take advantage of the strengths of their new medium. In some ways, games still suffer
from the same problem, where established mediums, film in particular, are taken and
just thrown into games without considering how a story might best be told in a language
suited to interactivity.
What results from these frustrated linear writers are projects that try to be both
games and movies, usually with the end result that they do neither very well. Taking a
plot and adapting it to work in a game is a lot like taking a plot that works in a novel and
adapting it to work in a film. A novel’s strength is in allowing the readers to truly get
inside the heads of its protagonists, to read what they are thinking. In a movie, a lot of
the audience’s understanding of a character comes from being able to read the subtle-
ties of expression on the actor’s face. When a screenwriter adapts a novel, he has to
re-imagine how it could work in a film, replacing what worked well in the book but won’t
translate well to the screen. Compared to either novels or films, games need to be sig-
nificantly more active, with the character the player is controlling having plenty to do in
the story. This is especially true given the current status of game development, where
making dialog with other characters fun is all but impossible. Until technology
advances to the point where games are able to simulate conversations significantly
better than they do currently, game stories need to center around actions that games do
well. This is one of the many reasons why writing stories for games is significantly dif-
ferent than for non-interactive media. In addition, writing a story that is suited to an
interactive experience is extremely hard because we have so little experience with it,
certainly when compared with the centuries of human experience that have been
invested in linear storytelling. But telling a story that is suited to a playable space will
reflect on the quality of your final game. There are a number of symptoms that arise
when inappropriate stories are used, and recognizing these problems as they come up
is crucial to preventing them from ruining your game.
The first problem is forcing players to experience the story in only one predeter-
mined path. The linear writer often feels that there is only one way for the drama to
unfold, and if players try to pursue anything else they, or at least their character, should
be killed. The linear writer does not want to allow players to discover different ways of
navigating through the story space when there is only one path that makes for the most
powerful narrative. What the linear writer fails to realize is that games are about letting
players find their own path through the game-world, even if the story suffers a little as a
result. What the path may lose in drama it makes up for in players’ feelings of owner-
ship. It is the player’s story instead of the designer’s story.
Player Character Personality ......................
Linear writers also often try to force the player’s character to have a strong personality.
There is a popular trend in game design that says gamers want to have main characters
with strong personalities for them to control, particularly in adventure and action
games. But if one looks at the most popular entries in these genres, one will quickly
notice that the player character’s personality is often kept to a minimum. Look at Mario
inSuper Mario 64orSuper Mario Sunshine. Though Mario has a fairly distinctive look,
what really is his personality? He does not actually have one, leaving him undefined
enough for the players to imprint their own personality on him. What about Lara Croft
inTomb Raider? Again, a very distinct appearance but a very undefined personality. And
218 Chapter 11: Storytelling