The Long Narrative - an interactive story experience

[jolynsbass]

Things you get to do the in the Long Narrative #1: The College Student

- Drive a truck to Blackrock Prison!
- Rescue a stranded pilot!
- Have a shootout with 2 escaped convicts!
- And maybe just free the... wait - no major spoilers!
All this, and more, for the low, low price of... free! 

Seriously, if you are someone who enjoys using your imagination, I think you will enjoy the Long Narrative.
It will take approximately 100 in-game days, and has a focused long-term story-line -- which I have found remarkably fun to play, even if I say so as the story's writer. (I've never been so excited to find newsprint! You'll see what I mean!)  It reads quite a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure story at times. Just open the .pdf linked to below, read the opening notes, and follow the story!

Here's a sample from the beginning of the Long Narrative:

Quote

CH1

You are a college student on repeat vacation from the mainland with a friend you have grown close to in college, both of you starting in the same classes, pursuing mechanical engineering degrees. He is also an outdoor enthusiast, whose family owns the Quonset gas station in the Coastal Highway, and who loves rock climbing at night. You two are out exploring the ravine by the railroad tracks, and decide to call it quits for the night. You go up the rope first, and are looking back down as your friend begins to climb. He is half-way up, when a strange noise from the sky causes you to look up. While you've enjoyed the Northern lights before, you've never seen an aurora like this... suddenly the ground shakes. The rope slips free from its moorings and your friend begins to scream as he falls, but the scream stops short with a sickening thud. A tree branch is shaken loose and hits you on the head. You manage to avoid going over the edge of the ravine, but, dazed from the physical blow, and stunned at the sudden loss of your friend, you stumble blindly for a ways, looking for shelter or a way back to the Quonset. Growing more and more dizzy, you eventually pass out...

You come to in familiar surroundings - you are not too far from the Quonset. You've got to make it back there as fast as possible to let the family know about the loss of their son. It's crazy cold out, but you're certain you will be fine once you reach the warm gas station.

GOAL: Get to the Quonset ASAP. Do not pick up anything along the way. Do not enter any buildings or cars, unless it is to avoid hostile wildlife. Once you get inside the Quonset, pause the game and read CH2.

There is some engaging fun to be had - so if you're looking for a diversion from the usual Long Dark experience, try it out!

(The Long Narrative is played in Survival Mode, and does not require any DLC)

Download the PDF HERE.
(best to download, rather than use Google Drive's preview, so the internal page links work by simply clicking on them.)

Edited October 5 by jolynsbass
Clarify download as best option

[jolynsbass]

(Reserved for additional narrative(s), if reception is positive... I've got more fun story ideas.)

[jolynsbass]

Anybody try downloading this and playing through part of it yet? I'd love some feedback, but if it's not of interest to the general public, I'm content to just play it myself! It was a fun project and I got to spend some fun creative time with my son making it.

[mintietcatm]

1 hour ago, jolynsbass said:

Anybody try downloading this and playing through part of it yet? I'd love some feedback, but if it's not of interest to the general public, I'm content to just play it myself! It was a fun project and I got to spend some fun creative time with my son making it.

Once im free from midterm week im definetly checking this out! Just finished writing an interactive story book for an assignment so im hyped about this  

[mfuegemann]

Hi Jolynsbass,

thank You for Your work! A total of 117 pages is incredible. I will defintely give Your story a try. I was searching for something to do and started a run to explore the long development map. Your idea is most welcome.

Regards
Michael 

[mfuegemann]

Hi Jolynsbass,

I started the run and have reached chapter DP3. The storytelling and the handling of possible situations is great (RV1). Also the restrictions of the character are leading to a well paced gameplay. I am looking forward to continue my run tomorrow.

Regards
Michael

[RossBondReturns]

I'll make a LP Series of this...I might even record myself with an accent unlike my own.

[RossBondReturns]

For Clarity- since I want to get the start right- it's somewhat unclear if I'm starting in the Ravine...or have made it back to CH from being in the Ravine. What do you intend? 

[mfuegemann]

You wake up in CH after the accident and head to Quonset without any delay as a first action.
For me it was a perfect start, as I spawned at the Ravine transition.

[conanjaguar]

This looks fun... maybe I'll give it a shot .

