Introduction
Part One introduces us to Yao and Apollo, the two main protagonists of the main storyline. Players should get a feel for both of their personalities and begin to understand their relationship.
Story Setup
Characters: Yao and Apollo
Setting: South Bend, Indiana
Yao is an android whose family is being threatened. He has been fighting in an underground fighting circuit run by Nike, a mob boss. Apollo is another android who has been helping Yao survive the circuit.
The problem is that Yao is injured. He can’t fight—but he has to.
Player Choices
The first three choices are supposed to represent Apollo’s feelings about showing up to help Yao. Since Apollo is the player character, I wanted players to have some control over his attitude toward the situation.
The player can:
- Question why Yao needs you
- Agree confidently
- Give Yao a hard time
These choices don’t necessarily change what Apollo ultimately needs to do, but they allow the player to shape how he responds to Yao.
Branching and Convergence
All three choices eventually lead to Apollo helping Yao.
However, choosing “Give Yao a Hard Time” creates another branch with two additional choices. One of those paths can take the player somewhere they probably don’t want to go.
I wanted to put at least one trap in the very first part of the game. I don’t want players to assume that every choice will automatically move them safely toward the same outcome.
What Worked
I’m satisfied with how the first section works.
Converting the original manuscript into an interactive game is a little harder than I expected. I’m realizing that I may need to finish the manuscript first so that there is one true version of the story from beginning to end. Then I can use that story as the foundation and build the branching choices around it.
What Needs Revision
This is still a rough draft, so I need to go back through the passages and fix the grammar, vocabulary, and wording.
I’ll also continue figuring out how much freedom I want to give the player without losing the main storyline.
Next Step
In Part Two, we make it inside the club…
If the player plays well.
