What Every Game Developer Needs to Know About Story

In an article I read, Southerland argues that:- The real substance of a story is conflict. This is one of the readings I did on story.

Story is a hot item in games, this is due to the quiality bar is rising in the relatively young art. A good way of approaching story for a game involves looking at what has worked for other story forms, and see what is unique to the new story form of games.

Most problems for games spring from the following: Story is dialog. Story doesn't matter. But it does. The most important thing to remember is: Story is CONFLICT. The dope deal in GTA: Vice City - 'inciting incident' - causes the protagonist's world to be thrown out of order.

Robert McKee wrote a book called Story, which was mentioned as an example of the article I read that is a book that has conflict. Conflict is a part of the structure - it needs to be planned out from the beginning of the development process for it to make sense and actually mean something to keep people interested.

The Three Gaps
The Three Gaps is an example of how conflict with story is spread out. I am going to use the original Star Wars Triliogy as a example to expand on this point.

-The First Gap: A gap opens up between the hero and an ordinary life. In the first Stars Wars film, Luke is learns that his father was a jedi and that he wants to follow in his fathers footsteps and then starts his journey to bring balance.

-The Second Gap: The protaganist learns something they didn't know before, the world is in whack again. Liuke learns that Darth Vader is actually his father, Anakin Skywalker.

- The Third Gap: After overcoming the second gap, the protaganist takes the biggest gamble to get the object they desire. After excepting Darth Vader is his father, Luke wants to save his father from the evil that has consumed within him.

Alot of people seem to think that things such as what the character likes, eats and all that is whta makes the character - that's just characterization. The character is defined by the actions he does throughout the story.

Reversal
* When the hero accomplishes the ordeal before them, the reversal that occurs stops them from going forward.

* Reversals can happen through actions (like shooting a cops partner) or maybe through a revelation - when Luke Skywalker finds out that Darth Vader is his father. Revelation's are more powerful.

* A good reversal is when everything you know ia true, but there's more and the world is flipped on it's head with this new knowledge.

Other types of conflict:-
- Internal Conflict - which is goes on in your head. This happens usually in novels

- Interpersonal Conflict - which consists bewteen people. Usually seen most naturally in plays, and/or soap operas.

- External Conflict - conflict in society in general or the physical world. This kind of conflict naturally happens in games and film.

All of these are expressed in different levels of visual and auditory storytelling.

Empathy - when you understand the feelings of another. Alot of people may not like chartacters but it doesn't mean that the player, or the audience can't relate to them. This means that for the first time, the viewer is the protaganist.