Emergent narratives

November 18, 2010

"Tell Your Own Damn Stories! Games, Overreading and Emergent Narrative"

http://futurismic.com/2010/11/10/tell-your-own-damn-stories-games-overreading-and-emergent-narrative/

It's an article about how to tell stories - focusing on the inevitable amount of narrative that people put into the events they see in front of them.

I don't agree with what the guy says of games or film in terms of emergent narratives - there's always a combination of setting and narrative devices that create a good story in the minds of the audience.

So suggesting that meaningless events following one after the other is actually a stroke of genius - that's the kind of thing best left for advertisement and politics, probably.. But he does make a few very good points about how narratives work. So go read.

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Feedback

joseph_valencia - November 18, 2010 (10:57 AM)
While I do agree that minimalism is the best approach to game "narrative," the guy is playing MGS3 wrong. You're supposed to tranq people, not kill them!

fleinn - November 18, 2010 (12:07 PM)
..I kind of enjoy Kojima's writing as well. It's a bit like Obsidian - it's not that the writing actually is incredibly good. It's just that if you go along with it, the narrative buildup works.

Isn't it the same in film..? Typically the question is just how easily it is to slip into the story, and how believable it is - how easy it is to suspend disbelief. And then what sort of emotions that narrative inspires in you.

Which is how it's possible to defend Star Wars, for example. ..or at least the first three movies.. It's something that - even if the writing is absolutely atrocious - makes you engage with the characters and the setting. Maybe it had to be a bit corny to actually work..? You know, "theater".

Imo, games have that same thing. Since you can't really act out what you imagine yourself doing - you need that barrier when telling the stories. MGS is a great example of how that works, imo - you have actions you can do that don't even attempt to be realistic - but it's realistic enough that you can imagine yourself in Snake's shoes. And avoid having a too big clash between game-mechanics and imagination.

The entire "!" thing describes exactly how that works - it's arcadey and video-game. But it's expressive anyway, and doesn't actually break immersion. Because you always have that detached view from your perspective anyway - controller and screen, and so on. So maybe it works the opposite way - linking you to the game.

CouchPotato - November 18, 2010 (12:25 PM)
So, i don't get it. If there were games with stories (or cut-scenes) that rival ,let's say Akira Kurosawa's Ran, or Christian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days or at the least coherent , would he still have any objection with author-centered narratives , or is he assuming that all gamers want to tell their own stories in the games they play ?

Those games he listed are pretty much contextual games. In Football Manager, you are tasked to build a team and satisfy the demand of the Club's board within a season. I guess when the game gives that amount of freedom , a chain of events ,and NOT STORIES tends to emerge. Buying players ,training players, players lamenting about your management style, players feeling neglected because ypir leth them sitting on the bench,fans unsatisfied by losses and draws, other managers verbally abusing you, can be contextual and draw you into the game because you feel your decisions affect the games. But how about games like Advance Wars :Dual Strike, Ninja Gaiden Black, Bayonetta ? Are the players also tasked to create units like Battleship, Bomber from the ground up with their weapon specifications and movement length or to construct Ryu Hayabusa's Izuna Drop ? Are the players also burdened with the layout of the levels ? Are the players supposed to put the histories behind the vehicles he created and the history of the opponents he's supposed to defeat and their motivation in a codex to enrich the experience ? Hell no fucking way. Most of the console games are pick-up-and-play games to begin with, unlike The Sims or Football Manager, they are NOT CONTEXTUAL GAMES that specifically put you in a distinctive role. If his idea was to tell Suqare Enix and Konami to eliminate all cut-scenes in MGS and Final Fantasy, go ahead, you have my unconditional support, because those stories are garbage. But if you encourage all games to entice gamers to have a cold, calculated , and elaborate method in solving each problem like the 15-years-old QA has, you can chase yourself.

zippdementia - November 18, 2010 (12:27 PM)
Everyone interested in understanding how a cinematic story is told should read Save the Cat. No better book for understanding why certain things work and why other things don't. Also shows that there is very little you can do with the "mold." It works for a reason. Breaking it doesn't work.

