Explain
and use elucidated examples on how interactive story elements are used to help
get the player invested and involved within the game’s story, this should also
include what writing strategies they would of used to create this, do this for
the following areas:
Cinematics (Trailer)
Before games are released, game developers and publishers need to make the game public and raise awareness so that people will know when the game is out so they can buy it. However, if they just included the name of the game and added a date of release then it wouldn't get much attention so they have to come up with strategies and multiple marketing ways to hype the game up so the public can get a see into what the game will look like. One of the ways to market the game is through cinematic trailers, in these trailers they showcase a portion of their game without using gameplay footage. They do this by including main factors that will be included in the main game and twisting them around so they fit into a trailer. The trailers can be different lengths of time each and will showcase something different, but the main purposes that these trailers are supposed to showcase are the hype and story. Below are a few examples.
Dead island
In the dead island cinematic trailer there isn't much that can be found out about the story but it shows enough for the player to gather theories on what the story will be about. It conveys multiple emotions for the watcher to feel and brings this feeling of hype where the player will experience a story filled with harrowing choices and survival. The trailer also showcases an island vacation for its environment, there isn't much more you can gather from this trailer as it creates a mysterious story but it does make the game look like an emotional roller coaster and one that will feel like a proper survival horror (well only this trailer, when the game actually got released it is completely different.)
Uncharted 4
In this Uncharted 4 trailer it recaps everything that the player knows about the protagonist Nathan Drake and also informs new players about his personality. The whole video has a voice over of Drake as he explains how everyone sees him, they all know him as this "two bit thief" that will risk his friendships, relationships and own life just to discover a lost treasure. It is complemented by the visuals of Drake diving for a single gold coin as the world arounds him is surrounded in chaos with soldiers shooting at Drake, the roof and floor collapsing and people dying. Each factor sets up this personality trait that we've all come to expect from Drake but adds a twist towards the ending. The camera pans around to showcase Drake not diving for the treasure but in fact to rescue someone else's life, this sets up the story that will pan out through Uncharted 4 about how Drake is giving up his treasure hunting days to instead rely more on those he cares about.
Before games are released, game developers and publishers need to make the game public and raise awareness so that people will know when the game is out so they can buy it. However, if they just included the name of the game and added a date of release then it wouldn't get much attention so they have to come up with strategies and multiple marketing ways to hype the game up so the public can get a see into what the game will look like. One of the ways to market the game is through cinematic trailers, in these trailers they showcase a portion of their game without using gameplay footage. They do this by including main factors that will be included in the main game and twisting them around so they fit into a trailer. The trailers can be different lengths of time each and will showcase something different, but the main purposes that these trailers are supposed to showcase are the hype and story. Below are a few examples.
Dead island
In the dead island cinematic trailer there isn't much that can be found out about the story but it shows enough for the player to gather theories on what the story will be about. It conveys multiple emotions for the watcher to feel and brings this feeling of hype where the player will experience a story filled with harrowing choices and survival. The trailer also showcases an island vacation for its environment, there isn't much more you can gather from this trailer as it creates a mysterious story but it does make the game look like an emotional roller coaster and one that will feel like a proper survival horror (well only this trailer, when the game actually got released it is completely different.)
Uncharted 4
In this Uncharted 4 trailer it recaps everything that the player knows about the protagonist Nathan Drake and also informs new players about his personality. The whole video has a voice over of Drake as he explains how everyone sees him, they all know him as this "two bit thief" that will risk his friendships, relationships and own life just to discover a lost treasure. It is complemented by the visuals of Drake diving for a single gold coin as the world arounds him is surrounded in chaos with soldiers shooting at Drake, the roof and floor collapsing and people dying. Each factor sets up this personality trait that we've all come to expect from Drake but adds a twist towards the ending. The camera pans around to showcase Drake not diving for the treasure but in fact to rescue someone else's life, this sets up the story that will pan out through Uncharted 4 about how Drake is giving up his treasure hunting days to instead rely more on those he cares about.
