~ Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design Andrew Rollings Author of Game Architecture and Design Ernest Adams Co-Founder of IGDAChapter 4 Storytelling and Narrative tories are as old as communication itself. Since the first $ rotohominids daubed their paintings on the rough walls of their caves, stories have been told. Stories and games have been intertwined to varying degrees for almost as long. ‘Computer games generally have some sort of story attached to them as well. Sometimes it is a one-paragraph backstory. In other cases, its a fully integrated story Iine—where the ‘game is the story. Jn this chapter, we discuss some guidelines for constructing compelling stories and integrating them into game designs, To some extent, the importance of story integration is dependent on the type of game you are designing: Some games require more integrftion than others. For example, a simple game such as Space Invaders requires only a one-liner: “Alfens are invading Earth, and only you can stop them.” Why? It doesn't matter. The player's imagination takes care of that, At the other end of the spectrum, adventure games such as Grim Fandango and Discworld Noir have a detailed and involving story line, as convoluted and structured as any novel. And, of course, we have the middle range—games in which story is important but is not the overriding gameplay feature. This concept is illustrated in Figure 4.1. As we Progress across the story spectrum from left to right, the ‘importance of the story increases. Examples of games such as this include Half-Life and Luigi Mansion (shown in Figure 4.2).noe tnorane ct Sy Gamay Serpent 889 $$ ——=er'ame_, Serbo Figure 42 Luigi's Mansion In Half-Life, the story is an important part of the flavor of the game, but aside from act- ‘ing as a mechanism to allow the player to become more immersed in the game world, it bears no relevance to the actual gameplay. (And by this we mean that the gameplay of Half-Life is virtually identical to that of any other first-person shooter; it just the story and setting that give it the edge.)side from act- game world, he gameplay irs just the ee Stories in Games The use of stories in games is a fundamental part of game design. A game without a story becomes an abstract construct. Of course, for some games, such as Tetris, this is ‘deal, but the vast majority are much improved by the addition of a story. Over the course of the 20th century, story form and design have been researched. As always, research gravitates toward money, so the most significant portion of this research over the last few years has tended to be about Hollywood and the movie industry. The rewards for a hit movie are usually much greater than the equivalent rewards for a best-selling book, so this is where we find the most accessible information. The main focus of story-form research has been based on the concept of the monomyth: the fundamental story form that is common to most, if not all, accomplished literature and movies. Well be discussing the structure of the monomyth a bit later. Of course, ‘we are not saying that all stories conform to this formulaic approach. Many do, but not all. What we can say is that the concepts and ideas behind the monomyth are present in some form in virtually all nontrivial stories. Previously, we mentioned the story spectrum as applied to games. At one end of the» spectrum, we have the light backstory—usually a brief sentence or paragraph that sets the theme for a game. Thip is usually fairly trivial stuff, so we wall not concern our- selves with it much. However, toward the other end of the spectrum, the importance of the story increases, culminating in those games in which the story is the game. In these ‘cases, you will find the recurring elements of the monomyth, and itis in these cases that the structure and definition of the story is most important. Hence, itis this area that we will focus on. Dont worry, though: All the concepts we discuss are equally applicable to the lighter end of the story spectrum. It's just that they are not as important for the success (ot failure) of the game, Ifa game has a bad backstory, and the backstory has little impact ‘on the game, then no one is really going to care. In fact, a number of games pride themselves on the absurdity oftheir (either real or implied) backstory. Consider Sega's Super Monkey Ball. The player’ avatar is a monkey. In a ball. Collecting bananas. And 4s far as we can tell, that is the extent of the story, which is fine for that particular game, Any attempt to flesh it out further would be extraneous effort,92 Chapter 4 Simple Backstories Not all games require a detailed and rigorous story. Often a couple of short paragraphs just setting the background are required. For example, a game such as R-Type doesn't need much of story line. An evil galactic empire is invading, and you're the only one who can stop it. Original? No. Good enough for the purpose? Yes. Ifa game doesn't require a detailed backstory, there is nothing to be gained by adding one. Think carefully before you decide this, though; consider the difference that the addition of a story made to Half-Life. (For those of you who don't know, Half-Life was the frst decent attempt ata first-person shooter with a strong backstory.) Games such as the Mario series often have simple backstories that are expanded upon during the game. The story line does not affect the gameplay to a restrictive degree, but it does provide direction and increases the interest level. By creating a loose story line that does not impact the gameplay, the designer increases the interest level by using the story line to involve the player in the plight of the characters. Commonly, the backstory is used to provide a framework for a mission-based game structure, For the majority of games, this isthe ideal approach. As the complexity of the game increases, the relative importance of the story to the gameplay can (but does not have to) increase. For example, thestory line ofa simple arcade game is a lot less important to the gameplay than in the fase of a more complex game such as a role- playing game. This s shown in Figure 41. Who Is the Storyteller? tis important for the designer to consider who exactly the storyteller is, Who is the ‘main driving force behind the narrative? Is it the designer or the player? Often a game designer falls victitn to “frustrated author syndrome.” The designer feels as if she should be writing a great novel and forces a linear and restrictive story line onto the player, 1m other cases, the designer might swamp the player with reams of unnecessary dia- logue or narrative, The player then has to fight his way through the excessive text, attempting to sort the wheat from the chaff.sgaphs cesnt ly one ading tthe ife was upon gree, but ory line using the game exity of “but does alot less arole- to is the ena game f she should 2 player. seary dia ive text, Storyteting and Narative 93 The main distinguishing