Pre Production

For Games
Module 2 STORY AND SCRIPTING FOR GAMES:
 Module 2
STORY AND SCRIPTING FOR GAMES
Backstory

● Backstory refers to the history of characters, events, or the world that exists before the
game's events begin. It provides depth and context to the game’s plot, even if it is not
directly presented to the player.
Exposition

● Exposition is the information provided to the player during the game to understand the
immediate story. It can include dialogue, cut scenes, or environmental storytelling to give
players necessary details about the ongoing plot.
Plot patterns
● Plot patterns are recurring narrative structures or templates that outline the flow of events in
a story. These patterns are used across various storytelling mediums, including literature,
film, and games, to shape how a narrative unfolds. Plot patterns define the relationship
between characters, the challenges they face, and how the story progresses toward
resolution. Common plot patterns include the Hero’s Journey, Revenge, Escape, and
Tragedy.
Plot patterns

● The Hero’s Journey:

● Revenge Plot:
● Escape Plot:
● Quest/Exploration Plot:
● Tragedy:
Plot patterns

How Plot Patterns Influence Game Narratives

○ Player Expectations:
○ Story Structure and Pacing:
○ Emotional Engagement:
○ Replayability and Branching Narratives:
○ Character Development:
Non linear & Linear video games
Linear Video Games

Linear games follow a straightforward, structured progression where players are

led through a fixed series of levels or story points. The game controls the pacing,
direction, and unfolding of the narrative, often limiting player agency in determining
outcomes.

Nonlinear Video Games

Nonlinear games allow players to make decisions that shape the course of the
story, gameplay, or both. These decisions may affect the order of events, the
narrative outcome, or even the environment around the player. Nonlinear games
often feature open-world exploration, branching storylines, or multiple endings.
Role of Nonlinear Game Narrative in Open-World Games
A nonlinear game narrative refers to a storytelling structure in which players have the freedom to make
choices that influence the progression and outcome of the game. In open-world games, where players can
explore vast environments at their own pace, nonlinear narratives are crucial for creating a sense of
freedom, player agency, and immersion. Unlike linear narratives, which follow a set sequence of events,
nonlinear narratives allow players to experience the story in multiple ways, often through branching
storylines, player-driven choices, and dynamic world-building.
Interactive narrative and dialogue in multiplayer online games versus single-player games.

The use of interactive narrative and dialogue differs significantly between multiplayer online games and
single-player games, as each genre serves different player expectations and experiences.
Character conflict
Character conflict is a crucial element in narrative-driven video games, as it drives tension, motivates action, and shapes the story's
emotional and thematic depth. Conflict serves as a catalyst for plot progression, character development, and player engagement,
providing challenges that immerse the player in the game's world.
Evaluate the significance of character conflict and its
effect on the development of the game plot.
Evaluate the significance of character conflict and its effect on the development of the game plot.

1.Types of Character Conflict in Games

● Internal Conflict (Man vs. Self):

● External Conflict (Man vs. Man, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature):

2. Impact of Conflict on Plot Development

● Driving the Narrative Forward:

● Creating Tension and Stakes:
● Shaping Character Development:
● Building Emotional Engagement:

3. Effect on Player Experience

● Player Agency and Moral Choices:

● Immersion through Challenge:

4. Conflict in Different Game Genres

● Action/Adventure Games:
● Role-Playing Games (RPGs):
Psychological Elements in Game Scripts: Impact on
Player Engagement and Immersion

Psychological elements in game scripts—such as emotional tension, cognitive challenges,

ethical dilemmas, and character depth—play a crucial role in enhancing player engagement and
immersion. These elements influence how players perceive, interact with, and emotionally invest
in the game world, leading to a more profound and memorable gaming experience.
Psychological Elements in Game Scripts: Impact on
Player Engagement and Immersion

1. Emotional Tension and Engagement

2. Cognitive Challenges and Player Investment

3. Ethical and Psychological Complexities

4. Building Immersion through Atmosphere and Scripted Interactions

5. Character Conflict and Engagement

What is a Game Script?

