Narrative News Special Report: GDC 2024 Takeaways for Game Writers
Lessons on romance writing, sequel creation, and interactivity.
Hey fellow narrative designers!
I just came back from the Game Developers Conference and I’m here to report on all the narrative talks that inspired me most.
Now keep in mind, my notes below aren’t precisely what the speakers said—it’s my distilled version. If any of the speakers themselves read this, feel free to let me know if I interpreted your lessons correctly!
If you enjoy tips read on, or skip this post and wait for the next! A new jobs and resources roundup will be arriving shortly.
Until then, happy writing!
World-building and Story for F2P Live Ops Models by Stephan Bugaj, Genvid
Good world-building codifies your genre and creates a second home for your player to escape into.
Why story in a mobile game? Story hooks hearts, not just reflexes and adrenal responses.
Characters provide your game with personality, world-building provides spirit, and story provides a journey.
Retention enticement #1: Cliffhangers.
Cliffhanger: New character.
Develop a key trait in your characters.
There should be variety in character ‘hooks’. Cute, cunning, funny, love-to-hate etc.
Cliffhanger: New situation.
The classic tense story hook, e.g. hanging off a cliff.
Cliffhanger: New stakes/shift the meta.
E.g. Previously, the implicit rule in a horror game was that only NPCs died, when a main character dies it signals a shift.
Cliffhanger: New location.
These need to appeal to player wonderment, signal an evolution of the promise of the premise of the genre.
Retention enticement #2: Decisions.
Favoritism decisions.
Make player pick a favorite character to protect, or a least favorite player to condemn.
Situational decisions.
A tactical risk/reward is associated with the decision.
Ethical/moral decisions.
Balance situational concerns with moral-ethical positioning.
Direct relationship state decisions.
The player dictates how one character relates to another.
Salacious and sinful decisions.
Choices about topics like sexual affairs and murder.
Retention enticement #3: Story is its own reward!
Writing a Story Treatment, ‘Stranger Things’ Style by Joe Morrissey, Believer Company
Stranger Things treatment is 20 pages.
It was originally called ‘Montauk’ and you can find it here.
Sections:
Cover
Aesthetic is important—it tells your story too!
Introduction
Not long—half a page, super-inviting.
What is your story a love letter to?
Also think of your story with this framing: “Everybody loves a good…”
Uniqueness
Story
Five-paragraph essay.
Setting, character, first turn, summary, ending.
Structure
Tone and Style
Genre
Characters
Secondary Characters
Future Potential
Possible additional sections for games: the big bad, factions, theme.
But try to keep it short!
Suggested formats for sharing: Miro or Slides.
Cooking with Chemistry: Recipes for Attraction in Narrative Design by Michelle Clough, Talespinner
An overused style of character romance is the ‘kindness coins’ style.
Player progresses relationship by doing nice actions.
Once it reaches a threshold, the NPC confesses love.
This flattens the NPC cast because they only have feelings because the player is nice to them.
Alternative to kindness coins: player makes the kind of choices that would attract NPC.
This is what Clough calls the Chemistry Card Tower.
You can also do the Chemistry Casino, in which players have to guess what turn-ons the NPC has, but they’re not clearly telegraphed (less of a sure bet).
Cooking Tip #1: Approval is Not Attraction.
Just because you admire someone, doesn’t mean you’re attracted to them.
On the flip side, sometimes you dig someone you disapprove of.
Attraction is about what inspires romantic/erotic admiration.
Sometimes attraction pops up in antagonistic dynamics (enemies to lovers, for instance).
Cooking Tip #2: Romantic and Sexual Chemistry Are Not the Same.
Gawrsh v. Guhh (cute or steamy).
Cooking Tip #3: Know Different Types of Attractive Traits.
Types: Sensory, Intellectual, Emotional.
Examples of specific traits that could attract NPCs to a player: player chooses violence (or not), player is successful within the game mechanics, player does particular emotes that attract an NPC.
Cooking Tip #4: Use situational chemistry as a catalyst.
Examples: Meet cute, shared trauma, NPC is in a mood where they just need a warm body to share a bed with.
Works best when it’s a catalyst for the chemistry you already have in place.
Cooking Tip #5: Give it time to build!
Rather than going from uninterested straight to in love, it should follow this path:
Platonic → Intrigued → Romantic
To achieve this, you can use subtle but recognizable signs of a crush developing.
Like standing closer to the player, eye contact, other body language cues.
Cooking Tip #6: Experiment with Chemistry Variations.
NPCs can have multiple ‘types’ they are attracted to and have different things they like to do with different types of people (hook up with then dump the bad boy v. fall in love with the shy hacker girl).
Ultimately, the best advice is to be true to your NPCs.
Is. Sequel. Possible?: The Making of ‘OXENFREE II: Lost Signals’ by Adam Douglas & Bryant Cannon, Night School Studio
Douglas and Cannon identified the major factors behind creating a successful sequel:
Give the audience something new.
Identify what worked and build off of it.
Change the stakes.
Play with expectations.
Add new memorable characters.
Branching on a Budget: Creating Agency without Wrecking Scope by Nessa Cannon, Freelance
How do you make a game with tight, compact branching?
Pentiment is a good example.
Dialogue choices fall into three categories:
Ones that have consequences.
Ones that have thematic importance.
Ones that provide character insight and input.
Prioritizing consequential choices and character identity choices leads to a player-focused game.
Prioritizing consequential choices and thematic choices leads to a story-focused game.
Prioritizing character identity choices and thematic choices leads to a scope-focused game.
How Interactive Should My Game Story Be? by Richard Rouse III, FarBridge
First, let’s consider what the player gets from interactivity:
Replayability
Reactivity
Shareability
Self-expression
And, for some games, interactivity is The Whole Point
Then, let’s consider what the player expects from interactivity:
Genre expectations
Fantasy expectations (can I role play how I want?)
Setting expectations
For all of these, if you add narrative payoffs throughout, players will be less disappointed by a limited number of endings.
Types of choices:
Moment-to-moment choices—fun dialogue etc.
Quest-level choices—multiple endings, multiple paths.
Character-level choices—choices that define character.
If you did all of those for every single aspect, you’d have a sim and it might not be considered a story at all.
So, we return to the question: what should be the depth of interactivity?
With various types of story delivery you can adjust the depth of interactivity.
E.g. Copious or minimal barks, copious or minimal branching.
You can make any decision you like, but it’s important to teach the player the level of interactivity they should expect early on, so they won’t be disappointed.
And playtest, playtest, playtest!
Ultimately, the game doesn’t have to be endlessly interactive, just interactive enough to fulfill its genre, fantasy, and setting expectations.
Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.
About the Writer:
Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove by Double Loop Games, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.
you have no idea how much i appreciate this! i missed the entire narrative summit due to scheduling issues so this is a gem. even more reason to watch the entire talk haha.
Excellent summaries, thank you!