Writing stories and making use of If/Then moments has been
very interesting to say the least. I’ve always looked at that story telling
format from a distance and never actually thought of what it would be like to
try something like that or the amount of time and planning it would take to do
it. After having written several stories now using if/then moments I can safely
say: It’s not easy. I think the most
difficult part of writing an if/then story is trying to make the choices that
the user has made rewarding as well as making multiple storylines off of the
same idea. To make the users choices rewarding it essentially requires you to
come up with an entirely different chain of events that differs from the other
option. If you weren’t to make them completely different then what’s the point?
No ones going to care to choose whether Timmy eats a bagel or a banana for
breakfast if it doesn’t effect the rest of the story, its simply a trivial
decision that the user won’t care for because it’s not rewarding. The issue is
not only making the experience rewarding for the user but it’s also difficult
to work in options for the user. It requires extensive planning to write in
effective choices for the user. Choices that are relatable to their outcome and
not just haphazardly put in. To
summarize the entire experience I did enjoy it and I took it a few steps
further. I made my own interactive adventure using Halo:Reach in the form of a
Machinima entitled “Halo: Reach Star Fox Adventure” (A parody of Star Fox 64)
The interactive video took a ton of work, which allowed me to appreciate the
true effort that must go into making interactive stories that utilize if/then
moments.
Halo Reah: Star Fox Adventure
