A thing about stories.

[Rune_of_Punishment]

Okay, since most newbs dislike me and more than likely think I know nothing of what I speak, I'll justify my logic and criticisms. This is not going to be very elaborate, but it's enough to begin a foundation to work with.

Basic Plot Development

A story is a plot developed to tell a story, be it a story about morals, gods, whatever. So, you want to tell this story. What do you do? Slap a bunch of random things together or a weak story line together? *slap* NO! Plot development is more intricate. It takes elaboration and detail to make a story. In a plot there are several things you need to include in order for it to be effective and worthwhile:

-A conflict.
-A theme of some sort.
-Realism to an extent.

That's not even half of it. Every plot needs a conflict, otherwise, it's some boring tale that sounds more historical or biographical than anything else, so problems are added along the way. There are several different conflicts.

External Conflicts:
-Man vs Man (Most commonly used conflict)
-Man vs Nature
-Man vs Society (Another common one)

There is also internal conflict in which the main character has conflicting thoughts and feelings within himself. These conflicts have to be thought of before you go charging into making a story. A theme is also needed, otherwise, what's the point? You want to make a statement, instill a lesson in someone's mind. A theme could be something like "caring for others" or "human virtues" or anything of that sort. There are so many themes out there. Most great plots have more than just one theme. There are many themes tied to each other, making the story have much more significant meaning. Realism is key, too. Why? Well, you want your characters to be believable so they player or reader can relate to one of your characters. God-like, uber characters are unrealistic and detach players and/or readers from the game/story. So realistic characters can help. Also, realistic cultures. There are diverse cultures in the real world, so in your stories, make sure you have some diverse cultures, making the world more realistic.

That's pretty much all I have/want to say for now. This should help some of you newbies out when developing your plots. Remember, take your time. There are no time constraints, only hold ups.

Basic Character Development

Yes, this is just basic character development. We'll get to the advanced stuff later, provided I haven't covered everything here (I tend to go beyond what I want to).

When you develop your characters, you can't just charge head on and make some guy with the personality of a brick wall. Character development is something that takes some work. Once improved upon, your characters will have more life, but let's start with the basics.

When developing a character, you have to ask yourself, "What kind of personality do I want my character to have? What will he or she look like? What is their history that will define their personality?" You have to asnwer those questions. Personalities are simple to create, but hard to act upon. You can create a round character (with many varying traits) or a flat character (with only one or two traits). You may also have a dynamic character (with many changes throughout the story) or a static character (with no changes in ideals or personality). Those are things you have to look at in personality. Make sure your characters fit a certain mold, otherwise they;ll be boring and redundant. Add some flow and mystery to the characters. Hit them up with some human characteristics. In my experiences, people like characters that they can relate to. That's something you should aim for when writing a story. If you can't relate to any character or any character seems to dynamic, then people will not like it that much. Those are some things to think about.

What you character will look like is another thing that comes with character development. Physical stature will help a reader imagine what a hero will look like (in games, people will see the character). Make physical descriptions as detailed as possible. The more detailed, the better the image in the person's mind. This can cause people to like certain characters, which is a good thing. It attaches the reader/player and so on and so forth.

And last, history. All characters have a past, but it's up to you to create one for him or her. All things that happen in our pasts shape who we are today. The same goes for story/game characters. When creating a character, you have to think about where this character came from, what happened to him or her as he or she grew up. There's so much to look at when developing a character's history. Make sure it's quite detailed and that it unravels throughout the story, not immediately at a precise point, otherwise, the reader/player is hit with so much information at once, it leaves him or her wanting more, but will receive none. Make snippets of a character's history pop up into conversations, flashbacks, and whatever else. This will make the reader/player want to know more and will cause him or her continue reading/playing.

That's all for the character development basics. I hope this was a nice addition.

Basic World Development

Well, here's the next addition to my tut. The world... the place all your heroes and other beings live in. Should it be a vast plain and nothing else? Should it be a barren wasteland for billions of miles? That is for you to decide. However, that is rather bland, don't you think? So, in order to make your world more diverse and pretty, you have to think first, what kinds of terrain will be in it? You have to undertsnad geography somewhat. You know a volcano can't float in the sky (unless it is part of a flying island), so don't try that. Miles of snow laden fields do not just suddenly stop and a desert appears. When you create your world, you have to think logically about where these locations go.

More than likely you will have the generic "one of everything at the very least". We all usually do that. That does show diverse terrain, but it does make the game kind of redundant, in a worldly sense. So, think about it. Instead of just one beach town, why not two or three? I don't think every single human would want to go to one overcrowded beach to vacate. Alaska would be overpopulated if that was the only snow infested location. You have to create more than just one of everything. Also remember that each location is different, no matter how similar they are. Different cultures live in similar climate zones, so that's another thing to think about.

Now, towns, cities, farms... they're all different according to size. But is that it? Of course not. Poor people do not live in huge, rich illustrious cities unless they are street beggars. So, specify which social class goes where. However, don't just stop there. There are some average income people that live in rich locations, so make sure you thrown in a few middle class people into rich and poor towns. Throw some poor people into Middle Class and Lower class towns. Make towns diverse, for it adds extra flavor and doesn't seem too generic.

Well, that wasn't so much, but it's just the basics. Next time I should more in depth story stuff. Keep an eye out.

[Snake Eater]

Good job!

[AsakuraHao2004]

This should be stickied in the games section.

[WarxePB]

Yes, this should definately be stickied. This could help so many people with their games.

I would like to add something. Sometimes, slapping random stuff together is okay... but just to get started. If you do, then you really have to get it to fit, or else it'll just ruin your whole game. Be careful.

[Osmose]

It's okay, for anyone who didn't take English class.

Not stickyworthy.

[Kijuki_Magazaki]

I am unsure where to move this, but this sorta looks like a tutorial so MOVED

[Sqoad]

It's right place alright. AND it is a good thing to know  

[BlackIceAdept]

*starts slaping noobs* lol this is fun... JK I think they needed a wake-up call (or to pick up a FF game and read the story) lol...

[SleepAid]

Originally posted by BlackIceAdept
*starts slaping noobs* lol this is fun... JK I think they needed a wake-up call (or to pick up a FF game and read the story) lol...

You DO know you're considered a noob, right?


I thought the tut was ok. "And here he is, folks! The greatest warrior alive (but can't kill that one guy) who is out for non-specific revenge!" Those games plots are fun to read. Especialy if they don't understand how vowls work. c wut i meen? I'm sick and I havn't slept much (heh, who knew?), so I must go to bed now.

[BlackIceAdept]

yes but I like to think high and shoot for the stars...

Edit: Yes I think that gun smilie was worth it and my posts are 333 at this point yay!!!

[Moosetroop11]

Hmmm... You didn't go into enough depth. You'd need to add some more stuff before it would be sticky-worthy.

Oh, and *Slaps BlackIceAdept*

[Rune_of_Punishment]

I'll be adding more to it this weekend. I have the time.

[SaiKar]

Good job Sonic. I'm not going to sticky it (at least, not right now) but I have been thinking that for a long time. I'm glad that someone finally had the nerve to say it.

Looking forward to an update.

[Rune_of_Punishment]

The first post has been updated. Please check it.

[Majin Sam]

Nice tutorial, I think it should be stickied