Part 1! (Up to Granularity)
Brendan Sim
Why Put Stories in
Games?

 Stories can add significantly to the entertainment
that a game offers.
 League of Legends: The Journal of Justice
 Zelda franchise
 LORE - Legend of Zelda (youtube)
Why Put Stories in
Games?

 Stories attract a wider audience
 World of Warcraft
 Most MMORPGs………. if not all…
Why Put Stories in
Games?

 Stories help keep players interested in long games
Why Put Stories in
Games?

 Stories help to sell the game
Factors that Affect
Amount of Story

 Length
 Characters
 Degree of realism
 Emotional richness
 The Walking Dead
 Separate game from similar games with the same
mechanics
 Half-Life 2
Key Concepts

 Story: an account of series of events, either historical
or fictitious
Requirements of Good
Stories

 Minimally Acceptable Story
 Credible
 Coherent
 Dramatically meaningful
Interactive Stories
(Ludonarrative)

 Takes place NOW
 Includes three kinds of events:
 Player events
 Dramatic actions
 In-game events
 Dishonored
 Narrative events
Key Concepts

 Narrative: noninteractive, presentational part of the
story
 Cutscenes
 Super Mario Galaxy (youtube) (6:19)
Narrative

 Narrative blocks (cutscenes):




Opening/Ending sequence
Title/Closing credits sequence
Post-credits scene
Interlevel sequence
 Design Rule
 Interruptible
Narrative

 Forms:





Prerendered movie
Cut-scene
Scrolling text
V.O.
Character monologue
 Misconception: one-liners
Balancing Narrative and
Gameplay

 MGS4…… over 9 hours of cutscenes… that ending…
 Multiple endings
 http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_video_games
_with_most_endings
 Design rule
 Don’t take control of the avatar
Key Concept

 Dramatic Tension and Gameplay Tension
Dramatic Tension

 Desire to know what happens next
 Cliffhangers (lol spoilers)
 The Walking Dead (youtube) (20:06)
Gameplay Tension

 Desire to overcome a challenge
 Multiplayer
 League of Legends (youtube)
Differences between
Tensions

 Tolerance for randomness and repetition
The Storytelling Engine

Linear Stories

 Require less content than nonlinear ones
 Simpler storytelling engine
 Reduce continuity errors
 Deny the player agency
 Capable of greater emotional power
 To the Moon (youtube)
Nonlinear Stories

 Structures:
 Branching Stories
 Foldback Stories
Branching Stories

 Game events
 Player events
 Challenges
 Decisions
 In-game events
 AI-driven
Influence

 Immediate
 Deferred
 Runescape: Shield of Arrav and Heroes’ Quest
 Cumulative
Branching Story
Structure

Disadvantages to
Branching Stories

 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 Critical event branches create disjointed sections
 Replay for all endings
Foldback Story

 Focuses on disadvantages of branching stories
 Commonly used in industry
Foldback Story Structure

 OH GOD WHITE SPACE
Emergent Narrative

 No set story
 Created from playing (based on core mechanics)
Endings

 Based on dramatic actions in the game
 Challenges  1 ending (or 2)
 Critical decisions  multiple endings