My Game mythodology

My individual game methodology can be visualized as a pine tree. Storytelling is the roots of the tree: without a story I there is no life. The trunk can then be seen as my input in the game. I play by combat and creativity. The branches and leafs are my achievements or advances in the story. Storytelling, fighting/tacticians, and a little "power gamer" can all be found in my gamer methodology.

The game must have a story or I want put any effort in playing it or play it at all. Good sold stories that don’t change but that let me interact with them. Like a book in which I can’t pick the outcome but can imagine each scene around my imagination. In Naruto: Clash of Ninja and Mortal Kombat there is a story set in place and each fight is like a scene or chapter in a book. When I start to play I always pick the protagonist. I fallow the story line and fight as the protagonist would. Though I do not become the character I still find myself saying “I’ve been killed”.

I immerse myself as the protagonist never thinking is me but him/her. My thoughts go along the line of “what would he do if he was real or that’s not something he would do”. My fighting must then reflect what I believe the charter would fight like. In Naruto: Clash of Ninja I know Naruto would start out fighting silly but in the in show a complex new move. Knowing this I must create a move unexpected and completely surprise my opponent. Even though it’s only fighting it must adapted to the player. (When I write this like this it’s when I feel that the game real does control me.)

Though my goal is to achieve a high level of points and levels I don’t see myself as a power gamer. This is because my reward comes from building the story and not my record. Each level means that much closer to the end of the story. What would be the point in reading a novel and never finishing? Even if I knew the ending I still want to get to the end. I build my charter and let him achieve different levels so that it may fallow the story.

I don’t play video games as much but the ones I do they have to have a story. It has to be one that has a solid beginning and end. I don’t do the side missions and even when I’m done with the game I can’t go back and play any one else but the protagonist. To me his alive and I don’t control him but merely help him.

Superstruct

I had finished my survival profile (http://www.superstructgame.org/ProfileView) a while ago but when I saved it the profile woudnt be let me. After trying multiple times I was then told to type it in word and transfer it, it worked. I then created a story after exploring my top two threats, GENERATION EXILE and .

Exploring
A story that caught my attention was Disposable Homes Winter is coming to Minnesota's homeless refugees. Taxes- incorporating government http://superstructgame.org/StoryView/64# . I liked it vary much because it incorporated the government threw taxes and gave a good description of what was going on in the South. Both of these elements are something I want to incorporate in my stories.

Some of the stories I found to complex and not believable will others were to high school. When I first stated to explore different stories I wasn't to sure I would like any of them. Some stories were completely different form couldn't be real. I'm hoping to find more stories that I can built my stories on or theirs stories on mine.

My story

http://www.superstructgame.org/StoryView/544

It didn't come out (structure wise) the way I wanted it to but I had tons of other homework and couldn't find out how to fix it. So it looks really bad and I'm scared nobody well want to read it.

INFOCOM

Before Class
The infocom games were fun though very confusing with no visuals. As I started to play I had no idea what to do. Puzzled I didn’t even pay much attention to my story line. There was no fun in it at first but as I started to get more clues it became more exciting. The more I played the more I wanted to play. The language was hard to understand and multiple times I found my self arguing with the computer. In small amount of time I felt more emotions then any other game I have ever played before.

After Class
I was amazed so see that other students had drawn maps to go along with the game. Perhaps I didn’t because I’m so accustom to visuals that I use it as a wheelchair. It felt good that I was not the only one that found the game hard. Overall I found the game to be more entertaining and useful then today’s current games.

What is a Videogame?

Transference, agency, and interaction are all part of a story telling method today called videogames. And like any story, videogames have the penitential to become literature; however I believe they have not reached that level. Janet Murray, author of From Game-Story to Cyberdrama, suggests that stories and video games are similar in structure yet video games are more advance in story telling experience. In From Game-Story to Cyberdrama Murray explains that both stories have contest (the basic struggle of protagonist and antagonist) and puzzle (a challenge for the reader/player). There is no doubt that video games are stories but Mary Ann Buckles suggest that it is more then a story. Looking at Buckle’s ideas we are able to see that in videogames stories and playing become one element. That they are both embedded in each other thus making videogames the most superior story telling method today. I agree with Buckle however Jesper Juul who states “many computer games contain narrative elements” makes a great point (Juul 2001). Though the story telling method has become more complex and fuelling it still remains a story threw the fact that it focuses more on narrative elements then literature elements. The focus of videogames is to have the player immerse in the story even if the story is a horribly one. I believe literature should always make a profound impact on generations. The day a videogame can do the same it may possible be called literature.

