FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGNSTORY TELLING & NARRATIVE

Sayed AhmedBSc. Eng. in CSc. & Eng. (BUET)MSc. in CSc. (U of Manitoba)http://sayed.justetc.nethttp://www.justETC.net

Just E.T.C for Business, Education, and Technology Solutions

2

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

TOPICS Focus on story oriented games How to weave a story into a game Examine what makes a good story How to keep the story from overwhelming the

game play Define interactive story and narrative Discuss linear and non-linear storytelling and

mechanism Scripted conversations

To participate in dialog with non-player characters Discuss episodic story telling

3

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

WHY STORIES IN GAMES? Some players want stories along with the game play Some games require one

Adventure Games Action Adventure Role-Playing Games

Will story improve a game? Depends on the genre of the game How good is the story How you tell the story

Four reasons to have stories in Games Add significantly to the entertainment that a game

offers Stories attract a wider audience

4

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

WHY STORIES IN GAMES? Stories help keep players interested in long

games Bejeweled, Checkers, Tic-tac-toe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAOA7TYtXTs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVlm2tuf_kg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbLFPl4A4fE

Stories offer novelty A long game need variety Compelling story provides the variety

Stories help to sell the game Marketing

What is good storytelling? Read creative writing books

5

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

WHY STORIES IN GAMES? How stories can be incorporated into games How interactive stories differ from traditional ones

What kind of entertainment experience you want to provide to the players

What kind of players you want to serve Space invader – one line of story Dreamfall and Discworld Noir – incorporates stories like a

novel Storytelling offers half the entertainment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XrkGztFr-0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGDHlRalQFE

Game play comes first than story In some games, the story overwhelmed the game play

The initial games derived from movie or book franchise Build player centric game

If it helps include, otherwise do not include..

6

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

HOW MUCH STORY A GAME SHOULD INCLUDE Factors that affect

Length Characters Degree of realism

Ms. Pac-Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOMa8i9w7-Q http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man

Emotional richness Want to inspire greater variety of emotions – include a story Single player gameplay seldom inspire any rich emotion

Other than Pleasure in success, frustration at failure

Deeper emotions come only when the player identifies himself With characters and problems – happens in well written story

Half-Life

7

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

KEY CONCEPTS Story

Is an account of a series of events either historical or fictitious Credible Coherent Dramatically Meaningful Credible

People can believe the story Coherent

Story must not be irrelevant Must harmonize to create a pleasing whole

Dramatically Meaningful Must involve something or someone the

listener/reader cares about

8

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

KEY CONCEPTS Interactive Stories

Stories are usually written in the past Interactive stories are written in present

Game story are in present Includes three kinds of events

Player events Game events Narrative Events Player Events

Actions taken by the player as part of the Game Play Actions involved to overcome the challenges If the players’ actions can affect the plot and change it’s future

– they are called dramatic actions Game Events

Initiated by the core mechanics Can be response to the players’ actions The user may be able to affect how these occur

9

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

KEY CONCEPTS Narrative Events

Events whose content the player cannot change May be able to control whether such events

occur or not Narrates some actions or story to the player Players may not interact with this

Interactive Story A story may be interactive even the players’

actions do not change the game plot Agency

The power to change the direction of the plot – future events

10

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

KEY CONCEPTS Narrative

The text or the discourse produced by the act of Narration In an interactive story

Narrative is the part of the story that as a designer you narrate to the players

Not the actions that the players take Nor the events created by core mechanics

The Role of Narrative Present events over which the player has no control Usually – events that happen to the avatar that the player

cannot control/prevent Events that happen when the avatar is not present But we still want the player to know about the events Scenes depicting success or failure are usually narrative

events

11

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

KEY CONCEPTS Role of Narrative

Show the prolog to the game or the current level Introduces the player to the situation in the

game Create a background Players who don’t like stories in Games can

ignore them But many players enjoy them a lot

12

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

COMMONLY USED NARRATIVE BLOCKS As an opening sequence to introduce the

story at the beginning As an ending sequence To wrap up the story when the player

completes the game As an inter-level sequence

A briefing about the next level events In the form of cut scenes – short non –

interactive sequences Presented during play that interrupt the game

momentarily

13

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

EXAMPLES Half-life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x3wQ7Opltg The player’s avatar takes a tram ride through the

research complex… A voice explains why he is there This opening sequence introduces the game world Sets the stage for the experience to follow

Narrative blocks presented between levels usually Last for 30 seconds to 4-5 minutes Beginning and ending blocks can be longer

