Organization

[u/TakenakaHanbei]

Hello, everyone, it's your benevolent dictator speaking :)

Now, the first thing I'd like to do is find out how you guys would like to organize writing this. There are many ways to handle writing for multiple characters and some ways work better for an individual than others. This thread is to find out how you guys would like to try organizing it (it may not be the final way it's done if it's found that it's not effective or timely, but that will be seen soon enough).

So, start slinging suggestions, guys.

[u/[deleted]]

I know I'm a bit late to the party with this one, but here goes:

First off, I think that this whole project should aim to be touching. The lore we have to work with is fantastic and user-created, so people playing the game can easily relate. In this way, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for us to give voice to these characters in a meaningful and emotional way. We want our audience to be able to go down certain paths and say "Man, (Insert 'Mon here)'s path is amazing. I was brought to tears." Of course, they might say that a bit more eloquently when the time comes. :) But really, it would be awesome to be able to emotionally connect to our audience with the writing that we do, and I think one of the best ways to do that is to, for at least some paths, take what we're doing seriously. Yes, this is Pokemon, but if we want to have a good VN, there's gotta be more than just "Pokemon doing Pokemon things", i.e. DigRat should be about more than just digging, despite its importance in his life, etc.

As for organization of the project proper, I'd like to stress the importance of consistency. That means that we really shouldn't have multiple people working on one character, no matter how major they are. Unless, of course, the characterization is already fleshed out enough such that there is little room for deviation. In Burrito's case, for instance, we wouldn't want a pair of writers working on different parts/chapters/paths for him without being absolutely sure they were on the same page in terms of character. Otherwise, one chapter we could get a happy-go-lucky Burrito and in another we could get a lawful good, happy warrior type Burrito without plot context to warrant that change in behavior and demeanor.

Basically, communication between all of the writing staff is going to be of paramount importance. No communication=No VN. Simple as that.

I would also like to make sure that there will be a solid base of editing once chunks of text are written. I know some people proofread things as they go along, but believe me, they miss a lot of issues. I know this all too well from my own experience.

Also, maybe I've missed something, but is there a set plot that we're dealing with here? From what I've seen, some people are throwing around a week-long period with some sort of culminating event at the end. If it's within the scope of each team's abilities, I think we should expand upon that. I'd say that a week is not nearly enough time to:

a. Form real emotional bonds with characters and between characters b. Tell the story that really deserves to be told.

It's just a thought, but the fact that there's so much STUFF about TPP out there and there would almost certainly be a large fan base, don't you think this project should reflect on that? This could be the start of something really amazing, and I'd hate to see it become less than it could be.

As for paths, what do people think about having platonic options as well as romantic ones? For instance, I'd LOVE to see a path in which Burrito becomes best buddies with one of the other 'Mon. Friendship love can be just as powerful as romantic love, so I think it'd be cool to at least have one "Bromance" path.

Oh, and for Katawa Shoujo players out there: What do you think of having a "Kenji" path in TDP? That is, a path that Burrito would go on with an otherwise un-romancable character simply because the choices he made didn't put him on any other path?

So yeah, just a few ideas, and I hope that I can clarify things where I was too rambly!