Drama and the Interactive Medium
Author
First off, read this post on gamasutra about drama.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010914/littlejohn_01.htm
What I''d like to know, for among those that decided to click the Game Writing forum''s link, to what degree do you accept the premise of that article? And why also. Or why not if you don''t agree.
My agreement with this article is based on example set by a few hundred years of history. Right now, the game industry is growing fat on an insurge of gamers, but I''m sure it wont last forever. When the casual gamer realizes that he has five games that all have the same gameplay and aren''t very different, he won''t be so willing to buy a sixth and thats where you''ll need a really good game to coerce them into buying. Historical example, theater and film, Shakespeare''s and Wychowski brothers. Catching an audience by presenting an engaging drama. Granted though, today''s movies seem to lose those dramatic elements one after another, but you occasionally get a really good one.
:: Inmate2993
:: William C. Bubel
"Please refrain from bothering Booster."
It was a marvellous article, which really makes you think! Even though the author seems to have had mainly role-playing games in mind when writing it, I think the theory can be applied to other types of games as well. For example, I''m working on a strategy game where the random events could easily be made less random, which might thicken the plot.
About the poor quality of commercial games and movies, I think it''s simply a question of economics. It starts out by the truly gifted and inspired people, like Sid Meier or George Lucas, who make a style-setting game or movie. If all goes well, it sells well and they become rich.
After that, the less gifted people (which are most of us really) realize that they can make a similar game or movie. While they won''t make as much as the pioneers, they can probably make it worth their while. This goes on until the new genre has been exhausted. Then it''s time for a new trend-setter to start off a new genre.
To tie in with the article on Gamasutra, I believe it requires a solid understanding of the principles of drama to make a trend-setter. When you make a follow-up product, you essentially use the dramatic elements of the trend-setter, which means you don''t have to worry about drama very much.
I have the feeling most of us here on GameDev.net don''t just want to make yet another Warcraft, Ultima or Doom clone. This means we should pay attention to the dramatic elements we use.
... we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...
Winston Churchill, June 4 1940
About the poor quality of commercial games and movies, I think it''s simply a question of economics. It starts out by the truly gifted and inspired people, like Sid Meier or George Lucas, who make a style-setting game or movie. If all goes well, it sells well and they become rich.
After that, the less gifted people (which are most of us really) realize that they can make a similar game or movie. While they won''t make as much as the pioneers, they can probably make it worth their while. This goes on until the new genre has been exhausted. Then it''s time for a new trend-setter to start off a new genre.
To tie in with the article on Gamasutra, I believe it requires a solid understanding of the principles of drama to make a trend-setter. When you make a follow-up product, you essentially use the dramatic elements of the trend-setter, which means you don''t have to worry about drama very much.
I have the feeling most of us here on GameDev.net don''t just want to make yet another Warcraft, Ultima or Doom clone. This means we should pay attention to the dramatic elements we use.
... we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...
Winston Churchill, June 4 1940
While I agree with the article''s premise, that games need to be designed with the elements of good storytelling in mind if the medium is ever to get any respect, but I don''t fully agree with the author''s argument or justification. I think the game - film analogy doesn''t quite go far enough, and that in order to be able to make better games, designers need to have a firm grasp of both what makes a good story (which they can learn by reading literature) and how to tell this story through a largely visual medium (which they can learn by studying film and to a certain extent, theatre). But I don''t think understanding the principles of ''drama'' alone is enough.
At least, that''s my opinion.
R.
At least, that''s my opinion.
R.
The problem with the drama scenario is interactivity. How do you make the player feel immersed in the game, especially given today''s primitive input (and feedback) mechanisms?
The answer to that question is the basic premise of storywriting for computer games. It''s almost as if you''re at the mercy of your ''primitive'' I/O devices. In my experience all a player needs from the world to identify with it is the feeling that he/she is part of said world, and as such is affecting it somehow. Specifically referring to your question Oluseyi, it is not to be left to game mechanics alone to immerse your player, there must be a symphony between the progression of whatever story there is and the mechanics of the game engine. It helps to figure in visual style and sound timbre as well.
