08/04/16 - Interactive Narrative - Alone in the Dark 3

For this week I chose Alone in the dark 3 as I've always wanted to play an Alone in the dark game
2.
Unpack the first level of your chosen game (including cut scenes) how does it tell its story, and how is the player involved in the
telling (consider all of the narrative elements discussed so far in the course)?

Alone in the Dark's story starts as soon as you start the game. Like an old movie the cut scene is playing over the credits. We open up in Edward Carnby's office where his lights get cut off by his "dog" of a landlord. He's states that he is happy that his radio still works and the news is talking about some local earthquakes that have scientists confused. The plot starts when the phone rings and a man called Grey Saundars tells Edward of a job he'd like him to do. A western film's crew has vanished into thin air and he'd like you to find out what's the deal with it. He pleads that Emily Hartwood someone from Edwards past was in the crew. After arguing over pay you get the location of the town Slaughter Gulch in the Mojave desert ( Nothing good could ever happen at a place called Slaughter Gulch)

This cut scene has no player input at all and is the first of two in the "The Beginning" chapter. Not to be confused with "Chapter one"

After this cut scene we the player get our first taste of controlling Edward but it's short and sweet because as soon as you walk 4 steps you get introduced to the second type of cut scene. I do think this is another type of story node as it's done with the in game graphics and not a slide show like the first one.

In this cut scene we get our first look at the villains of this game evil cowboy ghosts lead by a cowboy by the name of Jed Stone who then promptly lights a match with his boot and blows up the bridge you are standing on. How rude!

Now we the player really get to play the game. This game is 100% old school. It has no "introduction level" or anything of the sort. If you don't have the manual you will have to learn how to control Edward by your self. No hand holding here. The only way you can move the games story on to the next story node is by solving the puzzles and a lot of "combine object X with object Y" so the players role in telling the story is vital. These story nodes are small but vital to learn what's going on in Slaughter Gulch.

I would definitely argue that Edward Carnby is a avatar more then he is a character as while he does have his own personality it's you the player that does moves the story along and not him in cut scenes. At least from what I have seen of the first level.

The first level of Alone in the dark tells it's story in cut scenes that the player has no involvement in and puzzles that reward the player with small scarps of story.

This is one of the few games that I want to finish fully. The mystery hiding in Slaughter Gulch is one I'd like to solve

02/04/16 - Interactive Narrative - The Banner Saga

3. Could your game have developed its narrative and told the
same or a similar story without any of the characters?

This week I chose The Banner Saga a 2d animated turn based strategy game. The game is about two caravans of people trying to escape a invading force. Could this games narrative be told in a similar way with out any of the characters? No I do not think it could, at least not in a very good way. The way The Banner saga tells it's narrative is via interactive cut scenes similar to a telltale style point and click game, you choose what choices and dialog options to take in a menu.

The issue with the way The Banner saga tells it's narrative is that it only affects half or even less then half of the game. The story or your actions do not change the way the turn based strategy part of the game. I only saw one option I chose affect the turn based strategy part and that was a single line of dialog that did not change the game play or the story that came after it. It was quite disappointing really.

The Banner saga does not really need a narrative for the turn based parts to play out, these parts don't feel like part of the narrative at all and could very be it's own separate game. The dialog option heavy cut scenes could not work at all with out the characters in them, there simply would not be a story. These parts play more like a visual novel then a game.

So Could The Banner Saga have developed its narrative and told the same or a similar story without any of the characters? No it could not and yes it could. It's a very mixed bag as it feels like two games merged into one and while I do think it's a good game and I did enjoy it I don't think it really works out all that well sadly.

25/03/16 - Interactive Narrative - The Wolf Among Us

How does morality influence the choices you make in the
game?

