Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 7
Storytelling is a feature of daily experience. We do it without thinking about it
when we recount some experience we have had, whether it is the story of how the
golf match went with our friends, or a fiction made up for story time with our chil-
dren. We also consume stories continually—fictional ones through novels, movies,
plays, and television; nonfictional ones through books, documentaries, and the
news media.
Video games often include fictional stories that go beyond the events of the games
themselves. Game designers add stories to enhance a game's entertainment value,
to keep the player interested in a long game, and to help sell the game to prospec-
tive customers.
This chapter looks at how to weave a story into a game. It focuses mostly on games
that rely heavily on stories, though the chapter covers stories within all genres.
We'll examine what makes a good story and how to keep the stories from over-
whelming the gameplay of a video game. The terms
interactive story
and
narrative
are defined, followed by a discussion of linear and nonlinear storytelling and
mechanisms you can use to advance the plot. Then we'll address
scripted conversa-
tions
, which allow the player to participate in dialog with nonplayer characters
(NPCs). The chapter concludes with the topic of episodic storytelling in games,
which the Internet has helped to make possible.
Game designers, game theorists, and players have debated the subject of stories in
games for many years, disputing issues such as whether stories belong in games at
all and, if so, what these stories should be like and how they should work (see “The
Great Debate” sidebar). Many players want a story along with their gameplay, and
some game genres—role-playing games, action-adventures, and above all adventure
games—definitely require one. Whether a story will improve a game depends on
the genre and how rich a story you want to tell. Although a story won't help in all
cases, here are four good reasons for including a story in your game:
Stories can add significantly to the entertainment that a game offers.
Without a story, a game is a competition: exciting, but artificial. A story gives the
competition a context, and it facilitates the essential act of pretending that all
games require. A story provides greater emotional satisfaction by providing a sense
of progress toward a dramatically meaningful, rather than an abstract, goal.
155