Michael Mateas: A Preliminary Poetics for Interactive Drama and Games

Enactment vs. Description

Acton is a great part of life but we can not leave on action alone. Though it a great way to keep a player connected to the game it should not be viewed so highly. There are video games in which a simple story line and decisions are enough.

Description does not have to a lower then Enactment. I read many novels and I find more action in the novels then in the video games. What good is a great video game if the player does not use it as a story. It's the same with a novel. A great novel can be the worst book in the hands of some readers.

Intensification vs. Extensification

One thing that I really like about video games is never having the same outcome. You can play it one or twice but the outcome will change according to you actions. It keeps the game fresh every time. For example, in Kong it was simply moving out of the brawls way but it was different each time. Again, I'm a book worm and I find that novels even after reading time after time can still be fresh.

I believe there should be a balance between creating a video game that has both multiple outcomes and is extensive. We need videos games that are in depth and have verity. There are games that focus on graphics, depth of character, verity of outcomes, but they never find that balance. Its always to much of one thing and not enough of another.

Unity of Action vs. Episodic Structure

To each it's own. Each story is diff rent and so should each game. Some video games are better fit to have different incident all adding up to one. Video games in which you must do missions to ultimately arrive to the final battle. Other video games are more fit for Episodic Structure. Games such as The Sims. Where different incidents occurs threw the process and the ultimate mission may not arrive yet or at all.

Ken Perlin: Can There be a Form between a Game and a Story

Transference :

Becoming identified with the character

Many times I find my father and brother yelling at the top of their lungs at the soccer players. "Go left, Go right, what kind of a kick was that!". Why is it that they yell, the soccer players can't her them. Yer when I'm watching a movie I find myself lecturing the protagonist.

Perlin does a great job of ex planing transferring and also the difference between a video game and book. His examples of The Bicycle Thief are the movies in which I find my self auguring with the protagonist. And although I know the protagonist is not real or that his suppose to being falling I cant help but to argue.

The most amazing thing about transference is that its completely voluntary. I sometimes find myself watching movies that I find uninteresting and ask my self "this movie makes no sense this would never happen in real life". We volunteer only when we identify our self with the movie, book, music, or video game.

Agency:

the right to make choices

Agency is viewed as the choice one makes. In a novel their is no choice to make because the story is set in stone. That is not the same case with video games. Video games depend on agency. But I don't believe that because you can make a decision it should be placed above another literature that you can't.

Though you can't choice the actions of the characters in a novel it does not make it less then a video game. The point of having a choices is for the player to learn and become more identified with the game. I believe that that can be done in a novel as well.

Janet Murray: From Game-Story to Cyberdrama

What is the question: is there a game-story or is there a story-game?

In Murray's opinion it is "Is there a story-game?". Her explanations are logical.

• digital medium being will-suited to gaming because it is procedural and participatory

As Murray stated in From Game-Story to Cyberdrama procedural is generating behavior based rules and participatory is allowing the player as well as the creator to move things around.

Having generating behavior based rules allows the game to have a more realistic prospective. As Bryan Loyall stayed in his response to Murray. Loyall gave an example of the game Otto and Iris, in which if you did not pay enough attention to one of the characters they would become upset with you. I have played many games in where I could harm my own teammates and there was no consequence. Allowing the player to have control gives the player a Narrator feeling. This helps create a story.

• games images: still, moving , text, audio, and 3 dimensional

Because of all the media form in video game the video game becomes more real. It is able to be more interactive then another form of literature.

• the similarities structures in both video games and stories

Murray explained that both video games and stories have similar structures. Both have contest and puzzles. As in both have protagonist/antagonist and a challenge for them.

In the game Kong, Mario was the protagonist and Kong the antagonist. The challenge was to rescue the prince without being killed. The story is very simple but no less a story.

• and the similarities between our lives and video games

Something that caught my attention from Murray was her statement that our daily life is a game. I have heard many times that our daily life is a story. If its both a game and a story then it makes sense that games our stories.

Murray talked a lot about the Sims. A game in that has all the elements that I have on this post. It has generated behavior based rules, allows the player to be in control, multiple medium, protagonist/antagonists, and challenges. Yet what I find most interesting is the fact that it relates so will with our daily life. That makes the game feel even more real.

In the end I would also go with Murray's question: Is there a game-story? Yes