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Author Topic: I thought of an interesting method to story writing  (Read 1283 times)
Muffinhat
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« on: January 05, 2014, 01:12:01 PM »

In world design, no story element, whether it be a character, setting, object, or whatnot exists in complete isolation. Every element of a game story-wise or mechanic-wise links to another mechanic somewhere in the metaphorical spider web of the game.

Keeping this in mind, story writing doesn't exactly seem very hard if you know how to systematically combine story elements.

The method of story writing in a game I thought of is a sort of impromptu design system where you essentially create the story as you go. Start out with one story action, like "man goes on quest to location", and start building elements around that action as you go through it. Then start asking questions like, why is the man going to this location? What lies in this location? Is the man going on the quest with or against his will? After creating new story elements based on these questions, start branching off from the main story action, and connect those branching elements through interesting plot developments, for instance, the backstory for the setting, how it was affected by other elements of the story, why the backstory of that setting is significant to that character, or even how it may foreshadow or reference other story actions.

Think of this method like the plot development of LOST. It starts out from a plane crash on an island. As the story progresses, you figure out how each character's backstory connected to other characters in the story, and in turn, the consequences that led them to their role in the plot. And as the plot goes on, crazier and crazier story elements (like the smoke monster and the Others) start appearing and connecting to the setting and characters in complicated ways, revealing a more intricate web of in-depth story developments. I know it's not exactly wise to use examples from a different medium to relate to game writing, but this is just to set up a basis for basic storyline essentials.

That being said, after setting up this basic web that is the storyline, this is where you begin tying in mechanics to this web. For instance, if the player has some sort of attack or ability, why does he have the ability, and what significance does it have to both the backstory and later plot? Technically, it isn't considered wise to build the story before tying in mechanics because that leaves the designer frustratingly trying to work around the intricately built storyline, but when getting stuck in the design process, it could be helpful to think backwards.

I hope this long list of advice helps anyone. I honestly don't have too much experience in game design itself, but I wanted to just spit-ball some ideas out there based on my current knowledge of design.



 
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DragonStar
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« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2014, 11:51:01 PM »

When I watched LOST, at some point I suspected that the writers were freewheeling it a bit.  Then I started paying attention to plots and threads, and I concluded that the writers were basing their plot on a fractal pattern with the characters as seeds. The spirals of the fractal would sometimes circle back to other characters and possibly the two characters would spiral off together. When a character's arc was boxed in by the fractal, they were killed off.

I don't know how to codify this into game world building, but I think a fractal pattern could be used to generate main quests with side quests.   
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Sved
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« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2014, 12:45:06 AM »

I feel you will get the same problem than lost: you don't know which things you introduce will be vital to the story, so you end up confusing everyone on what is important or not.

And as you don't know where you're going, you will just have to decide to stop at one point with a bland ending that leaves all these loose threads you can't knot back in.
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... but that is mostly psychological. Check my devlog!
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« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2014, 04:35:26 PM »

Hey, this is my first post and I thought it appropriate to start in a thread about writing.

I think your story creation idea isn't a terrible one and can definitely be used, but one of the hardest parts of writing is not knowing an end goal because you end up writing pointless scenes. This isn't such a problem in books because it's all relevant, but in films the story has to be streamlined with a point of view it wants to express.

I'm a screenwriting graduate and I'm really trying to adapt what skills I have to videogame writing, and it's a weird transition because so many games rely on the structure of TV and film, yet games are a completely different medium.

In my opinion using Lost as an example is a bad idea. Nobody should aspire to write to that quality. For some reason it's popular and whoever managed to turn that mess of a show into something great deserves the credit of being a good writer, even though I hate to give them that credit. With that said I think it was Damon Lindelof who ruined it and those who picked up the pieces shouldn't be judged based on Lindelof's limited skillset. He's great at starting stories with interesting twists but he can't direct it to the finish line.

From what I've read and studied videogame writing is so much more diverse than having a plot happening behind the scenes. There seems to be a view categories/styles at play.

Here is a list of things that most games have that are stereotypically considered writing:

1.) The story, told in cut scenes or during in-game conversations
2.) Dialogue, spoken or written
3.) Character, enemy and item descriptions
4.) Manual, either in-game or as a document of some kind

But I've seen some samples where the actual levels themselves are 'written' and they are written in a format that is more like a checklist, as follows:

Mission objective: Destroy the three gargoyles
Success event: Unlocks next room
Failure event: Character dies > start again
Items in room: Heart container
Duration: 5 minutes
Special event: Throw one gargoyle through window reveals hidden room

This gives the programmers and artists the assets to create and what the level will be.

Anyway, that's enough from me for now because this post is pretty long and boring.
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