Continuity

Continuity refers to the consistency of plot, worldbuilding, and logistical details, within and among various routes in the plot of a visual novel. Continuity checking is the process of tracking these details and making revisions.

In nonlinear stories

Various branching structures create additional complications for continuity checking. Challenges for continuity checking in nonlinear stories include:

• Maintaining differences across variations, such as in a split and merge structure. If two characters meet in one route but not in another, this must be accounted for in later shared scenes. There must be two different versions of the next shared scene including those characters - one for the case that they have met previously, and one for the case that they haven't.
• Ensuring "time-locked" events occur consistently across routes. If a school festival occurs 3 days after routes diverge, each route must specify that exactly 3 days pass before the festival happens.
• Setting up "dominoes" consistently to prepare for later shared scenes. If a later scene requires that the main character has received a letter, each route that leads up to that scene must mention that the letter has arrived.
• Consistency among references to common routes. This principle is similar to continuity checking for linear stories - each route must accurately reflect what has happened previously, whether those events occurred in the common route or not.