I was on my webpage and I wrote this guide, but I thought it would benefit the whole community so:
A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK BEHIND SCENARIO DESIGNING
~DECIDING WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO~
Well, you've said to yourself "I want to design a scenario." So what do you need to do? First thing, make a checklist. You ask, "What do I need a checklist for?" Well, organization is the most important key to actually completing a project. This goes for anything in life. "Okay, what do I need on my checklist?" That's the question.
Your checklist should look sort of like this:
SCENARIO CHECKLIST
Topic or Theme
Setting
History
Main Characters
Storyline
Characters (Again)
And of course that is only a basic list. Now let's break it down into something more complex.
TOPIC / THEME
Ok. Every scenario whether you realize it or not has a theme. It is just like any story; it has a conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution. The theme should be the overthought of the whole scenario. Something like "Good vs. Evil" is common, but still good. "Survival" is another one (like Resident Evil Operation Pheonix), and actually most Bounty Hunter themed scenarios use survival. Either that or the "Revenge/Vengance" theme. There are several others: "Overthrowing Oppression", "The Glory Road", (which Star Wars Sith is based on), or "Defending the Innocent". Realistically though most themes are some form of "Good vs. Evil".
SETTING The theme is chosen. Now we need to find out the details of when and where this takes place. In the example of Star Wars Sith, it is A) in the Star Wars Galaxy, B) in the Knights of the Old Republic era, and C) over a multitude of planets. Similarly, Resident Evil Operation Pheonix is in on the west coast of the United States in California in a city named Dynasty in the year 2007. As you can see, the amount of detail you need depends on the scenario. Now that the setting is picked out, lets do some history.
HISTORY From every movie you see, there is history behind that movie and its used in the story. For a war movie, usually many hours of research go into collecting facts about that war. The same should go for your game.
In Star Wars Sith, I researched by playing Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (I would highly recommend playing them). In addition, I went to wikipedia.org and researched for information I may have not caught or misunderstood.
If the game is like Resident Evil Operation Pheonix, make sure you go through all the games whether it be a sequal or prequal or remake. If its based off of something read the book, play the game, watch the movie, do something; but DO NOT insult the gamers by releasing a game that you based off your impression of the game.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Main characters are one of the most important parts of the game because they are the game. Like I said, if they are supposed to be characters off of a movie or game or book, be sure to have done your research.
For example, Leon S Kennedy, who is a partner main character in Resident Evil Operation Pheonix, was: A) a formal cop for Raccoon City, B) a government agent, C) an anti-Umbrella task force member, D) never on S.T.A.R.S., E) was infected with the T-Virus in a game called Resident Evil: Gaiden (which cancelled after a few months of resale).
You should be able to take a quiz on the character, especially if you made him up. You are not finished with the character if you can ask any question and not be able to answer it. If you can't, who can?A few more things to consider about your characters:
Does he/she have any fears?
Does he/she have any internal conflicts?
Does he/she have any unknown or secret goals?
Does he/she drink, smoke, ect?
Does he/she have any injuries?
Has he/she have any traumatic experiences?
By now you're saying, "Leon, no one needs to know that much." I will tell you the truth. You may never be asked about it; you may never use any of the data in the scenario; but you will know everything he might or would do should the need arise. That information will be able to make your character dynamic and well-rounded.
STORYLINE
I have seen many good tips and documents that set up good storylines, but here is my personal belief. If you did this checklist in order, you should be 80% through your storyline. Use the character write-ups, the history look-ups, and the theme and setting. Since you know your character, pretend that you were he in the _____ setting at the _____ time, with _____ happening to you. Your reactions will give you a good idea of what to make as your story.
In Resident Evil Operation Pheonix, the main character (Kyle) is at home. He has to get to work. He is unaware that the town around him has mutated into hell. He encounters the first problem. He avoids it because he is unprepared, and tries whatever he can to stay alive. He meets Leon. He learns about what's happening. And then (THEME) he dedicates himself to survive (Survival) and fight the Umbrella corporation (Good vs. Evil). Also in the storyline, you have to develop the character just like that Resident Evil example from above. Kyle sets a goal and begins to work toward it. I don't want to give too much more away for Resident Evil Operation Pheonix so I go generic from here on out.
Another thing to do in storyline is to (this is not neccessarily true, but in some cases.) have a character resolve or get another internal conflict. The following are a few conflicts:
Good vs. Evil
Self Explainatory
Man vs. Man
Player has a personal conflict with another one
(IE: Rivalry.)
Man vs. Nature
Player has to survive through environmental problems
Man vs. Self
Player has a problem with his attitude or belief
Love vs. Hate
Player has to overcome differences with love or use the anger to gain strength.
(IE: The whole lightside vs. darkside)
Love vs. Destiny
The Player has to decide whether or not to seek love or what he is destined to be.
(IE: Anakin= Chosen One or Padme's Husband[Although in this case, both turn out to be true])
Choice vs. the Good of the Many
Basically the player takes care of # 1, disreguarding the safety or feeling of others.
In addition to the conflicts which drive the storyline. A plot twist is always nice. Just when the player thinks, he/she has figured out the game. BOOM! Plot twist and the player goes, "What the?" It adds more to the storyline, and it also take the player from being narrow minded about what the characters have the ability or the desire to do and opens the end to endless possibilities. Of course, there can be very small *use 1000x magnifying glass to show you the next word* hints. And it can't be an outrageous (well actually it can, but) flip. But anyway thats plot twists for you.
The only other thing (well actually its not) you can do for a storyline is to... make a multiple ending. In example, Star Wars Sith has a lightside and darkside ending just like KOTOR, KOTOR II, and many other Star Wars Games. It all depends on the ideas you take, the path you choice, what you say; just like in real life. And although long and complicated to program, it alway allows for a high replayability rating. So its all your choice.
CHARACTERS (Again)
I put characters again because they're more than just the main characters to a story. There are supporting characters. There are cameos of people from the forums and from the movies and such. There are people who die, who sell, who talk, whoever.
Now for these characters, you don't have to know near as much on them as you do for the main. Basically, species, occupation, homeworld, name, sex, and why they are doing what they are doing.
Now most people will not name a lot of the supporting characters because they are either A) under the false impression that it is not important or B) lazy! (and yes I have been lazy before too.) But it increases the overall effect. If Boba Fett is searching for a bounty and all he has to do is skim over Zian Finnis, Queen Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn. He can find it easily and rather boringly. But if he is searching through a moving crowd of Damon Torkret, and Win Emeratz, and May Neberry. It will be harder and a lot more realistic.
That's all for now. Next time, I will address how to program this information in creative ways.
.:: L E O N K E N N E D Y ::.
"Sounds like he took some of the furniture when he left... and the carpet... and the drapes...and I wouldn't expect to get that deposit back."A Scientist, A Virus,
And a Squad to Retrieve Them
ALPHA RED
[This message has been edited by Leon Kennedy (edited 08-03-2006 @ 12:55 PM).]
posted 07-30-06 02:40 PM EDT (US)
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