Introduction to the Project
How are narratives formed and implemented within digital games? What importance is placed on story and plot in comparison to the games mechanics and functionality and where is this balance met? How does one address the issues of originality when considering also its marketability and with the potential for cross-media mobility, what challenges and advantages does an intellectual-property face in the advent of transmedia-storytelling? These questions and more, I have sought to answer throughout the project and since its initial inception, I have had a particular focus in not only studying the somewhat scientific methods writers employ when 'deconstructing' their stories to suit their chosen medium (be it a screenplay or design document etc.) but also how one attempts to take so abstract a concept as a story and implement it effectively within such an inter-disciplinary industry.
The project essentially tasks us with researching into the techniques and practises associated with narrative, challenging us to disassociate or 'remove' ourselves from the wonderment experienced as a reader and force us to re-examine as to why the writer has made the creative decisions that they have, considering also the effects that this might have on the reader; this in-turn will inform our own working practises as we each develop a story within project one of this unit, the resulting 'world' in which will be implemented into a working game title (essentially, we are to construct an intellectual property of our own.)
As a principle mode of discourse, narration has been a defining characteristic within human culture for many a millennia. Through writing systems, symbolism and oral tradition, the intrinsic value associated with the art of storytelling is unquestionable and whether as a means to educate or to entertain, many aspects of the practise have changed very little since its initial origins (with early genres, symbols and motifs still influencing contemporary writing today.) Though with the advent of new media, storytelling has adapted and whilst many new opportunities and advantages have come into fruition because of this, as a result, so to have there been challenges.
Games as a story-telling medium are highly unique and advantageous, in that they provide a degree of interactivity and participation from the audience, simply not attainable from similar media within the entertainment industry. The ability for the player to physically take control of and manipulate the story at a whim, whilst the plot is unfolding, provides an unprecedented level of intimacy and sense of immersion and is unlike anything we have seen within this mode of discourse before. It is the possibilities resulting from this level and form of interactivity that holds a deep fascination with me and forms really the cornerstone and main focus of my research throughout this project; though equally, one must also recognise both the techniques, merits, the advantages and the disadvantages of developing narratives in other media such as literature, film and music and the myriad of disciplines that they each cover. The influences exerted amongst these practises also help to define new methods of delivering stories to an audience, highlighting really the breadth of possibilities that narrative offers and truly the depth that storytelling extends both as a form of entertainment and within the psyche of the individual.
"If you want to build an interactive storyworld, you must banish all notions of plot and storyline from your head and instead think in terms of a storyworld: a universe of dramatic possibilities, revolving around a central theme and exploring all the variations on that theme." - Crawford, C.
Contextual Studies Seminar One - 07/10/2011
The primary focus of this seminar was in recognising the importance of stories as 'worlds' and in not only having this 'world' retain a level of cohesion but also developing it as a character in unto itself (eliminating or attempting to avoid the possibility of your narrative losing any credibility and believability from the audience, by not having all other elements reduced to simply a background or 'stage' from which your characters occasionally interact.)
Using a simplified symbol of Earth's composition, the diagram above helps illustrate the importance in achieving a balance between the core game-mechanics and the limits of the game's world if one is to retain believability for the player.
Interactivity as the main advantage to game storytelling was addressed and discussed and directly related to this was the idea of viewing the formation of a convincing game world in a diagrammatical format, where two circles were drawn, an outer circle--representing the eventual boundary or limitations to your story from which the world/'universe' no longer extends--and an inner circle (the 'core') representing the core game-mechanics that provide the player with the ability to interact with your world and the story as it unfolds. Providing a harmonious balance between the two (the outer limits or 'boundary') and the core, will ensure that the world does retain the level of cohesion necessary for it to hold together all other elements and ultimately its believability. The inherent challenge to this is in constructing the narrative to be easy to comprehend/understand, but have its complexity be underestimated and almost 'taken for granted' by the player.
