Turbo Hermit

Ex-technical artist, now narrative and game designer, writing resources for aspiring and experienced game makers alike.

Loves indie and experimental stuff, music, food and writing

Blog: https://newtonarrative.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NewToNarrative
Discord: https://discord.gg/rYRhYdaM3v

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turbohermit_at_peoplemaking.games@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2024-09-19 19:30:45

I've been using LegendKeeper as my project organization tool for the past year. Its meant mostly for D&D campaigns, but the interactive map is also useful for blocking out levels in pre-production, I've found!
#gamedev #indiedev #rumorweaver
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/113/165/876/571/113/524/original/a1c84e613e880e53.mp4

2024-09-19 19:30:45

2024-09-17 15:32:21

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Thought this was useful? Read the full blog here: https://newtonarrative.com/blog/procedural-narrative-and-how-to-keep-it-coherent/
It's free and you don't need an account or anything. Have fun proceduraling!
#gamedev #gamedesign #indiedev #gamewriting #narrativedesign
15/15

2024-09-17 15:32:16

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Hopefully, you can already imagine the possibilities of this kind of storytelling! If you have many of these events players will likely experience an entirely unique sequence of them. Just a quick disclaimer: this is just one implementation of procedural narrative.
14/15
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/113/153/614/278/634/849/original/66f4f768c2a992a9.jpeg

2024-09-17 15:32:05

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If we shuffle in another, different "event", we can create even more combinations. For example, Loki might hand you the heavy bag and you then get attacked by giants. How will you fight back while still holding that bag?
13/15

2024-09-17 15:32:00

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Or, alternatively:
You encounter Loki > he pushes you off of a cliff for no apparent reason > you later find Loki hanging off a cliff himself > looks like the tables have turned, Loki!
12/15

2024-09-17 15:31:54

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In addition to the original story, now it could follow this progression instead:
You encounter Loki > he gives you a heavy bag for no apparent reason > you later find Loki hanging off a cliff > you let him fall.
Now you have a free bag and it only cost you eternal guilt!
11/15

2024-09-17 15:31:49

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I also wouldn’t put it past him to hand you a heavy bag out of nowhere. Him plummeting to his demise and cursing you would not make much sense without any prior context. So we put that card aside and only shuffle it into the deck after you draw the event that precedes it
10/15

2024-09-17 15:31:44

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Naturally, not every plot beat still makes sense when it’s out of order. So, we take only the cards that make sense by themselves. We put aside the cards that don’t. Loki pushing you off a cliff unprompted is definitely something Loki would do.
9/15

2024-09-17 15:31:39

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In this case, there’s a deck of cards for the first choice and another, different deck for the second choice. The decks are still in order, however. In procedural narrative, we’d take all those cards and shuffle them together.
8/15

2024-09-17 15:31:33

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In a branching story, we could have the player choose to save Loki or let him fall to his doom. Naturally, that would take the story in a different direction. If the player lets Loki fall, he curses them as he plummets to his demise.
7/15

2024-09-17 15:31:28

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Finally, Loki pushes the player off the cliff. What a twist, nobody saw that coming! You could visualize each plot beat as cards, stacked into a deck, in consecutive order. The player then draws each card one by one. When they pull the last card in the deck the story is over
6/15

2024-09-17 15:31:23

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To illustrate this more clearly, let’s think of a small example. Let’s write a linear story, where we have the player encounter Loki, the Norse god of mischief, hanging off a cliff. Then, the player saves him. He hands the player a heavy bag as a reward… very suspicious.
5/15

2024-09-17 15:31:17

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We pile these "events" up in a big stack, like a deck of cards, and sort them by probability. Probability in this case refers to the likelihood of that card being picked next. Like in a lot of interactive fiction, the player’s actions and choices influence that probability.
4/15

2024-09-17 15:31:12

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I like to describe procedural narrative as a branching story of which the creators don’t know if or when a plot beat will show up. A popular approach of procedural narrative is chopping up the story into little pieces, that I like to call "Events"
3/15

2024-09-17 15:31:06

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Typically, when we talk about “story” in games or interactive fiction we think of either a linear story that the player experiences plot beat to plot beat. Or perhaps a branching story where the player’s choice influences the direction the story takes.
2/15

2024-09-17 15:31:01

When I talk to people new to #gamedev, I often get the question what IS procedural narrative? Let's dig into it!
#narrativedesign #writingcommunity #indiedev
1/15
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/113/153/609/368/094/050/original/74edb82a6302e976.jpeg

2024-09-16 09:04:21

I published a blog about procedural narrative today. Having trouble with making your procedural story coherent? Give it a read!
https://newtonarrative.com/blog/procedural-narrative-and-how-to-keep-it-coherent/
#gamedev #indiedev #narrativedesign #writingcommunity

2024-09-14 12:00:53

Latest screenshots for my historical Korean narrative game. Historically, the woodblock (mokgan) has been used to write quick notes. I'm still fiddling to get it right, because right now its uhm... not great yet.
#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #solodev
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/113/135/795/860/107/866/original/8390cdcce79cb780.jpeg
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/113/135/796/139/522/239/original/d979000255756a98.jpeg
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/113/135/796/348/006/318/original/2d7c79daf53aac3e.jpeg

2024-09-10 16:59:11

Opened unity to extract sources from a unity package. After a year of working exclusively with Godot, WOW Unity is bad. Slow like thick shite, flooded with update and license agreements messages, errors on a clean project. What a joke.
Use #Godot folks, it's free and as easy.

2024-09-07 15:22:24

Imported some external models to see how they fare with my shaders. There's still quite a lot of processing to do on models to make it feel good... Might have to make custom models in the end.
#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #solodev
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/113/096/952/461/383/785/original/47289dd16c4f1728.jpeg

2024-08-27 07:00:46

Posting blogs on gamedeveloper.com seems like a bit of a chore. Can anyone tell me if it's still worth it in terms of engagement? E.g. you had people reach out and say you're blog was useful.
#gamedev #indiedev

2024-08-03 12:00:50

Made quite a ways of progress in the past week! Dialogue system, systemic cause and effect and the core mechanic all implemented.
#screenshotsaturday #rumorweaver #indiedev #solodev 🎮
https://s3.wasabisys.com/pmg-media/media_attachments/files/112/897/979/099/311/213/original/bc4060e7cafe2004.mp4

2024-08-01 11:04:38

For games with autosave features, do you care about save slots? E.g. having multiple runs at the same time
#gamedev #indiedev #gamedesign 🎮

2024-07-31 09:44:44

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Oh yeah this one is also in video format if that's more your jam!
https://youtu.be/-NKKIDYU0sU?si=_1oTXg9Ridv2rH0w
#gamedev #gamedesign #indiedev

2024-07-30 07:00:41

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In this one, we talk about systemic game design. These are principles often used for simulation games, and sandbox games like the new Zeldas. We explain what systemic game design IS and how it can enhance your game's narrative:
https://newtonarrative.com/blog/systemic-game-design-and-how-to-apply-it-to-storytelling/

2024-07-30 07:00:35

New to narrative design? I've been steadily uploading educational articles about #gamedesign, #gamedev and #gamewriting. They're completely free, no subscription neccesary. Here's a little rundown for you:
#writingcommunity