This module will provide students with an understanding of narrative and how it applies to video games. It will educate them on the role of the Narrative Designer in video games), provide an overview of the story development process and teach them how to design and develop characters and an interactive narrative. It will also provide students with the skills to plan and write scenes (linear and interactive), dialogue (again linear and interactive), and create support material. Students will also learn how to evaluate work as well as how assess and incorporate feedback.
The role of the writer
- The history and importance of storytelling
- How that changes for interactive fiction
- The role of the narrative designer in a team
- Agency, Immersion and Emergence and their impact on story
- Audience
- Genre
Design your story’s world
- Creating the world proper
- Detailing the races and organisations within it
- Detailing locations of importance
- Creating PCs that matter
- Creating NPCs that are memorable
Structuring your story
- The building blocks of story – theme, tone, conflicts, stakes, etc
- Story structures – both linear and interactive; cutscene and gameplay
Planning
- Scene structure and purpose – the elements of scene design
- Planning story quests
Writing
- The importance of communicating correctly
- Writing linear scenes and dialogue
- Writing interactive scenes and dialogue
- How to create distinct voices for characters
- How to construct emotional scenes and write emotional dialogue
- Writing game artefacts (barks, chatter, quests and in-game documents)
- The basics of cinematography
- Advanced narrative techniques
- Conditional storytelling/Story algorithms
- Dialogue systems (user selected, procedural, etc)
Rewriting
- How to give and receive feedback
- How to evaluate feedback receive
- How to prepare for and how to do the rewrite
The module will follow a student centred learning strategy, employing techniques such as formal lectures, discussions, questions & answers, think-pair-share, analysis of video games and concept mapping to help create an inclusive and educational environment.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 100 |