story and gameplay uc santa cruz school of engineering [email protected] 11 february 2008 michael...
Post on 20-Dec-2015
218 views
TRANSCRIPT
UC SANTA CRUZ
Narrative
Games can tell stories A game’s narrative is the aspects of a game
that contributes to it telling a story Questions concerning whether games are narratives,
or whether narrative provides just one way to look at games are still actively debated.
Narrative is also used to describe the story itself
Computer games stretch the notion of narrative The interactivity of computer games, like the
interactivity of hypertext, pushes hard against existing theories of linear narrative
No longer just one privileged story being told; many possible ways to experience a non-linear narrative (computer game, hypertext fiction)
UC SANTA CRUZ
Structures for Game Narrative
Embedded narrative Pre-generated narrative content that exists prior
to a player’s interaction with the game Cut scenes, back story Are often used to provide the fictional
background for the game, motivation for actions in the game, and development of story arc
Emergent narrative Arises from the player’s interaction with the
gameworld, designed levels, rule structure Moment-by-moment play in the game creates
this emergent narrative Are there any games that actually have
emergent narrative?
UC SANTA CRUZ
Example of embedded narrative
UC SANTA CRUZ
Emergent narrative Stories are well-structured, that's what gives
them their narrative force Unified causal chains Closure Emotional response
Achieving this structure requires an author, but interactivity is about player choice
Why is emergent narrative so hard to design?
““I won't go so far as to say that interactivity and storytelling I won't go so far as to say that interactivity and storytelling are mutually exclusive, but I do believe that they exist in an are mutually exclusive, but I do believe that they exist in an inverse relationship to one another…inverse relationship to one another…
Interactivity is almost the opposite of narrative; narrative Interactivity is almost the opposite of narrative; narrative flows under the direction of the author, while interactivity flows under the direction of the author, while interactivity depends on the player for motive power…”depends on the player for motive power…”
Ernest Adams in GamasutraErnest Adams in Gamasutra
UC SANTA CRUZ
Interaction logic
An interaction logic provides the computational primitives that a game designer uses to design gameplay
An interaction logic provides Commitments about what kinds of underlying
game state the player can change Commitments about how current game state
influences future game state
UC SANTA CRUZ
Graphical logic
Currently games are based (almost) solely on graphical logic
Computer graphics made playable Movement Collision detection
UC SANTA CRUZ
UC SANTA CRUZ
UC SANTA CRUZ
UC SANTA CRUZ
Simulation logic
Strategy and sim games make use of simulation logic
Simulation made playable Resource management (causal chains) Input change
UC SANTA CRUZ
UC SANTA CRUZ
UC SANTA CRUZ
Forced to skin
All game content currently expressed using graphical or simulation logic
Skinning – the re-labeling of visual or simulation elements
How can we build games where the game mechanics themselves are story-based?
UC SANTA CRUZ
Need interaction logics for story
Plot structurePlot structure
Tensio
n/C
om
ple
xity
Time
Exposition Incitingincident
Rising action
Crisis
Climax
Falling action
Denouement
CharactersCharacters• Personality• Emotion• Self motivation• Change• Social relationships• Consistency• Illusion of life
UC SANTA CRUZ
Return of the King
UC SANTA CRUZ
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
UC SANTA CRUZ
Taxi Driver
??
UC SANTA CRUZ
Whoops….
Movie: “The film can be seen as a series of his failed attempts to connect, every one of them hopelessly wrong… His utter aloneness is at the center of Taxi Driver… We have all felt as alone as Travis. Most of us are better at dealing with it.”
Game: “Travis has some brutal combos for exacting some lethal revenge. If you shoot a bad guy in the knee, you can then follow up with some melee combos resulting in a finishing move.”
UC SANTA CRUZ
Façade
UC SANTA CRUZ
Game reinforcement and feedback
Concrete player actions directly manipulate state Game state is primarily numeric, relatively simple The score is directly communicated to the player
Run, jump, shoot
Position, time, score
Game state
“Score” (summary state)
Game
UC SANTA CRUZ
Façade as social, dramatic game
Abstract player actions (discourse acts) manipulate social state Game state is heterogenous, multi-leveled, symbolic and numeric Score is indirectly communicated through dramatic performance
Praise, bring up topic, flirt
Enriched dramatic performance
Game state
Head game scoresGame
Abstraction1
Abstraction2
UC SANTA CRUZ
Façade’s social games Affinity game
Player must take sides in character disagreements
Hot-button game Player can push character hot-buttons (e.g. sex, marriage) to
provoke responses
Therapy game Player can increase characters’ understanding of their
problems
Tension Not a game, but dramatic tension increases over time and is
influenced by player actions (e.g. pushing character hot-buttons can accelerate the tension)
UC SANTA CRUZ
Multiple, mixable progressions
Each social game, plus tension, forms a mixable progression
A progression consists of Units of procedural content (e.g. beats,
beat goals) A narrative sequencer that manages the
progression and responds to player interaction
Multiple progressions run simultaneously and can intermix
UC SANTA CRUZ
The progressions
Beat library
Beat manager
Beat sequencing (overall story + tension)
Beat goal sequencing(affinity game)
Canonical beat goalsequence
Handlers (ABL meta-behaviors) + discourse management
Mixin library
Handlers + discourse
Global mixins (hot button game)Therapy game similar
UC SANTA CRUZ
The future of interactive storytelling Current generation games do storytelling via
embedded narratives
The future of interactive storytelling are narratives with true player agency Player actions have deep effect on the story
progression
This requires developing interaction logics, and game mechanics that make use these logics, that are based on character and story