Provide important narrative bookends to the entire experience

Halo-2 the introductory scene is more than 5 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P3Sry-SvGA

14

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

NARRATIVE BLOCKS Cut-scenes during play – should be shorter

As they interrupt the flow and rhythm of the player’s actions Fast-moving game players are annoyed (real time

strategy games, action adventure games) Slower moving game players may like them

Adventure games Role playing games

15

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

FORMS OF NARRATIVES A pre-rendered movie A cut scene displayed by the graphics engine Scrolling text that introduces a mission Voice over commentary that explains the

back story of the game Long monolog by a character Individual lines of dialog are not narratives Long interactive dialog between NPCs

qualifies as narrative

16

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

BALANCING NARRATIVE AND GAMEPLAY Remember

The more narrative you include, the more the player has to sit doing nothing

Games must find appropriate balance Designer’s need to narrate and players need to act

Too much narrative = bad value of money for the players

Players pay to act in a fantasy Computer game is about interactivity

Provide enough narrative to enrich the game world

17

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

DRAMATIC TENSION AND GAME PLAY TENSION Dramatic tension

What will happen next Game Play tension

Desire to overcome a challenge False analogy

18

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

STORY TELLING ENGINE

19

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

STORY TELLING ENGINE Game with story

Interrupt the story to introduce narratives/stories Narrative events must be interspersed among the game play events Storytelling engine does the weaving Weaves narrative events to Gameplay Core Mechanics

Oversee the players’ progress through the challenges Storytelling Engine

Oversees progress through the story They must work together to create a single seamless experience Core Mechanics Manages

Player Events In Game Events

Storytelling Engine Manages the narrative events Keeps track of the progress of the story Determines what part of the plot should come next Determine the story has reached a critical point and trigger the core

mechanics to cause change to the internal economy of the game

20

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

STORYTELLING ENGINE Level designers are also involved Triggering the cut scene And the transfer of the Avatar’s property

21

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

LINEAR STORY Agency

Let the player change the game plot and also change the outcome

Stories that player cannot change – linear Stories that player can change – non-linear Linear

Interactive but interactions are limited to contributing actions Half Life Star Craft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ipBCEZwbM0

22

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

LINEAR STORY Require less content Storytelling engine is simpler Less prone to bugs and absurdities Deny the player agency Are capable of greater emotional power

23

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

NONLINEAR STORIES Branching Stories Fold Back Stories Emergent Narrative

24

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

NONLINEAR STORY Branching

Player have a different experience each time he plays the game

Offers many plots – that split from each other at different points

Responsibility of designers What are the plots How do they relate to each other

Storytelling engine keeps track what is the current plot Core mechanics will send triggers to inform the next possible

plots Immediate, Deferred, and Cumulative Influence

Immediate: The event cause a branching immediately Deferred: Early decision influences later events – deferred Cumulative: Some decisions together defines the branching at

a later point

25

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

BRANCHING

26

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

DISADVANTAGES OF BRANCHING Extremely expensive to implement Player must play the game repeatedly to see

all the content Every critical event has to branch to it’s own

unique section of the tree Plan out the structure in the concept stage Resource requirements expand very rapidly

27

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

FOLD BACK STORIES Compromise between Branching and linear

stories

28

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

FOLD BACK STORIES

29

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

EMERGENT NARRATIVE Research problem Does not contain narrative blocks created by

the writer The story emerges from the act of playing

games Sims can create emergent narrative The core-mechanics should be able to

generate coherent credible dramatic story AI Research Field: Automated Storytelling

30

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

GAME STORY ENDINGS The ending of a story is one of the most

critical emotional moments in a game Craft the endings to evoke specific feelings How many endings should your story have?

31

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

CHALLENGES AND CHOICES Games that include a lot of decision making

esp. moral choices, which feel dramatically important Should be non-linear Offer multiple endings

Choice and actions should reflect the endings Good acts should result to positive endings

32

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

WHEN TO USE MULTIPLE ENDINGS Each one should be dramatically meaningful

and Emotionally consistent If not much dramatic freedom – multiple

endings not required

33

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

GRANULARITY Frequency with which the game presents

elements of the narrative Star craft

Tells a long story Presents narratives only between missions Coarse Granularity

Coarse Fine

Infinitesimal granularity is the target Avatar and his actions (half life) No sitting and watch – but play where stories also evolve

consistently Granularity is Relative

34

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

MECHANISMS FOR ADVANCING THE PLOT The story as a series of challenges and

choices The story as a Journey The Story as a Drama Challenges and choices

Advance only when the player meet challenges or make decisions

Plot change and Game story movement Wing Commander - leads to different story

Story as a journey Avatar’s movement trigger the storytelling

engine to advance the plot

35

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

STORY AS A JOURNEY Benefits

Provides novelty Continuously sees new things Experience fresh and interesting

Allows the player to control the pace But can be time limited One way door concept Role playing games

