Josiah Lebowitz Chris Klug

1. Interactive Storytelling for Video GamesChapter 6: Defining Interactive and Player-Driven Storytelling Josiah Lebowitz Chris Klug

2. What makes a story interactive? • There’s a lot of disagreement about what exactly makes an interactive story. Some definitions include nearly everything, others nothing short of Star Trek’s holo-deck. • A truly interactive story allows the player to, in some way, interact with the world and/or characters. • By this definition, pop-up books, backwards text, digital novels, and other overly broad definitions of interactive storytelling don’t apply.

3. What makes a story player-driven? • In a player-driven story, the player’s interactions can affect and change the progression and outcome of the story. • All player-driven stories are interactive. • All interactive stories are not player-driven. • There any many different types of interactive and player-driven stories used in video games. • These storytelling types can best be defined as points on a spectrum.

5. Fully Traditional Stories • The most traditional and classic form of storytelling. • Remains exactly the same no matter how many times it’s watched, read, or played. • Not well suited for video games due to its complete lack of interactivity. • Examples: Harry Potter books, Star Wars movies, the visual novel Higurashi When They Cry

6. Interactive Traditional Stories • Interactive but not player-driven. • The player can interact with the story but cannot significantly change the main plot in any way. • Very popular in video games. • Example Games: FINAL FANTASY XIII, Metal Gear Solid 3, Lunar Silver Star Harmony

7. Multiple-Ending Stories • The simplest type of player-driven story. • Very similar to interactive traditional stories. • The player is allowed to chose between two or more endings. • This choice may be a conscious decision or be made automatically based on the player’s actions during the game. • Example Games: CHRONO TRIGGER, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Bioshock

8. Branching Path Stories • Allow the player to make a series of choices throughout the course of the game. • While some choices only change the story slightly, others can have an enormous impact. • The style was popularized in the Choose Your Own Adventure books. • Example Games: Heavy Rain, Fate/Stay Night, Front Mission 3

9. Open-Ended Stories • Sort of like highly complex branching path stories. • The story’s progression is often determined more by the player’s actions than his response to specific prompts. • The main plot is usually short and simple and the primary focus is on creating an interesting world for the player to explore. • Example Games: Fable II, Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

10. Fully Player-Driven Stories • Gives the player total or near total control of his actions. • There is little if any main plot, though there might be various optional sub-plots. • The “story” is comprised primarily of the player’s actions in the game world. • Example Games: The Sims, Animal Crossing, World of Warcraft

11. Things to Consider • Other than video games, what are some things that you consider to be interactive stories? • List one game you’ve played for every major type of storytelling on the spectrum. (It’s ok if you can’t think of any games with a fully traditional story.) • Why do you think some types of storytelling are used much more often than others? • List several games you’ve played that don’t have any stories. Do you think the addition of stories would significantly improve them? Why or why not?