Not to say that you can't be creative, but there are certain beats and rythyms to telling a story that you have to hit. Just like you have to stay on beat in music or it just doesn't work. Doesn't mean you can't switch to a new beat or try some acid jazz, but you still have to play to the rules of musical creation.

Feedback
	joseph_valencia - November 18, 2010 (10:57 AM) While I do agree that minimalism is the best approach to game "narrative," the guy is playing MGS3 wrong. You're supposed to tranq people, not kill them!
	fleinn - November 18, 2010 (12:07 PM) ..I kind of enjoy Kojima's writing as well. It's a bit like Obsidian - it's not that the writing actually is incredibly good. It's just that if you go along with it, the narrative buildup works. Isn't it the same in film..? Typically the question is just how easily it is to slip into the story, and how believable it is - how easy it is to suspend disbelief. And then what sort of emotions that narrative inspires in you. Which is how it's possible to defend Star Wars, for example. ..or at least the first three movies.. It's something that - even if the writing is absolutely atrocious - makes you engage with the characters and the setting. Maybe it had to be a bit corny to actually work..? You know, "theater". Imo, games have that same thing. Since you can't really act out what you imagine yourself doing - you need that barrier when telling the stories. MGS is a great example of how that works, imo - you have actions you can do that don't even attempt to be realistic - but it's realistic enough that you can imagine yourself in Snake's shoes. And avoid having a too big clash between game-mechanics and imagination. The entire "!" thing describes exactly how that works - it's arcadey and video-game. But it's expressive anyway, and doesn't actually break immersion. Because you always have that detached view from your perspective anyway - controller and screen, and so on. So maybe it works the opposite way - linking you to the game.
	CouchPotato - November 18, 2010 (12:25 PM) So, i don't get it. If there were games with stories (or cut-scenes) that rival ,let's say Akira Kurosawa's Ran, or Christian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days or at the least coherent , would he still have any objection with author-centered narratives , or is he assuming that all gamers want to tell their own stories in the games they play ? Those games he listed are pretty much contextual games. In Football Manager, you are tasked to build a team and satisfy the demand of the Club's board within a season. I guess when the game gives that amount of freedom , a chain of events ,and NOT STORIES tends to emerge. Buying players ,training players, players lamenting about your management style, players feeling neglected because ypir leth them sitting on the bench,fans unsatisfied by losses and draws, other managers verbally abusing you, can be contextual and draw you into the game because you feel your decisions affect the games. But how about games like Advance Wars :Dual Strike, Ninja Gaiden Black, Bayonetta ? Are the players also tasked to create units like Battleship, Bomber from the ground up with their weapon specifications and movement length or to construct Ryu Hayabusa's Izuna Drop ? Are the players also burdened with the layout of the levels ? Are the players supposed to put the histories behind the vehicles he created and the history of the opponents he's supposed to defeat and their motivation in a codex to enrich the experience ? Hell no fucking way. Most of the console games are pick-up-and-play games to begin with, unlike The Sims or Football Manager, they are NOT CONTEXTUAL GAMES that specifically put you in a distinctive role. If his idea was to tell Suqare Enix and Konami to eliminate all cut-scenes in MGS and Final Fantasy, go ahead, you have my unconditional support, because those stories are garbage. But if you encourage all games to entice gamers to have a cold, calculated , and elaborate method in solving each problem like the 15-years-old QA has, you can chase yourself.
	zippdementia - November 18, 2010 (12:27 PM) Everyone interested in understanding how a cinematic story is told should read Save the Cat. No better book for understanding why certain things work and why other things don't. Also shows that there is very little you can do with the "mold." It works for a reason. Breaking it doesn't work. Not to say that you can't be creative, but there are certain beats and rythyms to telling a story that you have to hit. Just like you have to stay on beat in music or it just doesn't work. Doesn't mean you can't switch to a new beat or try some acid jazz, but you still have to play to the rules of musical creation.

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