Cut scene
Cutscenes are placed into games to allow the player to understand the story, video games will use cutscenes as non playable parts of the game so players can't miss out vital information to the story. Cutscenes are like movies in this fact that you have to watch the scene, they allow the player to take a break and get adjusted to what kind of story they are getting into. Most video games will open with a starting cutscene to set the game up for an objective they have to complete or a force they have to fight, they will also use one at the end to conclude the story. Without cutscenes it would be hard to get across the story that the developers are trying to tell and even though the story can still be told from a gameplay stand point where you can move around, there isn't as much finesse to it.
Devil may cry 3
On this opening cutscene to devil may cry 3 the game sets up how cool the protagonist is, it shows his personality, how he fights and what kind of creatures he will be fighting. It shows the comedy that will be portrayed into the game as well by including some jokes such as the jukebox not working or the creature be dragged along the floor as he holds onto his scythe which is stabbed into Dante. As for Dante's personality he seems like an overly confident and "bad to the bone" type character as he uses his foot to send a telephone flying and catches it, fights while holding onto a slice of pizza and gets stabbed by numerous creatures to slowly walk over to the juke box casually taking the scythes out of his body. This also shows that he isn't a human as a human wouldn't be able to survive and do the things that he did. You can also gather that the story has something to do with Dante's brother as the mysterious man who enters the building talks about his brother to which Dante flips his desk in the air, catches a gun and attempts to point it at the man who has now disappeared.
The last of us
This is a scene from the last of us, this provokes an emotional response for the player as the main characters daughter gets shot. This cutscene is from early on in the game and shows the player that they are going to be brought into an emotional story with real consequences. As you can see it is a sad cut scene and makes the player sympathise with Joel, this one cutscene plays a main factor in the game as this is what causes Joel to shut himself out from people, it makes it hard for him to trust others and when Ellie is introduced you can see how resentful he is to accept this objective surrounding her. But as the game goes on he begins to see Ellie as Sarah and starts to become her father figure causing further consequences in the story and more emotional responses in parts. The major point of this cutscene though is to cause that emotional response of sadness which is hugely contrasted to the devil may cry one action and humour packed one.
Cutscenes are placed into games to allow the player to understand the story, video games will use cutscenes as non playable parts of the game so players can't miss out vital information to the story. Cutscenes are like movies in this fact that you have to watch the scene, they allow the player to take a break and get adjusted to what kind of story they are getting into. Most video games will open with a starting cutscene to set the game up for an objective they have to complete or a force they have to fight, they will also use one at the end to conclude the story. Without cutscenes it would be hard to get across the story that the developers are trying to tell and even though the story can still be told from a gameplay stand point where you can move around, there isn't as much finesse to it.
Devil may cry 3
On this opening cutscene to devil may cry 3 the game sets up how cool the protagonist is, it shows his personality, how he fights and what kind of creatures he will be fighting. It shows the comedy that will be portrayed into the game as well by including some jokes such as the jukebox not working or the creature be dragged along the floor as he holds onto his scythe which is stabbed into Dante. As for Dante's personality he seems like an overly confident and "bad to the bone" type character as he uses his foot to send a telephone flying and catches it, fights while holding onto a slice of pizza and gets stabbed by numerous creatures to slowly walk over to the juke box casually taking the scythes out of his body. This also shows that he isn't a human as a human wouldn't be able to survive and do the things that he did. You can also gather that the story has something to do with Dante's brother as the mysterious man who enters the building talks about his brother to which Dante flips his desk in the air, catches a gun and attempts to point it at the man who has now disappeared.
The last of us
This is a scene from the last of us, this provokes an emotional response for the player as the main characters daughter gets shot. This cutscene is from early on in the game and shows the player that they are going to be brought into an emotional story with real consequences. As you can see it is a sad cut scene and makes the player sympathise with Joel, this one cutscene plays a main factor in the game as this is what causes Joel to shut himself out from people, it makes it hard for him to trust others and when Ellie is introduced you can see how resentful he is to accept this objective surrounding her. But as the game goes on he begins to see Ellie as Sarah and starts to become her father figure causing further consequences in the story and more emotional responses in parts. The major point of this cutscene though is to cause that emotional response of sadness which is hugely contrasted to the devil may cry one action and humour packed one.
