Storytelling in Theory - The Game Maker's Companion: Game Development - page 182

flow more easily from objective to objective. The story adds backbone to the game, which might
otherwise just be a series of unconnected challenges.
Even though the player has to focus on the short-term goal, the story will give them a sense of
the journey ahead and a desire to see what's around the next corner, not to mention to know how
it all ends. If we can hook the player at the start of the story, there's a good chance they'll stick
around to the end.
Little or Big Story?
But first of all, you must decide whether your game needs a long story at all. What will fit the
game? Mr. Driller, Namco's popular series of arcade games, had a story that was short and sweet:
A monster has burrowed beneath the city and threatens to destroy it. Mr. Driller must
use his drill to get down there and defeat the monster.
That's all the story this game needs. The player gets a noble quest to save an entire city from
a monster. Mr. Driller is all about speed and a sense of urgency as he has to get to that monster
quickly. He is constantly in danger of running out of air and blocks fall on his head if he doesn't
keep moving. If there was a longer story, the game would have to pause between each level and
explain some more, maybe show houses falling down from the tremors underground. Maybe Mr.
Driller would have to stop to talk to a character that just happened to be underground. So in this
case, a detailed story slows the pace down and gets in the way.
Our pirate game, on the other hand, will definitely improve with a more elaborate story.
Though Flynn is fast and agile, he is also clever and has to use his wit to outsmart some of the bad
guys. That means we have to give him information along the way, and a story can help structure
that information and make it relevant. We want him to search for his mother. We want him to
save his home town. Without the story, he might wander around aimlessly and not be sure what
exactly he is supposed to be doing.
So how do we go about structuring a longer story?
Story Structures
There are many ways to structure a story, and you could fill a library with the topics written on
the subject—all trying to find the perfect formula for a good story. Although some very good
patterns have emerged, the truth is that there is no such thing as a guaranteed formula for
creating a good story, just as there is no such thing as a guaranteed formula for creating a good
game. But these ideas and patterns can still help us when building the stories for our games,
particularly when you are new to storytelling. So think of them as forms, not formulas. They are
guidelines to help us along, not a strict rule set we have to follow.
We will go through two very popular forms here, which actually work well in unison:
• The Three-Act Structure
• The Hero's Journey (also known as the Monomyth).
For the rest of the chapter, we will use these two structures to show you how they can help
build up your story from loose idea to finished narrative. They teach some valuable lessons about
storytelling, but you should never let them restrict your imagination. Once you know the rules;
don't be afraid to break them. It can be a lot of fun and lead to new astonishing stories.