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Category: Narrative

New narratives for mobile casual games

Published by Paolo on 14/10/2022

I loved this NoClip documentary on the making of Dishonored.

I believe that in terms of narrative there are a lot of interesting aspects that can be taken from this concept. Take the match-3 with decoration genre for a moment. You earn a star beating a level and you use that star to complete the next task. A cutscene with dialogues is shown and then new tasks are opened. You have to play more levels and see how the story goes on.

What if:

  • we can make the environment speak more about what’s happening
  • we can let the Players explore better and interact with environment discovering where to use the stars to fix things
  • we can deliver the story reacting to the Player’s actions instead than stop it to show a cutscene or a dialogue

Why I do like stories in games

Published by Paolo on 13/10/2022

I am completing this week the fall edition of The Narrative Department, by Susan ‘O Connor. Each Wednesday we have a writing prompt from her. I want to share with you the result of yesterday’s writing prompt.

Prompt

Write about why you like stories in games! You can talk generally, talk about a specific game, talk about what you like about writing, etc. Think of it like talking with a friend who shares your enthusiasm.

Text

I like stories because they make me connect with the activity that I am doing while playing. Every game, also Tetris, tells a story to me. But when I see a written story I can appreciate the dedication of human beings behind that craft. I appreciate that because I admire other human beings like me at the end.  I believe that these abilities are Gifts so that make me connect more with God and all creation.

When I see a bad story or a story badly delivered, somehow I am happy that the story is still there. For example, in the mobile games that I play often I skip dialogues entirely and I feel that I lose part of the story somehow. That feeling can be a little frustrating, too. I do it anyway, but with the sensation that something is missing from my experience. Which tells me that the story is still important to me.

I am playing Horizon Forbidden West now. At the start I followed all the branches in dialogues with NPCs, now I want to complete the game so that I am skipping most of the optional dialogues. I have to say that part could be improved a lot, because the dialogues do not add too much to the experience. I like more when a dialogue has a meaning and delivers me something apart from just more context. Often it is better to deliver a story with less words, to me. Also if I imagine that there is a type of Player who likes to read everything and hear a lot. I respect that, but still I think that there is a margin of improvement. 

I like when the game is delivering you a story, because oftentimes you are not interacting with the game during the delivery itself. In dialogues, cutscenes and so on. It’s a way to distress my brain, and I like to have that moment of breath. A game to be memorable should offer many levels of intensity at any moment. 

I remember in The Last of Us the feelings that I had moment to moment. Appreciating all that work was great, made me love even more video games. Made me feel more engaged with the team that made that game.

Games and stories

Published by Paolo on 04/10/2022

I am taking a course on game writing and learning the hard way how a game can live and be successful without a story. Games do not need stories.

When gameplay and story marry well the story can boost the experience for it be remarkable and memorable. This is because play is a problem-solving activity, useful to improve some of the skills useful to survive. Stories instead help us understand better people and how to relate with them. Games are about things, stories are about people. This is why is so hard to link a game with a good story.

Point of touch among design and writing is that designers look for fun. And fun is a feeling. Writers look for feelings. You can easily spot there is an interesting overlap.

Lore and freedom

Published by Paolo on 30/08/2022

I am playing Horizon Forbidden West and everytime I meet a new character, the game invites me to hear minutes of dialogues. The story is intriguing and well written, but I cannot just walk away such as in Skyrim for instance, leaving the NPC speaking alone. Different design pillars, different approach to narrative.

Still, a great game. This forceful dialog creates somehow a connection with the lore of the game. So that a new intellectual property is reinforced.

I am also playing the classic Gothic. A game that says you NOTHING about what to do. A game from the past. You have to really strive to understand what to do, where to go and so on. I killed a man, today. I found him hidden in a mountain. I spoke with him and then I killed him. Why? The game gave me 40XP. There will be no consequences to my character.

And that fits into the game’s narrative of brutal freedom and high insecurity. So that I was the big fish eating the small fish, today. It fits. Gothic still has fans all over the World.

The skill that opens all doors

Published by Paolo on 29/04/2022

The job of the game designer basically consists in knowing how to communicate. Communication is a process that includes several parts. One of these parts is the production of documents. Creating documents consists of a fundamental skill: writing.

The skill that opens all doors is the ability to write. When you dominate the editorial office, you have a lot of career opportunities. It’s also one of the things most of us neglect when we’re young.

I notice a terrible demotion in recent years. Syntax, semantics and spelling are definitely at an all-time low. Someone says it’s the applications we write in, I’m not an expert. I just observe. People’s writing skills have been terribly low lately.

In my days I happen to hear people read aloud. At work, when I give lessons, or even in public transport. No tone, no points, no cadence.

Care of your editorial skills. Write every single day. Read aloud what you write. Listen again. The doors will open for you!

Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames

Published by Paolo on 30/01/2022

This book is one of the best I have ever read on the art of making games.

I like books that permit me to create my frameworks easily. This is one of those. Multiple authors so that you don’t get the vision of just one person. And it’s great because every chapter brings insight, practical examples and a final set of exercises to make in order to grow as game writer.

I loved it!

The best template to start with game writing

Published by Paolo on 15/12/2021

The best way to learn how to write for video games is to do it. Write, print your work, read it aloud. Reading aloud is critical to develop your text comprehension skills. Do not be shy nor lazy. Read your works aloud!

If you don’t know how to start because you have no time to code or to make a game, don’t worry. Think in the game you love, imagine a situation between two of its characters. The situation can have branches inside, but maximum 2 endings: the good and the bad.

Now it’s time to write your script. Sarah Longthorne released a while ago this fantastic template for branching narrative in visual novels. You may want to start from here. This is one of the best resources I have ever found for free.

If you are thinking in an RPG, of course that will be different from a visual novel. In this case the triggers that bring the story to the players are different.

You should think in those triggers and create your own template!