23.9.2024 - 12.1.2025 / Week 1 - Week 15
Bong Sue Zhiun / 0366866
Interactive Narrative Design / Bachelor of Design ( Hons ) in Creative Media
In week 1, Dr Charles introduced the module and outlined what would be expected of us throughout the course. The focus of this module is on storytelling, where we are challenged to create engaging stories that captivate and immerse readers. He also introduced Twine, an open-source tool for creating interactive, nonlinear stories, which allows us to craft simple stories without needing to write any code. The basics of creating a story can be guided by Freytag's pyramid.
7 elements of dramatic structure in Freytag’s Pyramid:
Exposition: Introduces the setting and characters.Inciting Incident: Something happens that starts the main story.Rising Action: The story builds with more challenges or complications.Climax: The highest point of tension or conflict.Falling Action: Events that happen because of the climax.Resolution: The main problem or conflict is solved.Denouement: The ending, happy for comedies and sad for tragedies.
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| Fig.1.1 Diagram of Freytag's Pyramid, Week 1, 24.9.2024
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Project 1 / Interactive Narrative Prototype
After the first week of class, I began exploring ideas for my story and thought I could create something similar to my favourite Taiwanese drama, Someday or One Day. It's a popular series that combines romance, time travel, and mystery. The story follows a young woman grieving the loss of her boyfriend. One day, she mysteriously wakes up in the body of another girl in 1998. In this new timeline, she meets someone who looks just like her late boyfriend. As she tries to understand what’s happening, she discovers secrets about time travel and how changing the past can affect the future. The drama explores themes of love, loss, and fate, with many twists and emotional moments.
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| Fig.1.2 The Taiwanese drama 'Someday or One Day', Week 1, 24.9.2024
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After being inspired by the drama, I started considering how to create and write my own story.
Story idea: The story I created falls under the themes of fantasy, time travel, and romance, with elements of mystery inspired by the drama. The story is about a man who loses his girlfriend in a car accident and is heartbroken. He feels so sad that he wants to end his life. While trying to jump off a bridge, he meets an old woman who gives him a pocket watch and tells him that dying won't solve anything. He ignores her, jumps, but wakes up the next day with everything back to normal, including his girlfriend being alive. He later finds out that the watch lets him travel to different worlds where he can try to change the past. He has 10 chances to save his girlfriend, but each choice he makes affects the future in unexpected ways. In the end, he can either learn to accept loss and move on or save his girlfriend but live with guilt for the rest of his life.
Purpose of this story: To explore how love and loss are deeply connected in life. It’s about accepting that some things, like death, are beyond our control, no matter how hard we try to change them. Through the main character’s journey, the story encourages us to embrace the moments we have, to let go of the pain when it’s time, and to find peace in moving forward while still honoring the memories of those we’ve lost. It’s a reminder that life goes on, and we have to live it fully, even in the face of loss.
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| Fig.1.3 First draft of plot, Week 1, 24.9.2024 |
After getting the feedback from Dr Charles, I make some adjustments on my outline.
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| Fig.1.4 First draft of plot after adjustments, Week 1, 24.9.2024 |
Proposal
Click the link for a better experience to view:
In Week 2, Dr. Charles asked me to create a flowchart showing choices that lead to different endings. It took me six weeks to finish, including making changes based on his feedback.
While working on the flowchart, I made some refinements and added a few different endings. Because of this, I changed the plot to fit the final flowchart.
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| Fig.1.5 Final plot, Week 8, 12.11.2024
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In Week 9, I began writing detailed scripts in Twine. Seeking advice, I reached out to my senior, Elysa, who had completed a similar project last semester. She recommended using Ren'Py, a free and beginner-friendly software for creating visual novels. Since Ren'Py comes with built-in code, I would only need to paste my scripts into it. Taking her advice, I decided to use Ren'Py for my project.
By Week 10, I had finished all my scripts in Twine and presented them to Dr. Charles. He tested my game and provided detailed feedback on the story flow, which I used to refine the scripts further.
In Week 14, I finished the refined scripts in Twine and started using Ren'Py. It took me four to five days to paste the scripts into the software. While doing this, I also made small changes to improve the story. The script contains a total of 2,467 lines in Ren'Py.
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| Fig.2.1 Progress of coding script in Ren'Py, Week 14, 24.12.2024
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| Fig.2.2 Progress of coding script in Ren'Py, Week 14, 24.12.2024 |
In Week 15, I didn’t have enough time to draw all the illustrations myself. Dr. Charles suggested I use AI to create the images for my visual novel. I used AI to generate backgrounds, characters, and other assets, all in an anime style, which I then added to my project. After getting the images from AI, I use Photoshop to take out the backgrounds from the characters and other items.
Background:
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| Fig.3.1 Background image generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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| Fig.3.2 Background image generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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The male protagonist of Time In Between: Chris
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| Fig.3.3 Male protagonist generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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The female protagonist of Time In Between: Suzy
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| Fig.3.4 Female protagonist generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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Old lady:
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| Fig.3.5 Old lady generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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Felix ( Chris's friend ):
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| Fig.3.6 Chris's friend generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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Chris's classmate:
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| Fig.3.7 Chris's classmate generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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Kitten:
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| Fig.3.8 Kitten generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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Other assets:
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| Fig.3.9 Other assets generated by AI, Week 15, 31.12.2024
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It’s pretty hard to keep the art style consistent for all the images generated by AI. Plus, the images don’t always match the descriptions I gave. But I did my best to pick the ones that fit the most. Once I had all the images I needed, I added them to my coding script in Ren'Py.