A game script is a written document that outlines the narrative elements and dialogue
of a video game. It acts as a blueprint for the story, characters, and interactions
players will experience.
Psychological Elements in Game Scripts: Impact on
Player Engagement and Immersion
1. Props as Storytelling Tools

Props are in-game objects that provide context, enhance the narrative, and deepen the emotional connection between the
player and the game world. The careful placement and use of props can create a psychological environment that
communicates themes, atmosphere, and character traits without the need for dialogue.
Psychological Elements in Game Scripts: Impact on
Player Engagement and Immersion

How Props Influence the Psychological Environment:

● Environmental Storytelling: Props often tell stories on their own, giving players clues about the game world’s
history, culture, or a character’s backstory. For example, a broken toy in a child’s bedroom may evoke feelings of
loss or nostalgia, affecting the player's emotional experience.
● Establishing Mood and Atmosphere: The design and placement of props can significantly influence the game’s
tone and mood. Dark, twisted objects can evoke fear in horror games, while colorful, whimsical props can create a
sense of wonder in fantasy worlds.
● Symbolism and Themes: Props can be symbolic, representing broader themes within the game. For instance, a
mirror might symbolize self-reflection, or a shattered vase could represent the destruction of relationships or society.
Psychological Elements in Game Scripts: Impact on
Player Engagement and Immersion
2. Food as a Psychological Element in Games

Food in games can serve more than just a functional role (such as replenishing health or stamina). It can also contribute to
the psychological environment by representing culture, comfort, deprivation, or indulgence. The presence (or absence) of
food, and how it’s presented, can evoke powerful emotions, create deeper immersion, and reflect the character's status and
world conditions.

How Food Shapes the Psychological Environment:

● Cultural and Social Significance: The type of food presented in a game can offer insight into the world’s culture,
social structure, or economy. It can also reflect the emotional state of the characters or create an atmosphere of
comfort, poverty, or luxury.
● Emotional Connections and Character Development: Sharing food or the act of preparing it can create emotional
connections between characters, often symbolizing care, nurturing, or friendship. The psychological impact of food
scenes can deepen the player’s understanding of character relationships.
● Deprivation and Survival: In survival or post-apocalyptic games, the scarcity of food adds tension and
psychological pressure. The struggle to find food can evoke feelings of desperation, fear, and the instinct to survive,
making the game’s atmosphere more intense and emotionally charged.
Production Drafts in Game Development

Production drafts refer to the various versions of the game’s script or design document as it evolves.
Each draft typically incorporates feedback from different departments such as art, design, programming,
and narrative. These drafts serve as the foundation for the game’s narrative, dialogue, and interactions
and guide developers on how the story unfolds.

● Consistency Across Teams

● Iteration and Refinement
● Documentation
Locking Script Pages

Locking script pages refers to the process of finalizing specific portions of the game’s script or design
document, ensuring they are "locked" from further changes. This typically happens once a section has
been approved by all relevant teams and is ready to be implemented or used in production.

● Prevents Constant Changes

● Budget and Time Management
● Helps with Localization and Voice Acting
● Accountability
Extensions

Extensions are brief, often optional pieces of dialogue or action that add additional layers of detail to a
scene without altering its core direction. In a game script, they can be employed to maintain the flow
while giving characters more depth or providing optional content.

● Flexible Pacing
● Player Agency
● Smooth Transitions

Player agency is the degree of freedom the

developer gives players to chart their own path
through the game. It is composed of elements
of gameplay, narrative and self-expression,
resulting in meaningful differences in outcome
based on their decisions.
Shot Changes (Cinematic Shots)

Shot transitions are common in cutscenes or scripted cinematic sequences, where the camera moves
from one angle or shot to another. In game scripts, these transitions are written to give direction for how
to visually present narrative moments.

● Visual Storytelling
● Emphasis and Focus
● Dynamic Pacing

The key challenge with shot transitions is over-direction in

game scripts. While important for guiding cinematic
sequences, an over-reliance on scripted shots can reduce
player immersion and take away from the interactive nature
of games
Page Breaks

Page breaks indicate a transition from one scene, location, or major narrative beat to another. In game
scripts, these are used to signal major shifts in the story, such as moving from one level to the next or
transitioning between different phases of gameplay.

● Structural Clarity
● Mental Reset
● Efficient Transitioning

While necessary for structural organization, excessive or poorly

placed page breaks can disrupt immersion, especially if they occur
too frequently and pull players out of the interactive experience.
Game writing
titles or opening credits.

