Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

Since the title of this discussion is rather vague, I'll explain myself:

I have an idea for a custom case, however as we all know, cases in the Ace Attorney franchise are known for being "messy", as in it is a story tangled and twisted unto itself, and that must be revealed.

I have experience at writing fanfiction and regular fiction, but I can't seem to grasp the concept of how to write the script for a case. Any of you who have written a case or two, care to share any tips?

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Here's a PyWright Tutorial from a person name Ropfa.

link: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=27314&p=1205721#p1205721

Hope this helps.

I think he means the actual story, rather than the coding.

The progression of the story maybe isn't TOO different from fan fiction. AA games are, after all, primarily dialogue, so there's not much need to insert large sections of gameplay, as you would have in an FPS or RPG. However, you do need to consider places where there should be player input. All the evidence will either need to be handed to you by another character or manually found by the player. And any contradictions there are will need some sort of buildup so that the player knows what he's supposed to be figuring out.

All necessary information should go into sections the player can't progress without seeing. Supporting information or random jokes or stuff you cant fit into the main dialogue can either go in conversation from pressing a testimony statement or conversation from presenting evidence to a character.

Also, a big difference is that fan games have a visual aspect to them. So the player can actually see the locations, evidence, and characters. You won't need to have anybody narrate what it all looks like to the player, because the player already knows what it looks like.

Hope that helped.

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First off, make sure you have no misconceptions: writing mysteries is hard. But also really fun and interesting!

My advice is to plan out everything--all aspects of the crime, everything that needs to be done in the investigation, all the questions, cross-examinations, and contradictions in the trial--before starting to write. Because the end of the story is so important for mysteries, I like to make sure I have everything in the end set before I start writing the beginning. But everyone has their own style, so you just need to figure out what works for you.

In terms of writing and making it, I think the most important thing to keep in mind is perspective. Think about the events that occur from the perspective of all of the characters--think about what they know, what they want to do, what they see, and how'd they react to it. This will help you make sure your plot is cohesive and makes sense. Then think about everything from the player's perspective--think about what the player will see, how they will probably interpret it. Think about what the player needs to see to have the information necessary to solve the contradictions you have planned, and make sure they see it.

As for creating the mystery yourself, you need to find a way that works for you, but I personally like to "work backwards." Usually my cases start with one core idea, and then I work backwards to create characters, location, plot, etc to support that idea. (The "core idea" could be anything, like a certain trick the killer used, or a certain character you want to be the killer, or a location you want to have the murder take place at.)

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Thanks, guys! Your suggestions have been duly noted. I'll experiment with them, and see what will I get hahaha. I guess I'll go from general to particular in this.

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