factor between games and other forms of entertainment is the level of interactivity If players just wanted a story they could watch a movie or read a book. When players are playing a game, they do not want to be force-ed a story that Jimits the gemeplay. Stories generally are not interactive; the amount of branching available in the story tee is limited, so only a few alternative narrative paths are usually available. Hence, the story needs to be handled carefully. It should not be forced on the player, and wherever possible, you should avoid railroading the player down limited story paths because of your own frustrated author syndrome. So what is the answer to the question of who the storyteller is? Simple. The players should be the primary storytellers. They are the stars of the show. The time they spend playing the game is their time to shine, not yours. Consequently, the game should be structured so that for the majority of the time, they are telling their own story. The theme of a story is the philosophical idea that the author is trying to express, You can think of it as the “defining question” of the work. For example, can love triumph? Is murder ever justified? Are dreams real? Is death the end? We've said that the true author of a game narrative is (or should be) the player. Game design can steer the player toward the favored themes of the designer, but it like leading the proverbial horse to water, You cannot force the players to think your way: Bearing these caveats ‘in mind, let us continue witha discussion of story structure. t The Monomyth and the Hero’s Journey What is this construct that we are calling the monomyth? In 1949, Joseph Campbell published a seminal work called The Hero with a Thousand Faces, exploring the interre- lationship among the legends and myths of cultures throughout the world and extract- ing a complex pattern that all of these stories followed, This pattern, the monomyth, is called “The Hero's Journey” and describes a series of steps and sequences that the story follows, charting the progress of the storys hero. The archetypal character types—those that occur across all cultures and ages—are incumbent features of the hero’ journey. ‘These powerful archetypes are so innately recognizable by all individuals through Jungs concept of the collective unconscious that they have a familiar resonance that Serves to strengthen and validate the story. We cover these in detail in the next chapter. The following quote summarizes Campbells belief in the universal story form.4 Chapter 4 “Whether we listen with aloof amusement io [a] ... witch doctor of the Congo, or read with cultivated rapture thin translations from the sonnets of the mystic Lao-tse; now and again crack the hard nutshell of an argument of Aquinas, or catch suddenly the shining meaning of fan]... Eskimo fairy tale: it wil always be the one, shape-shifting yet ‘marvelously constant story that we find, together with a challengingly persistent sug- gestion of more remaining to be experienced than will even be known or told.” Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 1949 Despite the excellence of Campbell’ book, it can be somewhat heavy going, and for all but the most story-intensive games, it could be considered overkill. The Hero with a Thousand Faces is recommended as an essential addition to the game designer’ refer- ence library. For the purposes of this chapter, we want to make use of a slightly lighter analysis, one that has been updated with modern considerations and that presents the concepts in a clearer fashion. Fortunately, such a work exists, In 1993, screenwriter Christopher Vogler published the first edition of a book based on a seven-page pamphlet that he had been circulating around the Hollywood studio where he worked. This pamphlet, “A Practical Guide to the Hero's Journey.” took the movie industry by storm, and the obvious step for Vogler ‘was to expand the work and publish 4 book based on it. This book, The Writer’ ‘Journey, presents the concepts and idias of the hero’ journey in a concise and easily digestible form. I's not a perfect fit for our purposes, but itis an excellent start. AS such, it forms the basis of our analysis of stories and comes heavily recommended. ‘Any serious game designer needs to read this book thoroughly. Note that we are not just trying to feed you the line that games are merely interactive movies. That is plainly not true. They are an entirely different medium. However, the_ ideas presented by Campbell and Vogler are universal. They transcend the medium of film and are applicable—at least, to some extent—directly to the field of game design, particularly where the story line is a major factor in the design Too Good to Be True? ‘One of the chief arguments against patterns—especially when related to design aspects—is that they stifle creativity, producing a lackluster and formulaic output. Of course, if you just take the basic interpretation and apply it, this can be true.‘Storytelling and Narrative However it shouldbe realized that the monomyth is a form, nota formula, It is a set Of Buidelines for creating a rewarding and flflling story line, nota cookie-cutter tem- Plate for autogeneratin the same tired old story ina slightly different ‘guise. Another important point to ear in ming is that we ae using the term hero to refer either Sex: Itcould just as easily apply to a female hero as it does to a male. you who refer to his book will be able to use the same frame of reference. Note that not all games use these structures for thei story lie, Some use jast afew of them and miss out on key features (and, in some case, thei story usually feels some- ‘what unsatisfactory), For others, some of the steps ate inappropriate and would ada nothing to the game. For example, many games gloss over the introduction to the ordinary world and the hero’ refusal ofthe call, Sometimes that is ideal-—the player actually wants to be a gung-ho hero whois ready for anything, no matter how aneckis- tc that might be, There is no law, writen or unwritten, that says that games have to conform to reality. They just have to be self-consistent, The steps in Vogler hero’ journey are ap follows: 1. The ordinary world ‘ 2. The call to adventure. 3. The refusal of the cai 4. The meeting with the mentor, 5. Crossing the first threshold. 