1. Games Design Level 3 Declan Brophy 09/02/2017
Task 1 - Understanding Storytelling
FormsofStorytelling
The differentformsof storytelling arebasically various ways onecan basea story off/from.Thesedon’tusually have
to beof the sameformat butcan also bespoken verbally,written,drew and theatrebased.This is just differentways
onecan tell a story. An exampleof storytelling would be cavepaintings.Thereason this is a formstorytelling is that
they are drawing paintingsandtelling a story fromthepaintings. Dueto limitations of cavepaintings,they consisted
or limited resources which consisted of multipleimages whereas now,we haveadvanced in technologyand havea
varied amountof resourcesto create ourstories.
Game- The Wolf Among Us
This gamedealswith charactersthatarebased from
fables within FableTown (Beauty & theBeast,Snow
White,Magic MirrorandtheThreeLittlePigs).They
puttheir own twiston this asthey madetheBigBad
Wolf a Sheriffand a goodcharacter that mustsolve
variouscasesaround Fabletown.Thegamecovers a lot
of adultthemes and showsa real lifelikeworld within
this universe.Thisgamewouldalso featureunder an
episodicapproach aswell butitdoes cover fable-like
conventions/characters.
White Hat
With Wolf AmongUs,itputs usin theroleof thecharacter by makingourown choicesand makingus feel like
we areplayingtheroleinstead;thisgivesus moreimmersivegameplay and seemsto fitthis formof
storytelling;thisdoeslimitour gameplay to itbeingdriven by choicesand hardlyany control of thecharacters
movements.
With fable-based characters,therearevastvariety of themthatsomepeoplemay havenoteven heard of
beforeso by this gameintroducingusto unorthodox fablecharacters,itallowspeopleto knowmoreaboutnew
charactersand wherethey may befrom.
The mostgeneric of fablecharacterssuch asTheThreeLittlePigs,SnowWhiteand TheBigBad Wolf,are
charactersthateveryonehasheardof beforeso,they will knowwho itisandhavea momentof nostalgiafrom
fables they had read when they wereyounger.
Black Hat
Even though therearea variety of fablecharactersto choosefrom,mostpeopleonly seemto remember the
moreiconicones insteadof thelesser knownones atfirstglance.E.g.Iron John (Notin thegame) is lesser
known and Jack fromthefable/poem, “Jack andJill”seemto bemore iconic.
The gamechanges thenames of thecharactersto more lifelikeones (Bigby Wolf) and dropshintsto who the
charactersisbased off/from.Somepeople may notgetthese slighthints,especially forlesser known characters.
Wider Trends
This gamegives usdifferentepisodes thataresplitup fromoneanotherand areonly purchasable.You could say this
is a market/financial and a formof DLC as itisaddingmoreandmorecontentto theoriginal gameand with itbeing
a story-based game,itwould only seemlogical to splitthemup to makea small amountof profitfromthecontent.
The gameis story driven by thechoicesyou makeandlimitsthemovement/interactionswiththecharactersevery
so often but by TellTaleGames optingfor thisformof gameplay,itgivesus a nichegenrethatisn’treally seen within
the market;this may impactsalesbutit’s aimingthegameata small and nicheaudience thatlikethisformof
gameplay.Thiswouldbemoreof an industry trend as itisoptingto usetheepisodic,story driven gamethat’s
interactive.
2. Games Design Level 3 Declan Brophy 09/02/2017
Game Genres
Using differentelements of gameplay and genres can giveus differentapproaches to storytelling.Characters,
settings,creatures/enemies and thetime period it is set in, all havean impacton the story and howit is portrayed;
there alwayshasto bea justified reason to whatyou are doing otherwise,would beredundantand a wasteof one’s
time. Also noting thattoo much of a story in a gameand a lack of good gameplay simply does notwork,therehasto
bea balance.
Game– The Elder ScrollsV:Skyrim
With TheElder ScrollsV:SkyrimbeinganRPGgame,it
gives us multiplechoicesthattheplayer can choosethat
may alter themain storylineor sidequests.Thisisusually
a common theme thatdevelopers usually do when
creating/developinganRPGgame.Skyrimhasversatile
storylinesthattheplayer can chooseto do. For example,
when the player startstheDark Brotherhood story line,
you havethe option to kill theirleader or to progress
through their storylinethey mustoffer.This gameon the
other hand covers very racial heavy themes thatbecome
apparentto theplayer dueto thevaried amountof them.
