Storytelling in Games - Brendan's perspective
TelltaleGames
Former Telltale Staff
Back in January, IGN's Insider channel caught up with Telltale designers Brendan Ferguson, Chuck Jordan, and Heather Logas to talk about storytelling in games. We thought our fans would enjoy seeing the full interviews, and IGN gave us permission to post the interviews here. Brendan's answers are below, and Chuck's and Heather's will follow later this week. Enjoy!
What elements make up a good videogame story?
I assume you've had many people tell you what makes a good story in general, but a good videogame story in particular should allow the player to directly take part in the most important, interesting moments of that story. The most powerful videogame stories are those where I'm personally involved in the events that are unfolding. If I merely observe the story for a time, do something unrelated, then see more story, I'm not going to feel like it's MY story.
What influences, if any, do you take from other media (i.e. film, tv, comics/graphic novels)?
As with anyone, I'm moved by many kinds of stories in different ways. As a game developer though, I'm always thinking about how I could let someone experience those stories firsthand rather than watching them from the sidelines. I'm often amazed by our capacity to be swept up in a story, but there's something different and special about actually being the one that makes the decisions that propel the story forward.
Describe a narrative moment from one of your games that you are most proud of?
I could, but we haven't released that game yet, and I don't want to spoil it.
[readmore]
What is something you would like to see a videogame story attempt that hasn't been done yet?
One of many things I'm interested in is allowing people to experience life from a different point of view, to understand in a direct way the challenges or pressures faced by others. This actually has been attempted in a variety of ways, but rarely with the aim of deepening our understanding of people. Naturally, most games are designed merely as vehicles to let you goof off, but they have vast potential as a means to enrich our appreciation of life, and other people especially.
How does story fit into your development cycle? Does it evolve concurrently with development, is it saved for the end of the cycle when most of the gameplay is in place, or is it conceived at the beginning and treated as unchangeable?
At Telltale, the story and game design are closely intertwined. Everything you do in the game needs to fit in the story, and the story needs to promote interesting gameplay. As such, we will shape both the story and gameplay to fit each other. Nothing is unchangeable, but while developing the game, we constantly ask ourselves, "How does this serve the story?"
What's the difference between story and gameplay?
The story encompasses all the events of a narrative, while the gameplay consists of the events that rely on the player's involvement. Those events have a different character because they don't simply occur, but involve an active process on the part of the player, in which he must take in information from the game world, and make decisions about how to act.
Where do writers fit in the traditional structure of a development team?
At Telltale, the designers ARE writers because all game actions are intended to fit in the story of the episode. The completed design of the game generally specifies all of the plot points, the characters, and the relationships between those characters. At that point, we have dialog writers (who may or may not be the designers) come up with the exact words that the characters say to each other. Sometimes, in the process of writing the dialog, great new ideas will occur to us about how to shape the story, but for the most part, the story is complete before the dialog is written.
What's one game story you admire? Why?
I like many stories for a variety of reasons, but one that comes to mind is Gabriel Knight. There were parts of the story where I felt personally involved in the mystery, where I experienced the twists and turns just as immediately as the characters. I didn't passively think, "How mysterious," I actually had to consider everything I had learned about the world and the characters and their motivations to make new revelations. Let me say, when you finally get in that crypt, and see what's in there... well, I remember it like it really happened to me. And that's pretty amazing.
What elements make up a good videogame story?
I assume you've had many people tell you what makes a good story in general, but a good videogame story in particular should allow the player to directly take part in the most important, interesting moments of that story. The most powerful videogame stories are those where I'm personally involved in the events that are unfolding. If I merely observe the story for a time, do something unrelated, then see more story, I'm not going to feel like it's MY story.
What influences, if any, do you take from other media (i.e. film, tv, comics/graphic novels)?
As with anyone, I'm moved by many kinds of stories in different ways. As a game developer though, I'm always thinking about how I could let someone experience those stories firsthand rather than watching them from the sidelines. I'm often amazed by our capacity to be swept up in a story, but there's something different and special about actually being the one that makes the decisions that propel the story forward.
Describe a narrative moment from one of your games that you are most proud of?
I could, but we haven't released that game yet, and I don't want to spoil it.
[readmore]
What is something you would like to see a videogame story attempt that hasn't been done yet?
One of many things I'm interested in is allowing people to experience life from a different point of view, to understand in a direct way the challenges or pressures faced by others. This actually has been attempted in a variety of ways, but rarely with the aim of deepening our understanding of people. Naturally, most games are designed merely as vehicles to let you goof off, but they have vast potential as a means to enrich our appreciation of life, and other people especially.
How does story fit into your development cycle? Does it evolve concurrently with development, is it saved for the end of the cycle when most of the gameplay is in place, or is it conceived at the beginning and treated as unchangeable?
At Telltale, the story and game design are closely intertwined. Everything you do in the game needs to fit in the story, and the story needs to promote interesting gameplay. As such, we will shape both the story and gameplay to fit each other. Nothing is unchangeable, but while developing the game, we constantly ask ourselves, "How does this serve the story?"
What's the difference between story and gameplay?
The story encompasses all the events of a narrative, while the gameplay consists of the events that rely on the player's involvement. Those events have a different character because they don't simply occur, but involve an active process on the part of the player, in which he must take in information from the game world, and make decisions about how to act.
Where do writers fit in the traditional structure of a development team?
At Telltale, the designers ARE writers because all game actions are intended to fit in the story of the episode. The completed design of the game generally specifies all of the plot points, the characters, and the relationships between those characters. At that point, we have dialog writers (who may or may not be the designers) come up with the exact words that the characters say to each other. Sometimes, in the process of writing the dialog, great new ideas will occur to us about how to shape the story, but for the most part, the story is complete before the dialog is written.
What's one game story you admire? Why?
I like many stories for a variety of reasons, but one that comes to mind is Gabriel Knight. There were parts of the story where I felt personally involved in the mystery, where I experienced the twists and turns just as immediately as the characters. I didn't passively think, "How mysterious," I actually had to consider everything I had learned about the world and the characters and their motivations to make new revelations. Let me say, when you finally get in that crypt, and see what's in there... well, I remember it like it really happened to me. And that's pretty amazing.
This discussion has been closed.