6. Tests, allies, and enemies. .7- The approach to the innermost cave 8. The ordeal98 Chapter 4 10. The road back. I. The resurrection, 12. The return with the reward. We discuss these in detail and apply the ideas to game story design in the following sections. The Ordinary World All stories should start atthe beginning (or thereabouts). The ordinary world is where the Player first meets the hero and is introduced to her background and normal existence, The ordinary world ofthe hero is used to setup the story, to provide a mundane can- vas forthe storyteller to contrast withthe special world that the hero will be entering in the game. Often the introduction to the ordinary world of the hero is combined with 4 prologue. The prologue generally takes one of two forms: > Explains the events that have happened to the hero so far, seting up the context for what is about to happen . > Provides a snippet of the special worl, either by covering past events in the sPecil world that ate about ro collide with the hero in the ordinary world or by foreshadowing an event to come Care must be taken with the backstory and how this stony is revealed to the player. Dont just blurt it out in one go. Nothing appears flatter than a straightforward mono- logue detailing the hero’ background and motivations. It far better to reveal the beck ‘story gracefully. Make the player work a bit to put the pieces together. Its a more rewarding experience, and it makes the player feel as if he has achieved something in ‘uncovering the story, Foreshadowing i a powerful technique in storytelling. Consider an example from the introduction to Valves Half-Life. The noninteractive opening scenes tell the story of Gordon Freeman, who has accepted a research Position at the ultrasecretive Black Mesa research laboratory. As Gordon takes the underground monorail tothe main security entrance, he gets a glimpse ofthe ordinary world ofthe research facility At certain points throughout the journey, Gordon’ attention is drawn to various constructs and facilities that will feature heavily in the special world when the catastrophic accidentStoryteling and Naratve 97 occurs. Another more explicit example of foreshadowing occurs at the point at which the accident occurs, When the experiment goes awry and the dimensional rift is opened, Gordon is transported to a variety of strange locations and glimpses strange alien landscapes and beings. This (unbeknownst to Gordon) is a taste of things to come. Because foreshadowing is so powerful, it is very commonly used. Often in games that have boss characters, such as shoot ‘em-ups, the boss character puts in brief cameo appearances throughout the level before appearing at the end of the level for the big confrontation. The various Star Wars games (an example of which is shown in Figure 43) that feature the Death Star often use this technique. The Death Star appears as part of the background graphics a couple of levels before the player is called upon to destroy it. As soon as it appears, ominously hanging in the distance like a small moon, the player knows that sooner or later he will be there. Figure 4.3 Star Wars: Rogue Squadron i This foreshadowing i so effective because it contrasts the special world against the ordinary world. This confuses the player, and confusion eases the process of mental Suggestion. Players who are susceptible to mental suggestion are easier to immerse in the game, The willing suspension of disbelief that the designer is aiming for becomes that little bit easier to achieve,98 Chapter 4 The “Ordinary World” section is the place to introduce the reasoning and motivation behind the hero's being who she is. Why is she even in this situation? What is the game actually going to be about? Here we discuss the best way to get that information to the player without being blatant and uninteresting. This is where you introduce the hero to the player. You want to make the player identi- fy with the hero. This is erucial—if you fail to do this, there is no compunction to play the game, There are many ways to do this, but probably the most effective way to get the player to identify with the hero is to play on the player’s emotions ‘We discuss non-story-based methods of creating the bond between the player and the hero in the next chapter, For now, lets consider how you can use the story to accom plish the same task. Often in classical literature, the hero has a flaw or some mental or spiritual wound that the reader can empathize with. This doesn' necessarily mean that the hero needs to be an inmate of a mental asylum (although some games have used just that mechanism—American McGee Alice, shown in Figure 4.4, was set in the fantasies of a female patient). Figure 4.4 American McGee's Alice. ‘An example is Gordon Freeman's inexperience in his new job. Gordon is a new ‘employee in a top-secret lab. The player can empathize with this. We're pretty sure that the vast majority of Half-Life players would also feel rather overwhelmed in Gordon'sStorytoling and Narrative position. The superb introductory sequence amplifies this sense of awe and transmits it to the player. In this way, a bond is created between the player and the avatar, The Call to Adventure The call to adventure is the first inkling the hero gets that she is going to be leaving the security of the ordinary world to enter the special world of the adventure ahead. Now, bear in mind that the players already know they are going to be entering a special world, so itis very difficult to surprise them. It can be done—you can take the story line off at a tangent they would never expect—but the safer and easier approach is to ‘make use of this expectation and build up the players’ anticipation levels so that they can hardly wait to enter the special world, Dont wy to maintain this buildup for too long, however. The player bought the game to play it, not to wait until the designer allows him to play it, The call to adventure can take many forms. Infogrames’s Outcast (see Figure 4.5) por- ‘trays the hero, retired Special Forces man Cutter Slade, sitting in a bar knocking back straight whiskies. As he is sitting nursing his drink, several G-men approach him and inform him that he is needed with the utmost upgency by Cutter’ old commanding officer. This is his first call to adventure.100 Chapter 4 ‘The call to adventure is often the catalyst or trigger that initiates the story line. It can take many forms, and we detail some of those here. In a few stories, the hero receives ‘multiple calls. It then becomes the task of the hero to decide how to prioritize these calls—which to answer first or which to reject outright. In some cases, these priorities will already have been decided—or at least hinted at—by the designer. Ultima VII epitomizes this concept, The avatar really leaves his own world through an obelisk into the fictional world of Brittania, In a sense, there are two dimensions to the fiction in the game because the ‘real world” is the initial setting of a fictional story. This extra dimension adds tremendously to the game experience, by adding yet another level to the suspension of disbelief. When playing Ultima VIL, the player is fully engaged in the game world and the character. When players occasionally do think about the “real world,” itis often thoughts of the avatar’ “real world,” not their own. ‘They empathize with the avatar’ wish to return home. In other words, they're sympa- thetic to the plight of a fictional game character! Often the call to adventure is personal to the hero. Nintendo uses this technique a lot, particularly in the Mario series of games. For