Interactive Storytelling for Video Games

A Player-Centered Approach to Creating Memorable Characters and Stories

Josiah Lebowitz, Chris Klug

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780240817170
• eBook ISBN: 9781136127335
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Digital Media
• Index: Computer Science

What really makes a video game story interactive?
What's the best way to create an interactive story?
How much control should players be given?
Do they really want that control in the first place?
Do they even know what they want-or are their stated desires at odds with the unconscious preferences?

All of these questions and more are examined in this definitive book on interactive storytelling for video games. You'll get detailed descriptions of all major types of interactive stories, case studies of popular games (including Bioshock, Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIII, Heavy Rain, and Metal Gear Solid), and how players interact with them, and an in-depth analysis of the results of a national survey on player storytelling preferences in games. You'll get the expert advice you need to generate compelling and original game concepts and narratives.With Interactive Storytelling for Video Games, you'll:

CHAPTER

One

Game Stories, Interactivity, and What Players Want

The Importance of Stories

Since the dawn of time, people have been telling stories. What started out as retellings of hunts and tales of their ancestors soon expanded, bringing forth myths and legends. Some stories sought to teach, others to warn. Some attempted to solve the great mysteries of the world; others strove purely to entertain. All across the world, all throughout time, no matter how they lived or what language they spoke, every race, every culture, and every tribe has created and passed on a wealth of stories. And while some stories have slowly faded away, others have been told and retold for centuries, shaping our thoughts, religions, philosophies, and the very world itself.

Looking back at our history, few things have had as much influence on human development and civilization as stories. They’ve driven us to explore, to fight, to hope, and to dream. They’ve been the inspiration for art, music, technology, and, of course, more stories. Today, thanks to powerful printing presses, TVs, and the Internet, we have access to a nearly endless supply of stories covering every subject and genre imaginable. No matter what your interests are, there’s a story out there for you – probably hundreds or even thousands.

Unsurprisingly, having so many different stories at our disposal has made many of us rather picky. If a story isn’t well written or if it features characters or situations that we don’t like, why should we spend time reading, watching, or playing it? After all, there are lots of other stories out there waiting for us. Because of this overabundance of stories, modern writers often work hard to attract an audience. Many carefully study what people already like and tailor their settings, plot, and characters to match. Others work hard to perfect their writing and master the many nuances of language, pacing, and character development. Some simply write what they enjoy and hope that it will find a suitable audience. And then there are the brave few who strive to create new and different types of stories and storytelling methods. They push forward with new media and new ideas, many of which challenge the very foundations of storytelling itself. Only time will tell which, if any, of these approaches is the best. Perhaps there is no best method. As long as the author enjoys creating the stories he or she writes and his or her audience (however large or small it may be) enjoys them as well, does anything else really matter?

My name is Josiah and, like most others, I was introduced to stories at a young age. Fairy tales, fables, history … when I was a child, they filled my imagination and inspired me to create stories of my own. Because my family lived far out in the country, I often wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with other kids, so I threw myself into my favorite stories. I read them, acted them out, and dreamed up new ones. Over the years, I created hundreds of stories, many of which stretched into epic sagas of exploration and adventure. Perhaps that in and of itself isn’t so unusual, but – unlike most kids, who grow up wanting to become an astronaut or a fireman – I wanted to be an author.

Over the years, that desire waxed and waned as I grew and learned about other people, places, and things. But throughout all that time, I never lost my interest in stories and I always returned to writing. There were two things in particular that drew me back and brought me to where I am now. The first was a book I read long ago. Looking back, I no longer find the story all that different or exciting. I don’t even own a copy of it anymore. But I’ll always remember that book and be grateful to it for introducing me to one of the most important elements of writing: the plot twist. Today, that simple twist would likely elicit no more reaction from me than a nod or an “I thought so,” but back then it was enough to make me put the book down and pause in wonder, thinking back over the rest of the story and how that one shocking revelation had changed everything. Since then, I’ve come across countless other plot twists, created some of my own, and become rather good at predicting them long before they take place, but that first simple revelation was where it all began.

After that, looking for more stories with shocking plot twists and big reveals, I gravitated toward mystery and fantasy novels while simultaneously trying to work those elements that so intrigued me into my own writing. Due to a series of unrelated incidents, I also became interested in video games, primarily due to the sheer fun and creativity of Nintendo’s early Super Mario Bros. games. Though much different from the stories I loved, games also attracted me, and I began to dream up and draw out plans for my own colorful platforming games. It wasn’t until much later that those two separate interests – games and storytelling – collided, all thanks to a game like nothing I had ever played before: a game called FINAL FANTASY VII.

