Hi all; I''m going to go to a lecture on stories and computer games this friday at Stanford where the lecturers will likely have a Q & A session at the end. If you have any questions you would like me to take with me to ask at this lecture, post them and I will bring them along and try to have them answered as best I can. Adventuredesign

Hmm, how about:

What conceptual model of fiction is most useful for designing computer games and why?

How can a strong story be told while still allowing the player enough interactivity to achieve immersion?

What are the top 5 most dangerous aspects of the game industry?

quote: Original post by superpig
How can a strong story be told while still allowing the player enough interactivity to achieve immersion?

That''s a good one. It''s hard to solve, but it''s very useful for creating games.

quote: Original post by sunandshadow
What conceptual model of fiction is most useful for designing computer games and why?

What do you mean by "conceptual model of fiction"? Forgive me, I''m a non-writer.

~CGameProgrammer( );

-- Post screenshots of your projects. 100+ posts already in the archives.

How do you resolve the inherent conflict between storytelling (passive listener ?) and providing active entertainment (active player ?) in a computer game.
*Should* the conflict be resolved, in the first place ? After all, there is a market for both audiences (gamers and readers) but is there really a need to merge both types of experiences ? Are we gonna get the best of both worlds, or displease everybody by trying to achieve a compromise between opposite sides ?

What is the role of storytelling in games anyway ?
Or more specifically, what part of storytelling/reading is it that, as players, we look for in the plot of a game ? (this question is to expose the connection between games and stories)
Is it the background stories and new worlds (the fantasy), is it the vicarious experience it provides, is it the possible catharsis it might procure. Is it, like Serge Tisseron suggests, a way for players to experience the safety and comfort of worlds were rules (even if twisted) are clearly known and followed (which would parallel nicely with the need that young children express to always hear the same stories over and over again, precisely because they *know* them)
Is it to experience the hero''s journey rather than read about it?

I suppose I am really asking the same thing than superpig, but I think I am being a tad bit more specific. I hope you can see where I am going, too

Sancte Isidore ora pro nobis !

quote: Original post by CGameProgrammer

quote: Original post by sunandshadow
What conceptual model of fiction is most useful for designing computer games and why?

What do you mean by "conceptual model of fiction"? Forgive me, I'm a non-writer.

Well, there are different schools of thought about what fiction is and how it functions. A 'conceptual model of fiction' would be a diagram/requirements list illustrating the theory of one of these schools. Freytag's Pyramid is one model, the heroic monomyth is another, fortunately-unfortunately is a third. There's the Masterplots model, Vladimir's Propp's fairy tale recipie, the five-act play structure (and it's four and nine act variants), and probably some other models that I don't know about.


[edited by - sunandshadow on February 2, 2004 8:23:18 PM]

quote: Original post by ahw
I suppose I am really asking the same thing than superpig, but I think I am being a tad bit more specific.

Yeah, you phrased it better too.