example, usvally the Princess manages t0 get herself captured, and Mario, being the sterling sort of hero that he is, feels a burn ‘ng urge to rescue her. This is a common tfread running through the entire series of games. The call to adventure often involves family or friends in jeopardy. In Luigi’ ‘Mansion, Luigi is called upon to rescue his brother, who is lost inside a mysterious haunted house. Of course, the call does not need to be on a level personal to the hero. External events are often used as a call to adventure. Some grand event happening on a large scale right act as the call. In these cases, only the hero’ sense of decency (or other motiva- tion, such as avarice) propels the hero into adventure. ‘Temptation can always be used as a call. Many forms of temptation exist, but in games, it usually comes in the form of greed. There are various reasons for this. One is that sexual temptation does not make a very good theme for a game. A few games have tried to use this, but they were, for the most part, poor games, and in some cases, verged on the extremely distasteful, with CusterS Revenge (which can be seen with a Google search) being a particularly obnoxious (and classic) example.‘Storytelling and Narrative ‘A far safer and more socially acceptable form of temptation is greed. (You've got to love capitalism!) For example, many games use the old “earn as much cash as possible” or “ueasure hunting” paradigms as the call to adventure. Games such as Monopoly Tycoon (and, in fact, the majority of the tycoon-style games) use greed as the motivation to play: Remember, kiddies, greed is good! Even Luigi Mansion uses treasure hunting as a secondary call (as do the majority of the other games in the series). The primary call is to rescue Mario, but the secondary call isto get rich in the process Sometimes the call comes in the form of a message from a herald, a character arche- type. The herald does not have to be an ally of the hero. In fact, the character acting as the herald might reappear as another character archetype later in the game, such as the ‘mentor or the shadow: Examples of the use of the herald to deliver the call are present in many games. The specific example we will use here is Lionhead!s Black and White In this game, two mentor characters representing the good and evil sides of the player ie for the player’ attention. Both characters call the player to adventuire—one on the side of good, and one on the side of evil, In other situations, the call to adventure isht an explicit call. It can be the result of a void felt by the hero due to a lack of or a need for something, What that “something” is can be the choice of the game designer. For example, in Planescape: Torment, the call for adventure is lack of knowledge on the part ofthe hero, The fact that he is referred to as the Nameless One indicates the magnitude of the call. The call to adventure does not need to be optional. The hero isnt always given a choice (even if the player is: He can choose to play or not to play). In Space Invaders, ‘he call to adventure is the need to destroy all the aliens to prevent the players own estruction Refusal of the Call tthe traditional monomyth form, the next stage afer the call isthe refusal. Ths is Tepresentation of the hero rejecting the offer to leave her comfortable ordinary f.It does not have to be portrayed as a grandiose event—often the refusal102 Chapter 4 Fora computer game, the call is usually not refused—especially if there is only one call, After all if that were to occur, there would be no game. That is not to say that the refusal is never issued. ‘Usually, however, it forms part of the initial background story, as is the case with Cutter Slade in Outcast. Cutter’s response to the plea for assistance from the G-men is to turn away, slug back a shot of whiskey, and growl, “Tm retired.” Asan example of dratna, this is far more involving than if he'd just leapt to attention and replied, “Yessir, les go.” Its more believable and compelling, leaving the player Wondering, “Will he or won't he?” even though we know he will. More important, it sets the stage for conflict. And conflict, as we all know, is interesting, ‘The refusal of the calls usually reserved for games that place more of an emphasis on story: For example, a call refusal would make little sense in a simple arcade game; it can be added to the backstory for additional flavor, but in general, it would have lite effect on the gameplay. Any games that offer multiple quests and subquests allow for multiple refusals, As ong as the overall grand quest is attended to, the game designer can allow the hero (0 ignore some of the smaller quests without any serious penalty. no Tn the case of conflicting calls—when i hero is given two or more conflicting calls simultaneously—a dynamic tension automatically is created. The player has to decide Which (if any) call to follow. The classic case is the choice between good and evil. In Blac and White, the player is given the choice to be an evil god or a good god (and anything in between). The player’ actions determine which call he has refused. Jn some cases, refusal of the call can be seen as a positive action, The call to adventure can be a negative thing. For example, the hero might be offered a quest that involves. Partaking in some form of action that would result in unpleasant consequences. In the case ofa role-playing game based on the familiar Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules, a lawful good hero might be asked to perform an activity that would conflict with his alignment, such as killing a houschold of innocents. If the player sees it as advanta- seous im the long run to maintain his alignment, it would be wise to refuse this quest. The Meeting with the Mentor The character archetype of mentor is discussed at length in the next chapter. You've already seen an example of a mentor in the previous section, when we discussed Black and White. Another example is Morte, the first character that the Nameless OneStoryteling and Narrative 103 encounters in Planescape: Torment. At the start of the game, Mortes main purpose fs to provide the Nameless One with information about his location and situation. As the Nameless One progresses further, Morte provides further tips and helpful suggestions until he is more familiar with his surroundings. If the call to adventure is seen as the catalyst to the story, creating an impulse and motive where previously there were none, then the meeting with the mentor serves to give direction to these unleashed forces. When the hero decides to take action, itis the task of the mentor archetype to give the hero the information needed to choose which action to take. Note that the mentor does not have to be a single character. Often the mentor is a dlichéd wise old man, but there is no reason why this should be the case, The position of the mentor archetype can be filled by any combination of characters that give the hero information. In