You Are the One - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 11

models based on it as our fi rst attempt to fi nd out more about the fundamental nature
of computer games.
SUMMARY
Storyboards are also used in the design of computer games but with less success
due to fact that games introduce interaction which, in turn, means that the diverging
consequences of interaction must be conveyed somehow. This means some form of
branching storyboard or complex annotations which show where in the storyboard
to jump to if a certain intervention is made. This can work to a certain extent for
point - and - click games such as the Monkey Island series, but for fi rst - person shooters
and most other game genres, storyboarding just isn't up to the job. This is because
there is no predefi ned story to branch; the player intervenes whenever they want.
But that is interesting in itself. The fact that storyboards as theory and model are
not really appropriate for designing and are certainly not appropriate for analyzing
games already tells us that there must be major differences between fi lms and games.
This reinforces the notion that we would seem to need particular theories and there-
fore particular models in order to understand the fundamentals of computer games.
Before we get on with the topic proper let me just summarize a few of the points
made in this introduction and add one or two more:
• This is a topic that attempts to understand the fundamental nature of computer
games;
• It uses a variety of models and theories to achieve this;
• It is concerned with the look, feel, and gameplay of games, not with how to
program them;
• We won't just look at new games. Many of the games will be quite old;
• The theories are going to get more complex as the topic progresses;
• This means you, the reader, will have to put in some effort;
• We'll go on to use our theories and the insights they enable to defi ne games
more rigorously and to think about game design as well.
Time to get going . . .