Narrative In Gaming

The sequence that events happen to a player in a game is the Narrative, which is closely linked with the Story and plot.Due to low computer memory many early games could be said to not really have a narrative or story and so used what Wolf (2003) refers to as "Extradiegetic Narration". Extradiegetic Narration is where some of the games narration (or perhaps character back history) comes from outside of the gameplay. This could include; looping story demos, it could be based on a familier film or book, even simply written on the games case. As computers and consoles have become more powerful, this form of Narrative has become less necessary. With more powerful computers though, Grodal (2003) states that "the interactive capability also raises a series of new problems that were absent in the earlier media". Torben is refering to the discussions on Interactivity vs Narrative. Narrative or story progression in earlier media forms is solely in the hands of the writer or director. In games, the interactivity means that a partial amount of the story progression is controlled by the player through their actions (or lack of). Two groups have been discussing how much Narrative should impact on a games design; Narratologists and Ludologists.

Narratologists state that the whole game should be made of narrative pieces and everything should be in relation to the story. Ludologists state the game should concentrate on the gameplay aspects (the player interaction) and the narrative should be kept to the non-gameplay aspects. This means items such as Cut-scenes but as Crawford (2003) points out "Integrated cut scenes don't solve the problem of interactive story-telling, because they do nothing to make the story interactive." and "The story and the game remain isolated from each other".

Wolf (2003) tells us two ways that some game designers have tried to add Interactive storytelling to their games to differing success. The first is by making the game have just one linear narrative which is within larger story. As the player plays through the main game story they can interact with characters or events which give information etc which are in relation to the larger story but do not actually effect the main game story. This could be things such as further background story information or extra information about the world. Interaction with these characters or events might help further the players understanding but isn't truly really interactive storytelling as the player still can not affect the story's narrative. The second way is through branching storylines. In a game with branching storylines, the designers will have added sections where choices can be made which will send the players down differing story routes. These routes mean that if the game is played again the player could experience a different storyline if they make different choices. Sometimes these different story routes would lead to a different game ending but it is not entirely necessary as the routes can merge back together at a later point.

Further Narrative types in games are explained by Jenkins (2004), who discusses four types of Environmental Storytelling.
The first, Evocotive Spaces, is similar to Wolf's Extradiegetic Narration in that the game world is based on something already known and familiar to the players. The story is not copied from the original but must stay withing the rules of the original. The next, Enacting Stories, relies on the geographical movement of the player around the gameworld. This usually creates spacial stories which have what Jenkins calls Micronarritives, which each provide a small bit of plot progression.
Embedded Narratives is the third type and here some of the narrative information is given or discovered by the player during their progression through the game. The last is Emergent Narratives which deals with games where the programming and the space the game is set in allow for "player generated narratives".

Bibliography

M.Wolf "Narritive in the Video Game" in M.Wolf (ed) The Medium of the Video Game (University of Texas Press: Austin, 2003) p93-111

T.Grodal "Stories for Eye, Ear and Muscles" in M.Wolf & B.Perron (eds) The Video Game Theory Reader (Routledge: New York, 2003) p129-155

C.Crawford, Chris Crawford on Game Design (New Riders Publishing: Indiana, 2003)

H.Jenkins "Game Design as Narrative Architecture" in N.Wadrip-Fruin & P.Harrigan (eds) First Person : New Media as Story, Performance and Game (MIT Press: Cambridge, 2004) p123-129

Narrative - Enacting Stories

Narrative

Jenkins (2004) argues that there are 4 types of environmental storytelling; Evocative Spaces, Enacting Stories, Embedded Narratives and Emergent Narratives. In our Group Project Design Groups, we have individually looked at one of these types each and completed the following tasks:

1. Summarise the main argument that Jenkins is making in relation to the category.
2. Bullet point out what you regard as the important elements within the category.
3. Briefly add your own examples from your own playing experience.
4. Consider the extent to which the game you are producing will be / or could be influenced by consideration of this narrative category.
5. Report back your findings to the group.

I read the extract from Jenkins ‘Game Design as Narrative Architecture’ on Enacting Stories and here are my results:

Enacting Stories

Summary

Games are more often Spatial Stories which have smaller goals etc within the overall story. These smaller goals (micro-narratives) would have some sort of memorable moment, be it a cut-scene, a gameplay experience such as high action and would produce an emotional impact / experience which helps the overall story experience.


Bullet Points of important elements:

• Two levels of narrative:
• broadly defined (overall story).
• localized (levels).
• Spatial stories:
• Episodic and sometimes can be re-ordered without massively impacting the overall story as each individual ‘episode’ only offers a small part of the overall story.
• Story progression:
• Is by player movement / exploration rather than simply plot progression.
• Environmental Storytelling – plot is influenced by players interaction with the game world.
• Micronarratives:
• Memorable moments / emotional impact / emotional experience (connected to the overall story).
• Plot vs. Freedom:
  
• Conflict of allowing enough player freedom while still keeping the plot going.

Gaming Examples

Final Fantasy X-2:

Players have the freedom to visit all the known game locations, interacting with NPC’s and the game world. Certain locations will advance the story by opening further quests / missions / imparting information etc. They don’t have to be done in a specific order and some can be ignored altogether.

Most locations will have a Mission of some sorts there which will either advance the story, provide the player with some reward (item), or provide other information such as a bit of background story. There will usually be a challenge and these separate missions are micronarratives and have 'memorable moments' (eg.: fighting a huge boss - see picture, finding a powerful item, plot cut-scene, etc).

- Spatial Stories and Narrative influenced by player & game world interaction.

Project Considerations

The game design of our group (Absent Logic) already has some of the ideas of Enacting Stories. There is an overall story and then there are smaller puzzles for the player to solve to advance the story (micronarratives). At present though, our game idea is fairly linear. One puzzle completion leads directly on to the next advancing the story.

We could amend this so that certain parts of the story have an optional choice of which areas / puzzles to do in which order, before having to go on to the main story progression puzzle. This will give the player an amount of freedom and will make parts of the game story Spatial and a help in the Freedom vs. Plot area as well.

Bibliography

H.Jenkins (2004) Game Design as Narrative Architecture in N, Wadrip-Fruin & P, Harrigan (eds) First Person : New media as Story, Performance and Game MIT Press, Cambridge p124-126