Titles or opening credits play a crucial role in shaping a player's perception of the
game world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktV-XOX76so
Assess how titles or opening credits influence the player's perception of the game world.

• Setting the Tone

• Narrative Framing
• World Building
• Player Expectations
• Cohesion and Continuity
• Engagement and Anticipation
abbreviations, montages, and series

The use of abbreviations, montages, and series of

shots in a game script can significantly impact the
pacing and storytelling.
Critique the use of abbreviations, montages, and series of shots in a game script. How do they impact pacing and storytelling?
Abbreviations

Abbreviations (like GDD for Game Design Document or

NPC for Non-Playable Character) are often used to
streamline communication among developers, writers,
and designers. In the script, they can be useful shorthand
for technical or recurring elements, which helps speed up
the development process.

Abbreviations work best in descriptive or technical

portions of the script (e.g., scene directions or gameplay
mechanics), not in dialogue or moments where
storytelling should be the focus.
Montages

the technique of selecting, editing, and piecing together separate

sections of film to form a continuous whole.

Montages are a powerful storytelling tool for

condensing time or showing the development of a
character, setting, or event without losing narrative
momentum.

For example, in a game, montages can effectively

convey a character's training process or a long
journey across vast landscapes. This keeps the story
moving without tedious repetition.
Series of Shots

A series of shots can provide a cinematic quality to a

game’s storytelling, allowing the narrative to unfold
visually in a way that engages the player without
dialogue.

It can effectively depict dynamic actions,

environmental transitions, or the development of plot
points through imagery.

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nonlinear game structures

In an open world, the player can experience the events of the

entire game narrative in any order they please. However, there are
also limitations to keep them on track as they move through the
game, such as barriers that prevent the player from roaming the
game world forever.
Examine the challenges of maintaining continuity across multiple levels in nonlinear game structures.

Narrative Coherence
Character and World Consistency
Gameplay and Mechanic Continuity
Pacing and Player Experience
Narrative Coherence

Narrative Coherence
Challenge: In nonlinear games, players often have the freedom to choose their own paths,
meaning they can experience the story in different sequences. This can lead to disjointed
storytelling if not managed carefully.
Impact on Continuity: Ensuring that the overarching story makes sense no matter the order of
levels or player choices can be difficult. For example, if a player unlocks story elements out of the
intended sequence, it may lead to confusion or inconsistencies in character development or plot
progression.
Solution: Developers often implement conditional storytelling systems that adjust dialogue,
cutscenes, and interactions based on the player’s progression, ensuring key narrative beats
remain consistent across multiple playthroughs. Careful scripting and testing are essential to
maintaining narrative integrity across all possible branches.
Assess the value of reading scripts from popular games for improving one's game writing skills and understanding of industry standards.

Reading scripts from popular games is an invaluable practice for

improving game writing skills and understanding industry
standards.
Assess the value of reading scripts from popular games for improving one's game writing skills and understanding of industry standards.

• Exposure to Diverse Narrative Structures

• Understanding Character Development in Games
• Mastering Interactive Dialogue
• Learning Pacing and Game-Specific Storytelling
• Grasping Industry Standards and Terminology
cut scenes

A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game

movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive,
interrupting the gameplay.
Live-action cutscenes have many similarities to films. For example, the
cutscenes in Wing Commander IV used both fully constructed sets, and well
known actors such as Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell for the portrayal of
characters.

Pre-rendered cutscenes are animated and rendered by the game's developers,

and take advantage of the full array of techniques of CGI, cel animation or
graphic novel-style panel art. Like live-action shoots, pre-rendered cutscenes are
often presented in full motion video.

Interactive cutscenes involve the computer taking control of the player character while prompts
(such as a sequence of button presses) appear onscreen, requiring the player to follow them in
order to continue or succeed at the action.
Explain the function of cut scenes in maintaining game continuity and structure.

Cut scenes play a crucial role in maintaining game continuity and structure by
bridging gameplay segments and enhancing narrative depth. These non-
interactive sequences are used to advance the plot, develop characters, and
provide context for in-game actions.

A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game

cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video
game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay.
Explain the function of cut scenes in maintaining game continuity and structure.

Advancing the Story

Character Development
Establishing and Maintaining Tone
Providing Context for Player Actions
Transitioning Between Levels or Scenes

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Archetypes in game character development.

