If you've ever played a video game, you likely understand the power of a good story. But have you ever wondered how developers create storylines that keep players invested?
It all starts with an idea. A developer comes across something inspiring, whether it’s a personal experience, a news story or a concept found online, and this spark places the pen to paper. A new concept is born.
After the initial draft is formed, developers begin to figure out how to turn it into a playable experience. CG Spectrum notes in their article “How Video Games Are Made: The Game Development Process” that they often create storyboards to map out the plot visually. These early sketches help them see where major events belong in context.
Once the structure is clear, worldbuilding begins. Artists create concept art that defines how locations and characters should look. Sometimes indie developers create their own concepts; often, however, they outsource this work to someone else.
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| Storyboarding, Photo Courtesy of Toon Boom |
With the look and tone sketched out, writers build a script. Video game scripts resemble those of film or TV, but include one major difference: interactivity. According to game developer Johnnemann Nordhagen, narrative designers often create branching dialogue and alternate scenes to reflect the choices players make.
Next comes the technical phase. Designers build “greybox” levels, which are simple, untextured versions of the game to test story placement and mechanics. These rough environments allow developers to adjust timing, clarify character goals and tweak variables such as jump height and walk speed.
For some, collaboration plays a key role throughout the process. Although some indie developers work alone, some work alongside one or multiple developers and composers. This provides unique viewpoints and a diverse skillset.
Once everything functions as intended, they repeatedly polish the story. Voice actors record lines, animators refine cutscenes and audio teams add music or sound cues to reinforce mood until the game is as close to perfect as it can get. A sentence may be rewritten or rerecorded multiple times to get the tone right; every detail matters.
By the time players pick up the controller, the storyline has been refined many times and tested by dozens of people. Strong storytelling isn’t just an additional feature in games, it’s part of what makes them memorable.
The next time a video game captivates you and brings you into its world, remember that it all began with a single idea and a creative mind determined to bring it to life.
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| Killzone Mercenary Greybox Level, Photo Courtesy of Pete Ellis |
Gabe! I actually like your topic. As a person who dabbles in video games I personally like one that has a good storyline. If it doesn't the game become boring. I have played the campaign of Call Duty Ghosts and I enjoy the storyline behind it. Compared to Black Ops 7 that just seems horrible.
ReplyDeleteGabe, your post is so interesting and something I never really thought about before. While I love story games and video games, I had never sat down and thought about how the storyline and game were created. There is so much thought and time taken when creating not only a video game with characters, but a storyline intriguing enough to keep people playing the game. My two favorite video games that have a great storyline are Until Dawn and Resident Evil. What are some of your favorites?
ReplyDeleteGood post. Lots of good information. For your sources, link to them if possible. Just highlight the attribution and insert a link. Also, where does the quote from Nordhagen come from? That isn't clear but needs to be. I am also confused by the information with your images. Are those your photo credits? They don't look like they are, so maybe include "Photo courtesy of" or something similar, and if possible, move the text closer to the image and make the text a bit smaller. Well written, though.
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