Interactive Storytelling for Video Games Chapter 7: Fully Traditional and Interactive Traditional Stories

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Interactive Storytelling for Video GamesChapter
7 Fully Traditional and Interactive Traditional
Stories

• Josiah Lebowitz
• Chris Klug

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Fully Traditional Stories and Video Games

• Fully traditional stories are the classic form of
  storytelling used in books and film. They cant
  be changed in any way.
• Video games are, by definition, interactive.
  Fully traditional stories are not.
• There have been a few games which use fully
  traditional stories, but their lack of
  interactivity makes them closer to movies or
  digital novels than true games.

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Higurashi When They Cry

• Released by 07th Expansion in 2002 (PC).
• A Japanese visual novel with a dark suspense
  filled story.
• Essentially a first person novel with images,
  music, and sound effects.
• No interactivity other than advancing the text.
• The graphics and sound add a lot to the story but
  the lack of interactivity means its not a true
  game.

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What is an interactive traditional story?

• Interactive traditional stories combine the
  tightly controlled narrative of fully traditional
  stories with a degree of interactivity.
• Theyre used in a wide variety of video games.
• While the player cant change the main story in
  any significant way, he can still interact with
  the world and characters.

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FINAL FANTASY X

• Released by Square in 2001 (PS2).
• Features an deep and emotional interactive
  traditional story.
• The player cant change the main plot in any way.
• Outside of story scenes, the player is free to
  explore the world and take on numerous optional
  quests.

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Creating Interactive Traditional Stories

• In many ways, the easiest type of game story to
  create.
• Because the main plot cant be changed, its much
  like writing a movie script or novel.
• Depending on who youre working for, you may be
  given a basic plot to expand or create everything
  yourself.
• You need to ensure that the story allows for a
  large amount of gameplay (fighting, exploration,
  puzzle solving, etc).
• Think about which scenes should and shouldnt be
  interactive.
• Think about how the player will interact with the
  world and characters outside of key story scenes.

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Branching Dialogue and Interactive Traditional
Stories

• In interactive traditional storytelling,
  branching dialogue cant change the story so all
  the branches eventually come together.
• Despite that, the NPC should still react to the
  players choice and change the dialogue
  accordingly.
• NEVER loop a conversation until the player
  chooses the option you want. Have the NPC argue
  or reason with the hero to change his mind.
• NEVER give the player a choice between two
  essentially identical dialogue choices, its
  completely pointless.

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The Strengths of Interactive Traditional Stories

• The writer can fine tune every scene to ensure
  proper pacing and convey the right emotions to
  the player.
• Because the story cant be changed, highly
  emotional scenes have far more impact than in
  player-driven stories.
• Theres no need to worry about the player
  screwing things up, losing track of the main
  plot, or missing vital pieces of information.
• Its much easier to keep the story and characters
  believable and consistent than in player-driven
  stories.
• They provide the player with a strong illusion of
  control, while still presenting a well crafted
  narrative.

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FINAL FANTASY VII

• Released by Square in 1997 (PS).
• Heavily influenced the game industry.
• Features a deep twisting narrative full of
  memorable characters.
• Contains a death scene considered by many to be
  one of the most emotional moments in gaming
  history.

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The Weaknesses of Interactive Traditional Stories

• Because the player cant change the main plot,
  the burden of creating an interesting, engaging,
  and ultimately satisfying story falls solely on
  the writer.
• If the writer isnt up to the challenge, theres
  nothing the player can do to improve the story.
• Poor pacing or uninteresting characters can ruin
  an otherwise good story.
• An unsatisfying ending can leave players feeling
  as if they wasted all the hours spent playing the
  game.

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Things to Consider

• Do you consider games using fully traditional
  stories, such as Higurashi, to be true games? Why
  or why
• List ten games youve played which use
  interactive traditional stories.
• Pick three of the games from your list. In what
  ways did they allow you to interact with their
  world and characters?
• When playing those three games, were there any
  times in which you really wanted to take control
  and change the story? Explain why and how you
  wanted to do so.
• Do you think the changes you proposed would have
  made the rest of the stories significantly better
  or worse? Why or why not? Do you think most other
  players would agree with you?