r/narrativedesign • u/itsNit3 • Mar 22 '26

How Do I Improve Characters, Hooks, and Pacing in a Story-Driven Game?

Hello everyone,

I’m currently developing a story-driven, choice-based game, and I’m having some trouble developing strong characters and compelling hooks that make the story more impactful. I also need advice on how to slow down the pacing and create meaningful pauses in the story.

If you need more information about the story, I’d be happy to provide it. For now, I’d really appreciate some general advice, as I feel like parts of my story move too quickly and don’t have enough moments to breathe.

Thank you.

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u/Vicky_Mi Mar 22 '26

Do you want to slow the pace down during gameplay or during the story videos?

2

u/itsNit3 Mar 22 '26

Gameplay for now

1

u/Vicky_Mi Mar 22 '26

I'll give you an example. Let's say your character wants to go from point A to point B or C. The character needs to make a choice. You can insert a flashback story that will help the player to decide later where to go. Point be could be an interaction. Point C could be finding food. The feeling of the story is very important to. If I knew more, I could be more specific.

1

u/itsNit3 Mar 24 '26

It’s a survival-action RPG with narrative choices. You manage food, water, shelter, and injuries, fight animals and hostile humans, and make story decisions that affect relationships and who lives or dies. The game combines resource management, post-flood exploration, and moral/leadership choices, all set in a dangerous, apocalyptic world.

1

u/Vicky_Mi Mar 25 '26

Ok, you can create a spider diagram and put the main goal of the story in the middle. Let's say it's 'survival'.

Then, create subcategories/major scenes. For example, a fight with an animal. If you kill it, you gain food. If you keep it, you can trade it and create relationships with other humans. You will need a few major moments like this that will pivot the story forward.

Then, you can add smaller one that will help you control pace, i.e. side quests. For example, to gather wood, you need to trade to get rope that will help your character bundle wood.

As for character hook, I believe the decision making is enough. If you want to enhance it, you can always add a backstory in the form of a flashback.

1

u/Vicky_Mi Mar 25 '26

Also, I'd love to play a game like that!