Nuzlocke General Do you finish your run before you even consider doing anything with it?

[Draknir]

For the one screenshot run I have finished, I did it as I played. For every planned storylocke I have done, I have finished the game before posting it. I'll definitely start planning stuff as it's happening and maybe draft a bit, but the in-game stuff is done by the time I post because I don't want to get 3/4 of the way through and wipe.

 

[Xita]

Sooooo I used to complete, or mostly complete my runs before starting to write. And there’s a lot of pros to that, can’t knock on people who do that.

But uh, none of my runs where I completed the gameplay before starting ever saw the light of day. One might, but only because it had a shiny and was one of my most successful nuzlockes in general lol. I think I find myself losing motivation once I complete the gameplay? Which is odd, because I’m not sure if the story and the game should be so linked but that’s how my brain seems to work.

For Broken Purpose I originally had a completed run for it but decided to dump it when I brought the project back from hiatus a few months ago. And I think it’s working out really well! I’ve written so much in such a short while, and it’s exciting thinking about how I actually need to go back and play Black more so I can get further ahead in planning. I haven’t played it in three months but there’s that hook to get back to it that really helps me buckle down and write. And I’m almost done writing the first gym, so I’m almost at the point I gotta play again so I’m even more hyped than usual.

Anyway, I think in the future I’m going to keep using this strategy.

 

[TrueZero2]

I plan out Broad Strokes and the things that are guaranteed to happen should I get far enough in a run. As for who gets there, I plan that out as I go, literally playing as I write. I once got a good four badges ahead of the actual writing in an earlier run, and I had a hard time getting motivation to write and keep it consistent. Once I got back to writing as I play though? 3 updates in 3 days, or close enough to it.

To give an example or two, I'll plan out ahead of time that 'Character A is secretly evil' so I'll plan out a story event or two to foreshadow it. But let's say that, in a USUM run, my Starter and the Hau's Starter are friendly with each other and plan to duke it out at the League. then my Starter dies to Ultra Necrozma. I can work that into the final battle with Hau as some character development there, by actually having Hau's Starter mourn the loss of a friend or fly into a rage.

 

[FluffySpaceShark]

For the one screenshot run I have finished, I did it as I played. For every planned storylocke I have done, I have finished the game before posting it. I'll definitely start planning stuff as it's happening and maybe draft a bit, but the in-game stuff is done by the time I post because I don't want to get 3/4 of the way through and wipe.

I have contingency plans for if that happens to me, sort of. Like I can rework my plot around it for the most part. I need to actually sit down and start the actual writing for a few runs of mine. I just don't know what game I want to do.

 

[satanicswirlix]

I usually know I'm going to make a story out of it if I enjoy the region and friends I made along the way. As I play the games, I build characters and story arcs in my mind, and then I find an idea I like and stick to it. Then I pray my developed characters won't die early. But I advise finishing your playthroughs first, then writing a basic plot summary before jumping into it.

Or you could go feral mode like me and start a nuzlocke of a game that isn't even out yet.

 

[Fullmental]

For a more silly run like Yellow I'd prolly still play along with the comic though!~

That's a good point, actually. Whenever I'm doing a more lighthearted or casual run, I will also just play and update as I go.

 

[DoctorRosalia]

Haha, I already have plans and lore for three runs I haven’t even started

 

[Trollkitten]

Haha, I already have plans and lore for three runs I haven’t even started

Same here. I'm forcing myself to only work on one run at a time because I have a bad habit of trying to bite off more than I can chew, overworking myself, and having to abandon projects I love for the sake of my sanity.

I'm trying to give myself more of a break over this summer because I've spent the past year and a half working on huge projects and I'm dealing with major stress issues right now. That's why Pokemon Burst: Blue Moon is on hiatus until September.

 

[Force Gaia]

I started writing alongside initially, then i realized the creative challenge of not being able to write to prepare for the future. This issue left my writing feeling flat, and i resolved (especially with how my run's ongoing universe will unfold) that I'd wrap a story around the run to make for a better read and allow better forward planning.

 

[Bowser's Family Vacation]

I've done both. For Ashes To Ashes, I started posting the story before even starting the gameplay. I don't recommend that, by the way, since things can deviate from your plans very quickly.)

On the other hand, I didn't even start writing my next storylocke until the gameplay was done.