Triggered Event
A triggered event in a game is when the player does a certain act which then triggers a response from the game to cause something else to happen. An example of this would be walking into a certain area of the game and a cutscene starting, because the player did the act of walking into this area the game got triggered into playing the cutscene. Another example would be in resident evil, after doing certain objectives in the game then enemies can become spawned in areas where they previously weren't. Now without the previous action or step the game can't complete the second action/step. This is why they are known as triggered events because completing certain acts will trigger them. Even though triggered events are controlled by the player they don't change the story in any possible way, instead they just change an event in the game.
Rayman 3
There are multiple triggered events that happen in this video but the main one that I will examine is towards the end of the video where rayman gets pinned into a room where the floor falls through. To get this part to trigger rayman has to walk into the room and collect the gems, if the player doesn't complete this action then the enemies won't spawn and begin walking down the hallway which won't cause the floor to fall through and a cutscene to begin. Without these events the story of the game would not progress as rayman would get stuck in that area. (the clip I'm talking about happens at 3:35 onwards.)
A triggered event in a game is when the player does a certain act which then triggers a response from the game to cause something else to happen. An example of this would be walking into a certain area of the game and a cutscene starting, because the player did the act of walking into this area the game got triggered into playing the cutscene. Another example would be in resident evil, after doing certain objectives in the game then enemies can become spawned in areas where they previously weren't. Now without the previous action or step the game can't complete the second action/step. This is why they are known as triggered events because completing certain acts will trigger them. Even though triggered events are controlled by the player they don't change the story in any possible way, instead they just change an event in the game.
Rayman 3
There are multiple triggered events that happen in this video but the main one that I will examine is towards the end of the video where rayman gets pinned into a room where the floor falls through. To get this part to trigger rayman has to walk into the room and collect the gems, if the player doesn't complete this action then the enemies won't spawn and begin walking down the hallway which won't cause the floor to fall through and a cutscene to begin. Without these events the story of the game would not progress as rayman would get stuck in that area. (the clip I'm talking about happens at 3:35 onwards.)
Modern Warfare 2
There are two triggered events in this scene which I am going to talk about, the first takes place from 0:10-0:34. In this part the game makes you fight the enemies, if you do not kill the enemies in the area then your team will not progress. If your team does not progress then you can't climb up this wall to finish the mission, this means that to trigger this climbing event you must complete the first event of killing all enemies. The second event happens at 0:45 and onwards, as the Roach (cool name for a soldier) goes to jump he will always be greeted by this small cutscene of falling off the rooftop and getting knocked out, no matter how far the player jumps they will always fail. The developers did this to send the player into a state of panic as they see a large amount of soldiers heading towards them. Alone and gunless you must regroup back with your team and make it to the helicopter in time before it takes off.
Player Control (How player control has helped story telling)
Player control gives the player of the video game a choice which can change up the story and outcome of what we will see throughout the game, this is like triggered events but the difference is the events that are triggered will be different depending on what the player chose. What I mean by this is you can trigger a cutscene from the players choice between two separate choices but the event that is triggered will show a different side meaning that this event has had the player's choice to see what event will happen next. This causes players to experience multiple play throughs so they can see what the other choices are like and get a new sight into a new story.
Infamous
In Infamous second son you will have choices throughout the game both based on good or bad karma, depending on which side you choose to go down can lead to multiple changes in the game. If you take the good side you will be able to upgrade the powers differently to the bad side and vice versa, they also have a change in damage with the good side apparently doing more damage on the powers. You will also trigger different cutscenes and have to complete tasks such as stopping people from harassing others. The video below showcases both sides of the cutscenes (and every single one in game so that explains why it's so long.)
Beyond two souls
Beyond two souls is an entire game based around choices. You can choose whether to accept or refuse a beer, that's how small the details are for choice in this game. However, I'm going to talk about the multiple endings you can trigger, in this game there are numerous endings (I'd tell you the exact number but the internet says it ranges from five to twenty four.) As you can see there are a lot and each ending depends on the choices you made throughout the game from saving someone to being as small as deciding if you want to dance with some stranger at a party, all the choices add up and at the end you will be greeted with one out of these vast amounts of endings.