fac, the mentor does not even need to be a character. The hero can use past experiences, a library, a television, or any other information source. Its ‘not important what or who fills the role of the mentor, as long as the information the hero needs is provided. P Grossing the First Threshold After the hero has decided to leave the ordinary world, accepted the call to adventure, and discovered what needs to be done, she still has to make that first step and commit to the adventure. Vogler refers to this as “crossing the threshold” from the safe and com- fortable ordinary world into the dangerous and strange special world of the quest ahead. This step is not always optional. Sometimes the hero is thrust into the special world against her will. For example, in Planescape: Torment, the amnesiac hero wakes into the special world at the start of the game, with only a few tattered memories of the ordinary world from which he came To enter the special world, the hero must mentally prepare, garner her courage, and perform.a certain amount of symbolic loin girding to confidently enter the strange and ‘unknown experiences ahead. Often the hero expresses misgivings, concerns, and fears but makes the crossing anyway. This is a good time to bond the player with the hero by creat- ing a sense of concern, The threshold guardian archetype often comes into play here. This could be manifested as the hero's own misgivings, the fear of the hero's companions, a \waming from the enemy who the hero seeks to defeat, or any combination of these.» 104 Chapter 4 The opening scene of Midway Pac-Land (shown in Figure 4.6) shows Pac-Man leaving the ordinary world of his home and setting out ofa strange road full of danger and ‘mystery, The act of leaving the house and heading off through the dangerous ghost- infested path is the crossing of the first threshold. ranted folseem mS) Figure 4.6 Pac-Land, ‘When the frst threshold of adventure is crossed, there is no ramming back. The next Phase is entered, and the adventure into the special world truly begins, Tests, Allies, and Enemies The crossing of the threshold is the first test. In this phase, many more similar tests are thrown atthe hero, This phase is often the longest phase of a game story atid makes up the bulk of a game. In this phase, the hero ventures forth into the special world and meets many of the char- acter archetypes on the journey For the majority of games, the character archetypes that the player meets are ether alls, shadows, or trickster. At the lft edge ofthe story spectrum, you would expect to meet mainly shadows. For example, in Space Invaders the player is alone against the alien onslaught—a hero surrounded by shadow.Storyteing and NarrativeChapter 4 world in one piece. For this style of game, the journey back is well integrated into the quest and should be significantly different than the journey that brought the hero to that point. The traditional use for this story element is to help prepare the hero for the ordeal ahead. This is done by a number of means, including doing reconnaissance, gathering information, checking or purchasing equipment, or mentally preparing and gitding loins for the coming tasks. The Ordeal The ordeal is the ultimate tes: the fight with the nemesis. This is the culminating battle of the story. Until now, the hero might have dealt with some serious tests, but this is the real thing. The stakes are high, and the final reward is at hand. Many games follow this pattern. In fact, any game that has a succession of levels Punctuated by increasingly powerful boss enemies for the player to defeat follows this Pattern. Luigit Mansion, Quake II, Half-Life, R-Type, and Diablo Il are some of these. ‘We're sure that you can add hundreds to the list. © During the ordeal, you might try to cemnt the player’s bond with the hero further This is sometimes achieved by making it appear as ifthe hero is almost defeated, before fighting back from seemingly impossible odds to defeat the enemy. Im the ordeal, the hero faces the ultimate shadow. Defeat means failure, final and absolute. Victory means claiming the reward and the ultimate success. However, some- times achieving victory is possible in many ways and at many levels, not all of them immediately obvious. For example, inthe case of games such as LucasArts’ Jedi Knight series, it could mean deciding whether to fight the ultimate nemesis. The Reward Alter the ultimate shadow is defeated, the reward can be claimed. The reward can come in many forms—and not all of them are Positive. Sometimes the reward can be 4 negative option, something the hero would rather avoid but cannot, or simply was not, expecting.Storytelling and Narrathe 107 More often, however, the reward is positive, even if it might not seem that way to the Player. For example, the reward in Planescape: Torment is mortality and the promise of death. Although this might not seem like much of a reward to the player, to the hero— who has endured a long and painful cycle of continual death and rebirth—the ability to finally die and join his lover in the peace of eternal sleep is an ideal boon. Many games end at this point. Some of these show the remaining story as a final cut scene. For other games, this is merely the beginning of the final phase. Note that nothing says that the reward has to be the same one that the hero set out for at the beginning ofthe story. In Half-Life, Gordon Freeman initially sets out to escape from the alien-infested laboratory. By the end of the story, the stakes—and the potential reward for success—are much higher. The important thing is to make sure that the reward reflects the effort expended in reaching it. Nothing falls flat more than an ‘insignificant reward—an excellent example of this being the ending of Unreal. After fighting the alien threat and escaping the planet, the player’ avatar is left drifting in space as his escape pod runs out of fuel. The assumption is that you will eventually be rescued—or not (see Figure 4.7), Figure 4.7 The ending of Unreal108 Chapter 4 The Road Back ‘With the reward won, the hero now has to prepare for the journey back to the ordinary world, The experience of the adventure will have changed the hero, and it might be difficlt (if not impossible) to integrate her successfully back into the ordinary world, As we've said, most games do not go as far as this in their interactive stories—instead, they leave this and the following two story elements to a final cut scene. Interplay’ Fallout (shown in Figure 4.8) used this particular element to good effect. In this post-apocalyptic role-playing game, the hero was tasked with finding a replace- ‘ment chip to the water processor to allow the vault-dwellers to continue living in their underground vault. The hero was sent out into the radioactive wilderness to find this chip and, after many adventures, successfully returned with the reward. Upon his return, he was not permitted to re-enter the vault, The vault