I''m not pretending to simplify the process of world developing by saying this though, what must be understood is that often games are the embodyment of an escapist fantasy, as such the duty of the game to the gamer (read as: designer to the market) is to create a world that works based on rules that the human psyche identifies with in terms of limitation. Furthermore, the creation of a story that is not a line of events that the player will be asked to map out according to design, but that is an outline for a dynamic interplay between player ond host world is an ideal to work towards.
Psychology.
We want to "break out" but how can we break out if we aren''t limited by anything. The importance of this concept is pivotal, because no player will want to play a game as an almighty undefeatable creature who''s ultimate goal is guaranteed. The essential key is that feeling of tearing down the walls of your perceived prison while still being restricted by the rules. Because you''re that good (a player)! Another desireable aspect of escapist fantasy is that of existential parameters that are not native to us, but nonetheless leave us in awe - the perfect example is magic.
So the first level of the construction of the world is the rules we know and expect, and where those rules we are tormented by fade. To give a representation, take magic in games of medieval conflict for example. Being told that a game is about the conflicts of King Onion in such-and-such year, with his rival Baron Von Shoestring. Add in the great Magus Bottleneck who''s secreted powers will grant a lone knight who proves his valour in a certain test the blessing of the god of Celery.
The identifiable features are obvious, knightly dudes doing great deeds in a world of conflict, and gods of tremendous power reaching out through their warlocks etc. to mess with things and grant player (and foes!) great powers of destruction (or creation).
We could take such a basic storyline as a framework for a computer game, and at this point it is my oppinion that if you aim for an RPG it will fail. If such a storyline were written up for any other kind of game it may well succeed in it''s own right, being entirely linear and lacking in the basic need for real presence of character does not exclude accomplishment outside of an RPG.
This is not to cast aspersions on what I will broadly refer to as the Action Game Genre, but it is to say that the player immersion dealt by such games is more on the level of sheer effectual absorption. If the action never stops then you stay glued because you have to beat this level (and the next, and the next)!
Returning to the implementation of complex storylines in RPGs. I will say, from personal experience as a GM for AD&D and other such games through the last nine years, the first piece of advice needed for someone preparing to start creating a world and story:
"A world is most real when it is so alive that there is no need to write for it, because it writes itself. Intuitively."
Unfortunately, barring the possibility for a personal GM for every computer game shipped, the end to which I refer is that to create a world which is really immersive you would need to write an engine that actually simulates the thoughts and actions of those living inside it. This is not entirely out of the reach of present day AI technology, but it is often MUCH easier to simply write a script that assumes that at four places in the course of the game the player will make a boolean decision, and in the end there are sixteen possible outcomes, many of which will have overlapping consequences. So we''ll get the artist to render three alternate endings and the player will be happy.
Though not completely untrue, and while remaining on par, this approach is sadly not pushing the boundaries of the gaming world''s experience thus far. What I would like to condone in this writing is the idea that the world created must be a world in its own right. It must have those inhabitants who will hate you if you kill their cows even if the blood effects are brilliantly rendered by the bezier blob engine thanks to the new GeForce8 MDGFXL22 card. They will chase after you if you burn their crops with a firestorm, but at the same time, you''re gaining the favour of the malicious Lord Carrot who does not like this particular village (until it surrenders to him in which case he will start protecting it from your wayward choking gas bombs).
Psychology.
People can immerse themselves in actual dice-and-paper RPGs, so it''s not really fair to say that having immediate feedback and visual rendition of the fantasy world along with free movement and technically realistic animation is a set of limitations. Like so many things, harnessing the power of the computer as a games'' platform is a matter of attitude and positive outlook.
I hope you see where this is going, because I''m out of breath...
I would like to refer those reading this to an article that was on the front page here at gamedev.net some two weeks ago, but I forget who wrote it, it was called "Game vs. Code" I think, if anyone knows which one I''m talking about please mention it.
www.spforge.com - God created the world in seven days? I think I can one-up him!
I''m not pretending to simplify the process of world developing by saying this though, what must be understood is that often games are the embodyment of an escapist fantasy, as such the duty of the game to the gamer (read as: designer to the market) is to create a world that works based on rules that the human psyche identifies with in terms of limitation. Furthermore, the creation of a story that is not a line of events that the player will be asked to map out according to design, but that is an outline for a dynamic interplay between player ond host world is an ideal to work towards.
Psychology.
We want to "break out" but how can we break out if we aren''t limited by anything. The importance of this concept is pivotal, because no player will want to play a game as an almighty undefeatable creature who''s ultimate goal is guaranteed. The essential key is that feeling of tearing down the walls of your perceived prison while still being restricted by the rules. Because you''re that good (a player)! Another desireable aspect of escapist fantasy is that of existential parameters that are not native to us, but nonetheless leave us in awe - the perfect example is magic.
So the first level of the construction of the world is the rules we know and expect, and where those rules we are tormented by fade. To give a representation, take magic in games of medieval conflict for example. Being told that a game is about the conflicts of King Onion in such-and-such year, with his rival Baron Von Shoestring. Add in the great Magus Bottleneck who''s secreted powers will grant a lone knight who proves his valour in a certain test the blessing of the god of Celery.
The identifiable features are obvious, knightly dudes doing great deeds in a world of conflict, and gods of tremendous power reaching out through their warlocks etc. to mess with things and grant player (and foes!) great powers of destruction (or creation).
We could take such a basic storyline as a framework for a computer game, and at this point it is my oppinion that if you aim for an RPG it will fail. If such a storyline were written up for any other kind of game it may well succeed in it''s own right, being entirely linear and lacking in the basic need for real presence of character does not exclude accomplishment outside of an RPG.
This is not to cast aspersions on what I will broadly refer to as the Action Game Genre, but it is to say that the player immersion dealt by such games is more on the level of sheer effectual absorption. If the action never stops then you stay glued because you have to beat this level (and the next, and the next)!
Returning to the implementation of complex storylines in RPGs. I will say, from personal experience as a GM for AD&D and other such games through the last nine years, the first piece of advice needed for someone preparing to start creating a world and story:
"A world is most real when it is so alive that there is no need to write for it, because it writes itself. Intuitively."
Unfortunately, barring the possibility for a personal GM for every computer game shipped, the end to which I refer is that to create a world which is really immersive you would need to write an engine that actually simulates the thoughts and actions of those living inside it. This is not entirely out of the reach of present day AI technology, but it is often MUCH easier to simply write a script that assumes that at four places in the course of the game the player will make a boolean decision, and in the end there are sixteen possible outcomes, many of which will have overlapping consequences. So we''ll get the artist to render three alternate endings and the player will be happy.
Though not completely untrue, and while remaining on par, this approach is sadly not pushing the boundaries of the gaming world''s experience thus far. What I would like to condone in this writing is the idea that the world created must be a world in its own right. It must have those inhabitants who will hate you if you kill their cows even if the blood effects are brilliantly rendered by the bezier blob engine thanks to the new GeForce8 MDGFXL22 card. They will chase after you if you burn their crops with a firestorm, but at the same time, you''re gaining the favour of the malicious Lord Carrot who does not like this particular village (until it surrenders to him in which case he will start protecting it from your wayward choking gas bombs).
Psychology.
People can immerse themselves in actual dice-and-paper RPGs, so it''s not really fair to say that having immediate feedback and visual rendition of the fantasy world along with free movement and technically realistic animation is a set of limitations. Like so many things, harnessing the power of the computer as a games'' platform is a matter of attitude and positive outlook.
I hope you see where this is going, because I''m out of breath...
I would like to refer those reading this to an article that was on the front page here at gamedev.net some two weeks ago, but I forget who wrote it, it was called "Game vs. Code" I think, if anyone knows which one I''m talking about please mention it.
www.spforge.com - God created the world in seven days? I think I can one-up him!
P.S. please do not be offended by the tone of my writing Oluseyi, the post was not meant as a assault on you for a most reasonable question.
For those interested, I found the article I was talking about, it's by Richard Dare and was called
"The Yin and Yang of game creation: Code vs. Content"
You can find it under past articles on the News page (front page)
I think it's relevant to what I said in that it talks about being mindful of how your code can shine through your great story. Read it!
www.spforge.com - God created the world in seven days? I think I can one-up him!
Edited by - symphonic on October 9, 2001 1:09:44 PM
"The Yin and Yang of game creation: Code vs. Content"
You can find it under past articles on the News page (front page)
I think it's relevant to what I said in that it talks about being mindful of how your code can shine through your great story. Read it!
www.spforge.com - God created the world in seven days? I think I can one-up him!
Edited by - symphonic on October 9, 2001 1:09:44 PM
Symphonic, I''m not in the least bit offended. I agree with you in general, but I shall now outline the specific instances and differences that comprise the thrust of my question.
Dice-and-Paper RPGs are so immersive because they invoke the imagination, and can be as detailed or as abstract as the players. They can also potentially encompass a near infinite variety fo situations - essentially whatever you have the vocabulary to describe. With electronic RPgs we are so much more confined. My question was not about gaming universum , but rather about video/computer games in particular.
Consider a story that is "purely" dramatic - that consists of virtually no "action" elements in terms of violence and combat (though conflict remains, but in the form of opposing objectives such as to obtain information on the one hand and to protect it on the other). In such a situation, the emotional nuances of communication between the characters in the game is crucial. Yet how do we accurately convey nervousness, indicisiveness and so forth short of explicitly stating it:
Obviously we need better means of providing contextual information to the player before "pure" drama games can become truly feasible.
Drama as an element in a game, on the other hand, is definitely possible according to the principles and arguments you outline.
Dice-and-Paper RPGs are so immersive because they invoke the imagination, and can be as detailed or as abstract as the players. They can also potentially encompass a near infinite variety fo situations - essentially whatever you have the vocabulary to describe. With electronic RPgs we are so much more confined. My question was not about gaming universum , but rather about video/computer games in particular.
Consider a story that is "purely" dramatic - that consists of virtually no "action" elements in terms of violence and combat (though conflict remains, but in the form of opposing objectives such as to obtain information on the one hand and to protect it on the other). In such a situation, the emotional nuances of communication between the characters in the game is crucial. Yet how do we accurately convey nervousness, indicisiveness and so forth short of explicitly stating it:
[nervously]"I... I don''t know..." Obviously we need better means of providing contextual information to the player before "pure" drama games can become truly feasible.
Drama as an element in a game, on the other hand, is definitely possible according to the principles and arguments you outline.
Author
I''m going to present a scenario that sounds unlikely, but actually parallels a current trend.
Suppose puzzle games suddenly becomes the trend. Classic tetris is the rage among gamers. As developers, it would be most wise to get as many puzzle games in the works as possible to catch the trend and profit. How do you make your game stand out? Theres only so many variants of word-puzzle games, and you can push blocks back and forth all you want, but it won''t be any different from the block pushing of another game.
Alright, yes, I''m refering to 3d shooters and PC rpgs.
Granted that lining up the best possible graphics, audio, gameplay, and puzzles to use my example, is a must for your game. But at what point are we just adding to the stockpile of already existant games? Just how many different guns can we make between the games?
It''s an odd concept, but I''d like to see what a puzzle game would end up like if it had a deep drama. You''d probably have to work off of silly premises, but it could possibly work.
:: Inmate2993
:: William C. Bubel
"Please refrain from bothering Booster."
Suppose puzzle games suddenly becomes the trend. Classic tetris is the rage among gamers. As developers, it would be most wise to get as many puzzle games in the works as possible to catch the trend and profit. How do you make your game stand out? Theres only so many variants of word-puzzle games, and you can push blocks back and forth all you want, but it won''t be any different from the block pushing of another game.
Alright, yes, I''m refering to 3d shooters and PC rpgs.
Granted that lining up the best possible graphics, audio, gameplay, and puzzles to use my example, is a must for your game. But at what point are we just adding to the stockpile of already existant games? Just how many different guns can we make between the games?
It''s an odd concept, but I''d like to see what a puzzle game would end up like if it had a deep drama. You''d probably have to work off of silly premises, but it could possibly work.
:: Inmate2993
:: William C. Bubel
"Please refrain from bothering Booster."
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
