Narrative Week 6 GAM 224

Outline Midterm Papers Final Project Teams Demos Discussion Break Lecture Narrative

Midterm Papers Good news Bad news Rewrites will be due 2/28 about ½ graded Bad news more than 50% rewrites main reasons no thesis no references Rewrites will be due 2/28

Final Project Teams Turn in your team stuff today What final project? see me at break!

Homework #2 If you didn't get game idea to critique for Homework #2 see me at break!

Demos Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Lange) GTA: San Andreas (Ingebrigsten) Metal Gear Solid 3 (Pollard) Grim Fandango (Hahn) Ninja Gaiden (Abero)

Story Narrative is a type of representation fundamental to human cognition An experience can (and will) be turned into a story Question for game design When, how and why does the designer exert control over that story?

Aristotle Defined the role of performative storytelling Technique to evoke "pity and terror" in the audience Technique the construction of narrative tension building to the point of catharsis cleansing of the emotions

Interactive storytelling Early theorists thought of games as a new narrative form "interactive storytelling" According to this theory, the player would become a character would interact with the virtual world of the author would generate a unique personal story

Ergodic story A story in which non-trivial effort is required to allow the user to traverse the text Espen Aarseth hypertext theorist But a game isn't really a text it may have an associated "text"

Player's story The act of learning and playing a game is itself a story different for every player True even if the game has minimal narrative But the player's story is not authored by the game designer

The problem A story is a communicative act authoring a story means having something to say making form, content and structure work together to convey it the more elaborate the form the more expressive potential But the audience does not alter the form, content or structure might alter details of performance some experiments but none really successful

Games and stories To make a game story-like To make a story game-like we have to prevent the player from changing its form, content or structure guarantees the designed payoff but gives the player nothing to do To make a story game-like we have to allow its content to be generated by the user's choices which means the author is no longer free to tell his/her story user might miss expensive game content

Various compromises Abstraction Story as normative action no need for story emotional impact is lacking Story as normative action player must learn correct sequence of actions to follow the correct story constraining

The standard compromise The "string of pearls" story A segmented story A main character (the player) A number of pre-defined narrative events A pre-determined conclusion In between narrative "pearls" game actions ideally actions and narrative are coherent In some cases multiple possible conclusions multiple characters to play

Why is this the standard?

Games ≠ Stories But most games will have a narrative component What is this story? What is the mechanism by which the story is told? What is the relationship between the game's action and its narrative element? How do the "pearls" relate to "string"? Does the story work?

Benefits of game narrative Adds drama to the player's actions "If I don't get there in time, the world will be destroyed" Lends weight to the player's choices "I better decide carefully. I don't want the Vizier to kill the princess." Provides a rationale behind the structure of the game world "That's why the world is full of nasty aliens" Helps the user understand what to do and how to do it "Because I'm made of paper, I can turn into a paper airplane."

Maxims of game narrative Being shown is better than being told let the environment / setting tell the story Doing is better than being shown let the dynamics of the world reveal important facts

Problems Interacting with non-player characters can't converse Organizing levels / missions providing intermediate goals and advice Replay value if story is in the incentive, why play again?

Standard techniques Out-of-game In-game stop the action show a short video segment or cut-scene (but the player isn't playing!) In-game artifacts or characters provide information

Out-of-game Watching ≠ playing Coherence between game world and cut-scene rendering Must provide option to skip what is player misses crucial information

In-game How to make sure the user gets the information they need? What if they charge ahead? Solutions use intercoms, on-board advisors make story-contributing characters immortal redundancy

Plot Game plots are almost always very simple Common plot elements rescue the princess battle the monsters save the universe from the evil mastermind rule the world Common plot elements betrayal approval of older mentor acquisition of magic and strength

Fairy tales Fairy tales are often tales of heroism simple in structure involve magical aid involve betrayal lack detailed characterization can be retold

Psychology of the fairy tale Coming of age The fairy tale represents the transition from a youthful inward-focused perspective to a mature engagement with the world. Recognition of evil Mature engagement with the world requires the recognition of evil and the resolve to confront it. Interdependence The hero needs the help and (sometimes) the approval of others. Archetypal characters The characters are simple, drawn from a standard set of archetypes "The Misfit" The transition from being "different" to being accepted.

Psychology, cont'd What is the psychological function of the hero myth? Template for the issues of maturation A way to externalize difficult emotional issues tension between comfort/safety of home and excitement/danger of the world tension between growing physical and intellectual capacities and practical powerlessness.

Consequences Fairy tale plots Adults Also have most intense appeal to adolescents and children also, good fit with game limitations Adults (theoretically) have tolerance for more complex plots but complex plots difficult to create Also plot is only one component of the game game needs to be engaging for other reasons

Linearity Refers to the degree to which there is only a single way to progress through the game Some games require one and only one sequence of actions to make it through Can hamper "flow" player has to figure out what the designer wanted, instincts cannot be relied on Most games have some linear elements

Non-linearity Means that there are many ways to go more possibilities for the user more freedom, more scope for judgement Challenging to design requires more robust physics requires more robust AI requires more design work requires more effort in game testing and game balancing

Design questions Is there a narrative element to the game? Why is it there? How can I maximize the benefits of the narrative without negatively impacting gameplay?

Character Any game will have at least one character the player Sometimes the player will be represented on the screen the avatar (from the Hindu word meaning the human form of a god) Often there will be other characters as well non-player characters A multiplayer game will have avatars for other players

Character design Characters are very powerful a good character is worth millions Bugs Bunny But the more simple the character the more the player can bring to it Many game characters have no personality Mario Master Chief "Kid" (GTA III)

Character design 2 Character is a unity appearance voice behavior reactions of others Generating believable characters is an art

Character design 3 Multiple characters often a game needs many characters How to distinguish between them? How to distinguish between different classes of enemy? If there are distinctions the user needs to make (friend vs foe) the game must provide the information necessary to do so

Character customizability Ability to give the avatar a custom appearance Crucial for on-line multi-player How important in other contexts? Custom details can be symbols of game achievements

Design questions Who is the player in the game? What are the characteristics of the player's avatar? What are the other individual characters and/or character classes? How should each character's presence cue the player? What are the characteristics of each?

Sports / Racing Demo Non-demo Entin: Burnout 2 Moskovitz: SSX 3 Jamieson: Fight Night 2004 Rojas: MVP Baseball 2004 Baig: NBA Street Vol. 2 Non-demo Pollard: F-Zero GX DiConsola: Red Card 2004 Rivera: Deer Hunter Lange: Madden 2005 Summers: Tony Hawk Underground 2