Storytelling and Games Conference (Stag Conf) - Vienna 2011
the Natural History Museum of Vienna.
A conference about storytelling and games, you say! Held in the Natural History Museum of Vienna! It would seem to fit nicely into the narrative of a game itself. The name was equally evocative: Stag Conf! The day-long event hosted presentations from 7 speakers, all of whom had years of experience in game design and writing (including screenwriting, tabletop RPG supplement writing and games journalism).
The presenters covered an extremly wide range of subjects; from practical tips about enhancing narrative elements in games, to the question of what makes narrative interesting, to considerations of why narrative still seems to be 'finding its way' in games. No less wide-ranging were the formats addressed in the talks; triple-A titles, tabletop RPGs, LARP, augmented reality and text-based browser games.
From the two panel discussions at the end of the day it became clear that the relationship between narrative and gameplay is still evolving. That is not surprising as game development is itself in a very fluid state at the moment. However, I feel that the presenters collectively uncovered some important aspects of the field. Here's my attempt to capture those in a list of take-home points:
- Design to Support Narrative
Every design decision is an opportunity to support game narrative. Choice of weapons can define character, sounds, visuals and animations can set the tone. - Character Conflict
Films and book narratives often depend heavily on character conflict. This is very difficult to do in games because character has less narrative weight there. - Game Narrative = Game Design + Player Choices
This was an equation that kept popping up in one form or another. The story in games is something that is created by the player interacting with the game. - Narrative is Cost Effective
Visual game assets have become so sophisticated and expensive that many games have very similar game-play and ever-shortening play times. A compelling narrative is a cost-effective and creative way to engage players. - Underspecified Story
Game narrative can be thought of as 'underspecified story'. The narrative elements that are included as part of the game design cannot tell the full story that the player experiences; the player and their choices complete the narrative.
- Manage Curiosity
Managing Curiosity is an essential skill in implementing narrative in games. The feeling of needing to know what is around the corner is a very strong motivator, but creating a mystery that a player cares about and resolving it in a way that matters to the player is still very much an art. - Freedom vs. Conflict
Games which have interactive narrative as a core element can be analysed on two scales: 'player freedom' and 'conflict'. Too much or too little of each will probably make for a poor narrative (and game) experience. Interactive narrative games need to find a way to convince players that they should work within the degrees of freedom and conflict that the game imposes on their choices. Tabletop roleplay games have been struggling with this for a couple of decades. - Cake!
Vienna has astounding conference venues, wonderful bars and superlative catering...especially the cakes!
Stagconf 2011 examined elements of game design that might not appear immediatly relevant to some developers at present. This will change if storytelling (re)assumes a core place in game development in the coming years and there are very good reasons to think that will happen. Many thanks to Jurie Horneman, Andy Schmoll and Harald Eckmueller for organising the conference and here's looking forward to next year's.
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