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Re: Cody Miller: No story in my entertainment plea | |
Posted By: Cody Miller | Date: 6/18/12 11:20 a.m. |
In Response To: Re: Cody Miller: No story in my entertainment plea (thebruce0) : So I can understand your position that a 'game' shouldn't have moments of : non-interaction, because it's no longer gameplay. If a game has story, it : has to remain interactive; but it sounds like you believe a story can't be : interactive. But I think what you mean is narrative can't be : interactive, and to me that makes more sense with the state of gaming : these days relying on cinematics to tell the bulk of their stories rather : than through interaction and gameplay. I think story can certainly exist : in a game without explicit narrative. I would MUCH rather have a game communicate its story through cinematics or other non interactive sequences than through scripting or events within the game world. Metal Gear Solid 2 is how to do it. There's tons of codec calls and cutscenes, but all of these can be skipped, so if you just want to play the game, you can just play. What's left is still a challenging, interesting game. But look at Portal 2. It's so awful to have to play this game through again, since so much of the game involves you not solving puzzles, but watching scripted evens that you can't skip. It's maddening. You're walking and watching far more than you are solving puzzles. You can get rid of the story elements and still play MGS2, but you can't get rid of the story elements in Portal 2, so you're really only playing solving puzzles in some cases less than half the time. Deus Ex is the hallmark of player driven video game storytelling, but I'm playing through Human Revolution now and there are scripted walking sequences that can't be skipped. Not a good start there. Level, Cinematic, Level, Cinematic is the best way I have found that developers can include a story in their games and not interfere with the mechanics that much. People complain about that method, but they don't realize it's the best method available for storytelling in games that doesn't ruin the game. I'm not saying story can't be interactive - clearly it can. I'm saying GOOD stories can't be interactive. If I have a story I WANT TO TELL YOU, then I need as much control as possible so I can convey exactly what I want to you. In good screenplays every line of dialogue is meaningful. Every frame has a purpose. In a good novel every word contributes to the work. Storytelling is as much the storyteller as it is the story. I'm sure everyone has been to a party where something memorable happens, and one of your friends recounts it and it is just hilarious, while the other recounts the same event but it's just not quite as interesting. HOW YOU TELL THE STORY IS PERHAPS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE STORY ITSELF, since good storytellers can make seemingly boring stories interesting. You can't be the storyteller if you let your audience decide how it plays out.
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