Should the perspective before and after a choice be consistent: How do you avoid the player suddenly knowing something the protagonist does not?

It needs to be consistent, but the thing that must be consistent is not "what the protagonist knows," but "who is allowed to know what in this scene." The writer must first define the information sources for each scene, then make choices use only information that has already appeared in front of the player. If a choice must use knowledge the protagonist has not yet obtained, either add a scene in which the protagonist obtains it, or rewrite the choice as an action the protagonist can take based on existing clues.

Below, a fictional teaching example is used to walk through the entire process. The characters, locations, and dialogue in the example were invented to explain the method; they are not test records and do not represent any real work.

Set up a scene: the detective Lin Yan is investigating a theft at a painting studio and suspects the assistant Zhou Mi. He stands outside the studio door; inside, Zhou Mi is on the phone. The door is ajar, and Lin Yan can only hear fragments of sentences.

First write an information boundary table to fix "who knows what."

The purpose of this table is: when writing choices, check each one against the "The player has seen" column. Any choice that requires information outside this column is over the line.

Suppose the end of this scene gives three choices:

1. Push the door open and directly ask Zhou Mi who the buyer is.
2. Keep eavesdropping and wait for him to say the transaction location.
3. Leave the studio and go check Zhou Mi's bank account.

Item 1 is over the line. The player has only heard "already been sold," does not know there is a character called "the buyer," and does not know what stage the transaction has reached. But the choice text makes Lin Yan ask "who the buyer is," which is equivalent to stuffing the full contents of Zhou Mi's phone call into the protagonist's mouth. The player will feel that the protagonist suddenly knows something he did not hear.

Item 2 is also over the line, but more subtly. "Wait for him to say the transaction location" presupposes that the call will mention a location. The player has no basis to believe this. This choice does not leak a secret; it leaks the writer's arrangement of the later plot.

Item 3 is not over the line, but its motive chain needs to be checked. Lin Yan suspects Zhou Mi, so checking the account is a reasonable action and does not require new information. It can be used.

Keep the three choice slots and rewrite the first two:

1. Push the door open and ask Zhou Mi who he was just talking to.
2. Stay outside the door and remember every word he says.
3. Leave the studio and go check Zhou Mi's bank account.

Item 1 now uses only the piece of player-known information that "Zhou Mi is on the phone." Lin Yan asking "who he was talking to" is reasonable, because he heard the fact of the call but did not hear the other party's identity. Item 2 also no longer presupposes content; it only expresses "continue collecting."

There is an easily overlooked point here: the choice text itself is also narrative. When players read choices, they treat the choices as a manual for the protagonist's abilities. If the choice says "ask who the buyer is," players will infer that the protagonist already knows there is a buyer; if the choice says "ask who he was talking to," players infer that the protagonist only knows there was a call. The two ways of writing give different world information.

Some scenes need to temporarily leave Lin Yan's perspective and let the player see what is happening on Zhou Mi's side. At this time, you cannot switch quietly; you must let the player know "what is being seen now is not what Lin Yan can see."

Marking methods that can be used:

• The scene title states the location and character, for example "Inside the studio, Zhou Mi."
• The paragraph begins with an objective description that does not carry Lin Yan's perception, for example "Zhou Mi switches the phone to his left hand."
• When returning to Lin Yan's perspective, give another clear anchor, for example "Lin Yan is still standing outside the door, hand resting on the door handle."

The purpose of the markers is to let the player distinguish "what the protagonist knows" from "what the audience knows." The audience can know more than the protagonist; this is a common structure, but the player must be made aware that this gap exists. Otherwise, the player will count what was seen from the audience perspective as part of the protagonist's knowledge, and in the next scene will feel that the protagonist should know but does not, or should not know but does.

If the writer wants the player to confirm Zhou Mi's motive earlier than Lin Yan does, the whole scene can be changed to the audience perspective: first show Zhou Mi inside the studio finishing the call and handing the painting to a stranger, then cut back to Lin Yan standing outside the door and only hearing half a sentence. In this way, the player holds more information than Lin Yan, and the choices must be adjusted accordingly.

At this point, usable choices can include:

1. Push the door open and ask Zhou Mi who he was just talking to.
2. Stay outside the door and remember every word he says.
3. Leave the studio and go check Zhou Mi's bank account.

All three choices still use only information Lin Yan knows. Although the player knows more, the choices express actions Lin Yan can take, not actions the player can take. This distinction is very important: the player knowing that Zhou Mi betrayed him does not mean Lin Yan knows. Choices must be written from Lin Yan's position.

If the writer wants the player to use omniscient information, then Lin Yan needs an entry point for obtaining that information, for example letting him pick up a dropped receipt outside the door, or letting Zhou Mi let something slip after coming out. Without an entry point, what the player knows can only remain at the player level and cannot become the basis for the protagonist's actions.

Button text is the easiest place to leak secrets. There are three common types of problems.

Type one: the button writes a noun the protagonist has not yet obtained. For example, "question Zhou Mi about the buyer." The word buyer has never appeared in the player-visible narrative, but the button treats it as a known item.

Type two: the button writes plot that has not yet happened. For example, "stop Zhou Mi from leaving the studio." The player does not know Zhou Mi is about to leave, but the button previews the next action.

Type three: the button uses a judgment the protagonist should not have. For example, "expose Zhou Mi's lie." The player has only heard half a sentence and cannot confirm that it is a lie. The button makes the conclusion for the protagonist.

Checking method: break each button into "verb + object + basis," and ask one by one which already-shown narrative segment the basis comes from. If no basis can be found, rewrite or delete it.

If AI is used to assist in generating choices, prompt constraints do not guarantee that every output will stay within the information boundary. After generation, a human must still check item by item against the information boundary table, especially nouns and judgment words. AI may add details the player has never seen; such additions should be treated as content pending review and must not be adopted directly.

After writing a scene with choices, go through the following items:

1. The information boundary table has been filled in, and no empty item in the "The player has seen" column is used by a choice.
2. Each choice can point out which already-shown narrative segment its basis comes from.
3. Perspective shifts have location or character markers, and returning to the main perspective has an anchor.
4. Button text does not contain unshown nouns, plot that has not happened, or judgments the protagonist should not have.
5. If the player knows more than the protagonist, the choices still only write actions the protagonist can take.

The next time you write choices, first spend a few minutes filling in that information boundary table, then start writing the choices. Once the table is filled in, over-the-line choices usually expose themselves.