Here’s how my visual novel will look:
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| Fig.4.1 A glimpse of how my visual novel will look, Week 15, 6.1.2025
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| Fig.4.2 A glimpse of how my visual novel will look, Week 15, 6.1.2025
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| Fig.4.3 A glimpse of how my visual novel will look, Week 15, 6.1.2025
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For the audio section, I selected 9 background music tracks from Freetouse and 7 sound effects from Pixabay to include in the visual novel.
All audio credits go to (bgm):
Music track: honey jam by massobeats
Background Music for Videos (Free)
Music track: Option by Aylex
Free Background Music for Video
Music track: Falling by Aylex
Copyright Free Music for Videos
Music track: Aftermath by Epic Spectrum
Vlog Music for Video (Free Download)
Music track: Echoes From The Void by Chill Pulse
Music for Videos (Free Download)
Music track: Heroes by Sunova
Free Background Music for Video
Music track: Flourish by Pufino
Vlog Music for Video (Free Download)
Music track: Rainy by Pufino
Copyright Free Music for Videos
Music track: Love in Japan by Milky Wayvers
Vlog Music for Videos (Free Download)
(Sound effect):
Final Submission
Time Between Us is a visual novel game about love, loss, and making tough choices. Chris, a student at Crestwood University, is heartbroken after losing his girlfriend, Suzy, in a car accident. At his lowest point, an old woman gives him a magical pocket watch that can turn back time. Chris has five chances to save Suzy, but every time he changes the past, new problems arise. Can he find a way to save her, or will he have to let her go and move on?
The game has 8 different endings: 4 bad endings, 3 bittersweet ones, and 1 good ending. This is a touching story about learning to let go and treasuring the memories of those we love. Download it from the link below and start exploring now!
Google drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vlBzijdXKrY-uX5bWNDwMBSAYv9OxmTw?usp=drive_link
Week 2
Specific Feedback: Keep the outline concise and in point form. Clarify the story so the plot is easier to follow. Dr. Charles suggested considering three possible endings, one of which could involve the man dying to save his girlfriend (optional). Add background details for the characters. Once that's done, proceed with the flow chart, thinking about the choices the audience can make, and provide more detailed actions for each section.
Week 3
Specific Feedback: Give more detail about how the old lady shows up, since she plays an important role in the story. Once I have finished her part and the remaining chances, I can start working on Twine. Be careful with the timing, as a long story might make the audience get bored.
Week 6
Specific Feedback: I'm fine to continue working on the work in Twine as I already completed the story flow chart in Miro. Since the story is fictional, the university name doesn’t have to be real. For the illustration of my main character, I can use the same art style I developed in my last semester’s Design Principles. The proposal slides is okay just need to include the screenshot of the overview for the flow chart.
Week 9
Specific Feedback: I need to quickly write the script in Twine since it’s already week 9. Dr. Charles suggested that once the script is done, I could use YouTube to create the visual novel. While it’s more convenient, it may take extra time for editing. I told Dr. Charles that I plan to use Ren'Py to create the visual novel, and he said that’s fine too.
Week 10
Specific Feedback: Explain why Chris fell in love with Suzy and describe both characters more so readers can understand them better. Build the scenes carefully, like using visuals to distract Suzy and making sure the cyclist is part of the accident. Set up Felix’s role properly by showing his hesitation before helping Chris. For example, Felix could ask, “What’s going on?” and Chris could reply, “No time to explain, just trust me, bro. Please!” Also, add more details about their plan. Make it clear why Suzy is still seriously hurt even though Chris pushed her out of the way so the accident feels more believable.
To add more emotion, give Chris a moment to hesitate before he decides to end his life. Include a line that shows his struggle. When Chris has to decide whether to throw the watch, make the choice feel more meaningful by showing his emotions. Since the story has magical elements, describe the cat’s sudden appearance better so it doesn’t feel strange. After the accident, describe how the old lady smiles at Chris and Suzy while they feel sad and confused. Before Chris makes his final decision to press the watch, remind readers of the old lady’s words, “Fate will always find a way.”
Add sound effects, like a “tick-tock,” during the fourth chance to make the moment more intense. Show Chris reflecting on how he tried to save Suzy each time and make it clear that only he remembers what happened. Give the story a proper ending by having the old lady, the cat, and the watch disappear, showing that it’s all over. Chris and Suzy should realize that love is about sacrifice, leaving a meaningful ending.
For ideas on improving the story, look at visual novels like Fire After Midnight on PersonaTheory.com. The number of choices in the story is fine, so no need to add more. Lastly, consider making the old lady someone they know. Let Chris remember her words and show his struggle before making the final choice.
This module gave me the chance to create my own story in any way I wanted. It was very challenging, and I think it was the hardest assignment I had to do this semester. On top of that, other modules had heavy assignments, so I ended up neglecting this one a bit. Since the assignments for this module lasted from week 1 to the last week, I became a little too relaxed and focused more on the other modules.
Since I have never studied 3D design before, Dr. Charles suggested I turn my story into a visual novel. I was really excited because I used to play visual novel games when I was younger, and it brought back a lot of memories. At first, I thought creating this game would be very hard because I didn’t know how to do it, especially since it required some coding skills. But I am very thankful to my senior, who worked on a visual novel last semester, for recommending Ren'Py to me. It made things much easier. However, when I downloaded Ren'Py, I couldn’t open it for some reason, and learning how to use it still took up a lot of time. But after getting past the initial problems, I became more comfortable with it. Even though it was tiring, as I had to keep testing the audio, images, and transitions to make sure everything worked, these steps were necessary to finish the game. It wasn’t perfect, but I am happy with what I made.
I really appreciate Dr. Charles for giving me helpful feedback to improve my work, and I also want to thank my friends who let me use their AI account to generate the images. I am grateful to my senior and everyone who helped me complete this assignment.
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