Chapter 3 Story Composition

Objectives Determine when to add a story to a video game. Outline the basic creative writing procedures. Differentiate between a linear and a nonlinear structure for interactive story delivery. Explain how level design mimics the story design and differentiate between level designs for linear and nonlinear games. Define the essential elements of a level.

To Add or Not to Add a Story A story illustrates a series of events that describe the process of a character resolving a problem or conflict The plot is the plan or map for the story Not every game tells a story, such as sports games A role-playing game (RPG) depends on a story to motivate the player

To Add or Not to Add a Story (Continued) A story should be added to a game for one of five reasons Add entertainment to the game Define the audience Keep player attention Differentiate the game Integrate with marketing

audiovisual experience literature can be characterized by using words to present ideas over the course of time, cinema builds on that by adding a second dimension of expression: sensory input. “It was a dark and stormy night. Bob was an evil man. He said to John, the good guy, ‘I hate you and I will kill you.’

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Why and when do I need a strong storyline

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What’s the backstory?? Is there a backstory?? Pong Donkey Kong Breakout Space Panic

Pong Pong (marketed as PONG) is one of the earliest arcade video games and the very first sports arcade video game. It is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics

Donkey Kong Donkey Kong is a series of video games featuring the adventures of a gorilla character called Donkey Kong, conceived by Shigeru Miyamoto in 1981.

Breakout Breakout is an arcade game developed and published by Atari, Inc In the game, a layer of bricks lines the top third of the screen. A ball travels across the screen, bouncing off the top and side walls of the screen. When a brick is hit, the ball bounces away and the brick is destroyed. The player loses a turn when the ball touches the bottom of the screen. To prevent this from happening, the player has a movable paddle to bounce the ball upward, keeping it in play.

Space Panic Space Panic is a 1980 arcade game designed by Universal, which Chris Crawford calls "the granddaddy of all platform games", as it predates Nintendo's Donkey Kong (from 1981) which is often cited as the original platform game. Space Panic lacks Donkey Kong's jump mechanic and the main character instead digs holes in the platforms into which he must lure the aliens. He must then hit them to knock them out of the hole and off the screen. In later levels, two or more holes must be lined up vertically in order to dispose of the aliens. There Is also a limited supply of oxygen.

Creative Writing Creative writing is developing a work of fiction that tells a story with characters, places, and events A good story has rising action, a climax, and falling action A simple outline process can be used to get the writing process started

Creative Writing (Continued) The basics procedure for creative writing is Brainstorm ideas Determine the central premise Define the characters Create a primary conflict Structure the story Develop an ending point Brainstorming is recording as many ideas as possible without sorting or editing them

Creative Writing (Continued) Try to follow these keys to a central premise Be brief; use about 30 words Identify a character and a conflict Reveal the setting for the conflict Incorporate credible or believable events Make it easily understood by the target audience Determine if it can be developed into a coherent story Include elements that are different from other stories

Creative Writing (Continued) The story may have round characters, flat characters, stock characters, or stereotyped characters To have a story, there needs to be a conflict The story also needs to have dramatic tension, climax, and resolution The player should be able to resolve the primary conflict eventually and end the game

Pilot – FLASH TV Show

Creative Writing (Continued) Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

Premise of a story

Guidelines for a Good Story

Page 94 textbook

Main Game Story – Develop End Point

Missions lead to battle with Big Boss Conflict is finished – Game Over Big Boss – Lord Farquhar

Define the Characters Round ?? Flat ?? Stock??

Round – Flat – Stock

Interactive Story Delivery A game with a story is classified as an interactive story The structure of the story within a game can be either linear or nonlinear Stories with a linear structure follow a single path from beginning to end Stories with a nonlinear structure have more than one path, and there may be more than one possible ending

Interactive Story Delivery (Continued) The two basic types of nonlinear stories are branching stories and foldback stories A branching story has several paths that branch from decision points In a foldback story The game branches and allows the player to make decisions All paths lead, or fold, back to the same end point

Design for the Story The level design will mimic the story design A linear game has one basic level design Nonlinear games have three basic level designs Parallel-branching level design Hub-and-spoke level design Sandbox level design

Basic Types of Level Design Page 102 textbook

Basic Types of Level Design

Linear vs. Open World

Design for the Story (Continued) The story must be properly documented to communicate the design to the team Storyboard Game layout chart World-design document Environmental-illustrations document Character-design document

Storyboard

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Game layout chart

Environmental-illustrations document © Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.

Character-design document

Design for the Story (Continued) Level design involves grouping the scenes into levels and setting the game objectives A graphical user interface (GUI) is how the user will send and receive information with the computer The heads-up display (HUD) is a means of displaying information to the player during gameplay

Essential Elements of a Level There are five essential elements of a level Setting Character motivation and emotional development Purpose and goal Dramatic action Conflict and dramatic tension The setting is the time and place of the action in the story

Essential Elements of a Level (Continued) The chart below includes thematic elements used to convey a medieval setting. Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

Essential Elements of a Level (Continued) Each object that contributes to or conveys a theme is a thematic element The emotional feeling of the setting is its mood Each level needs to motivate the main character and foster emotional development An emotional change can be very simple or complex

Essential Elements of a Level (Continued) For each level, there should be a primary goal as well as smaller goals The tasks to be completed on each level need to be nontrivial Each level must have its own dramatic action Each level must have action, conflict, and dramatic tension These elements make the game exciting

Why is brainstorming ideas an important first step for creative writing? Which type of game do you enjoy playing more—one with a linear structure or one with a nonlinear structure? Why?