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AE Branching Story


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Hi all, I recently got back into making AE stories, and had this idea and want to get some feedback on the concept. one I am not sure if people use it or even pay attention to "return dialog" and two would it be worth it to give up all 3 AE slots to do 1 branching story? Also I'm not even sure if it's a new idea or if someone has done it. So the concept is to make 1 story with a branch, but AE doesn't technically allow for branching of it's story, however my idea is to make a 3 mission arc with the 3rd mission being fallible. From here use the return fail dialogue put in the ID for one arc where you fail, but if you don't fail the success dialog will have a different ID to allow players to finish the story completely different from the other arc. 

If there are AE arc like this could you please share them so I can see how they did theirs. Please and thank you.

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It's the only way to *do* a branching story, yeah. I don't think I have any live right now that do it. But, yeah. Put it in the dialog, maybe in the end dialog and/or souvenir.

 

Also, if you need more AE slots, just put in a support ticket and ask for some. You're not locked down to 3.  (Click on "Support" up above.)

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Primarily on Everlasting. Squid afficionado. Former creator of Copypastas. General smartalec.

 

I tried to combine Circle and DE, but all I got were garden variety evil mages.

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You can do it, by directing people to the other connected arcs. I’ve thought of doing it, more than once, but didn’t want to use up multiple arc slots to tell 2 versions of a single story. There are plenty of multi arc stories, of course. But branching  requires at least 3 AE slots. Big expenditure to present the illusion of choice. If this is your goal, however, by all means do it. 

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Looking for SFMA content over multiple arcs? Search for the following under "cranebump.LONG FORM: Ordinary People [3 parts] Investigation of a series of thefts leads you deep into a vengeful plot that threatens all of Paragon City. Will you and Kings Row's "ordinary" heroes be able to stop it? Leviathan [5 parts] The  assassination of a local politician with national aspirations sets off a media frenzy among everyone's favorite reactionary network, NewsAnon. Among their targets? You. Mobius [5 Parts]:  Visions of past, present, and possibility collide, as you and the Autumn Wards unravel the mystery of the 7-year time gap. Fallout (3 Parts) When your initial investigation into a theft at a local S&L reveals a connection to its stolen tech, the drawn-down Autumn Wards bring you in to investigate. The Cage Series [3 parts]: The Iron Widow is back! Or...is she? Your vigilante philosophy is put to the test in this tale of shifting loyalties and outright deceit.  The Bleed [3 parts]: Your investigation of arcane fissures in IP leads you to uncover a 100-year old secret shrouded in magic, blood, and betrayal. Noble Mettle [2 parts]: A Sky Raider raid on the Paragon Commodities Commission turns from simple kidnapping to a complicated scheme involving mercenaries, "Communists," economics, and chemistry. One Shots:  Of Guns and Asa Ronan; The Tenuous State of Grace; Garden of the Will; Gravity; The Book of Bond's; The Lost Girls; Injustice Systems; Wednesday’s Wyverns; Of ‘Dine and Men; Dark Legacy; Shadow and Silver, The Re-education of Westin Phipps, Potter's Field; Magnjficence; Squalls and the Comet, Turf

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I'd also suggest putting in a lot of notices about choosing option B will say MISSION FAILED in large unfriendly red letters, but that it is not actually a fail, just option B.

 

I know in the few times I have purposely given options like that, the big MISSION FAILED message makes it feel like the player made the wrong choice.

AE Arcs: Search for @Ankylosaur    * denotes Dev's Choice

  • Adventures in Lit:  Adventures in Wonderland - 25-54*  |  Adventures in Oz - 40-54  |  Adventures in Neverland - 45-54
  • Notable One-offs: Rularularian - 41-54*  |  The Serpent Beyond the Horizon - 46-52*   |  Robolution - 25-34*  |  The Genesis & Geneticists of The Coming Hamiggedon -  41-54*   |  Spycraft and Spidermen - 40-47  |  Return to Faultline - 40-54 
  • Post-Praetoria Series: All That Glitters: Gold Brickers & Mooks 9 Arcs  |   All That Glimmers:  First Warders & Mu - 9 Arcs  | All That Glints: The Awakened & Council - 3 Arcs  |  All That Glows: Nictus & 5th Column - 3 Arcs*   |  All That Gleams: Epilogue - 1 Arc
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You could possibly do a series of short arcs. Each one ends with "To make choice A, play arc 99832. For choice B, play 99833."

 

Still, given that 99% of people play only to farm, an extra layer of complexity would mean even less people running it.

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As I posted in another thread just now, I got 3 more AE slots by submitting a support ticket, and was told there's more where that came from, free for the asking.  Go for it!

_____________________________

Hi, I'm Clave Dark 5!  You may remember me from such characters as King Pumpkin Spice, Stupid Like A Fox, Capt Sam's Space Zoo, The Pink Bamfer, Trash Ghost, Maid Of Metal... as well as a few really stupid AE arcs!

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I'd suggest also putting the notes about the other arcs in the Souvenir Clue to help the person find the arc names/ids later.

 

Good luck!

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AE Arcs: Search for @Ankylosaur    * denotes Dev's Choice

  • Adventures in Lit:  Adventures in Wonderland - 25-54*  |  Adventures in Oz - 40-54  |  Adventures in Neverland - 45-54
  • Notable One-offs: Rularularian - 41-54*  |  The Serpent Beyond the Horizon - 46-52*   |  Robolution - 25-34*  |  The Genesis & Geneticists of The Coming Hamiggedon -  41-54*   |  Spycraft and Spidermen - 40-47  |  Return to Faultline - 40-54 
  • Post-Praetoria Series: All That Glitters: Gold Brickers & Mooks 9 Arcs  |   All That Glimmers:  First Warders & Mu - 9 Arcs  | All That Glints: The Awakened & Council - 3 Arcs  |  All That Glows: Nictus & 5th Column - 3 Arcs*   |  All That Gleams: Epilogue - 1 Arc
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