How Level Design Can Tell a Story

Summary

This video script from Game Maker's Toolkit explores the power of environmental storytelling in video games. It discusses how games like Bioshock use their settings to convey narrative, invoking player emotions and shaping their identity without relying on traditional cutscenes. The script delves into three levels of environmental storytelling: world building, level design, and micro-narrative details. It also touches on how game designers use environmental cues to evoke specific feelings and align with game mechanics, ultimately showcasing how immersive game worlds can tell compelling stories.

Takeaways

• 🎮 Bioshock is used as an example to illustrate how a game's environment can effectively convey a narrative without relying on traditional storytelling methods like cutscenes or dialogue.
• 🌆 The game world's setting, such as a city at the bottom of the ocean with high society elements, can provide players with a strong sense of the game's themes and backstory.
• 📜 Environmental storytelling involves using set dressing and small details within the game world to create self-contained narratives that players can piece together.
• 🔍 Players are encouraged to use deductive reasoning to connect details and become active participants in the storytelling process, rather than passive observers.
• 🏙️ Level design, including architecture and layout, can communicate information about the inhabitants of a game world and provide narrative clues.
• 🎨 Game environments can evoke emotions in players through the use of scale, shape, and color, enhancing the emotional impact of the narrative.
• 🚶‍♂️ The design of a game world can influence player identity by providing cues about the character they are playing and the actions that are expected or permitted.
• 🛠️ Environmental storytelling is not just for narrative purposes; it can also serve gameplay functions, such as hinting at puzzle solutions or indicating dangers.
• 🎬 The video discusses the use of emotion and intensity charts by game designers to plan and evoke specific feelings in players throughout a game level.
• 🌈 The game Journey is highlighted as an example where the environment and color palette are used to express different sensations and emotions without the need for words.

Q & A

How does the game Bioshock use its environment for storytelling without traditional narrative methods?

Bioshock conveys its story through the game's setting, which is a massive underwater city with elements of high society, ruin, and despair. The game's environment suggests a downfall on New Year's Day, 1959, and allows players to deduce the narrative through observation and exploration.

What is 'environmental storytelling' and how does it engage players?

Environmental storytelling is the use of set dressing to create small, optional, and self-contained narratives within a game's environment. It engages players by requiring them to use deductive reasoning to connect details and create an overall story, making them active participants in the storytelling process.

How does environmental storytelling differ from traditional narrative methods?

Environmental storytelling allows players to discover the narrative through exploration of the game world, rather than being passive recipients of cutscenes or dialogue. It often involves static objects, overheard conversations, animations, and text, and can highlight the impact of the player's actions on the environment.

What is the role of level design in conveying narrative elements in a game?

Level design plays a crucial role in storytelling by using architectural elements, layout, materials, and scale to provide insights into the people who inhabit the game spaces. It can also give gameplay hints and reflect the themes of the game's narrative.

Can you provide an example of how a game uses level design to reflect social hierarchy?

In Dishonored 2's Dust District, level designers use verticality to show the working class being literally beneath the powerful, indicating a social hierarchy through the game's spatial design.

How do game designers use environmental details to evoke emotions in players?

Designers use scale, shape, color, and other environmental details to create specific emotional responses. For example, narrow spaces and low ceilings can create a sense of压迫, while open vistas can evoke feelings of triumph or relief.

What is the significance of the three-act structure in game level design?

The three-act structure in game level design helps to create a narrative arc with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It includes rising action, a low moment of despair, and a final climb to victory, which can be mirrored in the game's environment and mechanics.

How does the game Journey use its environment to tell a story without words?

Journey uses environmental changes such as climbing and falling, as well as color shifts, to evoke feelings of strength, progression, loss, and hopelessness without the need for dialogue or text.

How do game environments influence a player's identity and actions within the game?

Game environments provide context that helps players understand the character they are inhabiting and the actions that are expected, permitted, or punished. The design of the environment can make certain actions feel more or less appropriate based on the setting and social rules implied by the game world.

What is the importance of ensuring that environmental storytelling is accessible to a general audience?

Ensuring environmental storytelling is accessible to a general audience is important for maintaining a wide player base and avoiding alienating players with content that may be too mature or sensitive for some audiences.