Turning a Linear Story into a Game: The Missing Link between Fiction and Interactive Entertainment

Character animations must be consistent with the environment. A character that is directed into a wall shouldn't uselessly stomp on the spot. It would make much more sense if the character would simply halt. When an obstacle gets in the way, the character should understand that it needs to jump over or go around, as characters do in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The player controls the character, but the character should have enough intelligence to adapt its movements to the environment. In Metal Gear Solid 2, a pursued Snake jumps down flights of stairs in order to escape more quickly.

Décor must be credible and detailed. In visual terms, credible décor must include all the little details that make things feel "real." In Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare, we stuffed in all the objects and decorative elements the player expects to see: gardening tools next to the greenhouse, clothes inside the house, etc. And if we really need our décors to look real, why not use existing, real-world locations?

Nature hates uniformity. Another way to create a more credible universe is to avoid repetition and uniformity. Take a look through your window and you'll notice that buildings come in different styles. That's because they were not built at the same time. People in the street don't look the same either. They wear all manner of clothes and come different sizes and shapes. They don't walk at the same pace, either. This is real life.

Think "sound" first. Before ever viewing a location, we perceive it through sound. In a game, the sound is very often mixed in as an added ingredient, even though it is often what gives the environment most of its flavor. When the character advances along a road, for example, the player shouldn't hear the same sound over and over. It is the random nature of sounds that delivers a lively universe.

Backgrounds peppered with oddities. Nothing gives more personality to a room or a building then a detail that you have not seen before. It could be as simple as an ashtray with a smoking cigar butt, a piece of equipment you expect to find in the type of room you visit, music coming out of a radio, etc.

A universe in movement. Simple things can be animated to give an amazing sense of life to a background. Think of the powerful effect of the flying curtains in Clive Barker's Undying or the dead leaves blown away by the wind in Hexen. In a street, a few cars zooming by, fans slowly rotating in a wharehouse, a flock of birds flying in the distance, etc.

The behavior of villains or computer-controlled characters characters should be as realistic as possible. Rather than relying on flawless AI, the script must provide a proper introduction and strong behavior rules for these characters. Enemies in Soldier of Fortune move around, take shelter and engage in combat in a life-like fashion. Guards in Metal Gear Solid are animated in a way that gives them extraordinary presence: they stretch out, stop to look around, and generally behave in a realistic fashion. Guards in Thief: The Dark Project talk to each other and change tones when they spot suspicious activity. All these behavioral details encourage us to believe in characters encountered during the game. Features like these can make enemies seem deadlier and allies friendlier.

Subjective view should be avoided as much as possible. Subjective views can damage a game's cinematic dimension, but such technique can be required at certain points during the game. A rifle scope or a TV monitor are good ways to integrate such a point of view in a movie-like video game. In this regard, controlling the sniper in Hitman is reasonably true to life: the cross-hairs move in step with the character's breathing and we can see the impact of bullets as they strike a target.

Blows taken by characters must be credible. It is preferable to make the enemy very weak rather than enabling our hero to take an absurd number of hits.

Appropriate Game Design

There is one essential requirement in game design: it must make room for the principles described in the first parts of this article.

There is a persistent belief in the industry that a game's lifespan is of primary importance. In reality, a vast majority of players never even finish a game. A number of factors explain this phenomenon. First, products that provide a rigid gameplay style end up wearying the player. Furthermore, once the player masters the controls of a particular game, the challenge is gone, and so is the interest. Many more players will abandon a game when they run into a puzzle or point that they find impossible to overcome.

Game authors should, therefore, concentrate on creating no more than fifteen hours of gameplay and instead focus on quality. Once the game is finished, the player might end up craving for more, but that will only build momentum for a sequel. Nevertheless, where a game's life must be extended using the same pool of resources (décors, characters, etc.), there are many ways to ensure its replayability.

The following mechanisms form the foundation of solid game design:

A linear game architecture that guides the player, but still leaves freedom of action. This game structure is increasingly common in action titles. Medal Of Honor, Clive Barker's Undying and Metal Gear Solid are built in this way. The player is not searching for the path. On the other hand, he gets to decide how to handle arising difficulties. Events are therefore perfectly integrated into the script and the pace of adventure is easily controlled.

