Hello, I am considering starting work on a visual novel. For anyone that is unfamiliar it’s like a choose your own adventure story but more complex. I would like to know if Scrivener is capable of handling stories like this with multiple paths or if anyone could suggest a program that is. I originally purchased Scrivener in 2017 and was considering upgrading but only if it will meet my needs. Thanks.
Thank you for the quick response. It looks like it may work perfect for what I need.
You may want to take a look at Scapple if you haven’t already.
I think it may prove to be a very useful tool in the early stages of a project such as yours.
To outline in multiple possible “paths”.
It very much depends on the complexity of the CYOA story you are creating and how you intend to compile it, or use the finished draft.
I have made and taught interactive stories and IMO the method Vincent is suggesting gets unwieldy very very quickly.
The best tool I have found for developing branching stories is free at https://twinery.org/
For the last project I did I actually assembled the map in Twine while developing the individual fleshed-out texts in Scrivener. (The synopsis for each text went into Twine.) That way I could play test it while honing the texts separately in Scrivener.
Your mileage…
Cheers
Owen
Twine does indeed look interesting.
Kind of what I meant when I suggested Scapple.
Thank you for the suggestions. Twine and Scapple both look interesting and worth trying out.
Interesting how this would work with a printed book. “Turn to page 39” is how I remember dying.
I usually got my head bitten off in “chapter 384”…
(I was cheating all the time, keeping a finger on the page I just came from. – After a while you get tired of getting killed… )
You can buy Fighting Fantasy Classics for the iPad, which should stop you keeping your fingers in your previous choices
Steve Jackson also rethought the Socery books for the iPad, with IMO more success.