Hey guys. Need advice on a matter thats been baffling me.

I have a main story. Made in proper context and all. I have two characters who generally have an uneasy past that will be presented in the form of flashbacks and argumentative conversations in cutscenes. The story has many secrets behind the becoming of the second character because they play the villain, but in a sense where they are misunderstood  (Like Sylar on Heroes). I was wonder how I could incorporate this secondary characters life story after their separation with the first character.......should I make a interactive flashback where the player can see things through the secondary characters eyes so that his actions can be justified through what he went through  (i.e. Call of Duty Ghost. The fathers flashback to why Rorke is hunting ghosts) or should I got with the more subtle approach, presenting it as a prologue that shows the past, then works through present day.

Any other approaches would be highly appreciated

I like both approaches. However, with the first one, by having the player see through said secondary character , then switching back to the actual player character, can be jarring and confusing. If you start with the main character, you establish who the game is mostly played by. Later on you can switch characters to show stuff. I'm thinking of that exact idea in my game story. Jotted it down to consider later.

Now your second idea seems as the more conventional route, which isn't necessarily bad. If you show a past tense cinematic, you establish the two characters and perhaps the beginnings of their differences. It makes the player understand that you have these two characters at odds early on. What I see problematic is that outside that conflict there isn't much else about these two. You can explore that later on through the first idea. 

What is your idea, or ideas, for the background lore? Will the player watch cinematics explaining it, or will they find in game stuff related to it? Also, do you want your villain established right off the bat, or do you want the player to learn about said villain as the story progresses and characters are introduced? You might do some foreshadowing first, showing a relationship between the characters, then gradually the other character turns bad? Or maybe that's nothing close to your plan. It might be better to focus on your protagonist first, show the player why we need to care about them and enjoy playing as them, before you bring up a bad guy. Of course not all game stories need to show certain characters this way.

This help any?

Loads of help. The thing is, my idea is based on the betrayal of one brother to the other. The other moves on with their lives thinking their sibling is dead, but in actual fact is just living off 6 years of his life as a small time theif at a distant county. I was thinking player starts the game playing as the protagonist detective trying to solve a string of well planned crimes, then when the antagonist is discovered, it turns out to be the brother. From there onwards the story continues with the detective as a captive in a disclosed location, and the theif becomes the detective, solving crimes and stuff. The twist to the story would be that the goody two shoes detective is actually the antagonist and the criminal is the protagonist, just wronged to many times to give a sh*# about morals. 

So with that I've been trying to find a never been attempted approach towards presenting backstories. The story already had antagonists for the undercover antagonist/protagonist, my problem was showing players where the rivalry come from.

Advice was helpful too....thanks alot

On 1/8/2018 at 3:03 PM, Savidge said:

Loads of help. The thing is, my idea is based on the betrayal of one brother to the other. The other moves on with their lives thinking their sibling is dead, but in actual fact is just living off 6 years of his life as a small time theif at a distant county. I was thinking player starts the game playing as the protagonist detective trying to solve a string of well planned crimes, then when the antagonist is discovered, it turns out to be the brother. From there onwards the story continues with the detective as a captive in a disclosed location, and the theif becomes the detective, solving crimes and stuff. The twist to the story would be that the goody two shoes detective is actually the antagonist and the criminal is the protagonist, just wronged to many times to give a sh*# about morals. 

So with that I've been trying to find a never been attempted approach towards presenting backstories. The story already had antagonists for the undercover antagonist/protagonist, my problem was showing players where the rivalry come from.

Advice was helpful too....thanks alot

So the confusion by the player could work in your favor by being intentional for a time? Hmm...sounds like it might work. At least establish a character to start playing as that makes the player think they're the protagonist. 

This reminds me of a Kevin Kostner movie called "No Way Out" about a Russian Spy named Yuri.  You might watch that movie for some inspiration/ideas.  I haven't seen it in many years, but it has aspects too it that are similar to your story.

I'll look that up immediately....thanks for the reference. 

I personally like the second idea better, but, it's your story. If anything, block out how both would look/work in the game, and then see which you feel resonates more.