I’ve been reading through “Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing,” edited by Wendy Despain. In chapter 2 she mentions that the “community of independent text-based game developers have created some very interesting and intuitive tools for interactive narrative.” I was expecting some examples of these tools to follow such a statement, but there are none. Maybe she was referring to tools like Inform, TADS, Twine, etc…
But that sparked my question:
What tools do you use for brainstorming, writing and design (before you use the above mentioned for implementation)?
I use Miro sometimes for mapping, branches, ideal flow, etc.
For writing, I just use the IDE and put things in comments or in-game as necessary, editing directly if needed. (I use EDIT while coding to indicate that there’s writing that needs to be added, so I can find where I need to write if necessary.)
Brainstorming is usually in a main ADD comment at the top/beginning of the code, or in various other ADD comments throughout the code in relevant areas.
I brainstorm by writing things down. Design comes mostly from my head, I have the structure and I know where things are going. When I used to write fiction, I would just jump in and let the characters take it away. I suppose I do the same thing for IF.
I use programs in the LibreOffice suite, especially Write, to plan. It is also not unusual for me to slap something together in Dialog long before I am ready to code a proper implementation. The ability to code while the game is running is a great feature.
If you’re just wanting to play around with a map to get a feel for the shape of your world, Trizbort lets you move and arrange and experiment and push and pull, and then will export code for your map to a few formats including Inform and TADS. https://trizbort.io
While Twine is primarily used to create choice games, if you’re not using a world-model it’s IDE flowchart format is also good for planning and visualizing general story flow and branching in the same way Trizbort is if you treat the passages as story beats to make notes you can click through with links. You can also notate rough prose as ideas come to you for each segment.
Also my dark-horse utility for keeping track of everything - not just story notes but it’s good for that - is the Notes app that is synced to all my devices via iCloud. If I have a story idea or phrase at the grocery store or take a picture of something interesting for a game I can slap it to a note that I can pick up later on my computer.
I’m almost a pure pantser, but I do have some character sheets and a list of ideas as Markdown documents. Originally kept that in Zettlr, but right now I just edit them in Visual Studio, alongside my Twee code. Works well enough.
Scrivener seems cool, but it doesn’t integrate well with the workflows of Twine or Ren’Py or whatever, in my opinion. And for just keeping a couple of notes, it is too expensive for my taste. If I was writing a conventional novel - the kind that starts at the start and then moves towards the end in a linear fashion - my feelings would probably be different.
It’s a really great mind mapping tool with a lot of nice styling features. I didn’t know I needed mind mapping software, until I started using mind mapping software.
“Let me get that grocery list ready for you, babe. Should I put the Tomatoes under the Fruit parent node? It’s so weird that it’s a fruit, right? Babe? …you still there?”
Worth pointing out that Scrivener partners up with NaNoWriMo, and offers a 50% off discount code for winning (writing 50k words, though you can verify with 50k of generated gibberish text if you’ve handwritten a novel or whatever), and usually a 25% discount code for participation in the Camp or the Main runnings of the event (which are in the summer, or else traditionally in November.) That’s how I purchased my copy! And it’s been well worth the money to me- but more so as a writing long form fiction tool, than for scribbling notes. It’s also got a generous 30 day of actual use trial period, and is a single purchase, non subscription model, which is increasingly difficult to find among comparable products.
Wow, all this design software. I admit: I use sheets of paper and a pen.
There was the term pantser mentioned. I had to look it up. I am more of a plotter but more precisely a puzzler (meaning that I don’t neccessarily design chronologically).
Maybe I would have more output if I would do “pantsing”. But it goes against my nature so I will never know.
You get the most done when you use a workflow that works for you.
I don’t do “pantsing” because I made a conscious decision to skimp out on planning, I do it because the only state where I can come up with good ideas is when I am in the flow of writing. Drafting stuff just doesn’t work for me.
You are not me, and if your “natural” workflow includes planning and drafting, then that workflow is right for you, in my opinion, and it would be a mistake to emulate mine.
I see myself as a rock climber–I’m always looking for footholds. I have an idea about a destination, but getting there is a problem to solve.
I like to write poetry with constraints–line length or what have you. I think improvising while constrained has helped me come up with interesting stuff. Design isn’t so different for me: I usually come up with a technical problem and a very general idea, and that structure drives me to improvise.
So the code is like a writing prompt. The IDE is where I do most of my design, then.
However, there are times when that won’t do. I use a physical notepad for that. My tremors make handwriting difficult, but there is something about the physicality that seems to help me. I’ll draw maps or flowcharts if I need them. I also write on the backs of envelopes, the gutters of junkmail, or whatever else is around. I also talk to myself. The physical acts of talking and writing do something for me that software doesn’t, for whatever reason. I know there are good tools out there, but I haven’t taken to one yet.
Sticky notes or the backs of envelopes or napkins. Whatever snip of paper happens to be around when the idea hits me. Or if I have my phone and no paper I will take a picture of something that will remind me of the idea I had, hopefully. It sometimes works. If that isn’t an option I will sometimes email myself a quick note from the phone.
And… that’s about as far as it usually ever goes. A few times, I’ve taken those ideas out and tried to dust them off and throw them into Inform 7 or something, and then the tedious work of actually IMPLEMENTING the idea sinks in. And I think, yeah, I can do this, and maybe get half a day into it. The thing is, I have probably 20 or 30 half-baked projects lying around. Finishing is always the hardest part for me because I’m a stupid perfectionist. It is so true that the first 90% of anything goes pretty well, but the last 10% takes up 90% of your time and effort.
This is the most relatable thing I have read in a while. I have a folder full of never-completed IF projects. If you find a way to overcome this, please let me know!
Already mentioned earlier in the thread, also Obsidian. I like first of all its beautiful appearance (this is just important to me, can’t help it).
Also its integration of kanban boards (via extension; I use them as glorified multi-stage todo lists), concept mapping with built-in Canvas, for sketches the excalidraw-extension.
This works very well also for stories, gamedev, animation projects, etc etc. And still I’m probably only scratching the surface of what is possible.
