no medals for wookiees game tutorial elective - 4pm monday gdc game design tutorial andy ashcraft...
TRANSCRIPT
No Medals for WookieesGame Tutorial Elective - 4pm Monday
GDC Game Design TutorialAndy AshcraftJeremy GibsonJonathan HamelMarc Leblanc
The Rise & Fall of Dramatic Tension
The Rise & Fall of Dramatic Tension
The Rise & Fall of Dramatic Tension
The Player’s Story Has The Same Arc
●Learn How to Play●Tension Increases
● Difficulty Increases● Stakes are Raised● Complications are Added
●Climactic Moment!●Resolve Remaining Issues
When is the Climax of a Game?●The Point of HIGHEST Tension.
● Afterwards, you KNOW if you’ve won or lost.
● Story Example: Luke chooses to trust the Force over the targeting computer and shoots with his eyes closed.
Repeating Rise & Fall of Tension
Next 4:11
Resolving Tension Inside Game-Play● Shift from Planning to Execution
● Risk!● Shrinking Possibility Space
● Chess, Bingo● Remove Mechanical Constraints
● Journey, Where’s My Water● Secondary Goals and Games
● Minecraft● Revealing Hidden Information
● Texas Hold’em, Werewolf Next 4:12
Resolving Tension Outside Game-play
● Revealing Hidden Information (outside) ● “Show them what they’ve won!”
● Cut-scenes (outside)● Post Mortems & Replays (outside) ● Leaderboards, Achievements (outside)● Smack-talk, Water-cooler talk (outside)
Next 4:14
Great Denouements in Games
● Back to “Normal”● Show what the
conflict has caused● Minor dramatic arcs
Next 4:16
●Red Dead Redemption (Jeremy)
Great Denouements in Games
●Journey (Jonathan)● Free flying (removal
of constraints)!● Discovering who
your companions had been
Next 4:17
Great Denouements in Games
●Dungeons & Dragons (Andy)● The repercussions of battle:
● Healing● Roll the victims● Identifying the treasure● Leveling UP!
Next 4:18
Denouement Vs. Cliffhanger●These are NOT the same thing
● Denouement resolves tension created in the CURRENT story.
● “And they loved happily every after.”
● Cliffhanger ratchets up the tension for the NEXT story.
● “OMG! What’s gonna happen next?!?”
Next 4:19
Example: Questions Answered● What happened to Darth Vader?● Is Wedge OK?● Will R2-D2 be OK?● Will Han and Chewie stick around?
Next 4:20
Exercise: Brainstorm!
●Brainstorm: What OTHER stories have great, memorable denouements?
● Others…● Any movie, book, game, fairy-tale, etc.
Next 4:25
Exercise Rules:● Using Dice and Index Cards● Create a Game-like Activity Based on the
Denouement of a Well-known Story● Write These Down:
●What is the Climax?●What is the Denouement? ●What is the Tension(s) your activity will resolve?
● Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!
Deadline 5:25
Exercise: Beta-Test
●Two people from each group ● stay to teach other players how to play your
game
●Everyone else ● splits up to play other groups’ games
Next 5:40
Falling Tension: Observations?
●What was interesting?
Next 5:45
Falling Tension: Discussion
●Did the activities fit the story?●Did the activities resolve tension?
Next 5:55
Denouement
●The player’s story is the “real” story●A denouement allows the audience to digest their story and make it meaningful●This process can be play-able and not simply scripted
Next 5:57
Cliffhanger!
●Come Back Tomorrow!● 10 AM● Everyone to THIS Room● And, THANK YOU!!
Don’t cry, Chewie! There’s more game-design tomorrow!