DB's guide to making an intro

[DragonBlaze]

Well a short while ago I made a guide to make a games ending, now I'm writing one for making an intro. Unlike my last tutorial which just went over what an ending should have, this one will go over what an intro should and and how it looks.

Notes: There is no right and wrong way to make an intro. I can't tell you how to make you're games intro, these are just suggestions and pointers that will hopefully help you along the way.

Why is an intro important? - An intro has many purposes in a game; thus not having an intro will most likely diminish the game greatly. Its a problem I see in a lot of rm2k/3 games that are made by newer members. Like a story, a game must ALWAYS have an intro. An intro gives the nesisary information for the player to know whats going on. Without this information, the player would most likely get confused on what they're supposed to do, and in a lot of cases, they may just stop playing.

The intro is the first thing that a player will see in your game. It is what gives the player the first impresion of your game.  A good intro can hook the player on your game, and likewise, a bad intro can turn them away. Every good intro consists of two parts, the story/info part, and the visuals/effects part.

Along with the actual intro, there is usually an intro quest, I'll also be going over this as well. After I go through all of this, I'll write how to determain which intro type is best for your game.

The story/info part: Many people wonder how they should make their intro and what they should have in it. The most important thing in an intro of course is an introduction. So a good bet for what to include in the intro is an introduction to the setting, the characters, and a problem. Whether through scrolling text or characters talking, the player needs to get a feel for these three things in order to better understand and enjoy the game. And remember, you don't have to explain or tell the info before the starting event/quest/mission. Sometimes it works better to find out during the event or sometimes even after. As long as you still say so sometime during  the introduction of the game.

A vital part to every intro is the mystery! There should ALWAYS be an event that is mysterious, open-ended, and vital to the games story line in the begining. Having a mystery right off the bat will get the player playing just to find the anser to the mystery. This mystery should tie into the game somewhere between half-way and the end of the game. It'll connect the beginning of the game to the end of the game, and it'll make the game seem well planned and unified. Though the further into the game the mystery is, the less and less obvious it should be. If you make something that is obvious or that the player can figure out right away, you're screwed because you've basically just revieled a huge spoiler. These events can be subtle, they can be something as little as a saying or a shadow.

Every person's game is unique, and thus what their intro needs to contain is differant depending on the circumstance. I'll go over a few basic intros and info that usually goes well with them.

- Attack! - Some games start off with a conflict or battle. Perhaps you're being invaded by enemy troops, perhaps you are infultrating a castle or some area. In these types of intros, you need to explain the events that led to the conflict. Perhaps you're going to assasinate an enemy leader, well why are you on this mission. Are you a mercanary that was hired by a client, are you a soldier in an army that is in war with theirs, if so, what is the war about. Is it because the character knows something about the leader such as a plot and wants to stop it, if so, say so. In doing so, you have explained who the character is, what a problem is, and you've introduced the setting. Plus you have or can easily put a mystery in here about what information the leader has, why you're client wanted him dead, was it set up so that you would get caught?

- A quite life - A lot of games don't start off with an action event. Such games would be the hero being a farmer in a small mountain town. You can't really say the events leading up to this, that would just be boring. When bob was 5, he lifted his first rake, at that moment he knew, he was a farmer. A minute of that would be meh. You stil need to introduce the hero, what kind of guy/girl is he/she. Most of this would be done in the intro event/quest. So you still need an actual intro intro. If you don't have anything to lead up on, you can always focus on a distant event. A distant event would be an event that the hero isn't dirrectly involved in. Here you have to find the proplem in you're game, and determain how it started or an event that escolated it or an event that is buildng up to it. Then you put that event down. If you have a war, you can talk/show how it started x years ago, what happened to make it escolate, or the stress that is going to eventually lead to it. Other things that would be more mysterious would be the finding of an object, a dream, an assasination, and stuff like that. Again, it all depends on what plot you have.