Morality in the Wolf Among Us is very black and white and can be easily distinguished between empathetic or apathetic responses. The game is about Bigby Wolf (the big bad wolf) trying to solve a murder while also trying to prove to his fellow fables that he is not the villain he once was and that he has changed and become a sincere individual. The game wants you do take the high road and make Bigby the good guy and so pushes you do take the "good" moral choices and be empathetic towards the other fables plights. A example of this early on is when you first meet Mr Toad (I loved that The wind in the willows cartoon man) He can't afford to pay for his and his sons glamor. It gives you two main options for this, sympathize with Mr Toad and let him off the hook for now or reprimand him and threaten to send him to The "farm" a place where all the non human Fables are forced to live. It's a kind of "free range prison".
The game can be very naggy and pushy when it comes to making these choices and it will scold you if you do take the bad choices with the classic Telltale games 'X will remember that' icon that pops up in the right of the screen.
I found a quote that I think fits with what I'm talking about
"The model that rewards certain choices over others, or different choices in different ways, tends to functionally make the choices for the players; the player will be more successful at the game if he picks the optimal choice for his strategy."
'Ethical Dilemmas and Dominant Moral Strategies In Games'
Brandon Perdue
The morally white choices in The Wolf Among Us are always the better ones to take. By choosing to walk away from Grendel instead of ripping his arm off like Beowulf did will help you out more in the long run as Grendel will hate you less and others will be more helpful to you and will think better of you.

In the end I do think The Wolf Among Us wants us to take the empathetic choices and change Bigby Wolf into a better person but it does so by encouraging you to take the morally good choices rather then force you to do them. After all just like in real life not all of the "good guys" in fairtales alignments where Lawful good some are True neutral.

18/03/16 - Interactive Narrative - Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy

Are the “choice situations” in the game obvious or subtle? Do
you know the outcomes of your choice prior to making a
decision?

This week I played Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy and I found most of the choice situations to be pretty obvious to me. The first real one I came across was when I was leaving the diner, the waitress called out to me and I could either leave or respond to her. Like the character I did think she was going to accuse me of murder in the end she just wanted me to pay her bill. After thinking about it that would be the obvious thing she would do but at the time I did not think it would be. Silly me.
When playing as the detective the choice situations where very obvious to anyone who's seen a crime show, who,why,where,how. After all you are a detective so you have to ask these questions.

From the amount of the game I have played I think the choice situations are obvious in most cases as it's pretty clear what the outcomes will be. I think this is mainly to do with the fact that you play both as the murderer and the detectives who are going after him. If you only played as the detectives then the answers to your questions would not be as obvious I think.

09/03/16 - Interactive Narrative - Prince of Persia

Do story nodes in your chosen game work well to support gameplay and gameplay objectives? Why or Why not?

I do think the story nodes in Prince of Persia support the gameplay and the gameplay objectives quite a lot because at least in the start of the game they teach you how to use the game mechanics.

The first in game cut scene introduces you do your first in game enemy it then gives the player back control with a on screen tutorial on which buttons to use. I think this is a good way to teach the player the controls while also not breaking the players immersion in the game that much.

The second in game cut scene tells you your first objective with narration from The Prince while also showing the player where to go next. Having the Prince narrating makes it feel like he is talking to himself instead to the player.

In Prince of Persia they use short cut scenes to drive the player forward and to show them what to do next, for example in one section they show a projectile making a hole in a wall, suggesting to the player that that's is where they are meant to go next. This makes a game that is very linear feel less linear and I think it works very well in Prince of Persia.

Week 2 Gameplay 02/03/2016

I chose to do question 3 and play Facade

3. Does your chosen game(s) make user input feel meaningful in terms of story direction and progression? Why or why not?

Facade does make user input feel meaningful to the whole story as depending on what you say and what time you say it it can dramaticly change the outcome of the story. In my first play through I initially felt like the third wheel and so ended up doing my best to stay out of their fight and I got Trip to admit that he purposefully asked her to marry him in front of her parents to force her into it, and also that he just can't accept the idea of having an artist wife, hence pushing her into advertising instead this made Grace leave the house.

 My secound attempt I decided to ask Grace a lot of why questions and be more pushy. This ended up making Grace admit to sleeping with a fellow artist and then leaving again.

My third play through I said a lot of nice things. This ended up being taken the wrong way and I got kicked out of the house.

I do think the users input in Facade does feel meaningful in terms of the progession and direction of the story. All the times I have played it the outcomes have all been very different.

Lauren was right Trip really hates the word "melons". Guys got it out against fruit.