Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
they are with how you completed the pipeline. On the left side, a farmer complains when the
pipe runs too close to fields or scares farm animals; on the right, a businessman gets angry if the
pipeline isn't completed fast enough or uses too many pipes and goes over budget (see
F i g u r e 7 . 1 1 ) .
Figure 7.11
Getting feedback after laying pipelines in
Pipe Trouble
.
It's difficult to keep both sides happy, especially considering that other factors appear dur-
ing play: protesters show up to block your pipeline if you build it over forested areas and may
even sabotage your pipeline by blowing it up if you're too reckless with the environment.
Although
Pipe Trouble
is clear about whether the farmer and businessman are pleased, it's up to
the player to decide on the right way to play. Is the best measure of success to keep everyone
happy? To save the most money possible? To let the businessman get upset but make sure not
to disrupt farms,
homes, and forests? The many possible interpretations of the right way to play
are useful for creating a complex systemic story. It's hard to keep everyone happy, and a natural
gas pipeline ends up affecting someone negatively, whether it's a forest animal or a tycoon's
checkbook.
The branching narratives of story-games can also create interesting forms of ambiguity, espe-
cially when the system underlying the impact of the player's choices isn't completely revealed