- Action! but no war.. - Well maybe there is a war or whatever, but the point is that you aren't involved in it right now, then again you're not a peiceful farmer or whatever. The most common example of this type of intro would be when you're a soldier in training or something along those lines. These are probably the easiest intros to work with because you can show a lot of action with the hero and still have room for a distant event. A great example of this would be the intro in FF8. I didn't like the game too much, but I LOVED the intro, so that kept me playing till the end. You had the action with squall and siefer sword  fighting, but you also had a kinda mystery event with riona (sp?) and eada there. The sayings with stuff like "I'll be waiting right here for you.." or whatever was said even tied into the game a lot later. So here, mixing a bit of the Attack! and quiet life would probably be your best bet.

- All purpose thingy-ma-jig - if you don't know what to do, you can always make the popular scrolling text intro. Text will scroll, it'll tell the story of your game. If you want to do this, keep changing the screen to show the events its telling about. Whether you scroll the text or just display it, having the same screen or having one panorama displayed is boring, even if the text is interesting.

- The dream - Having the intro start off as a dream is a big cliche, but its acceptable in most cases. Sometimes its worth having this cliche if it fits in with your plot and improves your game. If all else fails, a dream is probably the easiest way to go, but it should only be used as a last resort unless your plot is built for it, then of course you should go for it.

Then of course you can go off and reviel too much about your plot in the intro and ruin the whole game. Here is a list of such things.
- The bad guys plot - Never EVER reviel the bad guys plot at the start of the game, even if its not their true plot.
- The exsistance of any divine object unless it is a well known object or the hero knows about it - If you so much as mention a divine object such as a crystal, the player is going to know right off the bat that the bad guy will go after it, you as the hero will try and find the object, and in most cases you will fail. It gets worse and worse if their are multiple divine objects.
- Anything the hero does not know themselves or will not know in the near future - I hate games where I know something about the hero while he/she is trying to figure it out. The hero is searching for the answers of a mystery when the player is getting more and more bored because they arlready know the answers. Its a lot better if you and the hero find out the answers at the same time, or the hero will find out before the player does.

The visuals/effects: Again, the intro is the first thing the player will see, so you need to make it eye popping. A number of people say that the story is the only part important in a game, so they may think that blowing off the visuals and such in an intro will be ok. Every great game must be balanced in all the catagories, with a special emphasis on the story. Though the creator may be content playing a game with bad visuals and all as long as it has a good story, a lot of people aren't. And it'll never hurt a game to make it look stunning. It's what seperates good games from great games. The intro should thus be extra stunning, and it should be one of the coolest, stunning, breath-taking and or interesting/intreaging/mysterious scenes in the game. You should use all of your abilites to the fullest + some. Utalize whatever talents you have. If you're good at graphics, make some good graphics and poses, if you're good with scripts, make a complicated scene/system, if you're good at maps, make great maps, if you can make movies, well you get my drift.

One of the easiest things to add that will greatly increase the coolness of your intro is good music. And if there is ever a time to use an MP3, it would be here. Just make sure it fits with the scenes you're showing.

Credits/intro intro - an intro should display credits, even if you're the only one working on a game. Of  course during these parts you should be able to sit back and just watch the screan rather than play anything. In between each credit, show a scene, or display a phrase/saying/info, show another creadit, and repeat the process. No matter how many people played a part in your game, you should include 'name' presents, then later "a 'name' production" then later, 'game title'. The game title should appear last, though its ok to report the game testers or something like that after it. But it should be near the end of the intro intro part.

Really theres not much to say about the visuals except give it your all and show what your game is capable of.

The begining quest - there should be a begging quest/mission/thing that the hero needs to do or an event that the hero is involved in. Its meant to introduce the hero and the setting at the start of the game. It could be something like hunting, gathering something, taking a hiking trip, go on a training mission, whatever. Either this event or an event that follows should kick off the big event/mission. Perhaps you go out hunting, when you come back, the town is attacked and destoryed and you go out to get revenge. The town being destoryed and you going off to get revenge is the thing that kicks off the main mission, while the hunting would be a minor mission to get the player aquanted with the battle system and all. As a side note, pleast don't use the town being destroyed thing, its a really bad cliche, i just used it because its a plot everyone is familuar with. You don't need to have a minor  mission either for the kicker. In the Attack! styled intros, there is no minor event, you jump right into the main event, never the less, that event does kick the mission.

