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[Obrusnine]

Now, atm I'm working on a game with a non-linear story component.

By that, I mean that the game's story plays out like Dragon Age or Mass Effect.

What I can't figure out is how to write this in Microsoft Word. It just isn't an effective way to organize the writing. I noticed that I definitely need some kind of flow chart, but how would I got about doing that?

Does anyone have any methods or programs that they would use to work on a non-linear story like this? Cause I just can't figure it out.

Suggestions for good programs (don't care if I need to pay for them) for good flow-charting would be nice, thanks,

[Pryde]

Actually, I use good 'ol Notepad for just about all my record-keeping. The simplest way of keeping track of everything would be to keep seperate Word files for individual aspects. One to outline protagonists & antagonists, and one for each area. Possibly even one for major events for quick reference.

[Obrusnine]

That's a good idea! Thanks!

I just with MS Office came with a good flow-charting program so that I could map what an NPC's response is to player queries...

[RPG_Lover]

I either write a book and base it off of that or wing it. But everything still needs planned out.

[Frousteleous]

you can actually connect documents together, especially in MSoffice. google how to do it. its kinda like putting a link to a website in an essay, only its a link to another one of your own documents. just keep everything in the same or nearly the same folder so its all together.

example document:

character walks into store. notices a robber in progess. the character can...

-save the clerk by beating up the robber
-run out of the store, waving his arms like a chimp
-demand that the robber let you help run the place down and get 43.6% of the loot.

so, if you highlighted one of the choices, you could turn it into a hyperlink, linking it to the corresponding document.

[Obrusnine]

Yet another great idea, I'll try it out.

[Frousteleous]

yeah, it's called a hyperlink. like i said, google it. hope that'll work out. i used to do that when i was writing my first book. when my character would mention a new species in his world, id hyperlink that species' name to a document with all its information, then i could come back latter and impliment it into the story then or later.

[MarxMayhem]

My tactic is to just write everything down on a piece of paper, and just link the sequencing with a line. When I'm done, I make a tidier flow chart in paper or in Notepad.

[Ookie Panda]

I think this is more of a writing topic, so I will send this over to the great people of Literature, Art, and Music

[Fall From Eden]

You could always use Zim Desktop Wiki. Seems to be exactly the kind of thing that you're looking for, and best of all, it's multi-platform and open source.

I use it for all kinds of things. It's extremely useful. At the moment, I'm using it for my project (which features a subjective storyline... it's linear, in a way, but the story you experience isn't the literal reality of what's happening, so there are two storylines I have to manage at once). I also use it to keep track of any kind of information I collect for my project, so I have hyperlinks to Wikipedia articles, historical references, programs and resources that I'm using, credits and contributors to the project....

Really, you should try it. It sounds like the kind of thing that you're looking for. Once you get used to Zim, it's insanely handy. The main website is here, and there's a Windows installer here.

Good luck.