Storytelling in Theory - The Game Maker's Companion: Game Development - page 197

Flynn has been given the task to get a grapple hook for a particular puzzle. The shop keeper
selling them wants him to do a number of tasks as a fair trade. But we also give Flynn the option
to steal the hook. If he chooses to steal, he will get caught and have his hand chopped off, but
another NPC helps him fit a hook instead of a hand. If he chooses to do the tasks, he will
eventually get the grapple hook from the shop keeper. Either way, the story goes on just the same.
Flynn now has a grapple hook, but if he stole he will look more piraty and threatening-reflecting
the choices he has made.
Cosmetic Changes
Yes, it sounds boring, but sometimes players like these options, too. What we mean is if you make
a racing game, let the player choose the color of the car. When you make an RPG, you can let the
player choose the outfit and gender of their avatar. These choices let the player customize their
experience in the game without those choices having an impact on your game play or story. It's
an easy and popular way to let the player influence the game.
Be wary of giving the player too many choices like this when building a game in Game Maker,
though. Remember that all the different costumes and outfits require resources that could make
your game quite bulky.
Tools to Tell a Story Inside a Game
When we do take the trouble to tell a story in a game, we should also make sure it ties in well with
the game play itself. If the story doesn't relate to the game play at all, it is hard to see any reason
why it is there and it becomes irrelevant to the player and just an interruption of the game play. If
at all possible, make sure the story fits the game play well and works with it to enhance the
experience. It helps a lot if you are able to work on both story and game play at the same time, like
we did with our pirate story. We built the story with the levels so that everything ties nicely
together. The story is about pirates and the game play is about pirates. The places Flynn travels to
have a relevance to the story and the story gives purpose to the game play.
For Shadows on Deck , there are still decisions to be made about how to tell the parts of the
story that are not game play; which tools to use.
Cut Scenes
The most common tool used to convey the story in a game is cut scenes. Cut scenes are
effectively little snippets of movies played in between the game play. They can be more or less
elaborate. The Final Fantasy series puts great store in cut scenes and have more people creating
those than the rest of the game. Special art, cameras, lighting, characters, and sounds are created
for the cut scenes alone. However, they don't have to be that complicated to make. A simple shot
with two characters talking can be enough to relate the story to the player.
During cut scenes, the player generally doesn't have control of the character and they are as
such an interruption of the game play, which is why many dedicated designers (and players) hate
them. The trick is to keep them short and relevant. Make every word the characters say count.
Don't have them go on about the weather (unless surviving an oncoming storm is the next bit of
game play).
If done well, they can be a special treat to watch. The cut scenes serve as reward and payoff
for objectives the player has achieved and provides the motivation for the next challenge.