[RossBondReturns]

6 hours ago, mfuegemann said:

You wake up in CH after the accident and head to Quonset without any delay as a first action.
For me it was a perfect start, as I spawned at the Ravine transition.

I understand that...but from what it also said I was hit with a limb (by the Ravine Rope Descent to BI) and got more and more dizzy and lost consciousness...if I were getting dizzy...no way in hell I would risk going across the trestle no matter what the story says.

I would spawn in CH...and make my way to the cave by the switch off near the train cars and log bridge not far from the Rope Climb- and logically start it there.

[mfuegemann]

11 hours ago, RossBondReturns said:

I understand that...but from what it also said I was hit with a limb (by the Ravine Rope Descent to BI) and got more and more dizzy and lost consciousness...if I were getting dizzy...no way in hell I would risk going across the trestle no matter what the story says.

I would spawn in CH...and make my way to the cave by the switch off near the train cars and log bridge not far from the Rope Climb- and logically start it there.

Hi RossBondReturns,

that makes also sense and from Your perspective of a planned recording it would be much more compelling to start the adventure there.

[RossBondReturns]

I've started my recording.

Took Stalker and removed the monologue so it's barely custom...modded.

On like Day 3...trying to get to the required Heat/Windproofness is taking quite some craziness.

Also since my college student is from around here he has the Temp Buff and the Fire Buff since it makes sense.

[mfuegemann]

Good luck. I am at chapter CH10 now, found all the necessary items and have just to haul them back. For one item I had to walk back to almost the last corner of DP, but I was lucky in the end. 

[mfuegemann]

@jolynsbass: in chapter CH10, please add the requirements in litres for us metric guys.

[mfuegemann]

Wow, what a change in pace. After waiting for 10 days for an Aurora, I managed it barely to chapter PV1. I got ambushed twice by Aurora wolfs on the way, getting out of my red zone by using a stim in PV, trailing some companion to the chapter goal. Now I am at chapter PV5, regrouping and planning my next steps.

Thank You for the revitalized approach to a world, I thought known to me.

On my next steps, I will do the retour and then head on. Looking forward to the new chapters ahead of me.

[mfuegemann]

I finished the story and must thank @jolynsbass for his effort. This adventure was very well written and so entertaining. I did especially like the decision making situations. To give You an idea, of what to expect: it took me 114 ingame days to reach the final chapter. You should be familiar with the maps and be able to find the main points of interest without trouble. As Jolynsbass suggests, You should mostly stay on the suggested path and not stray too far, as the story will lead You through various parts of Great Bear island.

Once again, I can only recommend You to give this interactive story a try. 

 

Edited November 15 by mfuegemann
removed screenshot to avoid spoilers

[RossBondReturns]

I have had no time to continue recording/playing this week...but something unexpected sure happened which really hits hard because of the story.

This is excellent so far!

[jolynsbass]

Oh hey guys! Decided to check back in on the forums, and I'm very pleased to see that some of you have tried this variation/interactive story. Thanks for the kind words! 

Good suggestion on metric amounts, @mfuegemann - I'll comb through and be sure to add conversions to the gallons/liters entries (I mostly remembered on the lbs/kg stuff!) And, I'll glad you enjoyed the story-line! I think it's kind of fun to role-play interacting with the various people along the way...

I've got a couple of other really fun ideas - one tied to the "crackpot scientist" mentioned early in this particular story, and another involving a retired military veteran... Once I've finished exploring the new options just released in the Survival mode (so excited for the Safehouse customization!), I may begin another interactive storyline.

@RossBondReturns, Hope everything is all right with you - I'd love to see your play footage. Do you have any of it posted? And where would I find it if so (or when done?)

To address your question from earlier - I always had the character wakeup in CH, but in the Ravine also works. It certainly is likely the character wasn't thinking clearly in any case, and could have somehow managed to cross the trestle before blacking out, but either way holds true to the story. I think I originally had  the spawn in CH because there is no hostile wildlife in the Ravine, so just wanted to jump right into more action/danger.

Edited Thursday at 02:31 AM by jolynsbass
lack of forum skillz...

[RossBondReturns]

@jolynsbass I decided to restart with the newly updated game. But I will share a link to my channel once I've started to upload.