How game designers use story to enhance a player's gameplay experience

How game designers use story to enhance a player's gameplay experience

First I'm going to start to talk about the different types of story telling so we can see where it all started. Most games, almost all tell a story of some sort of have a main story plot for the player to follow by and enjoy. Games have stories to they keep our interest over time and so we can enjoy them and have a little fun if most games didn't have a story we would lose interest and move on to something else. Games aren't' the only things that have stories, movies and TV shows have stories and even before that theses stories were around in the form of tales, legends and myths but even before then stories were told in cave paintings.

Early Forms of Story Tellings

From what we know cave paintings were the earliest form of storying telling and it was all done thought paintings/ drawings done on cave walls showing others what was going on in the authors mind which would in time tells a story.We then devopled from that to things like myths and legends storys with no real image but could be told and the imagination would create it. Then from there theses myths and lengends were told in the forms of plays in therater to being in filmes and movies and now a days in games to keep us interested.

                

Game Genres


There are different types of story that intrest different types of people, some poeple my like a romance story and other may like
alot of action in there storys. Game devpoleers have taken this into account and have made alot of genes to keepp all people how in enojy different types of storys weither they are young, old, male or female, They have to make sure that everything can enjoy a game with a story.

With all theses different types of stories in mind to make things easier game devoples have looked into how the players of theses games can enjoy there type of story to the max by making different game genres such as FPS ( frist person shoters)for exaplame for those who enojy full on action to feel like they are in the game making it more fun as you are in the action as if it was you but without the danger. With a story added to this experice it makes the game more real for the player making them feel like there is a purpose to the game so its not just a mindless killing spree.



Here are some other explames of geners for games: Action, Shooter, Role-play, Adventure, Simulator, City-building, Startegy. There are other generes but theses are the main ones that are then sub categoried into more pesfic types or combined types of the genres there.

 Jade Empire
Jade Empire is a game im very fond of because of its story, its an action role playing game where your character goes though a series of main events that are linked to a big sercet of your destiny. At the very start of the game you are given the choice of whichs charater you would like to be there is a choice of male or female betewwn three charaters and the players is given a chose of weaponary this very interseting becuase you havent even entered the game and already there is a choice to be made which does determended how the player will play in gameplay at for alot of the game but the player does not know the until later on.

The story in this game is very linier as there is always a chose to be made, in almost every convosation your charater has there is an option of sayings that determend a small aspect of changing in story depending in the choise made. There is also the system of follwing the way of the open palm and the way of the closed fist.

 

With this system in place in the game it means that the game can reach the same ending but with slightly different twists and turns along the way which entertains the player making it seems like a very different game. Also because this game has this system it encrouges the player to play the game again to try the other side eg if the player was playing by following the way of the open palm and finished the game then the seconed time they played tehy would play the way of teh closed fist. Which would mean thats even though they are follwoing the same story line some events may have been changes or missed out completely or some scenes would have been added. 

Elite Beat Agents

This is just one apporch to gaming, there are many more like for example Elite Beat Agents which is a rhythm game much like Rhythm Heaven has the player following a very strict story line in which the player has to unlock the stage before moving on to get further in the game. With the difficulty increasing each time a stage is unlocked. Games that has this kinda of approch can become very once completed becuase nothing chnages if played again but some games tend to have an other all difficulty level so that overall teh game is then more challenging for the start. These games tend to lack the story line with a beginning middle and end and focus more on unlocking new things to reach teh end. Some game that following this way have certain achievements such as '500 combo in one mini-game' to give the player other goals to do in game and another reason to play this game more after complete or before completing. 

Games like these tend not to focus on things like gender or ethnicity I believe that theses kinda of things are mostly in games that as of the RPG kinda or possiablly action just becuase they are more story driven. Most RPG's are focusing on the player contorlling the chartater but not being the charater themself so because they are someone else the devpolers have the chnace to tell the story of this charter and teh world they live in which could contane anything, and this leads to the stories have alot of emotion in them to help the playr blieve that they the chatater they are playing is a little more real. 

Some games are aimmed at certain genders like for exapamle : Style Boutique is a game where theplayer own theere own boutique and trys to make it the best boutique in town. 

 

You can tell that this game is aimmed at girls becuase there is not choice to be a boy and that its all all focused heavyly around fashion, even though many boys may like fashion in the gaming world many boys tend to play action games with allot violant and wouldnt really want to play a game like this because of its relaxed gameplay and cute interface. Also the cute interface would be more apealing to a girl. There is alot of idle chit chat in this game which girl tend to enjoy, talking with the cutumers they vist the shop and want to buy clothes. 

Many games try to be unisex so that they appeal to girls and boys without boring one or the other, games like The World Ends With You tend to have alot more comsummer becuase they try to please both genders. This game has a good mix of fashion, action and story to keep players playing for a while.

  It also has a unique art style based off graphifty which is mostly appealing to young poeple which was the tartget aidence for this game.Even some young people dont like this graphifty the game desigers have made it a little more bighter and not soo urban by using very bright coulrs to show off its more freidnly side.Also bad language is avoided in this game and small scenes are added in to make the story funny and worth reading. Also man y games that try to reach both gender normally have both genders as the main charters so the player being one of teh gender has someone to relate to. 

    

What game desigers try very hard to do is add emotion to the stories of games becuase a story without emoition is very boring and uninteresting so they try very hard to add emotion to keep the game interesting just as you would go on a film they try to add a moment or even base the whole game around certain emtions to give the game a perpose to play or a goal. Such as in the Sonic series the goal of most of the game is to stop Dr eggman from getting the chaos emeralds so that the world doesnt fall into his hands. What the game depolvers do with this to add emtion have they certain senesc where eggman has done harm to people so show that he is a truly evil man and needs to be stopped, or scenes where dr eggman does get one of the 7 emeralrds, also sences where sonic or his team dought themself and think he is too powerful but is taht encrouged to go on, this emation making the player wonder what will happen next so they have ao tplay the game to find out.