On Plugins

When I first started working on my game, ChatGPT suggested that I build everything from scratch, at least for the vertical slice. The reasoning was not completely wrong. A plugin could lock me into a certain way of doing things, and there was always a risk that I would spend more time learning the tools than actually building my game.

But over time, I realized that this advice did not fully fit the kind of game I was making.

My game was always conceived as a BioWare-inspired RPG. That means it relies on many well-established conventions, such as dialogue choices, quest tracking, companion interactions, objective markers, a minimap, and persistent narrative variables. These are not experimental mechanics. They are part of the language this audience already understands.

Reinventing these systems from scratch might be interesting from a technical perspective, but it would not necessarily make the game better. In fact, it could do the opposite. If I changed too many familiar RPG conventions, I might accidentally raise the barrier to entry for the exact players I am trying to reach.

The real identity of my game is not in a unique quest log, but in what that quest log contains. It is in the exploration of a broken world, examining the boundaries of right and wrong, and how they interact with what society deems just. At the same time, it is about letting the player unleash their powers in an epic Jean Grey fantasy.

As long as I had a functioning dialogue system, it did not matter who wrote it. In fact, having an industry expert build that foundation was an advantage. They had already built these kinds of systems before and were familiar with the challenges and pitfalls. Moreover, their systems had been tested by a community of like-minded developers who were going through the same challenges I was.

So I ignored ChatGPT and went hunting for a plugin. I wanted something that had already implemented as many of the systems I had planned to build as possible and was reasonably well-documented. A strong community of active developers was a huge bonus. My search quickly led me to Narrative Pro 2 by Narrative Tools.

It had almost everything I was looking for. Its creators keep updating it with new features and their YouTube channel with new tutorials. Time will tell if I made the right call, but so far, I am very happy with my decision.