Week 5

General Notes

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Lecture Slides

• Annul is a recalling of events that are a disconnected list, whereas narrative connects the objects together in an ordered sequence.

• A game story can be read thematically, e.g. Space Invaders dramatises fatalistic modern life, or features a last vanguard that is fighting off endless hoards of aliens as the humans escape; or Pac-Man represents capitalism through endless consumption of pellets.

• An example of a pattern in a sequence of narrative events is called The Restorative Three Act Structure:

  • First act: beginning of events and introduction of conflict, e.g. character wakes up to a good morning and all of a sudden, a firey meteor hits their home;

  • Second act: developing and then climax of conflict, e.g. character tries to put out fire but then all of a sudden, aliens come out of the meteor and cause chaos; and

  • Third act: resolution of conflict, e.g. character puts out fire and neutralises aliens, and then can go about their day.

• Chekhov's gun tells the idea that every element in a story must be necessary, e.g. a shotgun on the wall is inherently expected to be part of the story.

• 3 stage linear narrative structure: Stimulus elicits action tendencies that restore equilibrium. 

• The triangle pattern for narratives (exposition, rising action, conflict, falling action and denouement) is inaccurate for contemporary narratives is inaccurate due to, for example, subplots that completely disrupt and overlap the triangle, or narratives that defy the traditional pattern.

• Monomyth structure (moral growth):

  • The ordinary world;

  • The call to adventure;

  • The refusal of the call;

  • The meeting with the mentor;

  • Crossing the first threshold;

  • Tests, allies and enemies;

  • The approach of the innermost cave;

  • The ordeal;

  • The reward;

  • The road back;

  • The resurrection; and

  • The return with the reward.

• Regulating interest: curiousity (questions and enigmas, or in media res), suspense (genre expectations, foreshadowing, or dramatic irony) and surprise (unexpected return of prior knowledge).

Tools for Unity and Narratives

• Twine - Good storyboarding tool for pre-conceptualisation. https://twinery.org/ 

• ChatMapper - Tool for interactive and writing that can work with Unity. https://www.chatmapper.com/ 

• Ren'Py - A visual novel tool for creating character dialogue. https://www.renpy.org/ 

• Fungus - Good Unity tool for simple interactive narratives (deprecated). https://fungusgames.com/ 

• Dialogue System for Unity - Sworn-by tool for creating dialogue, quest dialogue, etc. https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/behavior-ai/dialogue-system-for-unity-11672 

• First person narrative adventures - Unity plugin for dialogue which also features object inspector and inventory. https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/first-person-narrative-adventures-complete-puzzle-engine-131623 

• EndlessBook - Unity book plugin for creating readable books with flippable pages. https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/props/endlessbook-134213 

• First Person Exploration Kit - Plugin to note as it has mechanics that could be handy. https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/first-person-exploration-kit-60434 

• Yarn Spinner - Narrative game tool for writers. https://www.yarnspinner.dev/ 

• Inkle - Independent game developer who has made narrative tools for games. https://www.inklestudios.com/ 

• Love/Hate - A tool to track NPC emotions. https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/behavior-ai/love-hate-33063