which plot structure do you like better?
By
dugfromthearth,
Posted on: 2009-05-12 13:58 in Mission Architect
Option 1 has you investigating on your own, while option 2 has you acting as the contact's errand boy. I'd go with option 1. You have to work harder to make getting the relics interesting, but it involves the player more in the story.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
well option 1 has the contact tell you that there are relics missing
option 2 the informant has been found out and you have to rescue him
both sort of have you as the contact's errand boy - but I'll pay attention to that issue
Option 1. You were the one that cracked open that there is something more. Gives a hero a more "active" role. To many dev stories are #2.
I prefer option 1 as well for essentially the reasons already stated: it "feels" like the player has a more active role. It'll depend some on delivery, of course.
And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
same overarching plot - just different emphasis and way of starting
mission 1: some relics are missing, go get them back.
mission 2: when you got the relics you found out something big is going on - go talk to our informant for more info
or
mission 1: our informant says something big is going down, go talk to him and find out
mission 2: our informant says we need to retrieve some stolen relics before they are used for ....
Basically - start by saying something big is happening and a linear storyline, or stumble across a big plan while investigating something small (lvl 1-50 arc)