Scene direction

Scene direction (sometimes simply direction) is the intentional manipulation and sequencing of in-game assets to serve a visual novel's narrative. It is a core responsibility of a project's creative director.

It is a creative process where sprites, backgrounds, music, and sound effects are combined with the written narrative to create a cohesive experience for the player. It also includes camera work (panning, zooming, etc.), scene transitions, sprite expression changes, sprite movement/blocking, sound direction, switching between textbox formats, inclusion of special graphics, and other creative choices.

Implementation and responsibility in development

Scripting redirects here. That term sometimes refers to script formatting or (incorrectly) to programming.

Scripting refers to the process of translating scene direction into engine-readable code.

In some development teams, scene direction and scripting are completed simultaneously by the same team member(s). In others, scene direction notes are created first and formatted into engine-readable code at a later time.

The responsibility for scene direction may shared or assigned differently based on the development team's culture and workflows:

• Many teams will have a dedicated scene director or creative director whose responsibility is to implement the scene direction, usually directly into engine-readable format. This role is sometimes filled by the writer.
• Writers will commonly make notes about scene direction as they work, though these are typically incomplete and sometimes written in pseudocode.
• Teams may utilize a dedicated team member to adjust scene direction notes into engine-readable format.