Writing Tutorials, or Press Start. . . to Start - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 117

The Immersion Equation
The pace and complexity of a game's tutorial is important because it relates directly
to how quickly and effectively a player becomes immersed in the game world. The
speed the player masters the controls = the speed they can enter the gameworld = the
speed of immersion. The writer has a complementary equation: The player's lack of
consciousness of learning = the depth of immersion = the success of the narrative.
The writer and designer's jobs are to frame the teaching mechanisms so that the
player can learn while being entertained. Whatever the writer's and designer's choices,
they need to ensure that the tutorial's style doesn't put barriers between the player and
the game or the player and the story.
12.3 Opening Your Story—Narrative Concerns
This is a topic on writing, so why is the writing section after the design section?
This question plays into the ongoing debate about story and gameplay. How do they
work together? Which is the servant of the other? Most of this debate is semantic
twittering. Essentially, gameplay and game design must come first. A game is defined
by gameplay because it is a game. Note that this statement says that gameplay comes
first. Note that this statement does not say that story should come last. Sidelining
the story will damage the design.
For a story to work in a game, the gameplay and narrative must function as
intertwined entities and in harmony. While a game writer must work their story
to fit the design, a designer who does not take narrative concerns into account will
produce an inferior experience lacking immersion.
Gameplay comes first, but a well-constructed narrative can be its best friend.
What Makes a Good Opening?
Talk to writers in any medium, and they will tell you that a good opening is essential.
First impressions count, and if the player doesn't like the story's start or their first
glimpse of the characters, the writer will need to work incredibly hard to get the
audience to change their minds later. This does not mean that a writer should start
to write final scenes and implement dialog straightaway. 5 Wr i t e r s mus t i gnore th i s
temptation until they have properly developed a number of key plot elements. These
elements demand that the writer establish the world, the characters, the protagonist's
goal, and the conflict they will face then back these with narrative drive. Fail to plan
and establish these areas and no amount of sparkling dialog will save the narrative.
Establishing the World
Before character, before even plot and story, comes the narrative world. This is
because the story's world not only defines everything that will take place within it,
but it also tells the player what sort of experience they can expect. Defining the
narrative world starts with game genre then narrative genre.
5 And that means you, bub.