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The gameitself basically allowsfor theplayerto makechangesinevery sortof storyline/quest.May itbesmall
or drastic,it’sjustthefactthattheplayer cando thisandhavemultipleoptionsinstead of itbeingone
dimensional.
The player also hasthechoiceto choosefroma racewhich also effectsthestorytellingassomecharacterswill
usedifferentdialoguedependingon whichraceyou are;versatileoptionsto tailor to theplayers’ gameplay
style.
The player can startthestorylines/questswhenever they wantto and do other miscellaneousinstead;they can
startand dropthequests whenever they want.
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Even though you havemultiplestorylinesto choosefrom,someof themseem to alwaysend in thesame
fashion likethemain storylines do,astheoutcomeis alwaysthesamewith theplayer notreallyhavingthe
choiceon howto end itand mustslay Alduin.
Some other RPGs and thisonealwaysseemto startin thesamefashion repeatedly.Thereisa mod for Skyrim
called “StartAnother Life”wheretheplayer can choosehowto starttheirgame;this issomethingthatcould
havebeen included in thevanillaversion of thegame.
Though the gamehas a lotto offer in terms of storytellingby themgivingtheplayerextra info abouttheworld
they livein but,thegameplayis simplisticanddoesn’toffer much in terms of combat(Personally).Thereare
mods outthere thatdo makethe gamea more challengingexperiencebutitis a shamethevanillagame
doesn’toffer much in relation to its combat.
Wider Trends
MostRPGgames aresetin an open world likeTheWitcher series and Kingdomof Amalur. I wouldsay thatthisisa
markettrend choiceasby makingitan open world gameand simplifyingthegames gameplay,itwouldincrease
salesasitappealstowardsthemorecasual of players;notmany games inthemarketthatareopen world except
fromGTA,The Witcher,Final Fantasy 15and Tom Clancy’s’Wildlands.
Approaches
3. Games Design Level 3 Declan Brophy 09/02/2017
Approachesto storytelling can covermany things such as Locations thegameis set within,conditions thattheplayer
is restricted by, TheHeroes’ Cyclestory approach,three-actstructures (Beginning, Middle,End) andepisodic
approaches.By ususing very differenttechniques/approaches to theirstory,we can expectvery uniquestories justby
following very simplestepsto onesstory creating; used as more of a baseof foundations to thestory. Somegames
can also break the rulesof approachesby themchanging someproperties within theirgames (TheHero’s Cycle) to fit
more within their game;Octagon fromtheMGS series is portrayed as a young,supernatural aid andintellectinstead
of being an olderlooking character.
The Hero’sCycle – TES: Oblivion
This gameis yetanother greatexampleof whatyou can achieveby
followingthisapproach founded by JosephCampbell. Thisgame
followstheapproach butisdelivered to us very subtly andsmoothly
throughoutthegamewith each pieceof thestory slidinginto place
withoutmakingitlook forced and obligated to putitin;I personally
didn’tknowthatItfollowed thisapproach and when I lookback atthe
game,it is shownvery clearly thatthey haveused thisapproach very
well.Bethesda havealsocreated someother games thatfollowthis
method such asMorrowind,Skyrim,andeven within Oblivion’sDLC
The ShiveringIsles.All thesegameshavebeen successful dueto a
very well thoughtouthero’s cycleapproach.
White Hat
As this gamefollowstheapproach of theHero’s Cycle,itseems
thatBethesda havehad somegood successwith thistechnique
as they havecreated many populartitlesthatusethisasa partof
their storytelling.Oblivionachieved thisaswell asthey managed
to do this in theShiveringIsles DlC andKnightsof theNine
alongsidethegames main story;with all of themhavingsuccess.
Though this cycledoescover thebasicsof whatitshouldconsist
of with the “Call to adventure”and“crossingthethreshold”but,
the hero’s journey also coversthehero’s innerjourney.Oblivion had implemented itin thereslightlyasatthe
beginningof thegame,you have“limited awareness”to what’s goingon and then progressinginto the“need of
change”aspectof thejourney.
Black Hat
With thegameusingthisapproach to createones story,itcanbeapparentsometimes when they areusingthis.
