Meph's Handy Tips #2
Prologues
I've been a staff member here for over a year now, and most of the trials that I've seen have used the same basic concept for prologues:- recite how the victim was murdered. These prologues have just a black screen while the murderer and the victim have a conversation with each other.Prologues
I don't mean to be rude to these people, but that's not exciting at all!
What you need is interesting, exciting, entertaining prologues! Prologues are what's needed to light the match to ignite a very exciting trial, metaphorically speaking. You need a prologue to make your trial to show the player that your trial is very exciting, and worth playing.
Let's look at a brilliant example of one of these mediocre prologues. Turnabout of the Wild West is one of my unfinished trials, and it's prologue is a good example of these prologues. Watch the prologue if you want to see what I mean. I added pictures to make it a bit more interesting, but they didn't help much. If you want to see an even worse prologue, play my my first ever trial, Turnabout Chill.
* * *
The following section has spoilers for almost every Ace Attorney game ever made.
The real Ace Attorney games have brilliant prologues, as we all know. Let's look at the first ever prologue in The First Turnabout.
This prologue is shown in Mr Sahwit's point of view. Also, it doesn't show the murder itself; it shows what happened after the murder, and how Larry is blamed.
But what about Turnabout Goodbyes? In that episode, it does indeed recite the murder. Or does it?
Remember that in that episode, the the victim wasn't actually murdered in the boat by Edgeworth. We were shown that prologue to make us think that that was how the victim was killed. That technique was used in a lot of other cases, such as Turnabout Memories.
Some prologues give us a blast from the past, like in Turnabout Beginnings. It does show a murder, but not the current case's murder. Instead, it gives us a perfect enactment of an older and related case.
In that particular prologue, it shows us the importance and significance of the bridge.
On the DS games, prologues got a lot more exciting. In Apollo's third case, Turnabout Serenade, the prologue has nothing to do with the murder. It just shows something arbitrary that happened before the murder.
That prologue is there purely to create the setting and give us an idea of what's going on.
Finally, in Turnabout Reminicense, we learn about something that happens before the murder. A trial....
This is to deceive us into thinking that Faraday and Mack want to kill each other. When they were killed, they were made to look like they killed each other at the same time. The prologue emphasises the likelihood of that happening. It's also a very exciting prologue that builds tension.
* * *
So what have we learned? Were you even paying attention? Will I have to give you a detention after school?
- Prologues shouldn't recite what happened at the murder (unless there's a reason for them to do so).
- Prologues can deceive players, to make them believe that something else happened.
- Prologues can be used to set the scene, to show where the protagonist is and what's going on.
- Prologues should have more emphasis on the defendant than the victim.
- Prologues can give a back-story to the case.
- Prologues shouldn't give away too much information.
Also, remember to use timers in your prologue. You can have some interactive bits at the end, like in Turnabout Sisters, but they should always include timers at the start.
If you can see the person that you're talking to, then you can do that, yes.
