Across the Galaxy

Across the Galaxy is an interactive visual novel that follows the story of two best friends given the task to save humanity in their attempt to find a habitable planet for humans to live on.

Role: Narrative and engine lead: wrote the branching script and coded four routes in Ren'Py (Python).

Delivered a non-linear visual novel with four distinct endings driven by player choice.
Used a flowchart to map every decision point across the branching narrative.

The Concept

As a team, we looked for a concept that would work well for a branching storyline. After brainstorming several ideas, we decided that a space-themed game would be the perfect fit.

Flowchart

To track every decision the player can make, I designed a flow diagram to visualize and map out the different choices and outcomes. The flowchart was a visual representation of every significant decision point, helping me track how each choice affected the overall narrative.

Coding

I used Ren'Py as the engine to code the game, a free, open-source engine based on Python that provides tools for creating interactive storytelling experiences. It offered everything we needed, including an intuitive and efficient workflow.

A Fully Interactive Story

Across the Galaxy follows a non-linear narrative path featuring four playable routes for the player to choose from. All paths include their own unique story and ending dependent on the player's decisions.

The Experience

Throughout the design process, I applied levels of logic and problem solving to understand how to script and code many non-linear narrative paths into one complete story. Planning ahead and coordinating with my team created an effective work structure that helped us keep up with deadlines, applying creative techniques such as world building and script writing.