Narrative / Simulation

Narrative / Simulation Robin Burke GAM 224

Outline • Quiz • Admin • Schedule change • Narrative • Simulation (?)

Quiz • 30 minutes

Admin • Starting "Culture" unit • Topic for 11/9 • now "The Game Industry" • on-line reading • "Death to the Game Industry: Long Live Games"

Narrative Play • Narrative is a basic form of human experience • any event can be turned into a narrative • fundamental mental representation • Any game-playing experience can be turned into a story • emergent narrative • The game may also include crafted narrative elements • embedded narrative

Dramatic structure • Emergent narrative is a function of dramatic structure • how does the player experience change over time? • Fundamental idea • tension-release • Constant tension • exhausting • overwhelming

Dramatic structure in Asteroids • Start • assessment, slow-moving menace • Response • planful response • selective destruction • Mid-point • intensely reactive • chaotic • "pebble storm" • saucers • End-game • skillful and focused • chasing • more saucers • Pause before next wave • Cycle is short • several minutes at most

Dramatic structure in Wind Waker • Start • bucolic island scene • Complication • sister kidnapped • Preparation • travel • item acquisition • mission cut-scene • Intensification • navigating dungeon • Confrontation • boss encounter • Relaxation • mission completion • cut-scene • Back to "Preparation" • Cycle much longer • 60 minutes+

Interactive storytelling • Early theorists thought of games as a new narrative form • "interactive storytelling" • According to this theory, the player • would become a character • would interact with the virtual world of the author • would generate a unique personal story • "ergodic literature"

The problem • A story is a communicative act • authoring a story means having something to say • making form, content and structure work together to convey it • the more elaborate the form the more expressive potential • But the audience does not alter the form, content or structure • might alter details of performance • some experiments but none really successful

Games and stories • To make a game story-like • we have to prevent the player from changing its form, content or structure • guarantees the designed payoff • but gives the player nothing to do • To make a story game-like • we have to allow its content to be generated by the user's choices • which means the author is no longer free to tell his/her story • user might miss expensive game content

Various compromises • Abstraction • no need for story • emotional impact is lacking • Story as normative action • player must learn correct sequence of actions to follow the correct story • constraining

The standard compromise • The "string of pearls" story • A segmented story • A main character (the player) • A number of pre-defined narrative events • A pre-determined conclusion • In between narrative "pearls" • game actions • ideally actions and narrative are coherent • In some cases • multiple possible conclusions • multiple characters to play

Why is this the standard?

Games ≠ Stories • But most games will have a narrative component • What is this story? • What is the mechanism by which the story is told? • What is the relationship between the game's action and its narrative element? • How do the "pearls" relate to "string"? • Does the story work?

Benefits of game narrative • Adds drama to the player's actions • "If I don't get there in time, the world will be destroyed" • Lends weight to the player's choices • "I better decide carefully. I don't want the Vizier to kill the princess." • Provides a rationale behind the structure of the game world • "That's why the world is full of nasty aliens" • Helps the user understand what to do and how to do it • "Because I'm made of paper, I can turn into a paper airplane."

Maxims of game narrative • Being shown is better than being told • let the environment / setting tell the story • Doing is better than being shown • let the dynamics of the world reveal important facts

Utility of Cutscenes • Surveillance • shows the player what is ahead • Catapult • thrusts the player into a new situation • Mood • establish the emotional or narrative significance of a location • Consequences • vivid depiction of outcomes • Rhythm • break in the action • Reward • a treat only available through success

Example • Kingdom Hearts

Narrative Systems • Backstory • what is the larger "world" and context? • Player's role • who is the player's character? • Player's goals • what are the player's goals? • how are those goal coherent? • Narrative space • what is the "physical" space in which the story unfolds? • Mechanics • how do the core mechanics of the game tie into the narrative?

Character • Any game will have at least one character • the player • Sometimes the player will be represented on the screen • the avatar • Often there will be other characters as well • non-player characters • A multiplayer game will have avatars for other players

Character design • Characters are very powerful • a good character is worth $$$ • Bugs Bunny • Lara Croft • But the more simple the character • the more the player can bring to it • Many game characters have no personality • Mario • Master Chief • "Kid" (GTA III)

Character design 2 • Character is a unity • appearance • voice • behavior • animations • actions • reactions of others • Generating believable characters is an art

Character design 3 • Multiple characters • often a game needs many characters • How to distinguish between them? • How to distinguish between different classes of enemy? • If there are distinctions the user needs to make (friend vs foe) • the game must provide the information necessary to do so

Character customizability • Ability to give the avatar a custom appearance • Crucial for on-line multi-player • How important in other contexts? • Custom details can be symbols of game achievements

