you should be able to find out for yourself, but it shouldnt be right at the end. If you find out before, it could change the course of the game

Ok, I think I know what you''re getting at. In other words, you think that information held-back from the player should be up to them to find out. And if they do take the time to find out, they would do things differently for the rest of the game.

Something like the deal with shadow in ff6, I don''t think it could have this sort of impact on a game. I think the extra info would have to be pretty important to alter the way the player would play the game.

Just one quick note, the gamer does not want to know the background of the protagonist, if it does not contribute to the plot or the characterization of the protagonist in the first play. The game itself needs to be moving in a fast enough pace so the gamer won''t get bored. A common technique is to hint the gamer a glance of the protagonists identity, then fills it with details as the game progresses. A hint can be enviromental, like working at a police station, or verbal. By verbal i don''t mean a paragraph, hardly any gamers like to read a paragraph in the beginning of the game. A good example is FF7: Berret tells Cloud that he will be paid afterwards, and Cloud indicates himself as the ex-SOLDIER. Simple, with two lines. A quick characterization can also be done: Berret: But the planet will DIE! Cloud: I don''t care. Berret: @!#%$

It''s a lot like writing novels and screenplays. For example, the movie, A Beautiful mind, starts with Nash, listening to a speech given by a math professor in princeton. Later, a quick characterization, "Nash: There has to be a mathematic explanation for how bad your tie is."

Well, you get the point.

Just a quick thought:

I would suggest you watch a lot of movies, or think back to ones you have seen - how were you introduced to the characters and the plot?

Ocean''s 11 - you see the guy talking to the probation officers in a jail - this makes the basis pretty clear.

There are so many ways you can do this WITHOUT amnesia, failed brain transplants, or anything weird.

-geo-