Branching Story, Unlocked Dialogue: Designing and Writing Visual Novels

This book covers the distinguishing characteristics and tropes of visual novels (VNs) as choice-based games and analyzes VNs like 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors; Hatoful Boyfriend; and Monster Prom, some of the best examples of the genre as illustrations. The author covers structuring branching narrative and plot, designing impactful and compelling choices, writing entertaining relationships and character interactions, understanding the importance of a VN's prose, and planning a VN's overall narrative design and story delivery.

The book contains exercises at the end of chapters to practice the techniques discussed. By the end of the book, if the reader finishes all the exercises, they may have several portfolio pieces or a significant portion of their own VN project designed.

Features:

• Discusses different aspects and genres of VNs, what makes them enjoyable, and successful techniques developers can incorporate into their own games
• Analyzes various VNs and choice-based games that use these successful techniques
• Shares tips from developers on portfolio pieces, hiring a team to work on VNs, and plotting and outlining VNs

Branching Story, Unlocked Dialogue: Designing and Writing Visual Novels is a valuable resource for developers and narrative designers interested in working on VNs. The book will show them how they can design their own VN projects, design branching narratives, develop entertaining plots and relationships, design impactful and compelling choices, and write prose that's a pleasure to read.

本書介紹了視覺小說（Visual Novels，簡稱VN）作為選擇式遊戲的獨特特點和慣例，並分析了《999：九小時九人九門》、《鳩森男友》和《Monster Prom》等VN的優秀範例。作者講解了分支敘事和情節結構、設計有影響力和引人入勝的選擇、撰寫有趣的人際關係和角色互動、理解VN文學的重要性，以及規劃VN整體敘事設計和故事傳遞的方法。

本書每章末尾都有練習題，讓讀者可以實踐所學的技巧。如果讀者完成了所有練習，他們可能會有幾個作品集或自己的VN項目的重要部分。

特點：
- 討論了VN的不同方面和類型，以及使它們受歡迎的因素和開發者可以融入自己遊戲中的成功技巧。
- 分析了使用這些成功技巧的各種VN和選擇式遊戲。
- 分享了開發者關於作品集、組建VN團隊以及規劃和概述VN的建議。

《分支故事，解鎖對話：設計和撰寫視覺小說》是開發者和敘事設計師在VN領域感興趣的寶貴資源。本書將向他們展示如何設計自己的VN項目，設計分支敘事，開發有趣的情節和人際關係，設計有影響力和引人入勝的選擇，以及撰寫令人愉悅的文學作品。

Nashville native Toiya Kristen Finley is a writer, editor, game designer, and narrative designer/game writer. She holds a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from Binghamton University. With nearly 70 published works, she has over 20 years of experience writing in a range of genres.

In 2011, she co-founded the Game Writing Tutorial at GDC Online with Tobias Heussner and served as an instructor in 2011 and 2012. In videogames, she has worked as a game designer, narrative designer, game writer, and editor (or some combination of the four) on several unreleased and in-production indie, social, and mobile games for children and general audiences. Some of these projects shall stay locked away in dungeons for eternity (hey, that's the game industry for ya). Some published games include Academagia: The Making of Mages (Black Chicken Studios), Fat Chicken (Relevant Games), Verdant Skies (Howling Moon Software), and Siren Song (Stardust Works). She co-authored The Game Narrative Toolbox (Focal Press, 2015) with Jennifer Brandes Hepler, Ann Lemay, and Tobias Heussner. Most recently, she edited and contributed to Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling (CRC Press, 2018). Her current work includes writing and editing for various interactive fiction projects and narrative design and game design for Digital Myths Studio.

Previous Publications: The Game Narrative Toolbox, Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling

納什維爾本地人Toiya Kristen Finley是一位作家、編輯、遊戲設計師和敘事設計師/遊戲編劇。她擁有Binghamton大學文學和創意寫作的博士學位。她已經發表了近70部作品，擁有超過20年的寫作經驗，涵蓋了各種類型的作品。

2011年，她與Tobias Heussner共同創辦了GDC Online的遊戲寫作教程，並在2011年和2012年擔任教師。在視頻遊戲中，她曾在幾個未發布和正在製作中的獨立、社交和手機遊戲中擔任遊戲設計師、敘事設計師、遊戲編劇和編輯（或以上四種角色的組合）。其中一些項目將永遠被鎖在地牢中（嘿，這就是遊戲行業）。一些已發布的遊戲包括《Academagia: The Making of Mages》（Black Chicken Studios）、《Fat Chicken》（Relevant Games）、《Verdant Skies》（Howling Moon Software）和《Siren Song》（Stardust Works）。她與Jennifer Brandes Hepler、Ann Lemay和Tobias Heussner合著了《The Game Narrative Toolbox》（Focal Press，2015）。最近，她編輯並為《Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling》（CRC Press，2018）做出了貢獻。她目前的工作包括為各種互動小說項目進行寫作和編輯，以及為Digital Myths Studio進行敘事設計和遊戲設計。

先前的出版物：《The Game Narrative Toolbox》、《Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling》