Storytelling in Action By Bob Bates bbateslegendent'com

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Storytelling in ActionBy Bob Bates
(bbates_at_legendent.com)

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• 20015845
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• (shinhs_at_bulsai.kaist.ac.kr)

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• Prologue
• Storytelling Fundamentals
• The Three-Act Structure
• Developing characters
• Interactivity
• Tools of the Trade
• Cut-scenes
• Scripted Events
• Dialogue
• Wrapping Up

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Prologue

• Goal of action game
• to create a sense of urgency for the player
• Providing a context for the action greatly
  enhances gameplay
• Good story provides
• Just such a context

Is it possible for an action game to tell a
deep story?
YES !!!
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Storytelling Fundamentals

• The basics of storytelling do not change
• No matter the medium in which the story is told
• Traditional author and game designer should
  consider
• Character interesting people
• Setting in interesting places
• Plot doing interesting things

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The three-act structure

• Aristotle
• Poetics
• Story must have
• Beginning
• Your main character has a problem
• Where you should begin your game
• Introducing your main character and getting him
  up tree
• Middle
• Making your heros problem worse
• Throw rocks at him
• End
• Hero has solved it
• Get him down
• Gives a foundation for developing plot

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Developing characters -I

• Most fascinating part of stories
• Event
• Interesting only they are meaningful to the
  character in the game or to player himself
• Plot without character
• as interesting as a shopping list
• It is just one thing happening after another
• What people are interested in is people
• Many designer dont want to create a strong
  central character
• Because the players own personality should take
  center stage
• This may not be wise
• Successful games frequently feature heroes with
  well-defined personalities.

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Developing characters -II

• Creating one of these memorable characters is
  hard
• BUT, rewards are great
• As a starting point,
• consider the story you want to tell
• think about the talent and personality traits
  your hero must have in order to carry out the
  actions that move the story along
• Should character be changed?
• Growth
• Not changed at all
• NPC(Non-Player-Character) can also fill an
  important role
• They can reveal emotions and reactions that the
  hero can not show

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Interactivity

• The demands of interactivity present a special
  challenge to the game designer who would be a
  storyteller.
• Conflict
• freedom player
• linearity to any well-constricted story
• Solution
• Level the primary unit of storytelling in
  action game.
• cf) Movie Scene , Book Chapter
• With a linear series of levels, the player
  interacts with the game in meaningful way, yet
  the author retains control of the story.

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Tools of the trade

• Model for storytelling
• In the past
• Book
• These days
• Screenwriting
• Filmmakers tools are needed to master

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Cut-scenes

• Mini-movies
• Each cut-scene should have specific goals
• When you design the scene, you should do so in
  collaboration with professionals (writer
  artist)
• Player appreciate your professionalism in moving
  the story along
• Help your budget

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Scripted events

• Brief sequences within levels that are usually
  triggered by something the player does.

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dialog

• Every line of dialogue must do double-duty
• Advance the story
• Develop character
• Do not give the information which is already known

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Wrapping Up

• Your game should be your heros story
• Player carries the action forward , author must
  decide what it all means.
• Be more interesting if you told the story of his
  reactions
• Author job
• to have Vision, Purpose, Greater truth
• Artist
• What you acquire is heros prize
• Nugget of wisdom will become imbedded in your
  story
• It will subtly inform all the design decisions
  you make along the way
• It will become what your story is about
• Story worth telling