Interactive Storytelling for Video Games Chapter 1: Game Stories, Interactivity, and What Players Want Josiah Lebowitz Chris Klug

The Importance of Stories  Stories have existed since the dawn of the human race.  Stories have had immeasurable influence on human development and civilization.  Modern technology gives us access to a nearly endless supply of stories of all types.  This vast selection of stories allows us to focus only on our favorites types of stories and ignore ones we don’t like.

Stories in Video Games  Video Games are a relatively new form of media and are constantly evolving.  Games are an excellent storytelling medium.  The interactivity of games means that game writers have to face many challenges and problems that other writers do not.

Chapter 2  Explores the history of storytelling in games.  Discusses how different types of game storytelling developed and evolved.  Looks at some games which played a significant role in the development of game storytelling.

Chapters  Explain the basics of story structure and character development.  Discuss common story themes and clichés.  Explore the hero’s journey and other story structures.  Talk about how to create interesting and believable characters.  Describe ways to create an emotionally moving story.

Chapter 6  Describes what exactly makes a story interactive.  Explains the different between interactive and player-driven storytelling.  Presents and overview of the different types of interactive storytelling commonly used in video games.

Chapters  Explore the different interactive storytelling styles in-depth.  Discuss the innate advantages and disadvantages of each style.  Explain the unique challenges writers face when working with each style.  Look at how a variety of different games use these styles.

Chapters  Explore the debate over just how much control players should be given over the progression and outcome of game stories.  Look at the key arguments both for and against highly player- driven forms of storytelling.

Chapter 14  Contains research into which types of stories are most popular with gamers and why.  Looks at how stories affect which games gamers buy.  Discusses the results of the research and its meaning.

Chapter 15  Reviews the material from previous chapters in light of the information found in Chapters 12 – 14.  Looks ahead into the future of games storytelling.

Things to Consider  What key events in history have been influenced by stories?  How have stories influenced your life? Which stories have had the greatest impact on you?  What makes writing for games different than writing for books or film?  How much control do you think players should have in game stories and why?