Video Game Story Inception Method
There is no perfect model to craft a story. It depends a lot on the type of game you are creating. The Emotional Journey is not supposed to be a template to follow but more of a guide. This below is the approximate workflow I use when I tackle a new story. Those steps help me focus and get inspired when I feel blocked.
Step 1 - Get Ideas
GOAL : Explore the release’s core concept(s) via blue-sky brainstorming.DELIVERABLES : Organized ideas list divided up into key sections: CHARACTER, PLOT, THEME.
I/ The big bang
Write down all ideas that are coming to mind about: ...
Step 2 - Conflict
GOAL : Explore the Concept’s Protagonist and Antagonist and their conflict.DELIVERABLES : Multiple versions of a Protagonist & Antagonist and their conflict. 150 words each.
I/ Protagonist
To structure the process of character exploration and...
Step 3 - Premise
GOAL : Explore the potential themes that are coming through.DELIVERABLES : Write down the Theme, Moral Conflict, Design Principle, Premise, Tone/Genre, and Fantasy
It's about finding what all those ideas are leading us to. Finding order...
Step 4 - Plot
GOAL : Identify your narrative’s five most critical plot points.DELIVERABLES : 1-2 pages document that describes each of the 5 Key Plot Points and all characters involved in each plot point (player, ghost, Key NPC, etc.)
The Biggest M...
Step 5 - Arcs
GOAL: Identify your narrative five most critical thematic moments. Where THEME changes characters and/or the world over an arc.DELIVERABLES: 1-2 pages document that describes each of the 5 Key Thematic Points and all characters involved in each po...
Step 6 - Causality
GOAL: Map the whole story with organic transitionsDELIVERABLES: Causality chart document that outlines the story through the main Narrative beats.
I/ Plot & Theme
By combining the PLOT and THEME key moments, you should...
Step 7 - Summary
GOAL: Create documentation that can be easily shared to anybodyDELIVERABLES: Concept documentation
This final step is about creating documentation that can be shared with other teams.
I/ Concept
Write the concept page with...
The Emotional Journey Model
The Emotional journey - PART 1 - "Why we need a Narrative Structure"
A lack of narrative structure, as you know, will cause anxiety. John Dufresne
Over the years and within several teams and studios, I've collaborated on many narrative experiences. One of the main issues I encounter still to this day is the ability...
The Emotional journey - PART 2 - "What is a Narrative Structure"
Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else. Leonardo da Vinci
A Narrative Structure as a Framework
To be clear, a narrative structure is not a template nor a "paint by number" system. A story written using a narrative...
The Emotional journey - PART 3 - "Blocks & Events"
Flow can only truly be achieved when we are willing to let go of the outcome and just play. Sandra Taylor Hedges
17 Beats to a Story
The proposed model breaks down the narrative structure as follow s :
11 blocks of time of action driven...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: HALO - The Silent Cartographer
The most obvious application of the model is on a linear campaign mission.
If we take one of the best mission ever created (in my opinion), The Silent Cartographer from Halo, it should be no surprise that the Emotional Journey model can map pretty...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: PUBG
The application of the Emotional Journey model to a non-linear game like PUBG is where this model really shines. The standard Hero's Journey model does not account for the experience to not be constrained by time or stop before the end.Here, a few game...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: Breath of the Wild - Owa Daim Shrine
This is an example where an experience does not have any ASSAULT or CLASH but still has a resolution.
Since this experience is more like a tutorial it makes sense that there isn't a real climax.
https://vimeo.com/384666495
Owa Daim Shrine ...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: Mario Bros 1.1
The model is also applicable to level design. For example, taking a benchmark of level design, Mario Bros 1.1, we can see how the design teach the players the game mechanics while taking them through an emotional ride. There is a crescendo in difficulty...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: Destiny 2 Red War Campaign
The whole campaign of DESTINY 2: The Red War was also mapped out with the help of the Emotional Journey model. It really helped to have a guide while building up different elements, to make sure that we had a spine that was going somewhere.
SETUP...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: Destiny 2 Homecoming
This is work that I did in collaboration with many others, using the Emotional Journey model, applied in a linear narrative on the opening mission of DESTINY 2, HOMECOMING.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe06cEoiEbk
Specifically, I worked...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: The Matrix
Below is a breakdown of the movie The Matrix, using the Emotional Journey model. It fits perfectly, each beat of the movie flows flawlessly into the next one.
The Matrix is a model of application for the Hero's Journey, no surprise that it fits the...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: FRIENDS - The One with the Joke
An episode of Sitcom has several stories intertwined. When one plot is set up, the next one is introduced before going to the next step for the first plot. In this one, there are 3 plots. Each one focuses on one character that wants something. I've separate...
The Emotional journey – Analysis: CHVRCHES, LED ZEPPELIN & CHOPIN
The emotional journey can also be mapped on music pieces. Their structure and how they trigger emotions in the audience follow the same rules as the ones detailed in the Emotional Journey model.
Chvrches
The mother we share by CHVRCHES also...
Narrative Design essays
The Three Layer Narrative Cake: the Player Story
People often discuss "story" as a broad term that means many things. As Narrative Designers, we can only be successful collaborators if we speak the same language as other teams and agree on the meaning of words and concepts. I've encountered at least...
Storytelling and Level Design
Wrote in 2012 for the IGDA as an article about Storytelling and Level Design
Storytelling in Level Design is much more than simply putting a corpse in a room. We first need to know what story we are telling. And for that, we have to examine...