What is A Night Out?
NM3222, “Interactive Storytelling”, is an undergraduate course at National University of Singapore and is a concentration course for New Media majors. The course focuses on concepts and methodologies of storytelling and narratives in the context of different interactive media platforms. Throughout the semester, we read theory for dramaturgy and ludonarratives, converted games to dramas, and created a narrative-focused game.
Responsibilities
- Write a short story with meaningful branching paths.
- Implement multiple endings.
- Consider how a user would interact with the narrative in multiple formats (on a stage, in a book, etc.).
Creative Process
Goals
- Write compelling short story.
- Allow users to make meaningful choices, with multiple endings.
- Consider how this story would play out in multiple media formats.
Features
- Branching storylines.
- Multiple endings.
- Song playing in the background.
- User-inputted character names.
Constraints
- Only 20 nodes can be used for the story.
- Can't write about or feature a villain.
- Gave myself 2 - 3 hours to write this.
1) Write a short, compelling story with meaningful choices.
2) Get around being unable to write a villain.
1) Write a story about a date night
Thought Process
Since this needed to be less than 20 nodes inside of Twine, and we couldn’t write a villain directly, I went with the idea of a date night. The idea being, your choices are relegated to your orders, how you treat the staff, and your date. There is never enough media of characters who are head over heels for someone, and that was fun to write for. Choices matter, as picking the wrong answer results in a ruined night.
A concept as simple as this could also be easily translated to other media formats, such as the stage or skit format. There aren’t any large set pieces, many characters, or anything other major that would make this an issue to put elsewhere.
To add a bit of extra flare, I had Joji’s “Dancing in the Dark” playing in the background, as well as the ability to name our protagonists. All descriptions of the characters are meant to be gender neutral, allowing players to fill in those blanks.
The inspiration of the restaurant, as well as the menu items, are directly inspired from Cheesecake Factory. While writing this, it occurred to me that Singapore had no Cheesecake Factories (at least not that I’m aware of), and I was craving something off of the menu. The other reason for being inspired by Cheesecake Factory was I was trying to think of a pseudo-“fancy” restaurant (or at least one that has the veneer of one), and I couldn’t really think of anything else off the top of my head while writing. NOTE: this is not an endorsement for Cheesecake Factory, I was just a bit hungry at the time.
Results
Writing such a mundane concept allowed me to keep within the guidelines of the project, lulling the readers into a sense of security, lest they stray from the path of the best ending.
(*spoilers to follow in the next section*)
2) Make the main characters themselves villains
Thought Process
We weren’t allowed to have villains in the story… that didn’t directly specify we couldn’t write from the perspective of a supervillain. With that precarious loophole, I decided to front the story as a simple date night. While it was, it was also a bit of a stakeout, with the lead catching his nemesis at the same restaurant, the conflict here being to either engage and ruin the night or to focus on your date.
Should you stay on the path to the best ending, it shouldn’t be all too obvious that they’re supervillains. However, stray from the path and the mood does a 180.
Results
Those who played the game enjoyed the tonal whiplash whenever they made the wrong choice, finding the results to be incredibly humorous.
Overall, this project kept to the guidelines and definitely made players feel something, which I would consider a success. I enjoy taking the role of a writer now and again, and this definitely allowed me to flex my creative writing skills in reasonable constraints.