elders claimed that he had been so changed by his journey that he was too dangerous to be allowed to live fn the vault with the others. Hence, he was turned away from his old ordinary world. His special world became his new ordinary world.Storyteling and Narative ‘The Resurrection ‘The resurection isthe point in the story at which al outstanding plot threads ate resolved. Any problems or consequences from the retrieval ofthe reward are (for the most part) resolved here. Does the ‘story resolve itself? Are any questions left unan- Swered? Is this an oversight om the pat of the designer, or are they deliberately let open for the sequel? The resurrection isthe final set of tests the hero faces before being able to enjoy the hard-earned reward full. In conventional stories, this is comparable to the last-minute Plot twist: Just when you think the story is over and the ero has won, the enemy resurfaces briefly fora final stand before dying. ‘Another purpose ofthe resurrection is so that the player can see clearly how the hero bhas evolved throughout the story: Has the hero changed? More important, does the hero have the answer to the question posed by the story? The resurrection might also bein the form of an internal revelation for the character that the player might not have foresee$—a trick ending: “No, Luke...1 am your father.” ‘The Return with the Reward Now the story is over, and the hero returns to his ordinary world to resume life as nor- mal The player gets to ste the ero enjoy the benefits of the reward, and the story is ver This isthe last stage inthe circular story form. The story returns completely to 'S stating point so that comparisons can be drawn between the hero before and after, However, a neatly tied-up story isnot always desirable. Sometimes its nice to leave « Fe auestions open. One of the most popular forms of ending for a sory i the “new Peeinning.” In this type of ending, the story continues inthe imagination ofthe player Jong after the game is completed. The player is left asking, “What happens next?” and ‘way is left open for a continuation or a sequel. st st obvious example ofthis is Half-Life. The story lin for this game contains a g minute plot twist. Just when you think Gordon Freeman is about to escape, he is pd by « man in black (who has been covertly watching Gordon during the entire $e) and is offered two choices. We won't spoil the surprise for those of you who wppblaved the gute to completion; suifice to say tht it is certainly an unexpected ‘The reward in this case has mutated from freedom to something else entirely,110 Chapter 4 The Story Vehicle ‘The most common format for a story is the three-act structure, This is by no means the only structure, but it seems to be the most common stricture. For exammple, some of Shakespeave’s plays use diferent structures, such as fve- and sevenvact oven However, most modem stories conform tothe more common three-act structure, and thats wha; welll concentrate on here, The hero’ journey is often used in a circular story form split into three acts This does HO mean that all stories return exactly to their starting point and circumstances, Often the manifestation ofthe circular form means that the hero special word heconses his new ordinary world. How the hero$ journey i elated to the eircular form is shown in ASS, Crary ‘nea Figure 4.9 The circular story form. Cassia tis story form is used in lteretue and movies. Ilo applies directly to ed games and can be used as a guideline for games in which stories are Present but are not the primary focus. Lets discuss the figure in some more detailStoryteling and Narrative ‘The first act deals with the introduction of the hero and the ordinary world. The end of the first acti the point at which the hero prepares to cross the first threshold and enter the special world. ‘Act 2 is the longest act and takes place entirely in the special world. This act is often split into two parts, with the end of the first part coinciding with the ordeal, The sec- ond part begins with a change of pace; the story now begins to wind down, and the farthest point in the journey has been reached. ‘Act 2 ends with the road back, and the beginning of the third act heralds the return of the hero to the ordinary world, ending back where the story started in the ordinary world (although not necessarily the same one that the hero left). The converse of the circular story form is the open-ended form. Here, the story is not tied up nicely as in the circular case. Plot strands are deliberately left open so that there is a sense of unresolved ambiguities and unanswered questions, This form is not often used in stories in Western culture and is often reserved for serials. Two classic ‘movie examples of this form are Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future, Part I! and George Lucas’ The Empire Strikes Back. In bah of these films, we are left with many unanswered questions, leaving the way wide open for the sequels, Of course, the worst sin of the storyteller is to artificially include a fake plot element simply to force the circle to close. Plot Pacing ‘We previously mentioned that the plot can be paced in one of two main ways, The Position of the crisis in the story makes the difference in the feel of the story: Whether the third act is a quick resolution or a slow wind-down of the story depends on it, Given a conventional three-act structure in which the long second act is usually split into two parts, there are two main points at which the crisis occurs. How these are used is related to the pacing of the plot. The standard approach (shown in Figure 4.10) to slowly build up to the ordeal at the end of Act 2 and move on fairly swiftly to the climax, This approach is the more common one, both in games and in the movies. lows the story to concentrate on the pre-ordeal story line, and after the reward is med, it tidies things up quickly‘At 2 Act3 Figure 4.10 Delayed crisis in a three-act story. Thats one approach to plot pacing, The other common one is the central crisis. Here, ‘Act 3 is lengthened so that the ordeal occurs roughly in the middle of the story, giving a symmetrical appearance. This approach allows for the consequences of the ordeal and the claiming of the reward to be expoynded upon in more detail, Both halves of the story have equal importance, both pref and post-ordeal. Often this can be used to five the villain a fighting chance to reclaim the reward and kill the hero, a sort of “just when you thought it was over” approach to the story. This form (shown in Figure 4.11) has not been used much in the games industry so fat. This is a shame because it seems a bit naive to assume that everything tums up rosy after the hero has claimed the reward. As we all know, sometimes that is not the case. For example, E.E. “Doc” ‘Smith used an interesting variant ofthis in writing his Lensman and Skylark novels. Act2 Act 3 Figure 4.11 Central crisis in a three-act story.