When the player isin theholdingcells,italmostfeelsslightly clichéand coincidence-likethatthereis a passage
in your holdingcell thattheemperor (Uriel) mustescapethrough. Though thisisquitedebatableand may not
be entirely a bad thingbut,justtheway itwas executed in thegame;justa small,minor and irrelevantpointto
makebut can betalked about.
Sometimes when a gameuses the“Call to Adventure”startto their game,italmostseems likethey don’tgive
us much background/loreto why you werethere in thefirstplaceor thatthegamemakes vague,blurred points
aboutthis.Oblivion had never told uswhy,thehero/prisoner werebeingheldcaptiveand instead,placed the
player withinthecellsand notknowinghowwegotthere; could beto add extra role-playingcapabilities butI
think,seems partially lazyto leaveto a possible“Roleplay”choice.
Wider Trends
The Elder ScrollsIV:Oblivion featured many downloadablecontentthatobviously madeuseof theHero’s Cycle
approach (Knightsof TheNine,ShiveringIsles) .This isclearly a markettrend choiceasby doingthisand puttinga lot
of effort into theextra content,itonly makes sensefor themto sell ita partial price. It’s niceto seethatBethesda’s
work is valued and thatpeopleare/werewillingto buy themto seewhatstory they would.Wecould saythat
Oblivion would benefita lotfroma remaster of thegamebut,thatis very unlikely to happen.
4. Games Design Level 3 Declan Brophy 09/02/2017
EmotionalThemes
Usingemotional themes to createa story,gives ita lotof fuel and reinforcement to why a characterisfeelingsucha
way.A character isusually feelingthesesortsof emotionsfora reasonand in somecases,giveus extra
information/background abouta character’s wholepurposewithoutthemfeelinglikea blandcharacter. Emotions
do changedependingon which partof they arein,to help add moreof an experienceto thestorytelling.
Game – Fable 2
This gamecoversquitea fewtouchy emotional themes that
the player experiences throughouttheworld.Charactersare
seen beingupsetby a lossof someoneimportantand using
thatas fuel for vengeance;this happensto thecharacter
Hammer as theAbbotof Oakfieldiskilled by oneof Lucien’s
Assassins.Themain character theplayerplaysasexperiences
perseverancefromthevery beginningof thegameas hemust
completetasksto collecta measly amountof 5 gold for food
butinstead isused on a musicbox thatprogresses thestory.
The player also feelsvengeance,likeHammer doesasthe
player’s sister iskilled by thehandsof Lucien and then when you areold enough,you setoff on your j ourney of
vengeanceand heroismby stoppingLucien destroyAlbionand forwhathedid to your sister. As you cantell,even
the smaller emotional themes thatthecharactersfeel,makesthemfeel more lifelikeand helpsadvancethestory
onwards;itacts asa fuel for thestorytellingby beingableto do whatyou wishfreely. Also,to mention thatthe
game’s charactersdeal with a lotof deaths throughoutthestory which will causes theseemotional
themes/occurrences.
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The useof emotional themes for somecharacterswithin thegamegives the character’s purpose,a purposefor
their own personal reasonsandto thestory.For example,thedeath of theAbbot filled Hammer with anger,
vengeancewhich helped progressthestory further.
At the very end of the game,you aregiven an ultimatumand beingableto only pick oneof thethree choicesin
frontof you.One beingwealth,bringingback a loved oneor resurrectingthecitizensof Albion.No matter what
choicethecharacter makes,therewill bea moreemotionsbeingdisplayedand aimed atyou.For example,if
the player wereto choosepickingthegold,thepeopleof Albion will hatehimandeven his companionswould
be distasteful to himwith anger anddisappointment. It’s a greatway to showmoreemotional themes
dependingon whatyou havedone;impactsthestory andtheworld around you.
Black Hat
Some of the game could haveusemoreemotional themes within itsstoryline.Thestory isbrilliantbutmore
emotional themes such ashappinessandfear would havebeen greatto slideinto theirstory somehow;possibly
with a character thatshowsthesetraits. Could arguethatReaver washappy buthedidn’thavetoo much to him
other than beinga self-centered character;they couldhavedonemorewith himpersonally asyou only really
encounter himattheend of the game.
Oncethe player hascompleted thegame,they may then truly startto comeacrossmorehappy-likethemes
becauseof whatyou havepersevered with duringthejourney asyou canbepraised and crowned kingof
Albion.
