1. Part 1! (Up to Granularity) Brendan Sim

2.   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) LORE - Legend of Zelda (youtube) Why Put Stories in Games?

3.   Stories attract a wider audience  World of Warcraft  Most MMORPGs………. if not all… Why Put Stories in Games?

4.   Stories help keep players interested in long games Why Put Stories in Games?

5.   Stories help to sell the game Why Put Stories in Games?

6.   Length  Characters  Degree of realism  Emotional richness  The Walking Dead  Separate game from similar games with the same mechanics  Half-Life 2 Factors that Affect Amount of Story

7.   Story: an account of series of events, either historical or fictitious Key Concepts

8.   Minimally Acceptable Story  Credible  Coherent  Dramatically meaningful Requirements of Good Stories

9.   Takes place NOW  Includes three kinds of events:  Player events  Dramatic actions  In-game events  Dishonored  Narrative events Interactive Stories (Ludonarrative)

10.   Narrative: noninteractive, presentational part of the story  Cutscenes  Super Mario Galaxy (youtube) (6:19) Super Mario Galaxy (youtube) Key Concepts

11.   Narrative blocks (cutscenes):  Opening/Ending sequence  Title/Closing credits sequence  Post-credits scene  Interlevel sequence  Design Rule  Interruptible Narrative

12.   Forms:  Prerendered movie  Cut-scene  Scrolling text  V.O.  Character monologue  Misconception: one-liners Narrative

13.   MGS4…… over 9 hours of cutscenes… that ending…  Multiple endings  http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_video_games _with_most_endings http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_video_games _with_most_endings  Design rule  Don’t take control of the avatar Balancing Narrative and Gameplay

14.   Dramatic Tension and Gameplay Tension Key Concept

15.   Desire to know what happens next  Cliffhangers (lol spoilers)  The Walking Dead (youtube) (20:06) The Walking Dead (youtube) Dramatic Tension

16.   Desire to overcome a challenge  Multiplayer  League of Legends (youtube) League of Legends (youtube) Gameplay Tension

17.   Tolerance for randomness and repetition Differences between Tensions

18.  The Storytelling Engine

19.   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) To the Moon (youtube) Linear Stories

20.   Structures:  Branching Stories  Foldback Stories Nonlinear Stories

21.   Game events  Player events  Challenges  Decisions  In-game events  AI-driven Branching Stories

22.   Immediate  Deferred  Runescape: Shield of Arrav and Heroes’ Quest  Cumulative Influence

23.  Branching Story Structure

24.   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  Critical event branches create disjointed sections  Replay for all endings Disadvantages to Branching Stories

25.   Focuses on disadvantages of branching stories  Commonly used in industry Foldback Story

26.   OH GOD WHITE SPACE Foldback Story Structure

27.   No set story  Created from playing (based on core mechanics) Emergent Narrative

28.   Based on dramatic actions in the game  Challenges  1 ending (or 2)  Critical decisions  multiple endings Endings