possible outcomes exist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my book, Interactive Storytelling for Video Games, I define the three types of choices used in branching path stories (such as Aurora\u2019s Nightmare).\u00a0 They are as follows: Minor Branches \u00a0 These are used for decisions that split from the main story path only briefly, changing no more than a single scene.\u00a0 For example, early … Continue reading Types of Decisions<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86,"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions\/86"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penandswordgames.com\/AurorasNightmare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}