Custom Story Length

**Anxt** · 03-10-2011, 12:19 AM

How long do your custom stories usually last upon completion? Mine is around an hour for the full playthrough of what I have made so far, and it got me wondering about how long other people's stories last. Smile

**Pandemoneus** · 03-10-2011, 12:40 AM

Can't really tell, almost none of the available custom stories are final releases.

**Anxt** · 03-10-2011, 01:01 AM

Well I guess I was more wondering what people are going for, even if they havent finished the story yet. Id like mine to be AT LEAST 2-3 hours, if I can come up with enough content for that.

**Nye** · 03-10-2011, 01:04 AM

(03-10-2011, 01:01 AM)Anxt Wrote: Well I guess I was more wondering what people are going for, even if they havent finished the story yet. Id like mine to be AT LEAST 2-3 hours, if I can come up with enough content for that.

Give up now. Tongue

**Tanshaydar** · 03-10-2011, 01:56 AM

Don't make it 10 minutes of nothing. Otherwise, you're free to go. You can see the best mods on ModDB to see how they're handling.

For design structures and steps, first, you should come up with a good idea & story. Then you think about timing. Think about it gaming art, not a map pack.

**thepaleking** · 03-10-2011, 02:35 AM

However long it takes to tell the story and convey the experience that you want. I mean 1 hour of solid play is better than some of those mods that go on and on for 5 hours, and consist mostly of gray hallways.

**Selyp** · 03-10-2011, 04:28 AM

It should last as long as it needs to convey the story you have. Story is extremely important, especially in this type of game where there is not a ton of action.

That being said, it is very difficult to make a long custom story while keeping the players interest. So far, my custom story is probably about 30-40 minutes of play, and it has taken me quite a while to create. However, the story I have in mind is pretty deep, and I believe will take around 2-3 hours to complete. It is very time consuming to create though, and you don't want to add anything that is just filler material. Everything should be very detailed and immersive, otherwise it's boring.

So I guess the short answer is: as long as you need to get your story across.

**Anxt** · 03-10-2011, 05:17 AM

Very solid answers, thank you. I certainly have my story written out in my mind and on some scraps of paper, so the story isn't an issue, and my priority now is to create the game that tells the story, then go in and add the details like the little dust clouds and thumping sounds that make it more realistic/scary.

**Tanshaydar** · 03-10-2011, 11:40 AM

After creating story, you should create a story-telling, which is way harder.
Anyway, I'll be waiting to play this then Smile

**Anxt** · 03-10-2011, 07:09 PM

The biggest issue I think I will have will be any voice acting I try to incorporate to make it tell the story through more than just notes. Currently I haven't tried to do anything with flashbacks, but I would like to attempt it at some point. I guess I'll just have to try it and see.