In this course, you will examine how storytelling acts as a vital mechanism for driving video gameplay forward. Looking at several historical and contemporary games, you will be asked to evaluate and interpret different story styles with the goal of identifying themes and procedures for your own game ideas. We'll examine traditional narrative story processes, such as three-act structure, and how they fit into game story flows and the strategic elements of gameplay. Ultimately, you will learn how to define character, setting, and structure to create a compelling game concept.
Story Ideation Techniques
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From the course by California Institute of the Arts
Story and Narrative Development for Video Games
602 оценки
California Institute of the Arts
602 оценки
Course 2 of 5 in the Specialization Game Design: Art and Concepts
From the lesson
Week 3: Story Workshop
This week, we explore ideation techniques and learn how to consolidate our ideas into more formalized stories specifically for pushing them towards a game design. We will take a look at the importance of, and ways to refine, characters and settings as we develop an initial concept in story form first, and then next week, into a game.
Meet the Instructors
Dariush DerakhshaniFaculty, Character Animation
School of Film/Video
Okay, so, you really have to find yourself at a certain point, where you've already
made some decisions that are important about the game you wanna make,
before you start fitting a story to it.
For example, settling on the type, or genre of game,
it's gonna help dictate what, and how your story's gonna fit.
Are you planning a skills based arcade game like Angry Birds where you're
flicking things around, or are you planning a role playing
adventure game like Fallout with these characters that players have to become?
Do you know where and when your games gonna be set?
Are you in space in the future or
are you in some cartoon world where there's no sense of time.
Get to know these little things, and when you have a pretty good idea of the type
and setting of your game, when you've got this kernel of a game, as I like
to call it, the work on hammering out your story behind that game can start.
So, for me, storylines stem from characters, and
the situations you put them in.
I want you to start with a goal for the hero of your game, and
write it down at the top of a piece of paper.
For now, and really just for now, we'll call this the spine of our game story,
the warrior princes must find a magic scepter.
Then, begin by defining a number of answers to
why this goal has to be achieved.
The scepter was her father's, and without it, the king will lose his power.
Push that definition further by asking what else is gonna happen?
What else and why?
The power of the king comes from the scepter, and
the person who holds it rules the land.
You, basically, you wanna sound like a four year old,
constantly asking Daddy, why?
Daddy, why?
Daddy, why?
Pretty much about anything, with each line of that sheet,
until you're at the bottom of the paper.
Now, and this is really important, don't edit anything.
Don't erase anything.
Don't delete.
Just let your mind wander around that question of,
why is this goal so important?
Now I guarantee, from that list of answers,
I'm sure you're gonna hit some real gems that are gonna be useful for your story.
Now, start with another sheet of paper.
At the top of that sheet, write down in one sentence how the hero of the story
feels about the quest, and why they're the one for that mission.
The warrior princess, she feels honor bound to save her kingdom.
Again, ask why, and move down that list.
She craves her father's love and respect.
She wants to exact revenge on the magician who stole the scepter.
I guarantee, again, every now and then you're gonna hit on some of these
answers that are gonna resonate with you, when it's time to review that sheet.
For example, for this made up warrior princess game we've been talking about,
as I was scribbling out these ideas and prepping for this course, a line I
scribbled read, she feels guilty that she let the scepter fall into the wrong hands.
When I reviewed that sheet, it struck me pretty hard, and I let my brain really
start molding who the princess was, around that idea, and what made her tick.
It showed me that she has weaknesses that we can use in the process of the story.
The more of these scribbles that you allow yourself to put out,
the more fuel you're gonna have to flesh out your story.
Just promise yourself don't
go back to reread your sheets until your done with this part of the process.
Don't allow yourself to edit what you're writing,
as you're writing, just get to the bottom of that sheet.
80% of the stuff you write, not gonna do much for you.
But it's the 15% that we'll pluck out later,
as we review, that's gonna be really useful.
Let's a start a third sheet.
At the top of that, write down the goal of the antagonist.
What makes him or her stand in the way of the hero?
And fill that sheet with answers to why they oppose the hero.
Some of these,
they're gonna give you great ideas to flesh out the villain of your game.
Now, we're gonna go with a fourth sheet of paper.
On this one, write down a single line describing
different aspects of where the game takes place, and work your way down the sheet.
Now you already have an idea of where and when your game takes place,
from that little kernel that we came up with, at the start of this process.
It's time to flush that kernel out a little bit more, and scribble
out thoughts that will, eventually, will become descriptors for your locations.
We came up with stuff like, the princess's kingdom, it's lush and
green and beautiful.
The scepter's power helps keep the land fresh, and in beautiful weather, and
the rivers flowing.
Neighboring lands around our kingdom are arid, stark, and dry.
Get that page going.
Don't judge what you're writing.
When you start liking some of these scribbles,
when you do review, they're gonna help you design your world.
Now, we're gonna move on to taking these lines, and
weave them together into a tapestry, that's gonna become your backdrop.
We've got four sheets.
We've got idea sheets for the quests in your game.
We've got a sheet for the character for the hero.
And we've got a sheet for the villain of the hero, as well as, a fourth sheet for
the setting that it all takes place in.
Each of these sheets are gonna have about 24 to 30 different ideas on them.
Now, starting with that first sheet, the goals ideas sheet,
pick about six to ten of these lines, about why the hero's goal is so important.
And start finding ways to write out paragraphs that connect
those lines together.
That way you expand the goals sheet into a new piece of paper,
in paragraph form, that interconnect those scribbles.
That's gonna flush out your storyline's goal, and
make it a much richer story for your game.
Once you're done with that, you're gonna do the same with the other idea sheets.
For the protagonist, the antagonist, and the setting of your game.
This is the perfect time to develop that emotional relationship between
the hero and the villain, and why there's that conflict between them.
You should have about four sheets of paper,
at this point, that are about half a page or more each,
that begin to tell a storyline based on that kernel that we started out with.
Not all of this history that you've written out
needs to be exposed in the game.
But all of this information is gonna help build strong descriptions for
you for everything in your game, just like we talked about in the previous suites.
Take all of that together, and figure out, what's the story's developed spine?
Our original spine, the warrior princess must find the magic scepter,
that doesn't hold up now, does it?
Not after all that work.
If you haven't found a new developed spine,
with all that work that you're doing, then there's just something missing, and
you should really start again and do new sheets.
Most likely,
though, you'll probably be saying your spine is much more developed now.
Ours is gonna say something like, betrayed and alone,
a warrior princess must redeem herself, and prove herself worthy of her father,
the King by returning a magic scepter to her kingdom, and vanquishing
the evil magic from the barren lands that surround and threaten her world.
Now that sounds like a more solid story spine to me.
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