User blog:Dessertmonkeyjk/Non-intrusive Storytelling

You may be wondering why I'm making a blog post soon after this video was posted on Youtube. I have been pondering on this for awhile on what is the best way to advance plots and do dialouge exchanges in a video game. Video games are an interactive medium unlike anything else that has come before it. For example, out of the player's freewill they can choose to simply... walk away.

Now think about that for a second. There are many situations that walking away could result in a consequence either good or bad. It depends what is going on, when they do it, and how they justify it based upon their morals. In a movie, book, or TV show, you CAN NOT DO THIS. There is only one path a character takes in a linear medium but there are many others that could of been explored.

Now... what choice does the player have in a video game? Let's first focus on how it can be presented.

Cutscenes
This narrative tool known to many are known as cutscenes. These are typically non-interactive representation of plot, dialouge exchange, and action. They seperate gameplay from story in an intrusive way that takes control away from the player and there's no way around it.

Your character acts on their own. The camera acts on its own. The plot acts on its own. The player has no control in any regard.

Quick Time Events are an illusion of control in many cases as well as a way to accomplish temporary tasks that the control scheme isn't programmed to do. All this does is allows the player to do something that they normally wouldn't be able to do. However, the lines tend to blur if the player can shoot things and yet a QTE attempts to have the player to do in a fancy manner dispite the fact the player could of done it during normal gameplay.

Now what if the player can make a critical plot choice DURING normal gameplay? This includes the default game camera & default controls.

The Sheriff and The Bandit
Let's say for example your character, the Sheriff, has been hunting down a Bandit and has finally has him cornered. However, that's what he wants you to think and you have no idea what he has in store for you. What would the player do?

1. They can just sit there and pretend to listen to his monolouge while surveying the room for plan of attack.

2. They can attempt to phych out the bandit and hope he gives up peacefully.

3. They spring the trap and have to work their way out of it and risk losing track of the bandit.

What elements would need to be involved to allow these choices? To observe the enviroment, camera control must be retained by the player. To phych them out, they need to be able to talk to the bandit freely via dialouge choices. To spring the trap, the player must have character control during the exchange. All of this is dynamic and can change in an instant.

Using the game camera makes the player feel that they are actually at risk of making a mistake since they assume it is still gameplay and brings the pressure up. Allowing them to speak makes them feel that they intentionally said it themselves instead of the game doing it for them. Letting them be able to move instantly conveys that they can do whatever they feel like for resolving the situation.

No Quick Time Events (QTE), no fancy camera angles, no losing control.

In Pursuit
We'll use the Sheriff and Bandit example again. Let's say you are in pursuit of the Bandit on horseback but you stand no chance in catching him. You have a local Cowboy helping you out driven by AI and are able to instruct him on what you wish to do.

1. He can tell him to cut him off but risk having him take the Bandit on their own.

2. He decides to shoot the Bandit's horse in the leg without the Coyboy's help.

3. He or the Coyboy chooses to shoot the Bandit without permission.

There are some interesting consequences that can occur from these choices. What if the Bandit had valuable information? Would the Coybow/Sherrif be upset about it if he was shot? Is there a moral conflict in deciding if the Sheriff

And the best part? The player has no idea what their choices actually are and feel like they need to improvise on the spot. They feel like they found the solution. No game popup or dialouge tree suggested what they could do. Only the avaliable mechanics they have been taught.

Possibilities in Application
This has been possible in the early 90s but due to the complex nature of choice there are hardly any games that provide this experience. Not only that, there's also a major divide on HOW these choices are presented, not what they CAN do.

This is my plan of attack for how plot and character development will be done in. However, due to it's semi-linear nature there will be limits. However, I plan to avoid use of cinematic camera angles, suggestive what choices are avaliable (except dialouge), and hardly any use (can't say if there will be none) of QTE's for temporary tasks.