1. Narrative Week 6
GAM 224

2. Outline Midterm Papers Final Project Teams Demos Discussion Break
Lecture
Narrative

3. 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

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

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

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

7. 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?

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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"

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Why is this the standard?

17. 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?

18. 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."

19. 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

20. 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?

21. 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

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

23. 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

24. 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

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

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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?

32. 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

33. 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)

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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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?

38. 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