Faculty of Arts
Building the story and backstory
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Building the story and backstoryToday, modern games combine the best of both, meaning they have a linear “story mode”, which can be taken as the main story of the game, consisting of missions or quests important for the advancement of the scripted story and also “a sandbox mode” which allows the player to explore the non-linear world on their own, independently of the main objectives. Whereas, games developed in the past opted for a linear story, as it was less challenging to make, not necessitating the need to create additional branching paths. However, these so called “retro games”, employing two dimensional low-quality pixel graphics, are still desirable today, owing to their good quality and high nostalgia factor. (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 2002). Many of modern games allow players to explore the game world after the main story has been finished, where they can complete optional missions or roam freely, e.g. Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios, 2011). Usually in linear games, when an objective is not met, the game will offer a ‘fake’ ending, which only proves a minor setback, and eventually gives the player another chance, oftentimes with additional hints on how to tackle the failed part. Should they fail players will encounter the infamous ‘GAME OVER’ screen or similar substituents, such as ‘MISSION FAILED’, ‘YOU DIED’, etc. followed by ‘Retry’, ‘Reload from last checkpoint’ or equivalent options, thus making these premature endings but a temporal setback, and not a real ending of the story. Dark Souls (From Software, 2001) is famous for many deaths as a critical gameplay element. Recently, many story-related games began to offer multiple endings, the main reason for this being the increase of dramatic effect the game has on the player. As dialogic interaction is part of the story, dialog and moral choices made throughout the story significantly determine its outcome. For example, Until Dawn (Supermassive Games, 2015), an action adventure horror game, in which players decide, according to their choices and reactions, the fate of their friends. Eight individuals are trapped in a remote cottage in the woods and the player gets to play different characters during different parts of the story. Wrong choices might not show immediately, rather building tension throughout the whole game, eventually leading to deaths of those affected by them. The ending credits then offer feedback, telling the person behind the monitor what other choices they could have made and what outcomes these might have had. This specific type of narrative, offering new types of branching storylines, is called ‘interactive narrative’ and provides the player with an opportunity to control or change the storyline in specific critical moments. A mechanic called Quick Time Events (QTE) is usually employed and consists of pressing certain buttons to affect the outcome. In games such as Fahrenheit or Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream, 2005, 2010), QTEs often decide the fate of all the main characters. If a player fails, the character is hurt, killed or affected in other meaningful ways, such as emotionally. Sometimes, this particular phenomenon may even be a breaking point, determining whether the player succeeds or fails. Other games, such as Gothic (Piranha Bytes, 2001), or Fallout (Interplay Entertainment, 1997) are RPGs, which give the player a relative freedom in what they do. These series feature many quests, which the player can complete at will. Often, they can also kill in-game NPCs (non-playable characters) and by doing so severely alter the type and number of quests available to them later in the game. In some games e.g. Dragon Age (BioWare, 2009) the very start of a new game decides the backstory of the character, as a player chooses from premade possibilities. Often, these choices can be combined, creating even more possible outcomes of the beginning. Another possibility of introducing the backstory is by writing the certain elements of the story on the game box or in the manual. Some intro-sequences can also be helpful, as this places the player into the context of the story at large. (Juul, 2001, p. 194-204) Paper manuals have lately been scrapped, to contribute to environment protection, and to make them available as an in-game option, where they can be accessed from the main menu, or through the web. The internet plays another crucial part as well, as most all modern videogame companies such as Ubisoft, Blizzard, Electronic Arts and others, tend to use more sophisticated forms of teasing players with upcoming games – the trailers. Using the medial power of the internet, especially streaming services such as Twitch and YouTube, they promote announced games, sometimes even years before the final product hits the shelves. Often big fragments of the story are presented in the videos, giving the potential customer further ideas of what the game will be about. The trailers sometimes even spoil the possible outcome of the whole story, as they consist mainly of non-interactive cinematics or cut-scenes. Talking about the trailers for AAA (triple-A) games, which in gaming industry is similar to a “blockbuster” in the film industry, bear a significant resemblance towards Hollywood movies, with most of such trailers employing captivating soundtracks, stunning vistas and breath-taking moments, often showing the best a game has to offer. This trend is associated mainly with huge, commercially successful games, such as Call of Duty (Infinity Ward, 2003), Battlefield (EA, 2002) or Need for Speed (EA, 1994). Others bet on less extravagant, calming presentations such as Inside (Playdead, 2016). Trailers do vary according to the selected genre, however, they can also be false advertising. This happened with Watch Dogs (Ubisoft, 2014), where advertising campaign for the game was astonishing, featuring wonderful graphic and gameplay. However, the final product was nowhere near as close to the promised quality and customers felt deceived, asking for refunds. All in all, linear gameplay is generally cheaper to develop, because it is simply a fixed sequence of events with no major chance to differ from the main story, more akin to a movie in this sense. It also helps to keep the numbers of glitches or bugs (imperfections and errors not fixed during the development of a game) in low numbers, since these are easier to simulate. Non- linear gameplay, on the other hand, if not properly tested can leave major issues unfixed, to the point of breaking the game, making it unplayable. If a situation like this happens “a patch” is needed to fix the game afterwards. However, it may be too late, as the first impression of the game might have already ruined it for many. Lately a feature called DLC – downloadable content, was introduced. These can be parts of stories, either continuing in the main story, or bringing entirely new gameplay elements and plots. Nevertheless, in most cases DLCs are not part of the main game and have to be purchased separately, forcing the players to spend additional money. Interestingly, some players react negatively towards non-linear gameplays as it, according to them, breaks the experience of the “full value” of all the game’s content (Juul, 2001, p.194-204). Some videogame firms make a compromise between branching stories and linear storytelling. These, typically adventure games, will have stories branching, only to have them connected again, with the same outcome for everyone. This type of ‘illusionary’ narrative was already described earlier. Download 184.59 Kb. Share with your friends:
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