Character Customisation
In a lot of video games the player has a choice to customise their character, depending on which game you play the customisation can either being huge or just a simple make over. The great thing about character customisation is that it can let the player feel as though they are part of the universe they are playing in, this is because they get to create a character who is made in their image and is portrayed the way they wish to portray them. For games with huge customisation you can change race, gender, class, sex and more to make the lore surrounding your character even deeper than just a usual face redo and it can also influence the gameplay you experience later on in game. This can also lead to multiple play throughs so people get a chance to see what it would be like if they played with a different mix of these factors.
Skyrim
Skyrim's customisation allows the player to choose a different race, each race comes with their own strengths and weaknesses, they will each have different points in the skills section and have different play styles which suit them most. An example would be the Argonian race, they can breathe underwater, have a 50% chance immunity to diseases and better unarmed damage. They are also best for thief type gameplay as they have a high lock picking stat to begin with so this race would be great for those who wish to sneak around. You then go on to customise their appearance so you can make them look to a point that pleases you whether it be a completely goofy looking character or heroic one, the choice is yours. You can also choose to learn things such as magic spells to make your character more powerful or picking up certain armour and weapons.
Saints row
Saints row is a game which, since number 3 and onwards, is one massive parody. This game allows for customisation but on a comedy side (or even the most coolest looking characters) to be created. The game limits you to things like race and class to be an option or for the customisation to have game changing influences but it does allow for many types of ways to make the appearance and even voice of your character to be changed. You can even attempt to make a character look like one out of a fictional film or a real life actor. While this doesn't change much gameplay (except for the cutscenes where you'll be able to see your greatly customised character compared to those games that change the character model to the original) it allows for this creative freedom for people to create whatever they want and have a laugh while doing so.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIvqK2vBkHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNvLwy-iMOk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJafPKap0VM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdKzgtzMLaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HAK2uDuCo0&list=PL8BED17979332CC68&index=50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QpR3DZqtz8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuB7_8Ihwys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87J5aqfsVOI
In a lot of video games the player has a choice to customise their character, depending on which game you play the customisation can either being huge or just a simple make over. The great thing about character customisation is that it can let the player feel as though they are part of the universe they are playing in, this is because they get to create a character who is made in their image and is portrayed the way they wish to portray them. For games with huge customisation you can change race, gender, class, sex and more to make the lore surrounding your character even deeper than just a usual face redo and it can also influence the gameplay you experience later on in game. This can also lead to multiple play throughs so people get a chance to see what it would be like if they played with a different mix of these factors.
Skyrim
Skyrim's customisation allows the player to choose a different race, each race comes with their own strengths and weaknesses, they will each have different points in the skills section and have different play styles which suit them most. An example would be the Argonian race, they can breathe underwater, have a 50% chance immunity to diseases and better unarmed damage. They are also best for thief type gameplay as they have a high lock picking stat to begin with so this race would be great for those who wish to sneak around. You then go on to customise their appearance so you can make them look to a point that pleases you whether it be a completely goofy looking character or heroic one, the choice is yours. You can also choose to learn things such as magic spells to make your character more powerful or picking up certain armour and weapons.
Saints row
Saints row is a game which, since number 3 and onwards, is one massive parody. This game allows for customisation but on a comedy side (or even the most coolest looking characters) to be created. The game limits you to things like race and class to be an option or for the customisation to have game changing influences but it does allow for many types of ways to make the appearance and even voice of your character to be changed. You can even attempt to make a character look like one out of a fictional film or a real life actor. While this doesn't change much gameplay (except for the cutscenes where you'll be able to see your greatly customised character compared to those games that change the character model to the original) it allows for this creative freedom for people to create whatever they want and have a laugh while doing so.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIvqK2vBkHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNvLwy-iMOk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJafPKap0VM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdKzgtzMLaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HAK2uDuCo0&list=PL8BED17979332CC68&index=50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QpR3DZqtz8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuB7_8Ihwys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87J5aqfsVOI
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