Introducing Worlds: A Comparative Analysis
The introduction of the player to the world itself is paramount, it establishes not only the initial premise of the story but the 'ambience' from which all other artistic devices will later be drawn; how the world is delivered shares a crucial importance with the content of the deliverance itself...
The person performing their story might employ oral techniques--the pitch of one's voice, the use of colloquialisms to denote character and similar linguistic devices--in combination with gesticulation and mannerisms to induce interest and elicit a reaction from the audience. In lieu of sound and visual stimuli, the written word relies on the author's diction in achieving a similar communicative effect. Through text and supporting imagery are graphic novels and comic-books able to deliver the narrative, though similarly to traditional prose and poetry, are often lacking in sound. Film, however, employs all of the aforementioned elements but requires less 'participation' from the audience, as the increased presence of information provides a much more linear experience. Finally, digital games are often all these things; with the addition of direct access to the story through control, is the player afforded choice.
The advantages and disadvantages of each are a matter of debate; does presenting the player with imagery enhance or retract from the experience? One's participation might be reduced but is the imagination any less receptive as a result? The method to which information is presented to the audience is also of a particular importance, provide too much and induce feelings of indifference, too little and one risks alienating the viewer; at no point is this more prevalent than at the beginning...
Discussed within the seminar was the idea of perceived literal structures, a fairy-tale for example follows certain ‘conventions’ that the reader both knowingly recognises and understands, already this provides a point of reference and position of engagement for the participant; how descriptive the author chooses to be defines the extent or limitations of the readers own creative input, how many dwarves are there, what does the wolf look like, how large is the forest? Etc. The characters and environment must both inhabit the same space if the ‘world’ is to be believed.
I’d like to briefly discuss the impact that a given medium has in constructing (and subsequently presenting) the world to which the narrative inhabits and the affect that this has on the audience. Taking a popular example of successful cross-media application, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series of books represent not only an instantly recognisable, sequential narrative but a world that inhabits a far greater ‘space’ than can be seen in any one book or film alone.
Drawing heavily from the strong cultural references of his youth and education, J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘universe’ comprises of a number of elements duly recognisable in other equally successful intellectual properties, from which expansive, story-driven worlds are the mainstay. The worlds themselves, for example, are always presented as a character in itself. George Lucas’ science-fiction opera, Star Wars, often defines a culture, time or event through its setting alone. Employing visual devices (through lighting, or choice of palette etc.) the viewer instantly recognises and then associates a given place with an element of that narrative, be it the race that inhabits it or the events which took place within it, the surrounding space is now an established character and is instantly recognisable as such. The success of this technique, however, is based on another important consideration if one is to form and retain any level of consistency within the world.
“Both Star Wars (the films, games and books) and Halo series reportedly had huge backstories that were never entirely revealed to the players. Having everything in the world thought out provided consistency and allowed a large number of titles to inhabit those universes.” – Mcguire, M; Genkins, O.
The viewer approaches any given work with pre-conceptions, as discussed within the previous lecture, fairy-tales follow accepted rules and in the knowledge of such pre-conceptions are they able to actively participate or engage with the narrative from a place of familiarity. Design elements within film are employed with a similar convention in mind; no matter how fantastical the world, one must first bind this to a reality from which the audience can begin to engage with the story (such as an historical context, a tangible ‘real-world’ reference, or recognizable cultural ideology) the audience needs a position of familiarity to begin to define the world as an inhabitable, coherent and believable place.
The Influence of Film in Developing Coherent Game Worlds, a Comparison of Narrative
‘Narrative’, essentially, is a sequence of events, with the ‘world’ providing the context in the deliverance of these events. The permeation of narrative into alternative media is of a great fascination to me and no more so than when cross-media transferral occurs between film and the digital gaming ‘arena.’
The extent and methodology employed when constructing narrative can draw comparison between the two mediums as both employ technology and its related techniques as a means of portraying the narrative to the audience. The Metal Gear series of games exemplifies this concept. Cinematic conventions and stylistic devices are employed in equal measure in helping to narrativize the experience for the player, in effect; the games achieve a median between ‘interactive film’ and ‘cinematic game’. Examples ---àHideo Kojima, the director, producer and writer of the series, comments on [Edit.]