Archetypes are universally recognized character models or symbols that represent

specific traits, behaviors, and roles. These patterns are drawn from storytelling traditions,
mythology, psychology (particularly Carl Jung’s work), and literature. In game character
development, archetypes serve as a framework for creating characters that players can
quickly understand, relate to, or recognize. They provide a foundation upon which
developers can build unique, engaging, and emotionally resonant characters.
Common Archetypes in Games

The Hero - Embodies courage, self-sacrifice, and the pursuit of justice. Often the
protagonist who overcomes challenges to achieve a noble goal (e.g., Link from The Legend
of Zelda).
The Mentor – Offers wisdom, guidance, and training to the hero, preparing them for the
challenges ahead (e.g., Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings games).
The Shadow (Villain) – Represents conflict, temptation, or an obstacle the hero must
overcome. They are often a reflection of the hero’s weaknesses (e.g., Bowser in Super
Mario).
The Trickster – A mischievous character who introduces chaos, challenges the status quo,
or tests the hero’s resolve (e.g., Joker from Persona).
The Innocent – A character who represents purity, optimism, and hope, often needing
protection from the darker aspects of the world (e.g., Princess Peach in Mario).
Scene headings (also known as "sluglines")

in a game script serve several key purposes. They are essential for organizing the flow of
the narrative and providing the necessary context for each scene. Just like in movie or
television scripts, scene headings help to convey information to everyone involved in the
game's development, from writers and directors to designers and voice actors.
Purposes of Scene Headings in a Game Script:

Location and Time Specification: Scene headings indicate where and when a scene takes
place. This is crucial for establishing the environment in which gameplay or story elements
unfold. It usually follows a format like "INTERIOR" (INT) or "EXTERIOR" (EXT), followed by
a specific location and, optionally, the time of day. For example: EXT. ANCIENT TEMPLE
RUINS – NIGHT This informs the team that the scene happens outside, at an ancient
temple, during nighttime.

Setting the Atmosphere and Mood: The heading often implies the scene's tone, helping
game designers, sound engineers, and lighting artists to create the appropriate
atmosphere.
Dual dialogue

Dual dialogue is a scripting technique used when two or more characters speak
simultaneously or overlap in conversation. In game scripts, it can enhance scenes by
creating a more dynamic, immersive, and realistic portrayal of interactions, especially in
moments of high tension, fast-paced action, or comedic timing. Here's how dual dialogue
can enhance game scenes with multiple characters:

Example:
• Character A: "Watch out for that sniper!"
• Character B: "Cover me while I reload!"
Both lines are spoken simultaneously, emphasizing the
frantic nature of the scene.
Dual dialogue

1. Conveys Urgency and Chaos

2. Adds Realism to Conversations
3. Comedic Timing
4. Emotional Conflict
5. Team Coordination in Gameplay
Action elements

1. Action elements in a game script play a significant role in shaping the game
mechanics—the systems and rules that define how a game functions and how the
player interacts with the game world. These elements not only guide the narrative but
also directly influence the design and implementation of gameplay features.
Action elements

1. Combat and Battle Systems

• Real-time combat: In a fast-paced scene, mechanics such as dodging, attacking,
and countering in real time may be implemented (e.g., Devil May Cry or Dark
Souls series).
• Turn-based combat: For a more strategic, slower-paced scene, turn-based
combat mechanics could be developed, as seen in games like Final Fantasy or
Persona.
• Unique abilities: The script might introduce certain abilities tied to the narrative
(e.g., a character unlocking a special skill or power), which in turn influences the
design of new mechanics such as a special attack or power meter.
Action elements

1. The process of using research to develop game characters and their backstory is a
critical component of game design, as it helps create deep, immersive, and believable
characters and worlds. Well-researched characters resonate with players, giving them
richer personalities, motivations, and connections to the game world. Here's an
overview of how research can be used in character development and backstory
creation
Function of cut scenes in maintaining game continuity and structure.`

1. Cut scenes, also known as cinematics, are a crucial storytelling tool in video games
that serve to maintain continuity and enhance the overall structure of the game. They
provide key moments of narrative development, world-building, and emotional
engagement, helping to seamlessly integrate the gameplay with the broader story arc.