Wider Trends
Other than Fable2’s storyline,ithad a downloadablepieceof contentcalled “KnotholeIsland”wheretheplayer
could starta newstorylineand experiencewhatithad in storefor theplayer. Wecould say thatitfollowed two
parts of a markettrend with themboth beingDLC and beingableto digitally downloadthefull game.Other games
such as thefirstinitsseries,Fabledid havea remastered version fromtheoriginal Xboxwhich alsofollowed onto
someof the emotional themes (Anger,Vengeance,hopeand perseverance).Other games suchasTheLastof Us
5. Games Design Level 3 Declan Brophy 09/02/2017
which was morestory centric,followed somevery heavyemotional themes and wasalso availableto download asa
digital copy;thesegames thatfollowemotionalthemes arealso apartof somemarketbased trends.
Interactive Story
When talking aboutinteractivestoriesaremany differentaspects thatcover this to makeit a true pieceof interactive
story telling.Small butbig aspectssuch ascut scene to tell the player what’s going on,playercustomization so that
they havetheir own personal feel to it, cinematics to giveus even more info aboutwhatmay begoing on in theover
world of a gameand triggered/scripted eventsthatactivateduring thegameplay;this could bethings such as
enemiesspawning, theenvironment/objectsbeing altered in someway oreven things happening to characters.
These aspectsall improveourexperiencewhen progressing through a games storyline;playermovementis a big
aspectas well to consider.
Game – Musou Warriors series(Dynasty,Samuraiand Orochi)
The gamehas a greatbalanceof gameplay
and storytellingasitfeaturesmanycut
scenes,cinematics,player customization (To
an extent) and a ton of triggered events that
happen withinthegame.Even though the
gameemphasizesgameplay with it’s crazy
combo system,theother aspects forthe
storytellingfor thisgamejustseemto work
and don’tseemlikethey areforced therefor
the sakeof it. Each cutscene,triggered event
and cinematicgivesusinformationthatwe
can gain fromwatchingthem;gives us more
of an insightto whatis goingon withinthe
story and charactersexplain stuff to us
players.
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The gamehas a greatbalancebetween itvery intricategameplay and storytellingtechniques thatletus actively
becomeinvolved with what’s goingon.Everythingtheplayer doeswhen controllingthecharacter duringit’s
gameplay,usually isreflected on itcutscenesand cinematicsfor doingX task.
There aren’ttoo many cinematics/cutscenesthatthegamegives us,itgivesjusttherightamountthatwecan
work from.There area fewunnecessarycutscenes butaseach other oneweview,gives us thatinformation or
an answer to somethingwewerequestioningourselves aboutbeforehand.
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Well therearea fewcutscenes thatshowtherelationshipsbetween characters viaconversations includingthe
less importantones,butthesedon’treally affectour storytellingasthey arelesser charactersthatdon’t
contributeto it.
Onepointto makeis thattherereally isn’tmuch character customization to thecharactersother than changing
presetcostumes,their colors and weapons;I wouldliketo haveseen morephysical butminorapparel that
affects dialogueand cutscenes for specificcharactersandrelationshipsbetween characters.Itwould sound like
a greatidea if they did thatand gaveus somepartial info for a character or thestory in a way.
6. Games Design Level 3 Declan Brophy 09/02/2017
Wider Trends
Wecould relateour chosen exampleto other games in theindustry thatusethepower of the interactivestory
tellingaspectssuch asTheLastof Us which features a ton of cutscenestheplayer encounters.Therealso smallDLC
packs thecharacter can buy fortheir charactersand extramissionpacks;they areusuallynovelty based ones butitis
a markettrend thatthey can makea small amountof money from.
Writing Strategies
There are many differentwriting strategies thatare used amongststory writers and someprefer using other
techniquesoverothers.By knowing whatwehaveavailableto us orwhatwecan use for planninga story,wecan
easily test the waters with oneand see howit feels to us. These writing strategies includethings such as: Pre-writing,
brainstorm,research, storyboard,list,sketch, outlining,freewriting,drafting,revision. Bearin mind onecan use
multipleonesof these atthe sametime or even all of themto improvetheir stories even further; preference plays a
partial rolein thisas you may preferonewriting strategy to anotheras you feel morecomfortableutilizing.
