Narrative Space

Spatial stories and environmental storytelling

"Game designers don't simply tell stories, they design worlds and sculpt space" Game designers desighn everything for a purpose, it isn't there best, it looks cool, or just because, it's there to represent a meaning to the story. Games like Dungeons and Dragons have Dungeon Master's they design the space for players to explore in, and have quests in.

Game designers tell there story through spaces all the time, some of the best examples are text based games, as they totally rely on the story telling to describe and scene. From these description presented in the text, they help create the emotion and feel to the players surroundings.

Theme parks use narrative space to a great deal, they may not involve characters to follow or possible much of a storyline, but they do present a theme. When lining up to go on a ride, the ride will have a range of themes and colours to represents it's meaning, E.G. the ride to Nemesis at Alton Towers has blood rivers, destroyed roller coaster carriages within the river and alien like tentacles all over the ride to represent an evil monster that you will have to ride against.

< Nemesis ride

Presenting a simple narrative to the space around the riders gives a sense of purpose to the reasoning of the colours and designs presented to the ride. Rides need names that present their purpose and meaning, take the ride Air, if it was called Air we wouldn't relate to the ride is being a "flying in the air" Stimulation.

There are four times environmental storytelling

• Evocative Spaces: Evoke preexisting narrative association

•  Enacting Stories: Spaces provide a staging ground on which narrative events are enacted

• Embedded Narrative: Narrative information embedded within Mises-en-Scène

• Emergent Narratives: Player in more involved in narrative decision-making

 

(Reference from personal view and Lecture)

Evocative Space

Amusement parks will use stories or genre traditions well known to the visitors to Intrigued them and share they knowledge into a physical space which can allow their fantasy to be free. These rides themes are often used take sonic spin ball at Alton Towers, the knowledge and idea of Sonic is already there in the minds of the visitors making the ride theme and style appealing and attractive. 

In game turns these are themes from films, theater, TV all represented within a game. Lego star wars uses it's own material theme with Lego characters and bricks to build the game. Using Star Wars story, costumes, characters and set all with the Lego theme adds that extra fantasy feel to the game. We enjoy the game because it's Lego and Star wars, but mashed together to give us another tasty prospective on the much loved film.


(Reference from personal view and Lecture)

Enacting Stories

Games are more will often have smaller goals within the overall story, example like sonic trying to get the end of the level to spin the panel to get Sonic's face to say this level is complete. These smaller goals however are designed to have memorable moment in a way, much like sonic does with it's use of themes and music throw out the game, these memory moments can also be done in cut-scene as well to drive the story, even if the games goal is small. Game play has some of the bigger story driven moments like Uncharted 2 with it's extreme high action scenes which will create an emotional impact and experience on the player which helps the overall story experience within the game.

A threat to the interactive narrative are included within the story's, these are the obstacles a player may face within a game, such as enemy's, traps, or just simply getting lost in the games map. players can lose the plot of the story, or just even take no interest to the story, because of the freedom given to the players. Where games that are on rail, can make the game narrative work really well, as the game is built on a story based game within a well crafted world.

Dilemma's are included in some enacting games, these are when player must determine the path or the story they wish to undertake. The designers have to make it, so the story the player as chosen doesn't go off the framework an freedom that the player is taking including the conflicted of making the story stray a path from the overall narrative.


(Reference from personal view and Lecture)

Embedded Narrative

Detective stories in games, movie, TV are the best examples as they have two stories or more stories to them, the investigation, the sequence and motivation to the murder, and story to the main character (Detective) himself, Usually show they bad past or problems they may have.

Two kinds of in-game narrative:

1. “Relatively unstructured, controlled by the player as he explored the game space and unlocks its secrets” [Story of player’s exploration]

2. “Prestructured, but embedded within the mise en scène awaiting discovery” [The unfolding written plot]

(Reference from personal view and Lecture)

Emergent Narrative

These are narratives that can be created by the player using the space provided within the game, take The Sims for example, The Sims allows players to make their own story, character, and choices through the game, allowing the player to make their own narrative, they can create their own homes, friends they may know in real life or movie actors to join them in their own game. However The Sims does have its limits. Players can not choose to make a Sim commit crimes such as murder, or other sorts of criminal acts the game or even create complex story, only a certain range of story that the game can provide can the player play. 

These types of Narrative take a lot of time for the player to make, and a lot of props and items to perform the players idea's and imagine, normally involving lots of expansion packs to provide the need to create a players own narrative.

(Reference from personal view and Lecture)

Conclusion

However a games narrative is expressed, it is always influenced by the way the games creatures organise the games space. Without a designers influence within a game, the game space in which a player will take can not be created without someone else view and idea's.

(Reference from personal view and Lecture)

The 4 Types of Environmental Narrative


• Evoked Narratives: “Can either enhance our sense of immersion within a familiar world or communicate a fresh perspective on a well- known story through the altering of established details”


• Enacted Narratives: “The story itself may be structured around the character’s movement through space, and the features of the environment may retard or accelerate that plot trajectory”


• Embedded Narratives: “The game space becomes a memory palace whose contents must be deciphered as the player tries to reconstruct the plot.”


• Emergent Narratives: “Game spaces are designed to be rich with narrative potential, thereby enabling the story-constructing activity of players”

(Reference from personal view and Lecture)