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Writer

Writer's are very involved with the different job roles that are part of making a game. They talk to each department about all of the development of the game as the writer has a lot of control of the main idea of the game (due to them creating the story, location, and the characters which are involved with the game).

A few things to remember when working as a Writer

  • read a lot of books and online websites that will help you gain more knowledge and inspiration for writing

  • ask questions

  • interact with the other developers and target audience

  • research ideas that may help inspire you

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Want to ground the player and make the game more understandable. make sure that the game is adaptable for different types of gamers such as casual gamers and hardcore gamers. 

 

GDC (game developers conference) - game developers meet, discuss, and educate each other about their ideas. many of them put up either videos of audio of their meetings so that others can know about their games.

Branching Narratives

Limited - selective with a series of yes/no or black/white objectives in a game and the outcome/choices that the player chooses will branch out to the most appropriate thread. 

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Open-Ended - player is able to freely travel through the world and have the ability to choose where and when to visit particular places in the game. this includes 'sandbox' which gives players the freedom to interact and modify with the world however they want.

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Funneling Narrative (Chokepoints) - this is fairly common because you have a controllable and definable way to set the player back on the narrative arc of the game. You also give the player more freedom to explore and you can determine when and where you will allow the story progression to take place.

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For example, you can allow the players to explore the environment and multiple story threads, but the player will not be able to progress further into the game until the player goes to the checkpoint e.g a bartender in town. The bartender becomes a game play and a story chokepoint which allows the player further game play.

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Chokepoints in this type of structure tend to be the story set pieces for the game.

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Critical Paths - this structure has one success path which allows the player to deviate from it in a very small way. However, nothing of consequence that happen in the game or story happens outside of the predetermined path that winds its way through the experience.

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Nodal Storytelling - this tells stories of the location and/or the objective dependent. Each node is a self-contained piece with a setup, midpoint, and payoff. Each of these story nodes may lead to a larger reveal or it may lead to something that the player may like to see on the journey throughout the game.

 

Usually, the story structure doesn't function as a traditional branch (and it may/may not be considered valid), but since moving from node to node of a story it is often dependent of a previous element of a story. 

 

nodal structure can be considered as a pseudo-branch.

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Linear - opposite of open-ended and these types of games use scripted events, cut scenes, and restricted paths to control the story so that players can see how the writer wanted the story to be.

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Non-Linear - story starts with a flashback or at the end and the rest of the game consists of present events leading to that final event which was shown at the start. the beginning, middle, and end are not in an expected order.

Conclusion

I think that knowing this information is very helpful as I now know the best techniques to use when branching narratives and I have also learned I have found useful tips for when I am coming up with a story idea as well as tips for presenting my ideas to other people. 

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The storyline is very different to anything I have seen before. there is a rewind option where you can rewind in time for 15-20 seconds and change your choices that you make which can then change your gameplay and the way you interact with your surroundings. I haven't ever played a game in which you ave this ability that can change a gameplay experience as much as it does on 'life is strange'.

harvard referencing

'NARRATIVE FLOW AND FLOW CHARTS STORYBOARDS'

Blair, I. (2016). NARRATIVE FLOW AND FLOW CHARTS STORYBOARDS. LINEAR Linear – The game story starts and the player will be confronted with a predetermined series of challenges. - ppt download. [online] Slideplayer.com. Available at: https://slideplayer.com/slide/10422111/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].

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'Linear Gameplay'

Giant Bomb. (2018). Linear Gameplay. [online] Available at: https://www.giantbomb.com/linear-gameplay/3015-383/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].

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'Open World'

Giant Bomb. (2018). Open World. [online] Available at: https://www.giantbomb.com/open-world/3015-207/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].

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'Sandbox'

Giant Bomb. (2018). Sandbox. [online] Available at: https://www.giantbomb.com/sandbox/3015-453/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].

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(the author/publisher is unknown)

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'Nonlinear Narrative in Games: Theory and Practice'

Gamecareerguide.com. (2018). Nonlinear Narrative in Games: Theory and Practice. [online] Available at: https://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/882/nonlinear_narrative_in_games_.php?print=1 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].

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'Nonlinear gameplay'

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Nonlinear gameplay. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_gameplay [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].

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'Designing Branching Narrative'

Nelson, P. (2019). Designing Branching Narrative. [online] The Story Element. Available at: https://thestoryelement.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/designing-branching-narrative/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].

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'On Non-Linearity and Multiple Endings'

The Ludosphere. (2019). On Non-Linearity and Multiple Endings. [online] Available at: https://altugi.wordpress.com/articles/on-non-linearity-and-multiple-endings/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].

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'How do I structure branching-narrative choice prompts for limited 3rd-person?'

Writing Stack Exchange. (2019). How do I structure branching-narrative choice prompts for limited 3rd-person?. [online] Available at: https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/36847/how-do-i-structure-branching-narrative-choice-prompts-for-limited-3rd-person [Accessed 28 Jan. 2019].

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