Stories as journeys But highly non-linear stories

36

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

STORY AS A DRAMA Advances with the passage of time itself Story takes place in real time No trigger from the core mechanics to the

storytelling engine Night Trap operates as a drama

Protecting teenagers from monsters Facade

37

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

EMOTIONAL LIMITS OF INTERACTIVE STORIES Story less Games

Don’t try to arouse complex emotions Thrill of victory Agony of defeat Frustration of repeated failure

With story, you can create Create characters that the players care about Subtle relationships among these characters

Betrayal by a lover Satisfaction at justice done Protective instinct for a child

38

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

EMOTIONAL LIMITS OF NONLINEAR STORIES May not always lead to most powerful

emotional experience Non-linear stories sometimes restrict the

ending to a single or multiple emotionally meaningful endings

39

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

EMOTIONAL LIMITS OF AVATAR BASED GAMES The Avatar must be alive until the end of the

game But player can reload the game if the avatar dies No emotional experience at the death of the

Avatar – the story ends If you want to affect the player’s feelings with the

death of a character your game can kill a side character Avatar’s friend

Planet Fall: Sidekick Final Fantasy Vii: The player’s allay

Party based games Provide more freedom to kill off members Other characters can take the story forward

40

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES Allies

Those that help the hero Shadow The main enemy that must be defeated The ultimate evil Does not have to be a character Sometimes more important than the hero Can be very present or hidden until the end

41

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

SCRIPTED CONVERSATIONS AND DIALOG TREES A scripted conversation

Allows the player to engage in conversations with non-player characters – storytelling games

Special mode All other activities are unavailable Chooses a line of dialog Never winter Nights 2

42

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

STRUCTURE OF A DIALOG TREE The Dialog Tree Data Structure Same sentences with different emotions As a designer you should provide the dialog

tree as well

43

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

DESIGN ISSUES FOR DIALOG TREES Conditional branches and exchanges Another approach

Flexible list of options

44

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

BENEFITS OF SCRIPTED CONVERSATIONS It produces a sequence of plausible remarks and

replies Illustrate the personality of the Avatar and the NPCs Wise guy – Phrase Monkey Island Games

Guybrush It’s a real part of the story The player’s choices can have effect on the

story as well

45

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

WHEN TO WRITE THE STORY Story should be written in the elaboration

stage Not in the concept stage Concept stage

Define the player’s role The kind of game play he will experience A list of levels or episodes that you may want to

include in the game

46

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Frustrated Author Syndrome

Giving the player no freedom Episodic Delivery

Selling Player’s entertainment a few hours at a time rather than a long story

Unlimited Series A set of episodes

Each consisting of a self-contained story The plot is introduced and solved A single theme or context runs through the entire

series Stories exist so independently that you can play

each episode in any order and still makes a sense A through introduction…

47

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

SERIALS Infinite sequence of episodes Episodes are not self contained Ends at a critical event to create a strong

desire to see/play the next episode Get players hooked in a story and pay

episode after episode

48

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

LIMITED SERIES Features from both unlimited and serial Single episode introduces and solves one plot But with other plot lines it can be carried

over to the next episode

49

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

POTENTIAL AND LIMITS OF EPISODIC DELIVERY Industry already makes games in the

unlimited series It may start to make games in the limited

series And encourage to buy the whole set Harry Potter series of games May work well with the internet models PC or console games

Do not leave the story unfinished

50

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

SUMMARY Most video games will benefit from a coherent and

dramatic story Designer should remember the interactivity

Do not write novels Linear, no-linear, multiple ending

Will depend on the genre And Game play

For more engaging, deeper emotional response, greater satisfaction Designer should maintain Good story that maintains

player interests, shows character growth, balances narrative elements, remains enjoyable to play

51

Sayed Ahmed [sayed@

justetc.net] Just E.T.C

REFERENCES Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd Edition,

Ernest Adams, Prentice Hall, 2006, ISBN-10: 0131687476. ISBN-13: 978-0131687479

http://computer.justetc.net