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Post by Cory Trese on Oct 9, 2016 22:10:41 GMT -5
Yeah, we learned a lot about the intense exponential storyline state problem in Heroes of Steel RPG.
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Post by redartrats on Oct 10, 2016 1:25:36 GMT -5
The only way I know of to handle exponential number of combinations in a widely branching storyline is to use a simulation style game mechanic; but simulation games usually don't have very interesting story lines. The only way to get interesting stories is to write every branch manually, which is impractical once the number of paths multiply exponentially.
So generally the only feasible solution is to have a bit of leeway here and there but limit the available choices at each juncture, and write only a small number (usually just 1) of main storylines. Things just go out of hand once every other mission may affect an arbitrary number of things down the line: nobody would be able to keep all those tangled paths straight.
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Post by Cory Trese on Oct 10, 2016 10:24:01 GMT -5
There are definitely a lot of interesting approaches. People would be very surprised by how sophisticated some of the code and data structure design that backs up our games. We had the advantage of 20 years of experience each building major software systems for DoD and banking industries before starting game development, which gave us both a bit of a leg up on complex problems. The only thing I miss about working in the corporate environment is having a team of 20 crack programmers to help me get the coding bits done. Maybe someday  |
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