Storyline branches… literally
Each time we test Cinders, we end up with a small list of potential issues to fix and small improvements we could make. This time, we’ve came with one of those silly little features, that mostly go unnoticed, but look pretty and make us feel good about ourselves.
Whenever current events are an outcome of your earlier decisions, this branch icon appears in the corner of the screen (with a cool blooming flowers effect):
We like to boast that Cinders has more choices than most indie visual novels. But the problem is that players still experience only one story at a time, unaware of all the subtle things that change based on their actions. This feature clearly marks the moments where the storyline branches, hinting that things could be different on another playthrough. It should help those who want to find all the endings and their variants.
It’s pretty subtle and definitely not critical to gameplay, but in our philosophy it’s the little things like that that make the game. Like the idea?
Massimo wrote a comment on: November 13, 2011 at 6:41 pm
I can’t wait for this game. I’m going to write a German test report on my website
Best regards
Massimo
Inktrap wrote a comment on: November 13, 2011 at 8:56 pm
I love the idea! It certainly will make hunting all of the scenes easier while paying attention to them. Playing through all the scenes in the demo made me really eager to see all those subtle scene differences in a larger scale.
Gamemakeraddict wrote a comment on: November 14, 2011 at 4:05 am
Now this is truly the mark of a passionate game developer!
Night wrote a comment on: November 14, 2011 at 10:26 am
Yes, yes, great idea. Now just hurry up and release the game already.
TeeGee wrote a comment on: November 14, 2011 at 11:12 am
No worries, Night. I’m working on it 8+ hours pretty much each and every day.
Inktrap, the demo doesn’t even have that many of these differences, as decisions are only started being made at this point. It’s the later parts that really start altering depending on what you did earlier. Some dialogues even go to 20 different possible scenarios. That’s why we thought about adding this feature.
Ag wrote a comment on: November 14, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Awesome idea! Really looking forward to the game’s release.
Genevieve wrote a comment on: November 16, 2011 at 3:00 am
I love the idea! It’s a nice feature and make it even more interesting. I can’t wait for this game to be finished!
Gareth Fouche wrote a comment on: November 16, 2011 at 11:02 am
Definitely like the idea Tom, it’s a subtle effect but seeing it will get you starting to think about how events could have turned out differently and tempt you to go back and try different paths. Nice.
Ellume wrote a comment on: November 17, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Really like this idea. Remember to add in an explanation in the game too otherwise the coolness will be lost on some people.
TeeGee wrote a comment on: November 17, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Yeah, there’s a brief message explaining what it is when it first appears on the screen.
silentlyfree wrote a comment on: February 7, 2012 at 6:30 am
I like the idea of the flowers indicating that it was based from an earlier decision. I do think that you may want different color variations for that branch though. It’s very bright and it pulls my eyes away from the character and forces me to look at that bright orange. I personally think it would be better in a more subtle color depending on the rest of the scenery/scene if it’s going to be a continuing element throughout the game. BUT all critiques are only just that, so take what you think is useful and leave what you think isn’t.
silentlyfree wrote a comment on: February 7, 2012 at 6:32 am
Oh…So I somehow randomly landed on this page and left a lengthy comment…and then saw the date on this post and that you’ve already pre-released. I feel a little sheepish.
TeeGee wrote a comment on: February 7, 2012 at 7:28 pm
Still, your comment makes sense, and we can always improve the game, even at this point
.
It’s already a little less pronounced in the actual game than on this screenie, but I’ll try to make it a bit more subtle.