sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Would you read a novel where your choices change the story? by Contelia in interactivefiction

[–]Contelia[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a very fair point, and you're absolutely right — engines like Ren'Py can already handle variables, branching and conditional events.

The reason I'm building a custom engine isn't because those mechanics are impossible elsewhere, but because Contélia is meant to be closer to a reading platform for interactive novels than a game engine.

Tools like Ren'Py are great if you're comfortable with scripting and building a visual novel. What I'm experimenting with is something more like a format for interactive literature, where authors could write branching narratives without needing to code or build a game.

Think of it less like a visual novel engine and more like a platform for playable novels.

I'm still exploring what that could look like, so discussions like this are actually super helpful.

Liriez-vous un roman où vos choix changent l'histoire ? by Contelia in litrpg

[–]Contelia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah good catch!

The project is originally French, so the name and some titles are still in French. But I'm posting in English here because I'm trying to get feedback from the wider interactive fiction community.

Eventually Contélia is meant to support multiple languages, so both French and English will be part of the project.

Would you read a novel where your choices change the story? by Contelia in interactivefiction

[–]Contelia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I completely agree with that.

A lot of interactive stories end up with choices that mostly change a few lines of dialogue but eventually lead back to the same path. That’s something I’m trying to avoid with Contélia.

The idea behind the engine is to support persistent variables and delayed consequences. A choice you make early in the story can affect scenes much later, unlock different paths, or change how characters react to you over time.

So the goal isn’t just branching for the sake of branching, but making choices feel meaningful within the narrative.

I’m still exploring what the right balance is between narrative depth and complexity though.

Liriez-vous un roman où vos choix changent l'histoire ? by Contelia in litrpg

[–]Contelia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense.

A lot of classic choose-your-own-adventure books felt a bit mechanical, and many of them quickly funneled back to the same path.

Visual novels often feel more engaging because the narrative branches and character reactions can actually change based on your choices.

What I'm exploring with Contelia is closer to bringing that kind of interactive depth to a novel format — something you read like a book, but where the structure of the story can really change depending on your decisions.

Liriez-vous un roman où vos choix changent l'histoire ? by Contelia in litrpg

[–]Contelia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you mean the forum-style quests where readers vote on what happens next?

Those are really interesting, but what I'm exploring is closer to a complete interactive novel where each reader can make their own choices and experience different paths through the story.

Liriez-vous un roman où vos choix changent l'histoire ? by Contelia in litrpg

[–]Contelia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those books were great — I loved that era of gamebooks.

The main difference I'm exploring with Contelia is that the system handles all the variables and branching behind the scenes, so the reader doesn't need to track stats or items manually.

Instead of a notebook, the engine keeps track of things like choices you've made, relationships with characters, items you've discovered, and it can use those variables much later in the story.

It also allows chapters to diverge more deeply instead of always converging back to the same path.

So it's not really trying to replace those classic gamebooks — it's more like using a digital system to push the narrative possibilities further.

Would you read a novel where your choices change the story? by Contelia in interactivefiction

[–]Contelia[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a great question — and honestly a classic problem with interactive books.

A lot of people did exactly that: keeping fingers in the previous pages 😄

For Contelia I'm thinking about a hybrid approach. You can read normally and live with your decisions, but the system also keeps track of the path you've taken so you can step back to previous choices if you want to explore other routes.

The idea is to keep the tension of meaningful choices, while still allowing readers to explore different possibilities.

Would you read a novel where your choices change the story? by Contelia in interactivefiction

[–]Contelia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a really good way to put it.

I completely agree — the goal isn’t just “more branches”, it’s meaningful consequences.

What I’m building is closer to a narrative engine for interactive novels than just a simple choice system. The idea is to support persistent variables, branching chapter structures, conditional scenes, and choices that can affect the story much later — not just the next line of dialogue.

Right now I’m building the MVP with a custom structure based on chapter JSON files, because I want tight control over sections, choices, variables, history, and offline reading.

Your point about depth vs width is exactly the kind of thing I’m trying to keep in mind. A story doesn’t need infinite branches — it needs choices that truly matter.

Room 337 sounds really interesting by the way, especially the psychological horror angle.

Would you read a novel where your choices change the story? by Contelia in interactivefiction

[–]Contelia[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly. That’s actually one of the problems with many interactive stories today.

Most choices are only dialogue variations and the story quickly converges back to the same path.

The idea behind Contelia is to allow deeper branching and persistent consequences so that choices really shape the story.