When creating a branching narrative it helps to have a visual way of representing the "dialog tree." There are lots of tools out there for this, but I prefer to use a free mindmap program that also works as a chrome extension with Google Drive called draw.io.
You basically start with an initial node and each time you come to a point in the story where the viewer/player has to make a decision, you create a new node for each possible decision. This is also where I started experimenting with dialog. I started out with a more complex branching narrative, like below:
But in the interest of simplicity I found I could make it a linear story with temporary branching that always comes back to the main throughline. This gives the illusion of choice while allowing the author to stick to a single ending which seems fairly important if you want to have your main theme/subtext remain consistent. I ended up with this:
Now I'm ready to write the VR screenplay using my outline and this dialog tree!
Next time I'll mention some tips on how to do that.
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