A brief insight into the narrative design of Kardiya

Welcome to Gaia, a brand-new world on the edge of microcosm. Since this is our first update, allow me to introduce myself briefly. I’m Oğuzhan Açıkalın, the writer of Kardiya: The Winds of Fate. Beyond conventional and classic narrative writing, I also create interactive fiction, hypertext, and cybertext-based stories.

Kardiya is a project we’ve been passionately working on for a long time. It has evolved into something deeper, richer, and more complex than we ever imagined. Much like all of us, the İnsan Evreni grows and transforms along the way, and I couldn’t be happier to witness it.

The demo version, which you can play for free on Patreon and Itch.io, is just a small slice of the larger structure. We aim for the game to feature four acts, each representing a pivotal period in the protagonist’s life. In the act zero, you’ll explore the grandeur of Atroven City, where the protagonist was born and raised. This part will be a tutorial to orient you to our new world. After a devastating event forces them into exile, the first act will introduce the harsh plains of Kardiya and the struggles of life beyond noble privileges. The second act dives into Kardiya’s cultural intricacies, showcasing how its societal structure is intertwined with magical forces. Finally, the third act unfolds the weight of history, with the protagonist shaping not only Kardiya’s fate but the destiny of the entire planet.

The four acts of Kardiya: The Winds of Fate in a row: Act 0, Birth and Childhood. Act I, Adolescence. Act II, Adulthood, with a magnifying glass on it. Act III, Mid Age.

While our game embraces an interactive narrative style, we felt that using a branching structure within each act wouldn't quite fit. Instead, each act flows linearly, allowing us to highlight how players, even when taking the same path, can embark on entirely different adventures based on the choices they make within each sequence. With this in mind, what sets our game apart from other interactive stories is the Node System, which allows you to deeply feel the impact of every decision you make.

For example, the branching structure of the second act is depicted below:

Act II, Adulthood, broken into its sequences: Hunnic Village, City of Ötkür Batur, Golden Road and City of Bayanbulag, with a Caravan sequence between the first two, under a magnifying glass. — This section details the sequences within the second act. Each box in the lower grid represents an individual sequence.

But the Node System goes beyond sequence’s linear flow. Within each sequence, nodes further branch out, allowing players to create truly personalized experiences. Let’s take a closer look at the“Caravan I” sequence as an example:

The Caravan I sequence opened up below Act II: Node 0 branches into Node 1 and Node 2, and each of those into two more nodes, 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 and 2.2. — This branching shows the detailed structure of a sequence. Each sequence ends at a different node and connects to the next sequence (in this case, City of Ötkür Batur), creating a dynamic narrative flow.

The text parts of our game take place within these nodes. However, in addition to these branches, we have also taken care to create choices within the nodes that you can choose and develop your character according to your specific orientation in the skill tree (Intelligence, Physical, Social). In this way, we aimed to deepen the role-playing experience. The detailed view of the Caravan I / Node 0 structure is shown below:

Caravan I, Node 0 opened up: a dense tree of text boxes that branch out and gather back together several times. — Through these internal branches, we aim to open paths for players to fully customize their experiences. (Note: This visual does not represent the entirety of Node 0.)

Below you can see a visualisation of the branching system of our game.

The whole branching system in one picture: the four acts, Act II opened into its sequences, Caravan I opened into its nodes, and Node 0 opened into its internal branches.