Plot without holes
Learning paths through this topic
Find scenes whose entry condition can never be true
A scene is linked on the map and guarded by a condition that looks reasonable, yet no player ever sees it, because the earlier choices that satisfy the condition rule each other out. This entry shows the search that finds it and what the AI reports.
Find scenes from which the story can never reach an ending
Every scene has a way forward, yet the player can still wander for ever without finishing the game. Here is the reverse way of looking at the map that exposes these traps, and why checking each scene's exits one by one misses them.
Make a scripted chase end at the cliff whether the player runs fast or slow
The story needs the pursuer to reach the hero at the edge of the cliff. A fast player leaves the pursuer far behind and the scene makes no sense, a stalling player is caught in the middle of the road. Here is how your AI adjusts the pursuer's pace and finds the speed above which the plan breaks.
Find story events that fall in a season when the road to them is shut
When snow closes a pass or floods cover a ford, a story event planned for that time can be impossible to reach, and nobody notices until a player is standing at the wrong side of the mountain. Here is how to catch every such clash from the calendar.
Cast story roles among the people of a freshly generated world
When every new world has different villagers, the traitor, the healer and the guide must be given to people who suit them, each person only one role, and the same world seed must give the same cast again. Here is how to do that, and how to avoid dead ends in the draw.
Make sure a planted item or promise pays off on every route
A gun on the wall, a promise to a dying friend: the story plants it, but one branch walks right past the moment it pays off. Here is how your AI tells apart a payoff that can happen from one that must happen, and shows you the route that skips it.
Find a shortcut that lets players skip a scene the story depends on
Platformers reward clever routes, and a good one lets the player reach the boss without ever talking to the mentor who hands over the key fact. The story then plays on as if they had. Here is how your AI searches for ways around a scene and shows the exact route and the shortcut that opens it.
Keep a sidekick's comments helpful instead of constant chatter
The companion reacts to everything: every kill, every pickup, every jump. After ten minutes the player turns the voice off, and then misses the one warning that mattered. Here is how your AI sets limits that quiet the small talk, let urgent calls through and never repeat a topic too soon.
Make skipping a cutscene leave the game in the same state as watching it
Players skip the long scene and then find the door still locked, the coins never added or the ally missing. Something that happened on screen never happened in the game. Here is how your AI compares watching and skipping at every possible moment and names exactly what goes missing.
Hand a player from the guided start into the open world with nothing missing
A guided opening teaches one thing at a time and opens doors as it goes, but some players skip, do things in another order or leave halfway. Here is how to finish the opening for them in one go, so every door is open and every needed piece of knowledge is there, exactly once.
Let the player sleep through days without skipping story events
When a player rests for several days at once, events planned for those days can vanish, fire in the wrong order or fire twice. Here is how to catch up exactly what was due, in order, including the follow-up events those events cause.
Keep enough of a vital supply to finish the journey the story requires
If the story needs fuel, medicine or rope for the road ahead and the player may spend them on anything, they will, and the tale ends in a place with nothing left. Here is how to work out how much must stay in reserve at every point of the journey.