Non-linearity
While writing Episode 2 Jalapeno purposely left a lot of it out of order. So when it came down to the stage of integrating it all together, I was left with a bunch of missions and forums that I could introduce to the player in any order I wanted.
In Episode 1, we dabbled a bit with non-linearity, but we only had about 10 forums so we didn't flesh it out very much. There are a couple of parts in the storyline where you can do things in the order you choose, but most of the time it's a straight line.
In Episode 2, this is quite different. It works more like Grand Theft Auto, where you are given multiple contacts at once. You can do their missions in whatever order you wish, but new missions are only unlocked after you finish the original ones. Sometimes, finishing one of several missions unlocks several other missions.
It will be interesting to see the order that people play through the game once we open up the Episode 2 beta! I honestly have no idea what route will be the most popular.
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Comments
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FIRST!
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SECOND!!!!!!
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That’s cool.
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Well that’s just going to totally fuck up any walkthrough I write. Thanks so much!
But from a strict playability POV: Very cool.
Oh, and almost forgot: FOURTH!
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Episode 2 is gonna be like Grand Theft Auto? So am I gonna be able to run over hookers with a mail truck?
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Non-linearity? – Great! Will there be choices with consequences as well?
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Speaking of GTA, this article discusses new gaming innovations which would be cool on Forumwarz. Imagine a forum just shutting down after a Troll has hit two or three threads (“This shit isn’t worth my time, I’m shutting the site down.”) but becoming harder for Camwhores as more threads are created asking her to show more of herself…
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Or the attacks getting stronger as people get more and more annoyed at the emo kid.
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Will episode 1 need to be completed before episode 2 will be unlocked?
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@Clorox: While I can’t say for sure, I would think you’d want to. The challenges in Ep 2 will most likely not be newbie-friendly (I doubt you’ll see any Difficulty 1-5 forums, for example). Plus, the storyline is almost definitely going to be a continuation, so you might not understand what’s going on if you haven’t played through Ep 1.
Why would you want to skip Ep 1 anyway?
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This is a good idea but you could take it even further by giving the player entirely different missions depending on what path he chooses when speaking with NPCs, as in giving the player more choice in not just the order of the missions he can accomplish but what missions he might or might not receive. Just my $0,02.