A harmonious fusion between action and narration. The story and the script are the framework around which the adventure develops. This framework supplies the events that set the pace and keep the reader or viewer spellbound. This is what gives sense to the action. For a videogame to attain a genuine cinema dimension, narrative sections must not be shoehorned between two action scenes; they must be part of the scenes themselves. Traditional level-based game architecture needs serious rethinking. Events, new characters or pieces of information must be slipped in continuously. The excellent Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force demonstrates how inserting numerous cinematic sequences into the adventure can accomplish this goal. Narration is what draws the player into the story. It is therefore essential that information is delivered to the player at a regular interval. A common mistake is providing the player with too much information at once. Game designers often forget that a player has much less knowledge of the underlying story than they do. Swamped in information he cannot comprehend, the player ceases to pay attention and misses the point altogether.

A rich story relies on sudden new turns rather than complexity. Avoid complicated stories containing too many sub-plots. A player will quickly lose bearings amidst the confusion.

Pay great attention to secondary characters. They have a critic function in a story. They supply motivation to the hero, bring personality and life to the world created by the author and are often the best way to introduce new developments. In terms of gameplay, these characters also lend themselves to multiple uses: they may help the player by guiding him across a maze or fighting by his side, they may be temporarily incarnated by the player, or may die for the player so that our hero can stay alive and well.

Create varied and mixed actions. Throughout an action sequence in a movie, the hero will not perform a single task, such as just shooting. For instance, in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, when Indiana Jones sets off in pursuit of the Nazis carrying the ark of the covenant, he engages in hand to hand combat with soldiers and drives a truck. These two actions are mixed. Such architecture is perfectly possible in a game's action sequence. Suppose the hero is pursued by assassins. The hero shoots back at the approaching pack. Suddenly, an ambushed villain jumps out and the player tackles him in close combat. Or perhaps he might steal a car. Such a succession of varied actions can be playable — given a common interface.

Change the viewing mode with the gameplay. While moving or exploring, use a third person view. In this mode, the director places the camera as he deems appropriate. Play with camera positions to determine the best angle for each event. When the player drives a vehicle or looks through a scope, a first person view is in order. And in close action sequences, a succession of close-up cameras will preserve control over a scene while ensuring the benefits of a second person view. In this mode, the camera is "attached" to the character and follows it, most often providing a view from the rear. Made popular by Tomb Raider, this viewing mode provides much playing comfort but is quite tedious. It still works well if used sparingly in movie-like games. Lastly, the camera used in ONI is an interesting compromise between third and second person view, but its use in the heat of action may be confusing for some players.

Include a mechanism allowing the player to continue in spite of deadlocks. Difficulties in a game are meant for playing enjoyment, not frustration. The goal is to convey the fullness of adventure to the player. A number of mechanisms can be used to help the player get over a particularly challenging sequence. A clue to the mystery may be supplied to the player as it happens in Byzantine: The Betrayal. A secondary character may step in to help the player out of trouble (killing an annoying villain, for instance). When the software detects the player is in difficulty, it may adjust game settings to render villains weaker or fewer. In extreme cases, the software may allow the player to skip the sequence altogether. A short footage or a voice-off monologue will then explain what has been missed. In Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare we use two complementary methods. First, the player has access to his character's notebook, which automatically records any element conducive to understanding the story: the narrative, various encounters, etc. Solutions to many puzzles are found here. The player can also use his radio to call the second character. When the software detects the player is jamlocked, a help message fitting the context—and often full of wits—is displayed.

Manage the hero's death realistically. Nothing is more unrealistic that seeing the hero take in an unlikely number of hits without skipping a beat. To be credible, the hero needs to be fragile. Rather, a game is balanced by rendering villains less resilient. They may have poor eye sight or move around slowly, as in Medal Of Honor. They take hits even more badly than our hero. They can also flee. Why not have more than one hero? Only one need survive.