‘Storytelling and Narrative Gameplay and Narrative In this book, we've defined narrative to mean the noninteractive part of a computer game’ story, the part in which you as the designer and author tell the player things without letting him do anything. This definition ignores literary theory and all the academic debate that surrounds modern creative writing, but it serves our purpose: to discuss the nature of storytelling in games and the relationship between interactive and noninteractive elements, From this definition, you can see that a game's story content can be divided into interac- tive and noninteractive parts: the gameplay and the narrative. These exist in inverse proportion to one another: The more you have of one, the less you have of the other. A novel or a movie has no gameplay; itis entirely narrative. A simple arcade game such as, Space Invaders has no narrative; itis entirely gameplay. The majority of home computer and console games lie somewhere in between; they seek to strike a balance between ‘gameplay and narrative. You, as the designer, must decide where that balance lies. The Role of Narrative 5 ‘To make that determination, you have to ask what function narrative will have in your game. At first glance, it might seem to be pointless. A game is a form of participatory entertainment, and purists would say that any nonparticipatory elements are extrane- ous, A number of players feel that way, too: As soon as they are given some text to read or see a movie come up, they hit whatever button will skip past it and take them on to the gameplay. These kinds of players tend to be core gamers, motivated primarily by the challenges in the gare and the desire to defeat them. To them, beating the game is, its own reward, and they need nothing else. Not all players are this eager to dive headfirst into the action, however. Casual gamers, who play for the enjoyment of being in the game's fantasy world, need to have the stage set for them. They need to feel part of something larger, a story that will excite their imaginations. Casual gamers also need rewards for overcoming the game’ chal- lenges. For them, its not sufficient to know that they've defeated a dragon; there must be a reason to do it and a positive consequence for having done it. Both the reason and the consequence are given to them through narrative, expository material that tells them, “The dragon is eating all our herds and soon the peasants will starve” and “The King is greatly pleased with you.”114 Chapter 4 The sights and sounds in your game, the graphics and audio, create the immediate physical embodiment of your game’ setting, but that’ not enough to establish a credi- ‘ble game world. Those sights and sounds should be informed by an underlying culture and a history that dictates not only how the world looks, but why it looks that way. If you dont design that culture and history, the game world will feel like a theme park: all false fronts and a thin, gaudy veneer over the game's mechanics. To establish the feeling of richness and depth, you must create a backstory, and some of that backstory rust be revealed through narration. Action games, sports games, and vehicle simulations seldom include much narrative. ‘They emphasize the activity, or interactivity, of the moment; for the core gamer, that activity is its own reward. Even so, you can attract a larger audience if you offer a story line to maintain the casual player’s interest. The casual player wants that story because the.action alone doesn't do it for her. Consider two first-person shooter games: In one, you offer 25 different, unrelated levels of varying degrees of difficulty. All the player knows is that she has to kill all the enemies to win. In the other, each level is an. episode in a larger story, tied together with narrative material that explains why the player is there and what her exertions are n aid of. The second will undoubtedly cost ‘more to make, but it will also appeal to mbre people. Those who care nothing for nar- ative will ignore it, but those who need narrative to motivate them will be rewarded. Too Much Narrative If you offer too much narrative and too little gameplay, however, your game will feel as, if tis a bad value for the money, A number of games have made this mistake, Players are paying for the opportunity to act out a fantasy. If most of your game's content is noninteractive, they'll feel cheated—they wont get the experience that they paid for. ‘The other problem with too much narrative is that it tends to make the game feel as if itts on rails, Its very linear, as if the only purpose the player's actions serve is to move the game toward a predestined conclusion. Of course, unless you've written a game ‘with multiple endings, the conclusion is predestined, but the goal isto make the player feel as ifhe is in a story of his own telling. When you as the designer take over too rnuch of the telling, the player feels as if he's being led by the nose. He doesnt have the freedom to play the game in his own way, to create his own experience for himself‘Storyteling and Narrative Balancing Narrative and Gameplay ‘The raison detre ofall computer gaming is interactivity: giving the player something to do that he cannot do in the real world. The trick, then, is to provide enough narrative to create the game world and motivate the player, but not so much as to inhibit his freedom to meet the game's challenges in his own way. Consider this paraphrase of the swords of the wizard Gandalf in The Lord ofthe Rings: “We cannot choose the times in which we live. All we can decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” The player cannot decide the world in which he plays; that is for you, the designer, to determine. But he must be allowed.to decide for himself what to do within that world, or there is no point in playing, When you create your games narrative segments, try to avoid seizing control of the player's avatar. In too many games, the player reaches @ certain point and then the narrative takes over and makes the avatar do something that the player might not choose to do. It is fair to change the world around the avatar in response to the player’s actions; itis less fair to suddenly take control of the avatar away from the player. Multi-Part Stories rc Not all stories are told in one session. The games industry has expressed much interest in the possibilities provided by episodic delivery. This can mean anything from a sim- ple sequel to a hit game (as in the Final Fantasy series) or a properly episodic game such as the ill-fated Majestic from Electronic Arts. ‘There are three main forms for episodic delivery; these are indicated in Figures 4.12, 4,13, and 4.14 and are discussed in the following sections, Series A series is a limited sequence of episodes. Each episode is a self-contained story in ‘which one major plot strand is resolved per episode. Usually, an overriding theme runs from the beginning of the series through to the end, as shown in Figure 