Another very important thing that the intro quest needs to do is introduce the player to the various gameplay elements in the game. So it could also be like a tutorial mission, show the player how to use the battle system, show the player any systems you may have added such as a jumping system or a system for dodging monsters, finding items, getting xp, and all that good stuff. Normally games would go through everything, but this is not really necisary in an rpg maker game since most players are already familiar with the system. Though it won't hurt to go over everything, you only need to go over the things that aren't strickly part of the defult engine. If you're using the defult battle system without any special features, it wouldn't be necisary to go over how to use it. Again it wouldn't hurt, and if you are planning on distributing your project to anyone who is not familuar with rpg maker, then you should explain everthing, event how to move, press the esc to go to the menu, and the space bar for decision or however you want to say it.

The mission you get kicked into though shouldn't be the final mission. Like if there is a bad guy that you're chasing at the start of the game, that bad guy shouldn't be the last bad guy. Rather, that event that you got kicked into should lead to the final and major event in the game. Take FF7 for example, the first kicker event would be when you blow up the reactor and fight shinra, that leads you to you chasing sephiroth, which is of course the big event.

In short, this first event or two should introduce the character, and it should lead into the games secondary problem, and the secondary problem will eventually lead to the primary problem.

Finally in this part, starting off with the hero's town destoryed and hero going off for revenge: NOOOOOOO!!!! This is one of the worst ways to start off a game, it is used way too much, for many reasons, just don't use it.

How to decide on an intro for your game: First you have to look at your game, look at your setting, look at the games problem, and look at the hero's background. Take something from the games problem and tie that into the beginning. Next look at the setting and background of the game and hero, if there is anything there that needs to be explained in order for the player to know whats going on, say so. Now look at the hero's background and start him off with something related to that background. If he's a farmer, have him do something related to a farm, if he's a soldier, have him in a battle/mission, is he a trainee, have him be on a training mission, ect. Then find a way for the hero's activity to turn into a starter mission/quest. Find a way for that starter mission/quest to lead into and kick the game's secondary quest.


The end.

[Ruler of the Dark]

Excellent!

You make intro's seem so much easier to make now!

[DragonBlaze]

Thanks

I have to remake my intro a lot evertime I make a change in my game, plus I've made intros for other peoples games and well, I just make them a lot. That and with observing intros for many comercial games, I think I've got the hang of general intros  :p

[Desimodontidae]

Great read. Its a very good tutorial, but if I may...

I believe that the first quest or whatever should introduce the character to the elements of gameplay, especially combat. If it's going to be that kind of game, that is. Now if you were a quiet farmer then I don't think you'd be jumping into battle all the time, but if your story calls for it, then either the first mission should introduce it, or lead up to it.

Heh, also..

- The exsistance of any divine object unless it is a well known object or the hero knows about it - If you so much as mention a divine object such as a crystal, the player is going to know right off the bat that the bad guy will go after it, you as the hero will try and find the object, and in most cases you will fail. It gets worse and worse if their are multiple divine objects.

Man, that reminds me of how bad I was when I first started. I'd make games where a old guy randomly came out and told the hero to collect magical crystals to save the world.

[DragonBlaze]

Originally posted by Desimodontidae
Great read. Its a very good tutorial, but if I may...

I believe that the first quest or whatever should introduce the character to the elements of gameplay, especially combat. If it's going to be that kind of game, that is. Now if you were a quiet farmer then I don't think you'd be jumping into battle all the time, but if your story calls for it, then either the first mission should introduce it, or lead up to it.

