Evolution of storytelling - Noah Falstein

Evolution of Storytelling

Noah Falstein
CCO, Suddenly Social

My Background

n  Began as a game programmer, 1980
n  16 years in companies – LArts, 3DO, DWI
n  15 years freelance design worldwide in console, PC,
serious games, social, mobile
n  Now Suddenly Social with creators of Habitat, about
1/4 of Lucasfilm Games in 1985
© Copyright 2012 Suddenly Social

Evolving Stories…
n  Stories and games seem to go together
n  And of course in many ways they do
n  But in others, they are 180 degrees
apart, and can fight each other
n  Understanding evolution, game design,
and psychology can help us align them
n  Let me demonstrate…

© 2012 Noah Falstein

House on Fire
n  Let me tell you a story…
n  Is this MY story – or YOURS?
n  What’s going on here?


n  Games are very old


n  Storytelling is likely even older


n  They seem to have a lot in common


Evolutionary Roots
n  Question of human nature, behavior
n  Many designers turn to psychology and
evolutionary biology
n  Need a theory for the hunter-gatherer society
where our ancestors lived for millennia
n  But it should also help explain modern
entertainment in all its variety
n  And of course, video games!
n  Maybe help point the way forward as well

The Core Assumptions of
Natural Funativity
n  Why would early humans take play so far?
n  Play as kids to learn survival, then Work/Rest as adults
n  But evolution favors fittest, and neotenous genes present
n  How to be more fit – use energy, must have payoff, must
not be too dangerous
n  Like many evo things, have multiple uses, like language
n  People who didn’t experience fun were less
likely to survive to become our ancestors
n  Only the context has changed a bit:


Hunter/Gatherer, Then:


Hunter/Gatherer, Now:


Video Game Hunter?


Video Game Gatherer?


Evolution Premise
n  Entertainment is all about gaining
survival (and reproduction) advantages
n  Stories are the first Virtual Reality
n  We learn from others’ experiences
n  Games are about choice and actions
n  We learn by getting better at skills
n  Games are Doing, Stories are Telling
n  For more info google “Natural
Funativity”

Gameplay trumps Story
n  So “Show, don’t tell” becomes “Do, don’t
show”
n  Many great games with lots of
interactivity, no story – Tetris, Bejewelled
n  No great games with lots of story, no
interactivity. Count ‘em. None!
n  But there are fabulously successful things
with no interactivity and great stories
n  We call them Movies

Diablo II –
Great Game, Lousy Story

But the intrinsic “storytelling”
was enough

So is it hopeless?
n  We can mix stories in games
n  Stories can make games more fun
n  They can intensify emotional response
or enable new feelings
n  They can add a new dimension to an
already good game
n  It’s just hard – so you should have a
good reason – and a good writer!

Story and Gameplay
n  Let’s look at good gameplay and game
design and see how it can blend with
good storytelling


Definition of a Great Game
n  A great game is a series of interesting
and meaningful choices made by the
player in pursuit of a clear and
compelling goal
n  Dissecting this helped with a lot of early
ideas about Natural Funativity


A series of … choices in
pursuit of a … goal
n  Must have choice, or it is not interactive
n  Chris Crawford says “Verbs, not Nouns”
n  I prefer “Do, don’t show”
n  Must be a series of choices or it is too
simple to be a game
n  Must have a goal or it is a software toy
n  With Sim City, The Sims or Facebook
players may bring their own goals
n  Storytelling supplies goals

Interesting and Meaningful
choices
n  Choices may be dull and uninteresting
because it was easy to code that way
n  Or it may be the reflection of a lazy
designer
n  Meaningful choices are perceived by the
player as having significant
consequences – illusion is enough
n  May not have actual consequences…


Clear and Compelling goal
n  Clear goals, because it is not fun to
flounder aimlessly
n  Avoid the “protagonist with amnesia”
and other clichés in your story
n  Compelling goals are goals that follow
the concepts in Natural Funativity
n  Survival is always a compelling goal
n  So is romance – finding a mate

