"80 Days" to share the secrets of the book, the essence of the game is to let players fall astray

In GDC2015 's conference, "80 Days" of the editor-in-chief Meg Jayanth and you share the "80 Days" of the production of confidential-"80 Days" is a profound plot, non-linear narrative structure, and fascinating storyline of the good game. For us, this is the perfect opportunity to learn how to tell a good story in a game.

The theme of her speech was: "Let the player fall astray." "On this topic, she further explained:" The author of the game in the control, to be serious, sometimes lively, so that players will be attracted by your plot. As the author, my obligation is to let the player choose the wrong option, take a little detour. It is because of these small detours, only to make the game more plump plot. ”

"80 Days" editorial on the narrative of the game: let the player astray is the essence of the game

Jayanth said: "Only those who escape the story, catastrophic transition and the escape of the story will let the players relish, impressed." An adventure full of surprises and uncertainties makes the game more appealing. "This uncertainty prompts players to explore the game again and again, share experiences with other players, and communicate different stories."

Game plot uncertainty means a huge amount of written work. Jayanth that these workloads are not unproductive: "Players do not have much chance to see the full picture of the text." But for us, these words are an advantage, an opportunity, not a burden. "80 Days" the text of the game more than 500,000, more than "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but the overall number of words than "Ice and Fire Song" now published chapters.

She says the Inkle team wants to give players a "surprise and pleasure" game experience, with a mixture of discussion of serious issues-such as race, sexism, colonialism in the 19th century, war and politics-that do not diminish the fun of the game. "80 Days", based on Verne's worldview, has structured these serious issues. "We are trying to emphasize inclusiveness and diversity in our 80-day journey," said Jayanth, a text editor-in-chief. We try to restore a world in a game, not a hodgepodge of players. ”

In order to realize "restore the world" the narration goal, lets the player deeply indulge in the entire setting, carries on the global traveling, the Inkle team first plans The game the world view. Jayanth said: "We use a very systematic way to build the game world view, clear the story wants to achieve the effect." "She herself has done a lot of writing reference and preparation work, and rarely directly interferes with the development of the game." It is in this case that the writing style, tone and writing content are determined.

They build the whole game by increasing the diversity of world views. "There is a problem that has always been our concern – what would a steampunk world look like outside London?" said Jayanth. In Haiti, Lebanon, the Middle East ... And so on, what kind of different style will it show? Each time the team adds a new area or new technology to the game, they ask themselves: what impact this element will have on small areas and how it will affect the big game world. "Slowly, we are in the game to restore the whole steampunk world." ”

The whole structure of the game is a non-linear narrative structure, which drives the game narration by the player's choice. No two players have the same game experience, and the game content that the player can experience is largely determined by the options.

Jayanth said the unique gaming experience was the result of what they deliberately did: "This uncertainty is fascinating, exciting and a source of surprise for the game." You never know what is most important, what you missed on the path full of forks. The world itself and those characters will determine the rhythm of the story, the world in its own rules, and not because of the player's will as a diversion. ”

The team must make sure that every story line tells a good story. The story lines of the game are growing with all sorts of events, but they seem to be happy: "After all, it's a story about travel, not an outcome-oriented story." We avoid using the archive point or the band structure, hoping to give the player a better experience. "When players play in different parts of the world, there are different stories, and there is no big difference between the stories that can be triggered by real-world travel."

The game's editor-in-chief also explains why some areas of the map are more dangerous than others: "We deliberately make the Americas and Africa part of the journey more difficult and riskier." As players try to accomplish their goals, they find themselves on the verge of collapse. "When players have a certain understanding of the game, they can give them some more in-depth, more complex concepts, to attract them to explore further."

Another detail is also worth our reference: The game does not adopt the moral value system such as BioWare games, these moral choices only affect the plot itself. For example: you want to get to B quickly from a, these two cities are only the slave ship round-trip, so you boarded the slave ship to B. When you get to B, people think of you as a slave, even chasing you around. These are the consequences of your choosing to "Ride the slave Ship," which you must bear.

"A systematic view of the world will help us speculate on how players will experience these stories." , Jayanth said.

"The world view is not only the stage of role action, it also determines the characters ' thoughts and emotions." "Jayanth that developers should pay attention to emotional experiences in addition to values and operations." "Surprise your players", and if they experience anything beyond their expectations in the game, you might be able to forget your mishap in game development.