FIGURE 1.1

FINAL FANTASY VII: the game that changed my life. © Square Enix Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

My Life as a Game Designer

I have been a professional writer/designer in the game industry since 1981, and my stories have been enjoyed by the gaming public from almost the beginning of that career. For a very long time, I did not consider myself a writer, but simply a game designer who happened to use stories in his game designs.

Like many, I had been the GM (game master) in my own fantasy role-playing campaign for years, and, truth be told, it was the fact I was running that very campaign that got me my first game job. I had no inclination to go into the game business at all, as I was making my living as a lighting designer in the NYC theater. I was passionate about games, especially role-playing games, mainly because they were much akin to improvisational theater. I had recently switched the role-playing game I was playing to a new one, called DragonQuest, which was published by a game company in New York called Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI). One Friday night, I had gone into NYC to test one of their new games, as they held open public testing of their new titles every Friday night. I sat down to play a game (a game about the battle of New Market in the Civil War), and at the end of the night, a staff designer came over to chat with me about the experience. His name was Eric Lee Smith. “Well,” he began, “what did you think?”

I described in great detail what I thought worked about the game and what didn’t. Little did I know, but the more I talked, the more Eric became impressed. I suppose I demonstrated knowledge of games and design with my descriptions. Or maybe I just showed him I was more mature and literate than his average tester. Or maybe Eric was exhausted after a long week at SPI. I may never know.

He furrowed his bushy red eyebrows. “What kinds of games do you play?” I told him that I had just switched my fantasy role-playing campaign to his company’s DragonQuest. I went into why I liked it and why my group had switched from AD&D.

“That’s fascinating. So you really like DragonQuest?” I assured him that I did indeed. I asked him if the designer of that game were in the office that evening. Maybe I could talk about the game with him a little bit?

“Well, funny you should ask. He just resigned from the company this week and we’re looking for someone to replace him.” I was stunned. That particular designer was well known, his games were popular, and the people who played SPI’s games had bought many copies of that designer’s games.

“It seems like you know the game very well, and we need someone to write adventures for the game. Might you be interested in a job as a freelancer writing a DragonQuest adventure?” I was stunned again. I had never been to SPI to test their games, they didn’t know me, Eric certainly didn’t know me at all, and here I was being offered a job. Sort of. I told Eric I was interested and came back the next week to meet with Eric’s boss, David Ritchie, who indeed gave me a freelance job to write a DragonQuest adventure.

But, see, at that point, I didn’t consider myself a writer. Not at all. My friend Bob Kern, who played in my campaign, now he was a writer, and so I asked him to join me in this assignment. Bob and I wrote the adventure (me coming up with the story structure and Bob coming up with the words); we submitted it, they accepted it, and I got a co-author credit.

That was my first taste. I was hooked.

Later on I joined the staff of designers at SPI, helped write the game fiction for their new science-fiction game Universe, and then got to head up an effort to redesign DragonQuest for a second edition, wrote more adventures (this time on my own), then moved on to a new company called Victory Games, where I won awards for both my role-playing games and my role-playing adventures – all story-based gaming.

Since then, I have written many game stories, been lead writer on a number of titles, and been Creative Director on two MMOs – and all these games have been story-driven. My reputation in the industry is that of a content-centric designer, and if you need a game that has a deeply rooted engrossing story, you should really consider me, Chris Klug, for the job.

That introductory experience mirrors how I got involved in co-authoring this book with Josiah. I will bring to light how the theories Josiah mentions are applied in the “real world” of game writing. I might use examples of my work; tell how we managed sometimes to screw things up; and reveal how, on our better nights, we managed to make things a little bit better. It’s possible that Josiah and I might disagree on certain points, but hopefully the ensuing discussions will give the reader a deeper understanding of the process of making a story work for the audience, because, after all, that is the only thing we writers should care about, making the audience feel something at the end of the day.

—Chris

Stories in Video Games

Unlike books and film, which can be considered mature forms of media, video games are relatively new, with the first arcade machines appearing in the early 1970s, and are still growing and evolving in nearly every way. Every few years, new game consoles are released promising more realistic graphics, higher-quality sound, and a bevy of new features. On the PC side, changes happen even faster, with newer and better hardware being released every few months.

