A fundamental part of learning game programming involves getting to grips with narrative design in interactive storytelling environments and understanding how to create an effective storytelling system as part of an engaging gaming world.
These game scenarios focus on telling stories within narratives where interactive experiences are shaped by a user’s actions.
Their active participation in these virtual worlds takes place in such a way that it influences the narrative’s progression, which can be non linear in form. The emphasis for the emergent narrative is on how it is the gamer’s decisions that push a story forward.
Studying degrees like SAE’s web courses can help provide those learning game programming with the web design tools to create narrative design, come up with engaging virtual environments and enhanced game development. On our course, students have experience of working with game engines such as Unity or Unreal Engine while also learning about responsive frameworks, layout, the storytelling medium and mixed reality interactive storytelling.
In this blog, we explore perfecting a story world and how learning game programming will set you up for a creative career in the gameplay sector. Interested in joining a degree with SAE? Then get in touch with our team to discover more about our courses now.
What is storytelling in interactive narrative design
Unlike traditional linear narratives, interactive stories allow users to make choices that impact a game’s direction and potentially even its outcome in a variety of different ways.
For game developers, this involves designing not just the story itself, but also the interactive elements and environments that support and enhance the user’s experience. Narrative theory can take many different forms within the virtual space as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and, as we’ve noted, stories are often non linear in form.
Interactive design vs Interactive storytelling
Interactive design focuses on creating engaging user experiences through various interactive elements.
They include website navigation, app interfaces, game controls, or any system where users actively engage with a digital product and are based on visual design, accessibility, user experience and more. As technology has evolved, other elements of interactive media, augmented reality and virtual reality can also feature depending on the budget and game level.
Interactive drama storytelling specifically uses these elements to create narrative experiences where the user’s actions shape the story’s progression.
Players become active participants, making decisions that can lead to branching storylines, different outcomes, and even varying endings.
What are examples of interactive game design
There are increasing numbers of games with interactivity at their heart. Some of the most high profile include:
Sims is a world-building game which instructs users to “create your town with endless possibilities”.
Players create and control Sims, building their lives, homes, and relationships within the game. The game allows for a high degree of player agency, letting them shape their Sims’ experiences through various interactions and choices.
Assassin’s Creed is a role-playing game where players can enjoy a blend of exploration, stealth, combat, and puzzle-solving elements within historical settings.
Created by David Jones and Mike Dailly, Grand Theft Auto is an infamous interactive multiplayer game where players are able to freely roam and interact with the game’s environment.
Different versions of the franchise, including Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, were all created at the Rockstar Leeds studio.
Interactive Storytelling
A core principle of interactive storytelling is giving the user a sense of agency, making them feel like their actions have meaningful consequences within a game’s story.
Branching narrative
Interactive narratives often employ branching structures, where the story splits into different paths based on user choices, leading to varied outcomes and experiences.
By offering choice within the game through different options at key moments, unexpected stories, adventures and action can occur.
To do this, game developers should create a visual representation (flowchart, diagram, or map) of your narrative structure, including all possible paths and outcomes. This helps visualise the complexity and track different future paths for characters and the events that can take place.
Consider what the major milestones or pivotal decisions might be in the narrative while remembering to adhere to the core message and story line behind your concept.
Personalised experiences in the interactive story
Interactive storytelling allows for personalised narratives, as different users can have vastly different experiences based on their choices.
This way, a story unfolds dynamically based on user interaction, rather than following a predetermined path.
Games can adjust the challenge level based on a player’s skill, making the experience neither too easy nor too frustrating. There are also different elements involved in making an interactive idea into reality.
For example, visual details such as the inclusion of different objects and the game’s soundtrack can help create a game’s environment and underline a narrative. Level design can factor into a game’s plot, to reflect the themes, atmosphere and narrative progression of a story.
Character interaction with other players and surrounding world can also drive the narrative forward.
Keep your story interesting
The end-user always needs to be considered as part of game design with the narrative at the core of the experience. Some essentials to make this as engaging as possible include avoiding any repetition or predictable elements to ensure player interest levels are maintained.
Designers also need to craft a story and any associated gameplay that flow naturally, without major obstacles that can halt progression or break the player’s immersion. The interactive elements must also be intuitive and easy to understand, ensuring that the user can easily engage with the narrative.
Create compelling characters and immersive worlds
Designers need to give players the space within a narrative to shape character personalities, relationships, and even destinies through their choices.
To do this, the gaming environment surrounding a character must be detailed and immersive to respond to player actions. This helps create a believable and engaging environment for the story to unfold within. Where possible, the story should also resonate with gamers – creating an emotive narrative will help ensure there is a deeper connection with the characters and the adventure.
Your game format
As a game designer, there are different formats to consider when looking to build a world around an interactive narrative.
For example, many video games like role-playing games use this format to create an immersive world for players to enter. Text-based games allow users to make choices to influence the story and are another example of an interactive narrative.
Elsewhere, interactive narratives can also be found in mixed reality environments, where digital information is overlaid on the real world, creating immersive and interactive experiences.
Ultimately, whatever the format or technology you use to approach your concept, the effectiveness of storytelling in interactive media derives from usable feedback mechanisms that guide user interactions. If you ensure that the focus is on the story and characters, then this will give you a greater chance of success in breaking through traditional gaming narratives. Good luck!
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