When Video Games Tell Stories: A Model of Video Game Narrative Architectures

In the present study a model is proposed offering a comprehensive categorization of video game narrative structures intended as the methods and techniques used by game designers and allowed by the medium to deliver the story content throughout the gameplay in collaboration with the players. A case i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marcello Arnaldo Picucci
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Editorial Delirio 2014-11-01
Series:Caracteres: Estudios Culturales y Críticos de la Esfera Digital
Subjects:
Online Access:http://revistacaracteres.net/revista/vol3n2noviembre2014/model-video-game-narrative-architectures/
Description
Summary:In the present study a model is proposed offering a comprehensive categorization of video game narrative structures intended as the methods and techniques used by game designers and allowed by the medium to deliver the story content throughout the gameplay in collaboration with the players. A case is first made for the presence of narrative in video games and its growth of importance as a central component in game design. An in-depth analysis ensues focusing on how games tell stories, guided by the criteria of linearity/nonlinearity, interactivity and randomness. Light is shed upon the fundamental architectures through which stories are told as well as the essential boundaries posed by the close link between narrative and game AI.
ISSN:2254-4496
2254-4496