included in the game’s manual, but these are almost never fundamental to the player’s
understanding of the game’s plot. I would certainly never use a manual to be the sole
place to convey the story in one of my own games since I believe it detracts from the
continuous experience of playing the game on the computer or console.The Suffering
did include some back-story pieces in the manual, but these were purely supplemental
and enhanced the game’s story for players who sought them out, without detracting
anything from players who did not.
That said, some games have used external materials extremely effectively. In par-
ticular, the Infocom games always included materials in the boxes that added to the
players’ gameplay experience in meaningful ways. Often the games referred to these
materials, saying something to the effect of, “The magazine you find is the same one as
came in your game package.” These materials were customarily prepared by or in con-
junction with the game’s author, thereby making them valid parts of the game itself. For
more information on how Infocom used its packaged materials to add depth to the story
and their motivations for doing so, consult the interview with Infocom author Steve
Meretzky found in Chapter 10.
Linear Writing Pitfalls............................
One of the primary story problems that many computer games have is that their stories
are written by people who wish they were writing in a more linear medium. Sometimes
moonlighting screenwriters or novelists are hired to work on game projects. These
writers often feel disappointed to have to work in games and see their game work as
something they do strictly for the money, while simultaneously viewing themselves as
above gaming as an art form. As a result of their training in linear writing and distaste
for interactive writing in general, these writers use all of the linear writing techniques
they have honed over the years and try to apply them to games, where they fail
miserably.
Sometimes the game developers themselves secretly or not-so-secretly wish they
were working in another medium and make their story writing choices accordingly.
After all, for as long as games have existed, film has been a more respected, popular, and
financially rewarding medium to work in, with mammoth cults of personality surround-
ing actors, directors, and sometimes even writers. Game designers can be sucked in by
this allure and become envious of filmmakers. These designers often start emphasizing
the cinematic nature of their games, sometimes attempting to deny that they are games
at all by calling them “interactive movies.” The games’ cinematic cut-scenes become
longer and longer, with the predetermined story line dominating the gameplay
completely.
And in a way, the mistakes game developers make putting story into their games
are forgivable due to the youth of the medium. For example, when the technology that
enabled filmmaking was introduced, many of the first films that were made were docu-
ments of stage plays. A camera was placed in a fixed position on a tripod and the actors
considered its frame to be their stage, just as if they were working with a live audience.
There were no cuts, pans, or camera movement of any kind, because the language of
film had yet to be invented. As time went on, however, filmmakers learned that their
films could be more than straight transcriptions of stage plays, and they could instead
Chapter 11: Storytelling 217