What are some ways of fully expressing backstory in-game? Most games I''ve played have all but the flimiest of backstory. Four groups are at war... (common RTS story-line). Aliens are invading and must be killed... (just about every sci-fi shooter in existence). You are the chosen one sent to find the Magical Doodad that will stop Evil Foozle from taking over the realm... (countless fantasy cRPGs) Except as a starting point for storyline, which is expressed in missions or quests, backstory seems to see little expression in-game. But even clever backstory, as with the old game Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, (which detailed the rise of the authoritarian Hegemony, who proclaimed that the teaching of history was "child abuse") seems pointless if all you do is kill troopers. What does it really matter if King Leoric''s son was captured, or that Wirt was tortured by demons (Diablo)? It all seems meaningless and intangible, probably because backstory is rarely useful in any impactful way. But what are some ways to make backstory mean something? One way I was thinking of was that change should be fundamentally imbedded in backstory. If the history of the game world sports some kind of revolution, then players should be able to fundamentally alter that revolution, maybe by upholding it, or subverting it, or just interacting with the revolutionaries. If not, then it''s just another "ho-hum" piece of backstory. It''s meaningless, maybe in the same way that greater world events are meaningless to most people... because it has little impact on their daily lives. Thoughts? -------------------- Just waiting for the mothership...

I think you need more game mechanisms tied to the setting and backstory.

If the backstory details a culture which revolves around poison (the Sarkoy) than there needs to be more tie-ins with poison and gameplay. You can be poisoned by an assasin, or by what you eat, or you may employ various methods to poison others, which invloves knowledge of techniques, and special devices.

Each salient aspect of the backstory needs game mechanisms which enable one to live, play, or experience those elements. Even if the backstory is primarily historical, it still sets the stage for the current locale, its culture, architecture, technology, beliefs, and so on.

Impactful is not a word. I think you mean impactive.

R.

You could make the backstory info important to the player playing the game. For example, part of the story could be that the invading aliens come from a desert planet and are scared of water. While they''re chasing the player, he sees two options, a river and a forest. If he knows the backstory, he''s more likely to make the best choice.

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Omnipotent_Q
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