This might be overwhelming…
SO READ SLOWLY
One way you can do this (there’s at least two ways to branch) is flagging.
Here’s how it would look:
choice
“CHARACTER 1”{
gain chose_CHARACTER2
} “CHARACTER 2”{
gain chose_CHARACTER2
}
The “gain” is important because it is a flag, that way the script can remember what the reader chose.
THEN this is where labels come in place.
So let’s say you’re in episode one, and you want the reader to choose the character, you can choose two ways to do it.
You can cram it all into one choice:
choice
“CHARACTER 1”{
[whatever happens when the reader chooses this character for the rest of this episode]
gain chose_CHARACTER1
} “CHARACTER 2”{
[whatever happens when the reader chooses this character for the rest of this episode]
gain chose_CHARACTER2
}
OR you add labels so you don’t have to cramp the storyline into one choice, then you can do this:
choice
“CHARACTER 1”{
gain chose_CHARACTER2 (remember the gain is a flag so that your script can remember)
goto CHARACTER1_branch
} “CHARACTER 2”{
gain chose_CHARACTER2
goto CHARACTER 2_branch
}
goto means to go to the label. You must have a label in order to put goto
You can put labels anywhere in your story.
For example:
NARRATOR
Blah, blah, blah.
label puppies_and_kittens (this is an example label name)
[PLOT]
Here’s another example of a label:
label CHARACTER1_branch
IF I put “goto puppies_and_kittens,” my script will skip everything prior and go immediately to this label and follow the plot after.
For example, you can put labels at the end if you want your audience to skip a story, skip a scene if it isn’t part of their choice, etc. (YouTube videos make this look much easier)
But let’s say you start the next episode. the next time you make another episode, you can branch it with memory once you have flags like this:
if (chose_CHARACTER1){
[Storyline for CHARACTER 1]
} elif (chose_CHARACTER2){
[Storyline for CHARACTER 2]
}
In the first “if,” it must be “if.” However, for the second character, it has to be “elif” because that’s the only way the script will remember. That also goes with more options. If you had a third option, it would still be “elif,” other than the first, does that make sense?
But again, you can also use labels:
if (chose_CHARACTER1){
goto CHARACTER1_branch
} elif (chose_CHARACTER2){
goto CHARACTER2_branch
}
label CHARACTER1_branch
[YOUR PLOT]
goto end (You must put “goto end” if you put labels because if your reader chose CHARACTER 1, the script will follow the plot to CHARACTER 2. to skip that, you must put a label at the end of your story so that if the person chose CHARACTER 1, they won’t read the plot for CHARACTER 2)
label CHARACTER2_branch
[YOUR PLOT]
label end
NARRATOR
To be continued…