Plot • Game plots are almost always very simple • rescue the princess • battle the monsters • save the universe from the evil mastermind • rule the world • Common plot elements • betrayal • approval of older mentor • magical aid • acquisition of magic and strength

Hero tales • Hero tales are often • tales of heroism • simple in structure • involve magical aid • involve betrayal • lack detailed characterization • can be retold • Examples • Theseus and the Minotaur • Aladdin and the Lamp • The Goose-Girl

Psychology of the hero tale • Coming of age • The hero tale represents the transition from a youthful inward-focused perspective to a mature engagement with the world. • Recognition of evil • Mature engagement with the world requires the recognition of evil and the resolve to confront it. • Interdependence • The hero needs the help and (sometimes) the approval of others. • Archetypal characters • The characters are drawn from a standard set of archetypes. • "The Misfit" • The transition from being different/outcast to being part of society.

Psychology, cont'd • What is the psychological function of the hero myth? • Template for the issues of maturation • A way to externalize difficult emotional issues • tension between comfort/safety of home and excitement/danger of the world • tension between growing physical and intellectual capacities and practical powerlessness.

Consequences • Hero tale plots • have most intense appeal to adolescents and children • also, good fit with technological limitations • Adults • (theoretically) have tolerance for more complex plots • but complex plots difficult to create • Also • plot is only one component of the game • game needs to be engaging for other reasons

Simulation • Games simulate real-world activities • sports games • racing games • Central idea • mapping between the game and the real-world activity

Simulation II • Games also simulate fantasy and fictional activities • any RPG • most FPS • Central idea • mapping between the game and...

Mapping • The mapping will be incomplete • the game may leave out inconvenient or boring parts • the game may include improbable situations for gameplay reasons • The mapping will be inexact • the game may exaggerate the physics for effect or gameplay • the game may (will) abstract from physical reality for practical reasons

Basic fact • All physics is simplification • complex multi-body physical simulations are too slow • reality is chaotic • limits to what can be rendered graphically

Example: Halo • What happens when a grenade explodes? • do we simulate the ignition and rapid oxidation of explosives, pressure waves, metal shear and shrapnel trajectories? • do we simulate concussion injuries, soft tissue damage, and bone trauma?

Game physics • Physics = the evolution of the game state • we want the player to feel as though there is a real world in the game • the game state must be complex • its evolution must seem natural • the player's control over it should seem natural

Natural? • Games are profoundly unnatural • Aliens? Psychic powers? Controlling a civilization over centuries? • As in fiction • "willing suspension of disbelief" • natural within the game world context • Game physics • may have nothing to do with Newton's physics

Scripting • When there is a fixed stereotyped response to an action in the game • we say it is "scripted" • As opposed to "simulated"

Example • Designer decides what should happen when a grenade explodes • x amount of damage to all units within certain radius • x/2 damage within a larger radius • leaves a certain "stencil" on the floor or wall • Simplifying the actual physics

Example • Locked door in Zelda • If player ties to go through locked door with key in inventory, the door opens and key is used up • Simplifications • Doors are logical, not physical barriers • Cannot be battered down, blown up, removed from hinges • Locks cannot be picked

Advantages of scripting • Much, much faster • to apply a simple rule than to run a physical simulation • Easy to write, understand and modify

Disadvantages of scripting • Limits player creativity • Players will try things that "should" work • based on extensive physical intuition • Will be disappointed if they don't • Game will need many scripts • predicting their interactions can be difficult • complex debugging problem

Simulation • Will still be a simplification • Represent the quantities of interest • represent the forces that act on them • create physical laws for the game world • evolve the game state according to these laws

Benefits of simulation • More player options • Designer doesn't have to anticipate every way to do something • Physical laws reusable • Do not have script every object • Can build (or buy) generic physics engine

Disadvantages of simulation • Speed • extensive simulation may make the game too slow • Memory • game state may become much larger • Testing • difficult to test all possibilities

Design decision • How much to simulate? • Where player creativity is important • Where realism is important • Where a simple enough model can be built • What level of detail is required? • depends on the constraints of the game • always a computational cost

Example • Script • when player enters room, guards converge and attack • Simulation #1 • when player takes a step, sound is heard over certain radius • if guard is within radius and in room, guard will converge and attack • Simulation #2 • when player takes a step, volume of sound is calculated based on level of stealth, floor material, etc. • sound is propagated through room and attenuated based on room contents • guards receive sound signal and if loud enough to reach attention, they will move in the apparent direction of sound • Simulation #3 • same as #2, but in 3 dimensions, through floors, etc.

The role of simulation • "Immersive fallacy" • the best game is one in which the player feels that they are totally immersed in a simulated world • emphasizes only a certain aspect of the game experience • Counter-examples • More detail is not necessarily better • Katamari Damacy • Need for ironic distance • GTA

Monday • Culture unit • Play paper due

Narrative / Simulation