COMP 585/185: Serious Games

Player User Interface Storytelling Engine Core Mechanics Triggers Narrative Events In-Game EventsPlayer Events

 Linear  Branching  Foldback  Emergent

 Aesthetically  Greater emotional capability  Deny dramatic freedom  Practically  Require less content  Engine simpler  Less prone to bugs (absurdities)

 Aesthetically  Replayable  Harder to create specific emotions  Event influence  Advise player of significance  Deferred or cumulative  Practically  Expensive and complex  Merging  Number of endings

 Inevitable events that create the story arc  Every play comes through them  Compromise between complexity and dramatic freedom

 No storytelling engine  Story evolves strictly from player actions

 Endings  Dramatic and premature  Multiplicity  Narrative granularity

 Mechanisms  Challenges  Choices  Drama (time)  Journey  Tools  Cut scenes  Dialogue

 Set up  Confrontation  Resolution

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.  Call to adventure  Road of trials  Boon  Return to the ordinary world  Application of the boon  Vogler’s version Vogler’s version

 Tony Hirst’s Digital WorldsDigital Worlds  Lee Sheldon, Character Development and Storytelling for Games (2004)

 Shape shifter  Form changer  Threshold guardian  Progress delayer  Trickster  Mischief maker  Shadow  Ultimate evil  Herald  Used to facilitate change in the story  Hero  Outer problem is aim of game  Inner problem is flaw or dark secret  Mentor  Guide character  Higher self  Hero as he aspires to be  Ally  Meant to aid the hero

 Must include growth to have a meaningful story  Growth varies by genre  Must decide:  Which characters will grow  How they will grow  Implementation in game  Affect on gameplay  Representation to player

 Enhance story  Emotional response  Characters to identify with and care about  Credible within the game style

 Create characters that people … find intriguing (even if a villain) can believe in can identify with  Distinctive enough to be memorable

 Flexibility differs by genre  Role-playing games usually greatest  Race, sex, hair, physical attributes, etc.  Typically no personality but what is created  Goal is tools for players to create themselves

 Designer doesn’t specify anything  Text-based adventure games  Allows very tight connection between player and avatar  Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman  Limiting for designer

 Goals  Personality of their own  Belong in the game  Begins with visual depiction  Player’s relationship more complex  Identify with, not become  In extreme, avatar can reject player’s guidance  The Longest Journey’s April Ryan

 Only partially characterized  Better to make cartoonish  Common with action game avatars  Mario  Lara Croft  “Beyond the bare facts of her biography, her perfect vacuity means we can make Lara Croft into whoever we want her to be.” – Steven Pool, “Lara’s Story”

 Indirect (“point and click”)  Doesn’t steer avatar, points to where to go. Player as disembodied guide friend  More likely specific avatar  Direct  Player steers avatar through game world, doing a variety of actions as necessary  More likely nonspecific or semi-specific

 Nonspecific, semi-specific or specific  Visual, psychological, social  Direct or indirect control  Goal: character the player can identify with qualities can appreciate

 Creating a character by first thinking about his visual appearance  Visual design  Character physical types  Physical design  Defining attributes  Sidekicks

 Realism doesn’t matter, self-consistency does  Pac-Man  Lara Croft  Purely artistic characters tend to be more superficial and one-dimensional  Lets the player impose his own personality

 Humanoids  Non-humanoids  Hybrids

 Methods to attract › Hypersexualization › Cuteness  Cartoonlike qualities › Cool, tough, cute, goofy  Culture differences in art styles › Japanese: large eyes and tiny/huge mouths  Cute faces with sexually provocative women › European: often ugly and strange to Americans

 Clothing, weapons, symbolic objects, name  Color palette reflects character’s attitudes or emotional temperament  Superman, upholder of “truth, justice, and the American way”: bright/cheery, American flag  Batman, Dark Knight of Gotham City (grittier, more run-down than Metropolis): somber

 Most prominent common element in game design  Combine qualities (e.g., tough with cute) to provide variety and comic relief  Benefits  Give player additional moves and actions  Extend emotional range of game  Can give player information they couldn’t get otherwise

 Starting with the story behind the character and developing his traits and personality before considering his appearance  Character dimensionality  Language & accent  Developing believable characters  Character growth  Character archetypes

 Zero-dimensional › May display only discrete emotional states  One-dimensional › Have only a single variable to characterize a changing feeling or attitude  Two-dimensional › Have multiple non-conflicting variables that express their impulses  Three-dimensional › Have multiple emotional states that can produce conflicting impulses

 Key cue to character’s personality › Vocabulary – age, social class, education › Grammar and sentence construction – education and class › Accent – place of origin and social class › Delivery (speed and tone) – excitement, boredom, anxiety, suspicion, attitude or emotional state › Vocal quirks – distinguishing  Sound effects also tell about personality › Confirm player’s command › Signal injury, damage, death › Pitch describes

 Major characters need rich personalities › Answer many questions about them  Where was he born?  What is his education?  What are his favorite activities?  What were his biggest triumphs in life?  What are his interesting or important possessions?  Etc. › Show through appearance, language, and behavior

 Attributes – location, health, relationships, etc.  Can change as the player plays the game  Status attributes: change frequently and by large amounts  Characterization attributes: change infrequently and only by small amounts or not at all

 Three golden guidelines to developing effective, believable characters  Needs to intrigue the player  Needs to get the player to like him  Needs to change and grow according to experience