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/lit/ - Literature


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18101816 No.18101816[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

I'm from /agdg/ so I'm looking some discusion on storytelling and game design.

How would you design a proper story for a videogame, not copying other mediums like film/literature/anime but instead using the strenght of videogames into a well made story that also happens to be unique to the medium.

So far, I see videogame stories should be non linear, that's the advantage of videogames over other mediums that makes videogame stories unique.

Also, the story should be told in independant storytelling units (scenes) where each scene has some triggers (like a character being killed or not) that eventually unlocks/locks other story units, in a similar fashion to a RTS tech tree.

So far that's like my idea of how a videogame story could be written without falling into the infinite branching retardation.

Seems an smarter way, besides if we simply "insinuate" the story scenes with background and enviromental storytelling, could create a deeper "videogamey" story.
Horror games seems to do just enviroment storytelling fine.

>> No.18101829

>>18101816
>/agdg/
What even is that?

>> No.18101834

>>18101829
/vg/ general of amateur game development.

>> No.18102019

Most video games I know work like movies and stuff. Sometimes you can choose whether you want to go left or right. But that also happens in choose your own adventure books. I don't think video games can tell stories that you couldn't tell with a movie, honestly.

>> No.18102024

>>18102019
linear stories don't suit properly games, is a hack solution at best.

>> No.18102039

>>18102024
speak english, retard

>> No.18102046

>>18102039
Linear stories == garbage form of storytelling for games.

>> No.18102252

I think all the narrative artforms share a lot of resources in common, and that's what makes them work. In fact, one of the main things people would do during their formative period was precisely to adapt old stories traditionally told through a different medium, giving it a new spin that makes better use of the new art's individual tools, but maintaining the basic beats and elements of the story.

That's because those elements tend to be pretty universal, and if you focus too much on what makes each artform different and unique you're going to basically rob yourself of some of the most effective, time-tested devices for storytelling.

>> No.18102768

The player doesn't need to control an avatar for their to be a good story.
The player could just be managing the characters in the story, like Sim City. In Sim City, the player is mostly just the player, not Mario or Chell or whatever. I'm thinking of the indie flash games Today I Die or I Wish I Were the Moon. RIP Flash.

>> No.18102786

>>18102768
Here's a playthrough of Today I Die if you don't want to figure out how to play a flash game after flash's death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLJocwrCdYw

Actually, I Wish I Were the Moon might be a better example since in Today I Die you're arguably the woman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95UGOs1TVdY

>> No.18102807

I suppose it depends on the game. Both RDR2 and the Elder Scrolls V rely on the basic 3 part story structure as well as world building and ambience but one really relies on the characters while the other relies on lore. Personally, I feel that the clincher for all visual media whether it’s video games, anime, whatever are most appreciated in the sort of vibe they give off. There are video games and anime which story-wise we’re not that good but because the story was able to fix a confluence of sound, visuals, mood, and other things, I still remember it fondly a decade later.

>> No.18102812

Just tell a real story, then put your protag into software and go from there. Keep the story consistent with little side quests. Most story driven games are rpgs.
Heavy Rain is a good choose your adventure game though. (Or hard rain I don't remember atm).
Worldbuilding takes experience. Just jump in and put the pen to paper.

>> No.18102830

>>18102807
I should add that anime and Japanese games are a little bit different since they don’t actually use a 3-part story structure but opt for a 4-part story structure instead. The basic skeleton is the same, introduction, conflict, resolution but they add a part between introduction and conflict which is something like expansion that builds on the introduction and prepares for the conflict and, in fact, can be a series of mini-conflicts.

>> No.18103942
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18103942

>>18101816
>>18101829
>>18101834
>>18102019
>>18102024
>>18102039
>>18102046
>>18102252
>>18102768
>>18102786
>>18102807
>>18102812
>>18102830

>> No.18103971
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18103971

>>18101829
It's everything wrong with modern society. The worst part being is that it started out great but slowly devolved because of greed and pandering.

>> No.18104127

yeah my main idea for a game story was one that was nonlinear. It would have certain sections that could fit together multiple ways, so that each player experiences things differently. It would have a main storyline as well as more stylized "world building" segments that portray the darker underbelly of the town they live in, and these could be viewed out of order

>> No.18104836

Emergent stories through emergent gameplay. NPCs with complex routines and a wealth of reactions. A world that changes without player input. Pair it with a Groundhog Day like concept in a small but highly detailed setting and you got your game. Games that come to mind: Outer Wilds, Majoras Mask. But these have highly scripted, mostly linear NPC interactions. There would need to be a Euphoria-like system for NPC reactions and utterances allowing for many ripple effects. Maybe an MMO can one day provide what I'm thinking of - have permadeath but let players control whole genealogies with learning NPCs.

>> No.18104876

Plan fun mechanics then conceive a fitting story. The goal of a game is to be fun. I don't understand why you'd make a game if you only want to tell a story, just write a goddamn book or a movie then. People should be able to play your game after the ending and still have fun.

If you're an indie dev, you're probably making another survival game with shitty inventory mechanics, how fucking original is that.

>> No.18105649

>>18104876
>Plan fun mechanics then conceive a fitting story. The goal of a game is to be fun. I don't understand why you'd make a game if you only want to tell a story, just write a goddamn book or a movie then.
These are not the only options. It is certainly possible that one may want to combine gameplay and storytelling, in which case neither goes first.

>> No.18105649,2 [INTERNAL] 

>>18105649,1
the rating of what