CISC 105: Intro to Game ModdingLecture 6: Storycrafting

©Charles Palmer – Fall 2013

Your Mod

There are many elements which make up a game world. Some common devices are characters/items, events, a timeline, some mythology, creatures, and significant locations.

As you build your mod, you’ll be crafting a world which has elements of it’s own. One method for integrating your mod with the original content is

to share devices. Think of your modas a hexagon (or octagon adding categories for magic and special)

where each side represents a world element. The more sides that match up, the better experience for the player.

Tougher Spiders

Spellshatter Shield

Dawnguard

Hearthfire

Un-named

EbonsteelArmor

From Concept to Story structure

Isolated village of Morthal in Hjaalmarch

Morihaus, ancient hero god of the Imperials. Vampire research

Vampiric bunnies

Potion of Antioch

Kill Bunnies – Angela Highsmith

There is a large amount of bunnies that have invaded. You must seek and kill every bunny to succeed to the next level

Morthal - a city located in Hjaalmarach

Vampires wanted to make a animal vampires. The experiment went wrong, back fired, and the bunnies have escaped.

Planning your story

Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s Journey (or Monomyth) is a storytelling structure used across all human societies. It was described by Joseph Campbell in 1949 as a common format for shaping the meaning of the human experience.

Hero’s JourneyLet’s see how the Hero’s Journey has been applied to some common cultural examples.

Load the Hero's Journey Examples PDF

Go back and review your game concept documents. Select one concept, which you would like to continue developing into a functional mod. For this assignment you’ll need to outline the player’s goals and actions within your mod.

Use the HerosJourney-Template.docx to identify the activities which guide the player’s progression during the game. Provide as much information as possible in the document. I don’t expect each box to be completely filled, but you should have something for each step. When completed upload the document to Moodle using the following naming convention - (first initial last name_course number_assignment number) example - DWilliams_CISC105_6.xls

Assignment