Game Development Essentials Storytelling

Traditional Storytelling

Hollywood screenwriting community

Traditional Storytelling

◦ Premise - One or two sentences that summarize the game

◦ Backstory - Info that leads up to where the game begins

◦ Synopsis – the setting and actions that take place in the game, the artificial game world

◦ Theme – what the story is really about, the primary goal or obstacle

◦ Setting – the backdrop, the world being explored

Story Elements

More about HOW the story unfolds, than what the story is about

Plot

• Balancing conflict• Shifting focus• Foreshadowing events• Suspension of disbelief• Realism

Game Story Devices

• Interactivity• Non-linearity (story layers/pathing)• Player control• Collaboration• Immersion• Cinematics & cut-scenes• Scripted events

Adaptations

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth

Enter the Matrix

Let the following pictures inspire you tell a story….

Pictures