Heh, also..

quote:

- The exsistance of any divine object unless it is a well known object or the hero knows about it - If you so much as mention a divine object such as a crystal, the player is going to know right off the bat that the bad guy will go after it, you as the hero will try and find the object, and in most cases you will fail. It gets worse and worse if their are multiple divine objects.

Man, that reminds me of how bad I was when I first started. I'd make games where a old guy randomly came out and told the hero to collect magical crystals to save the world.

Yeah I agree,  I added that stuff about the first quest. I was planning on adding something simular to that, but I guess I forgot to write it down :p, anyway, I edited it now.

Lol, now that I think about it, I don't think any of my games started right off the bat with telling the hero about any divine object... WAIT, on my first game on RPG Maker for the PS, I had a king dan have a key for something called the Eternal Blaze (Which I didnt know what it was going to be, I was going to make that up as I went along :p). So yeah that kinda did, all my other games with divine objects weren't shown as cliche until a little later in the game when some guy told you the story of the divine objects. I really wish I could go back and play through my old games, but I think I lost all the files

[WarxePB]

AsaMan, that reminds me of how bad I was when I first started. I'd make games where a old guy randomly came out and told the hero to collect magical crystals to save the world.

I think we all started off making those kinds of games. My first project had Link (from the Zelda games) running around and rescuing people from evil crystals or something.


Anyways, as usual, excellent tutorial. I'll make sure to keep this in mind if/when I get around to making a game.

[BlackIceAdept]

DB...you are worthy...

[DragonBlaze]

Originally posted by BlackIceAdept
DB...you are worthy...

0.o, and what am I worth of? Is it that I'm worthy to join some secret cult!! Sounds like fun, count me in

[Robotam]

Originally posted by DragonBlaze

quote:

Originally posted by BlackIceAdept DB...you are worthy...

0.o, and what am I worth of? Is it that I'm worthy to join some secret cult!! Sounds like fun, count me in

ZOMG, no I think it goes far more deeper [STRIKE]into his pants[/STRIKE] than that.
Robbie goes Meis style. It was fun.

Nice tutorial DB, the only sad part is that everyone will probably use this tutorial to better up their games and no one will credit you. oo'

[BlackIceAdept]

I will...but only if I read all of it >.>
Damnit I need more time in my life...

[DragonBlaze]

Originally posted by Robotam

quote:

Originally posted by DragonBlaze quote: Originally posted by BlackIceAdept DB...you are worthy... 0.o, and what am I worth of? Is it that I'm worthy to join some secret cult!! Sounds like fun, count me in

ZOMG, no I think it goes far more deeper into his pants than that.
Robbie goes Meis style. It was fun.

Nice tutorial DB, the only sad part is that everyone will probably use this tutorial to better up their games and no one will credit you. oo'

XD.

Anyway, I could care less if I get credited when someone uses it or not. I just hope this will help people make better intros. And the better the intro, the more enjoyable the game is for me to play it

So yeah, unless its a script or something that takes me hours and hours to make, I don't really care about credit. :p

[Sinkomatik]

Instead of going through the whole tutorial. Can i see one of your intros to see if it is worth it?

[shadus]

*Smakes in the head*
Shadus:Foo!Read the whole dang tut Foo!But on top of that you kicked?
*Smakes again!*

[DragonBlaze]

Originally posted by Sinkomatik
Instead of going through the whole tutorial. Can i see one of your intros to see if it is worth it?

This is not a step by step tutorial on how to make a tutorial, rather its a bunch of useful tips and stratagies I have put together that hopefully will help people with their intros.

Whether you want to read it or don't want to read it is up to you, but me giving you one of my old intros won't do too much in showing what this tut explains or what it is for.

If you REALLY want me to get you an intro, I could dig through my hard drive, find an old copy of my game (I'm reworking the intro right now so I can't show you then newer version), cut everything else but the intro out, and show you, but honestly I don't think it will do too much good.

And yeah, topic kicking is bad...