Narrative and Gameplay, an Act of Balance
The dichotomy of a compelling narrative and engaging gameplay is one best represented within the gaming genre of role-playing games (‘RPGs’) and more specifically, Western role-playing games and Japanese role-playing games, both now defined almost as sub-genres in unto themselves. The cultural differences between the two have meant that one has almost by its very definition, become associated with constructing an expansive open-world environment through which the player is able to freely explore, the ‘narrative’ is—as is often the case with games—developed at the player’s own pace, though this is ‘slowed’ to a much further extent as exploration is encouraged and assumes a greater focus; these are the defining characteristics of the Western ‘RPG.’ Conversely, the Japanese ‘RPG’ employs a methodology in which the player experience is narrativized to a far greater extent; the characters, pacing, plot and means of progression are often highly controlled, cut-scenes are frequent and often feature long-running times and the gameplay centres usually around a simple mechanic (such as ‘button-mashing’ as seen within fighting games) as a means of maintaining interest for the player as their experience is guided from one story-telling moment to the next. The Japanese ‘Role-playing’ genre of gaming has become synonymous with the development of ‘memorable’ characters and story-arches as opposed (usually) to the methods through which the player manipulates the games themselves and this is ultimately reflected also within the culture as each of these intellectual properties
Transmedia-Storytelling, Cross-Media Application and Convergence Technology
Constructing Narratives for Games, an Organic World with Technical Constraints
“Now more than ever, game writers need to be fully aware of the medium they’re writing for.” – Despain, W.
Digital gaming provides a level of interactivity currently unobtainable within other forms of entertainment media (novels, films, music etc.) Whilst this essentially affords the writer the ability to further engross the player/user within an ever-more immersive environment, the experience is inevitably constrained by the practises of the industry and its technical limitations. Ultimately the ‘Game Director’ (the technical and creative lead) and the ‘Producer’ (the financier) must decide whether the games narrativity should be of a primary concern, or focus more so on developing innovative gameplay mechanics; the communicative nature and level of user-input associated with gaming often ensures the latter takes precedence.
The inter-disciplinary structure of a game development studio, time and budget constraints, market research and competitive analysis, these are all determinates that the writer must consistently adhere and adapt to throughout the process of developing a coherent world. Often writers will be hired from other industries to ‘pen' the story—and on occasion, early on during the pre-production stage of development—but unlike writing for a screen-play or other literary source, all creative decisions (stylistic devices, character arches etc.) must maintain a malleability that is crucial for the highly iterative design process employed during the games development cycle.
The writer might decide the protagonist should ride a horse within the story, for example, the animation department begins key-frame animation work to ensure the horse is able to move convincingly in-game; the director is unhappy with the level of realism and proposes instead that a live horse be brought in and motion-capture be used instead. The producer determines that this would be far too costly and the entire concept of the horse is removed from the game. Suddenly the environment is too large and remote for the player, the gameplay suffers and a new mode of transportation will need to be written; the writer (in whose belief in the horse as an integral character to the plot) now must justify the inclusion of a car instead. The production pipeline of a game, whilst structured and regimented, can elicit many a complication for the un-expectant writer.
“The story, or at least the spine of it, had been conceived before the gameplay and levels had been completely nailed down, which almost never happens in the game industry.” – Despain, W.
The Game Design Document (or ‘GDD’) determines/outlines all aspects of the games development and as a result, the writer will often be included much later within the design process as the fundamentals of the document and the nature of the gameplay are determined. Decisions within the document—whilst rarely finalised until much later—mean that the narrative is often written as a means of facilitating or enhancing the experience induced by the gameplay, acting as almost an ‘after-thought’ or even excluded altogether (as is the case in Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros series of games, or Tetris.)
Where games once consisted of designers with whom their knowledge of ‘script’ was concerned only with programming on the mechanics of the game itself, now, a
