Viewing Thread:
"How make a brilliant/incoherent story."

Fluidity is paramount. A game must flow from scene-to-scene and level-to-level like a well-crafted stanza, ever captivating the reader to want more- to delve into the depths of the meaning of every line and phrase. There should be a seamless rhythm in the game that never pulls the gamer away from the action- doing the opposite by drawing them in ever closer. There should never be one moment when the gamer nips off for a coffee break having feeling he has successful completed a section of the story- there are no sections in a good story.

There should be no short sharp breaks. None. Erratic pauses and stops in. mid. game. All undesirable. It makes the game incoherent. Impossible to follow. No immersion. The player is never gripped- never drawn in. They lose interest- they’re pulled to coffee breaks.

The story should weave in and out of intrinsic layers, never being linear or just centred on one theme- it must be rich. The characters, like the plot, should be full of interest for the gamer- being unpredictable yet believable at the same time. Although the gamer should feel special, they should never become the centre of action- the pinnacle about which all game-world events are focussed. That just reduces believability, which reduces immersion, which reduces fun.

Monotonous stories are boring. Very dull and lifeless- just ranting about the same point again, and again, and again. They are predictable, dull, boring. You know what’s going to happen next- it’s the same as what happens before. And then, just to make thing worse, the writer decides to put the most predictable unpredictable twist into his storyless story mode.

Finally, a story must keep the player engaged to a level greater and greater until a dramatic end. The underlying variable stories of the games should come together in one short period. The story must flow from section to section whilst still keeping the player guessing by building in many unknowns into the mix of the story, and finally unleashing them all at once.

The ending must not be obvious. It should never end with a “the end” or a “thanks for playing”. It should never end predictably. It should never end repetitiously- hammering the same point home. It should never be predictable.

The end

Thanks for reading

Thank God you're joking Sibs!

For those of you who didn't spot it, the first parargraph is about how fluid games should be- and the paragraph reads fluidly. The second is saying that non-fluidity is rubbish... and is non-fluid to read.

And so on...

===SONICRAV---> wrote:
> Oddly, no one has actually pointed out the point of the whole topic... or maybe
> it's so obvious that everyone takes it for granted???

Sonic


There was a point to it???

;-)

Definitley. Conkers Bad fur day is probably the most enjoyable game I have played to date...So good that I didnt really put it down. Completed it in the weekend it was launched :(

Really hit hard with the ending...Gone...Gone...

Closest I've been to tears with a Computer game...

One of the great things about CBFD was the totally unpreditable story, which had you gripped all the way. One moment you're in a nightclub, the next you're bombing a cult, or shooting zombies. I played that game for about three days solidly, because I just couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, and every single part of the game was great to play. There was no pattern, no 'X-levels followed by a boss', or anything like that.

In that respect, it beats even something like Ocarina Of time.

If only it hadn't been such a short game... I'd have said it was one of the bext of all time. As it is, I can't put it in the same league as the ones I've spend ten times longer playing.

Oddly, no one has actually pointed out the point of the whole topic... or maybe it's so obvious that everyone takes it for granted???

Sonic

Grix Thraves wrote:

*rips out MoJoJoJo's gullet, waves it in the air and screams
madly*


-------------

*runs around screaming before passes out*


No, honestly, a storyline is developed more, and is easier to develop, if your character actually SPEAKS! Unlike Half Life

Games designers beware- Sonic is after you! I don't think FMV adds anything to the game experience. They're only there to graphically wow you, and are generally unnecessary.

A storyline can help to really draw in a player, BUT I think the key element to a game still remains the gameplay. That is what will keep you playing despite a lame plotline you have heard 1000 times before. (Mario take note)

I blame the badguys. When will they learn to stop kidnapping the princess' and just kill them!!!

MoJoJoJo wrote:
"I think game plots are done better with actual cutscenes"

*rips out MoJoJoJo's gullet, waves it in the air and screams madly*

Did I ever show you my graphs? I made some graphs that agree with what you're saying, but I can't remember the address for them. Ah well.

Basically, the greatest games, the old style, as I like to think, have this kinda buildup from the start. They're not that easy to get into, but once you get going, you're trapped completely by them.

Games of today, stuff like "Vampire Sword Wielding 2", have this bumpy excitement factor, where it doesn't stay seemless, and jumps from "exciting part of game" to "exciting part of game" until you get bored. That sucks boom.

Games should be so much more.

I think game plots are done better with actual cutscenes, not like Half Life where you just listen to people talking