Wider Trends
Developers would seemto bevery relianton thesestoryingwritingstrategies asthey wouldneed to achievea
professional pieceof work thatisof a high standard.
Brainstormingideasseems likea greatway to generateideasanda greatway you can pick/choosedifferentones
you likethemost.I could imaginedevelopersusingthiswhilstdiscussingwhatsortof story/gamethatthey wantto
achievetogether.
By developers usingresearch methods,they can easily makethingsa loteasier for themselvesif they aremakinga
historical gamelets say.They can tailortheresearch fromwhatthey havefound and useitasa pointof historical
accuracy or inspiration.
Usingstoryboardsfromsketchesisa greatway to showhowyou wantyour story to beitworks asa visual aid for
somerather than itbeingjustideasbeinggenerated on paper with words.Developers usethistechniquequitea lot
in the games industry andeven in thefilmsindustryasitsgreatway to convey one’s ideas.
This is a storyboard example that was cut from the game DJ Hero 2 but as you can see, its conveying an idea
that could be potentially used within the game and even though it was cut from the game, it’s showing us that
this idea is a popular way to convey ideas, especially to others within a development team.
7. Games Design Level 3 Declan Brophy 09/02/2017
Representation
In terms of representation,we cover thingssuch as genderdifferences and howthey areused and stereotypes that
oursociety/world are used to seeing/knowing about. Characterization is also a very powerful thing thatcan beused
aswe can knowhowa character is and perceived by others in gameorby the players.Even emotions in gamecan
giveusan inclineon howcharacters’ act which shows their true personality;this is different fromemotional themes
asa themeis a gamethatis quitecentric around thatonesortof emotion.
Game/Character –LaraCroft (Tomb Raider Series)
Lara Croft in theTomb Raider serieshad been a sexual-
looking,powerful femaleicon thattheindustryhad never
reallyseen beforebutover timewith thereleasesof newer
games comingoutin theseries,shehasbeen less“Sexualized”
and is beingrecognized morefor her powerful,strong
character shegivesoff insteadof rememberingher for how
shewas dressed;sheisseen inthenewer adaptationsof the
gamewearingpantsanda vesttop. Itshows thateven main
characterswithingamesdon’thaveto beshown and beseen
in a sexual light,butinstead they bemoreintellectual,
powerful charactersthatteach usthislesson;
“oversexualizing”femalecharactersisan ongoingissuesfor
some,mainly feminists assomeareoffended by it.
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Now with this gamecharacter beingchanged in somany waysphysically andtheway shedresses,itwas abig
pivotal changefor themand had successfully payed off.Theway sheis characterized inthenewgames surelyis
a thingthatI would prefer instead.
The thingthatis good to noteis thefactthatsheisthemain character of thegameand isn’ta man.Men are
perceived as beingpowerful and strongcharactersin gamebutthefactthatthey haveused a woman instead,
changes thewholeplayingfield.;somegames in theindustry giveyou theoption to play asa women/man to
add your own touch such asMassEffectSeries.andtheElder ScrollsSeries.
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Genders within video gamesshouldbedonein an equal and fairmanner,wecan’tjustassumethatif the main
character isa woman that,sheisa powerful one.Westill need a balanceof sortsfor genderswithin games.
Becauseitisa woman weplay as,doesn’tmean weshouldexactlyputthemin a spotlightfor thembeinga
woman,itwouldn’thavethesameaffectif itwerea malecharacter.
Lara is a slimcharacter andsomeother games intheindustryusually maketheir femalecharactersquiteslime
which iswhathasbeen doneherebutyou don’treally haveto do thisasZaryafromOverwatch, isa muscular
femalecharacter;notall charactershaveto beslimand can beof any build. Thiscould bedisputed assome
character’s body buildareusually a reflection of their character role;thegeneralized slimfigureisseen a lot
though.
Wider Trends
The slimfigureof woman isseen a lotthroughouttheindustry with characterssuch asJill Valentine,Ada Wongand
Zelda;they all seemto usethesamebody staturethatbecomes very genericwhichisalso thecasefor LaraCroft as
well. You could saythatbecausetheLara’s statureisquiteslim,thatitisfollowinga markettrend as other gamesin
the industryareusingthesamebody build.Yetagain,thispointcould bedisputed.