But gaming hardware isn’t the only thing that’s changing. Games themselves are evolving as well, with new control schemes, gameplay elements, and genres appearing on a regular basis. Like all other aspects of video games, their stories are in a state of change as well. Game stories have evolved from the simple kidnapped-girl plot of Donkey Kong to the complex novel-length tales of modern RPGs. In addition, the ability of the player to interact with and affect the story has created many new and different types of stories that are difficult if not impossible to portray in other kinds of media.

Although games are an excellent medium for many types of storytelling, their interactivity makes them far different from more traditional media such as books and film. Interactive stories themselves have many unique and challenging issues that aren’t encountered when writing a more traditionally structured tale, which we’ll be discussing all throughout the rest of this book. Game writers also need to think about many other factors, such as the synthesis between the story and gameplay and how to maintain a proper pace when the story’s progression is, at least to a certain extent, controlled by the player (a subject we’ll explore in depth in Chapter 4).

Old Media and New Media

Although it is true that interactivity creates a new art form, it is crucial to understand that stories in games are dramatic stories (akin to film, television, and theater), unlike novels and short stories, which I’ll call fiction. All these stories are fictional; they are just consumed in a different way. Dramatic stories are performed for the audience; novels and short stories are “read.” Drama = performance; fiction = read. Games, though interactivity does indeed change things, work in the player’s mind in a fashion much closer to screenplays, television, and live theater, and not much like fiction at all. I will talk more about this as we get deeper into the book, but keep it in mind. In fact, it would be useful for you to think about what makes things different between novels and drama. How do you experience both kinds of stories?

—Chris

Make no mistake: whether you’re a novice or an experienced writer, writing for games is a very difficult and challenging experience, though it can also be extremely rewarding. If you’re new to game writing, this book will help you learn about proper story structure, the types of storytelling methods used, and the particular problems and challenges you’ll encounter when creating your stories. Even if you’re already an experienced game writer, the breakdown of different story structures may help you more clearly define the types of stories you’re called to write and the later sections on the pros and cons of highly interactive stories and the types of stories that players like best should provide some interesting food for thought.

Writer as Emotional Architect

We will, of course, ultimately focus on what the players want, but let us not forget the role of the writer/designer as it meets these desires of the audience. At the end of the day, what any consumer of any kind of entertainment is paying for is to be manipulated into feeling something. Consumers (especially gamers) may not like to admit that they are paying to be manipulated, but that’s the truth. The worst thing you can do as a designer/writer is to create something that leaves the player unaffected emotionally. In other words, the last thing you should be is boring. It’s better, honestly, for you to create something that makes the players angry than to leave them unaffected, because at least if they are angry, they’ll be talking about you, and they cared enough to want something from the story in the first place. Think about the reaction when David Chase ended The Sopranos midscene – how the switchboards at the cable companies lit up with complaints at the abrupt ending. Regardless of whether they liked the ending, all people were talking about the next day was how he ended the show. His did his job in spades.

Entertainers are paid to make the audience feel something. This is a foundational concept to understand what I try to do as a writer. It is not only our job; it is our mission.

—Chris

We’ll be starting out in Chapter 2 by exploring the history of storytelling in games and how the different storytelling styles appeared, grew, and evolved over the years. We’ll also be examining some of the games that helped define the storytelling styles of their generations and how they’ve affected current storytelling trends.

In Chapters 3, 4, and 5 we’ll delve into the basics of any good story: the structure and character development. Important topics include common story themes, maintaining proper flow and pacing, and creating interesting and believable characters. Throughout all three of these chapters, we’ll also be looking at a variety of different games to help get a better idea of how these eleme...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Special Thanks
• Chapter 1: Game Stories, Interactivity, and What Players Want
• Chapter 2: A Brief History of Storytelling in Games
• Chapter 3: The Hero’s Journey and the Structure of Game Stories
• Chapter 4: The Story and the Characters
• Chapter 5: Making Stories Emotional
• Chapter 6: Defining Interactive and Player-Driven Storytelling
• Chapter 7: Fully Traditional and Interactive Traditional Stories
• Chapter 8: Multiple-Ending Stories
• Chapter 9: Branching Path Stories
• Chapter 10: Open-Ended Stories
• Chapter 11: Fully Player-Driven Stories
• Chapter 12: The Argument for the Supremacy of Player-Driven Storytelling
• Chapter 13: The Argument Against the Supremacy of Player-Driven Storytelling
• Chapter 14: What Players Really Want: The Most Important Issue
• Chapter 15: The Future of Storytelling in Games
• Glossary
• Appendix A: Game Writing Groups and Other Useful Resources
• Appendix B: Survey Data
• Bibliography and References
• Index