Advice on Interactive Novel type game

Hi there!

I'm brand new to the game design scene, but I've had this idea for a game for quite a while, and after some refinement over time, I pretty much know what I want to create, however the how is now my problem. Basically, my plan is to work with the 2D engine for unity, and I want to design the program to work on PC, and maybe later I'll think about adapting it to an app.

For someone who may not know, an Interactive Novel is a game that consists almost exclusively of text and buttons. If you ever read those "Choose Your Own Adventure" type novels, its like that, but with the potential for more complexity.

Basically, I'm trying to use a mix and mash of a lot of the video tutorials out here, but I'm still struggling. I'm doing everything for the game, from story to art to HUD (yes, I plan on having a HUD) on my own. Right now, after the idea all I have is a splash screen for the game opening. I think I should be able to work out the HUD from the Survival Shooter video tutorial, but beyond that I'm pretty lost in the program.

Right now, I'm looking for advice on where to start with an entry/loading screen, like how to set them up to fade in and out in x amount of time. I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions after that, as well, if anyone is willing to stick around and help walk me through it. I have a decent grasp on C# as well if that helps at all, although this will be my first time really using it in a project (assuming I need to use it).

Thanks for the help!
~Evenir

 

Hello Evenir,

Some times ago I need this type of fade in out effect.
So here it is.
FadeInOut
I make it for my purpose. but you might need to modify it for your need.
When I need to change scene and need Fade In & Out effect I use this.
Basically I did following things in that plugin,
1) Make new canvas which have panel in it.
2) Make script which change color(with alpha) of panel by using coroutine.
3) That script do not destroy so i can use it in every scene.
4) When i need to change scene with fadeInOut I just called method of that script.

That's it.
This is basic overview.

How to use this plugin instructions:-
1) open new project in unity (for testing).
2) Download plugin and open it.
3) Run demo scene.
4) GameObject CanvasSceneFadeInOut is have SceneFadeInOut script attach to it. which is main script. which have color parameter, fadeSpeed, FadeInCutOff,FadeOutCutOff, etc.
5) I you want to use it in your project copy that canvas and paste it in your first scene and that's it.
enjoy.

And I learn it from This tutorial .
but change it for my need and new Unity. (And there might be some other way to do this but I use this.)

And this is might not good place to post game coding related questions.

You find so many good tutorials in unity official learning page.

 

Twine could be a useful tool to start with. It lets you build interactive stories by linking each choice to a new page. It does handle some scripting to add stuff like dice rolls but I don't know what language it uses. Anyway, you may want to check it out to see if it lets you test out the initial concept/story.

 

Consider using Ren'Py. Then come back to Unity for your second game.

 

I'm thinking maybe a tree structure as each decision branches out for variable options.

 

Thanks guys!

For the story writing itself I'm using a site called Inklewriter, which is pretty perfect for setting up branching pathways with logic conditions to follow and even some counters that can be added on. The only problem I had was just wanting to pretty it up more (the artist in me I guess), since the site allows you to add pictures, but only as images above text. I'll definitely check out Ren'Py though, it looks great!

 

In that case, you'll want to use the Ink Unity Integration.

 

When you say "interactive novel," do you mean visual novel?

And yeah, Ren'Py is an excellent choice. It's the easiest thing in the world. You already have all of the basic framwork of the game, you just need your text, the art, and music. And of course, if you want to change the UI at all you can.

I'm using it myself for one of my projects (a VN).

 

I've pretty much transferred to Ren'Py at this point, but there is a small difference between interactive and visual novel, mainly in that the visuals are exclusively backgrounds. I don't plan to have character sprites, just straight text and choice buttons. It's probably as simplistic as possible, but for now that's what I want. I may come back to Unity if I can't make the options work like I want (especially with that Integration download, thanks Tony!), but from the tutorial it looks like it'll work great. The dating sim format can definitely be pretty well reformatted to what I want.

 

Does inklewriter export ink stories? I know they have inky as a story writer/reader tool for ink, but I don't remember IW being built on ink (at least originally).

 

Inkle's whole workflow from Inky to Unity is documented here. Inklewriter and Inky export to JSON.