Structure: A series of choices
n  No choice – simplest, but least
interesting possible structure – this
is a linear sequence or narrative


Evolution of gameplay
n  So let’s look at how video game
structure has evolved over the years,
and what has been proven to work


A series of choices
n  Meaningless choices
n  Obviously fold back into same path
n  Players discover this quickly
n  But good for simple action game


A series of choices
n  Infinite choices
n  Quickly become unmanageable


A series of choices
n  Choose wisely
n  Kill off player with any wrong choice
n  Better but frustrating


For example…


And more recently…


Classic game structure
n  A convexity
n  Starts with a single choice, widens to
many choices, returns to a single choice


Convexity qualities
n  Go from one to many to one
n  Can be a level, an act, an episode
n  Can be any kind of choice – geography,
weapons, tools, skills, technologies,
quests – or story dialog choices
n  One example – exploring an island
n  Another – technology build tree


Fractal structure
n  Large scale structure repeated on
medium, smaller scales, like a coastline
n  In the case of convexities, each circle is
not a single choice, but a convexity
n  Frontierville example – To gain
experience, build cabin, need tools, visit
friends, tend their crops, request gift


A series of convexities
n  Many games are chains of convexities
B B B
B A A A A
A

n  Points of limited choice (A) alternate
with points of many choices (B)

Story Tension Diagrams


A series of convexities
n  Many overlapping convexities in great
games
n  Examples include Halo, Zelda games,
Civilization, Diablo II, Starcraft,
Bioshock, Frontierville, many others
n  Player can be starting one task or area,
in the middle of another, and at the end
of a third, all simultaneously


Why is this structure so good?
n  Give the player choice but not an
infinitely expanding set of choices
n  Mix of some “any order” choices (B)
and some in fixed order (A), blending
freedom with linear storytelling
n  Can be structured so players see most
of the game, minimizing waste
n  Can have difficulty go up in new levels


Psychological advantages of
classic structure
n  Alternating intense learning (A) with
time to practice (B) is the best way to
master new skills
n  Gradual learning and introduction of
new skills at the heart of fun game play
n  “Easy to learn, difficult to master”
n  Stories – series of acts, building to crisis


The concept of Flow
n  U of C professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
n  One of his books is “Flow: The
Psychology of Optimal Experience”
n  Flow is a state of exhilaration, deep
sense of enjoyment
n  Usually when a person’s body or mind
is stretched to its limits to accomplish
something difficult and worthwhile


The Flow Channel
n  Start with relatively low level of
challenge to match starting skill levels
n  Gradually increase challenge
n  Fast enough to prevent boredom
n  Not so fast as to induce frustration


The Flow Channel
Too Hard (Frustrating)
Increasing Difficulty

si on
y Pr ogres
lt
eD ifficu
G am
Ideal

Too Easy (Boring)

Increasing Time (and Player Skill)


The Flow Channel
n  Flow state is common while developing
same skills noted in Natural Funativity
n  Best to introduce skills one at a time, let
player master them, move on to new
n  This results in staggered increase in
difficulty (wavy difficulty line)


Difficulty Increase Varies

B B B
B A A A A
A

A = Rapid Difficulty Increase, B = Slower Increase


Typical game mechanisms
n  High difficulty increase: Boss monsters,
climactic battles, quest resolutions
n  Low difficulty increase: Bonus levels,
new resource- and treasure-rich areas,
series of easy “minion” enemies
n  Overlap introduction of new skills, areas
to explore, tools, enemies


Conclusions
n  Games, stories about evolutionary
advantages
n  They blend on some levels, conflict on
others
n  Use them in harmony and you will
succeed, use them in conflict and player
will feel frustrated


Thank You!
n  Noah Falstein
n  Send me a Linked In request, mention
this presentation or conversation
n  nfalstein on twitter, skype
n  noah@suddenlysocial.net (note .NET)

© Copyright 2012 Suddenly Social

Evolution of storytelling - Noah Falstein

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Evolution of storytelling - Noah Falstein