Thus, here's what I have to say about both approaches:
Writing while you're still doing the gameplay can allow the experience to be more raw, which is good if you're doing an emotionally-driven tale. Conversely, it's harder to plan character progression and things like that because you don't know who is going to be around for the next arc.
Writing after the gameplay allows for better planning, which enables better flow and, with good enough planning, less burnout. However, if you don't take good notes, there's the risk of losing the details that make a nuzlocke story unique (i.e: forgetting about a rival battle, tracking your feelings about that early game rodent from seeing it as a burden to recognizing it as a hero, etc.).

So my recommendation is to try to figure out which you have more of a problem with personally: planning or improvising. If you're better at planning, maybe wait to write (and especially post) your run until your gameplay is complete. If you're better at improvising, maybe having your gameplay progress align with your narrative progression will play to your strengths! And sometimes, a run demands one or the other.

 

[sunburstblue]

I normally start a nuzlocke with an idea already in mind (normally centered around the starter, especially if it's the premise for an eventual gijinkalocke) and develop new ideas as I progress through the story, catch new pokemon, and lose others. My notes are pretty bare-bones (just pokemon information, battle logs, where I encounter people and what they give me) so I flesh them out by adding plot ideas as I go and tying them into the existing information. Eventually, it gets to the point where I create a word doc with all of the worldbuilding and ideas I have. After I complete the run, I go back and make a simplified timeline detailing all of the main game events and plot points so that the story makes sense.

My current (and only) nuzcomic right now, MAGENTALOCKE, is the exception. I'm making the comic as I go so that I don't lose motivation and can gain experience before attempting comics for the more detailed nuzlockes I have planned. I still have some plot ideas that I want to include that shouldn't be affected even if someone dies unexpectedly, but it'll be interesting to see if I'll have to accommodate my plans in other ways if I lose someone.

 

[Alan900900900]

Hahahaha, nope. On the one hand I see the benefits of having played the game beforehand, but also I'm fully aware that if I just play through the whole game and only THEN start writing my story, I'm never going to finish that task. I wish I could plan things out, but I know my own limitations.

 

[Picket Furret]

I like knowing in advance what happens in a run so I can write around it, plus I only draw on specific times of days and very slowly to boot, so as I go is not a very good option for me

Not helping is the fact that I have ADHD and a pretty lousy memory, so having my log done beforehand helps focus myself on a goal along with giving myself a reminder of what I caught and where and how I should introduce them in the story proper

 

[Pendraflare]

There have been times where I may do that, mostly because I know that I don't want to put so much work into something if I'm just gonna wipe and have it all be for nothing. Though I do try to get at least to the point where I feel comfortable enough with it before I post it.

 

[Garish Garchomp]

I'm not a very avid nuzlocker tbh, so I end up coming up with the run idea and then planning it out to the point that I've decided this is a run worth doing (which takes a while esp since I'm trying to be a lot more selective with runs given all my unfinished ideas in the past). Only after I've got a lot to work with on the creative side will I mosey through the gameplay. With my current run I ended up planning out most of it and basically catching up to the gameplay before finishing the run to see what else I had to work with by the end. I don't write more than a couple early chapters before I've got everything ironed out on the game side, though. I used to be able to write as I did the gameplay but I found that I'd just not feel like doing the gameplay and the run would stall out, so I've gotta stay ahead of the curve on that end.

 

[Ketsuba~n]

DAMMIT I ACCIDENTALLY VOTED FOR NO WHEN I ACTUALLY AM A "YES" GRAARHGRGKJG

Me too; I didn't realize the poll question was different from the thread question

I haven't actually completed a Nuzlocke yet, but my plan for my Sword run is:
- complete the Nuzlocke while taking gameplay notes
- write the story outline
- write the story

This is the best way to keep your run in your memory while still being able to plan out the plot and all its twists. Even so, though, it's great to have ideas for the story during the gameplay and note-taking phase.

 

[Trollkitten]

Same here. I'm forcing myself to only work on one run at a time because I have a bad habit of trying to bite off more than I can chew, overworking myself, and having to abandon projects I love for the sake of my sanity.

Aaaand now I'm currently playing through no less than FOUR nuzlockes because I keep having run ideas. Omega Ruby has highest priority though, and I'm currently halfway through it.

I am more or less on another hiatus right now, at least for the projects I've been posting. Part of this is for mental health reasons, and another part is that SwSh have come out and I want to give them my full attention. I've given up on nuzlocking the game blind, but am planning a comic series based on my non-nuzlocke playthrough and focusing on the Pokemon of Galar.

 

[Salt&PepperBunny]

I've given up on nuzlocking the game blind, but am planning a comic series based on my non-nuzlocke playthrough and focusing on the Pokemon of Galar.

Comics and fanfictions based on non-nuzlocke gameplay are always super intriguing to me. I've got an idea in mind myself...