4.12. ‘This is the format used in the majority of game series. Each game in the series contains a complete story set against the consistent world. The games in the series are often linked by a grand overarching plot. To get a handle on the concept, imagine a series of films such as Die Hard ot The Godfather trilogy. Each film has a self-contained plot, and each can be viewed individually with litle disadvantage, even though there is a consistent world and an overarching theme that ties the series together.116 Chapter 4 Figure 4.12 An example of series structure. Serials A serials (theoretically) infinite sequence of episodes, Serials ate similar in natute to ‘series, except thatthe plot threads are not usualy neatly resolved by each episode and there is generally no overarching story line—and, hence, no closure. To mainaia interest, each episode generally ends halfway through the major plot strand, creating a cliffianger situation that hopefully creates the “cant wait” feeling for the nest episode. Serials are designed to ran and run, They spy on a lange cast of characters, of whom a subset are involved in three or four differegt (and often quite independent) subplots at date tie: As one subplot ends, another one begins, using @ new group of (lomerly dormant) characters. Serials lack the grand sense of resolution that the hero's journey Provides. Instead, they offer opportunities to observe different characters interacting under a vatety of stresses, The eliffaanger at the end ofeach episode usually involves Some shocking revelation that leaves us wondering how a key character will renct to the news. One might say that serials are characterdriven rather than plot driven and involve a large number of archetypal characters: the bully the good-hearted loser, the shrew, the plain’ but loving girl, the beautiful scheming woman, the ne‘er-do-well, and 0 on. Occasionally, one of these characters will ‘undergo a trauma so extreme that it Produces a character tansformation—for example, turing the noble young man into an evil schemer, which is, in effect, another plot twist. 1 the serial comes to an end, its usually because ofthe failure ofthe story either because of falling ratings or sales or because the story writers ran out of leas (although judging by some of the soap operas on television, some serials seem to "ave survived even beyond that particular death blow). The specific grisly fate thatStoryteling and Narative 117 a serial comes to can be determined by how it ends. If it ends abruptly, with no attempt at plot resolution, its a pretty good bet that sales or ratings fell. If some attempt at clo- sure Is made, the serial probably came to a natural end. Comparisons for serials ae soap operas such as Dallas, or the old Saturday morning serials that most of you are probably ‘00 young to remember, such as Rocket Man, Flash Gordon, and The Incredible Hulk You might be wondering why we're going to such lengths describing something that seems to apply only to television. With the advent of games such as Majestic and the continued rumbling ofthe industry on the subject of episodic (or Webisodic) games, its a fair bet that we're going to be seeing attempts at providing some sort of interactive serials over the next few years. How successful these will be is open to arguinent, but being able to charge a monthly fee for new material is a very appealing honey pot. (Witness the success of EverQuest, with roughly 400,000 subscribers each shelling out $10 a month for access.) Figure 4.13 is a depiction of the structure of a serial, ‘Consistent Workd Pts continu. Sande oven. ‘Episodes end ona ethenger. Figure 4.13 An example of serial siructure Episodic Detivery An episodic delivery isa cross between the serial and the series. Like the series, thé ePsodic delivery contains a limited number of episodes, with an overall storyline that 's followed across the entirety: Unlike the series, however, there is often fairly tight “tegration between episodes and significant overlap of plot threads, This is similar to the serial, in which the plots thread across episodes. Unlike the serial, this format doesnt rely so heavily on cliffhangers to end episodes and sean meres in the subsequent episodes. Instead, the overall story line provides the diving interest, and the cliffhanger is used only as a secondary means of ‘support (see Figure 4.14),Eplsdos Figure 4.14 An example of episodic delivery structure. Bearing in mind that we already have series-based games, we believe that episodic delivery s the form that most attempts at interactive episode-based entertainment will take, at least initially: If the medium takes off and is financially viable, we gradu- ally might begin to see interactive serials, with no fixed episode count and a constantly evolving story. The only fly in the soup as fat as this is concerned is the difficulty of sustained content creation. There will have to be some evolution in the methods used to create the content for such endeavors.Storyteling and Narrative Putting It Together ‘The importance of story to a game tends to vary according to the complexity of the ‘game. Of course, the importance of a story to a game is usually much less than the importance of a story to a movie. This is because of that magic ingredient, interactivity Interactivity, at least currently is at loggerheads with story. The more interactivity is desired, the less we can force the player to follow the story line. ‘Actually, that not quite true. Apart from technical limitations, there is no reason why a story cannot be fully interactive and still be satisfying, Star Trek's holodeck often featured realistic characters and story lines, which adapted realistically to the characters. Of course, we're still a long way from that, even at the most basic level. Chris Crawford’ Erasmatron (available from www erasmatazz .com) makes bold strides in this direction, but there is still along way to go. AAs we've already stated, not all games need a well-developed story—or even a story at all. For those that do, the stories we've seen so far are generally not that strong. Even the best of them would not make good mgwvies. Those games that have crossed over into movies have been (virtually without €xception) poor. Consider the'screen versions of Final Fantasy, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Brothers, and Tomb Raider. Granted, the original story lines of the games were not that strong to begin with (with the possible exception of Final Fantasy), but watching the films, it becomes clear that they certainly ‘weren't strong enough to support a film. The techniques presented in this chapter are useful for guiding your story develop- ment. Remember, however, that story creation is not formulaic activity. A fair amount of grunt work and creativity still is required. In the words of Christopher Vogler, the hero's journey is a form, not a formula, That is, its a pattern (one of many) that can be used to develop your game story.