The Narrative Within Interactive Media (Part 1)

So yes, it is a little late, and yes, it is a slightly obscure title, but here it is!
I am a huge proponent of Video Games as art. No, let's not have the debate here. I will however, justify my position as follows:
Video Games are for kids - No, some video games are for kids. Just as there are books, films, television programs, etc., for children, teenagers, and adults so there are video games for all demographics. It's just the way it is.
Video Games do not further societal causes - They do. They really do. In video games, the characters can say things that many people would be afraid to say - they can oppose problems in a way that few other mediums can (I'll get to why later). Video Games/series such as The Witcher, Fallout, Wasteland, This War of Mine, StarCraft are all able offer powerful social commentaries, making them valid theatres for discussion. Unfortunately, as some of you may be aware, video games can also be used to attack certain groups with society - with great power comes...well, you know the rest.
The Video Game industry offers gainful, rewarding employment to many individuals of varying skills, serving to grow the creative arts industries worldwide. Talented writers, composers, artists, musicians, coders, and historians all find employment in the Video Game industry.
As with many new fields (though interactive media isn't so new anymore), there is opposition, particularly from those who are besotted with the Status Quo. Today's discussion may touch on that, but the main thrust of today will begin to look at the narratives within Video Games (aka Interactive Media). Please note that I do not, and have not, worked in the Video Game industry, and am viewing things from the point of view of a writer.

How do Video Games tell Stories?

In myriad ways. As with other mediums, video games are able to express their narratives in various ways, depending on the intention of the creator. However, there are many complications to presenting a story in a video game.

Role Playing Games: Video Games ranging from Wasteland and Baldur's Gate all the way to Mass Effect and The Witcher are considered Role Playing Games (of various types). RPGs, as their name suggests, place the player in the driver's seat, so to speak. The player takes on a role, often that of the narrative's protagonist, and 'acts' in the throughout the game. A common hallmark of RPGs is allowing the player to customise their character, whether their appearance, their abilities, and/or their equipment. RPGs are nearly always heavily story driven. Some RPGs offer little to no choice to the player, simply guiding them by the hand through the narrative. Others, especially in recent years, offer greater freedom to the player, allowing them to explore the game's world, and permitting them to guide the narrative through their own decisions and actions. It is important to note that many modern video games not of the RPG genre are incorporating elements of RPGs into them to enhance the experience.
Strategy Games (Real Time and Turn Based) - Strategy games are able to have rich narratives, or have an absence of narrative. However, the narrative is presented differently, with the player simply observing the story from the stands, and completing objectives as instructed. The StarCraft series is a good example of this. The player is in command during missions, but for the rest of the time simply watches the story pan out, taking little to no active role in the narrative.
Adventure Games - Whilst adventure games (and action-adventure games) are often heavily story driven, and the player often takes on the role of protagonist, the level of involvement is very different to that in RPGs. A good example is the Uncharted series. Feeling more like a DIY movie experience, the player observes the story of Nathan Drake, and 'acts' out his 'scenes' but the story is linear, with little to no choice given to the player.
I am sure you can use these three example to extrapolate the issues of other genres.
I talked about choice a fair amount. Please do not think that the absence of choice is a bad thing in a video game - it isn't. What is important is the quality of the story, and how it is told. Some stories lend themselves well to choice (The Witcher, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age series' for example) whilst others would probably gain little by adding choice (Uncharted, Tomb Raider). It is also dependant on the experience a particular person is seeking. Some people will enjoy choice, others would prefer to be guided by the narrative, enjoying it as they would a film or book.
Some video games feature narrators, some have the player and non-player characters (PCs and NPCs) acting out the narrative, others tell the story through pieces of information picked up along the way. Some (especially RPGs) use a combination of the three. There is no one 'right way'.

The Big Challenge

Video game writers face a challenge that I, as a writer, never face. I write a story, and people read it. no complication there. As the medium of video games has evolved, however, it has demonstrated its greatest strength, and greatest weakness - its interactivity. Short of some board games, and Choose Your Own Adventure books, there is no other medium that offers choice in the way that video games do.

Early video games had a set narrative, and while the player could do various other things in the game world, the narrative was a set thing, to be experienced in a specified order. However, as technology (and talent) has advanced, video games have changed. Now, players can choose not only how quickly or slowly a story advances, but can also choose which characters take part in it, who lives or dies, and even the order of the scenes to some extent. As I writer, I can imagine how challenging that makes creating the video game's narrative. The story must be robust, yet versatile, to remain coherent while still granting such freedoms to the 'reader'. Further, the story must be able to maintain its narrative drive, even though the reader may see scenes 'out of order' or take much longer to progress the plot than the writer might intend. All of things make it more complicated, and I tip my hat to those writers who can plan for these challenges, and overcome them.

The Illusion of Choice.

Ultimately, many of the choices made by a player are superficial - what armour their character wears, or what weapons they wield affect the gameplay, but not the narrative. While the player might choose to take part in various elements of the story in a particular order, they are still ultimately taking part in the same story. I won't deny that recently video games have been able to present choice and consequence in a powerful way  - such as certain choices having unforeseen consequences in the narrative. However, these consequences were still planned. So, what does the narrative seek to do?

I would argue that the game's narrative seeks to create the opportunity for choices to be made, and to have consequences that are meaningful enough to immerse the player in the experience.

For example, BioWare's Mass Effect games have a fairly thinly veiled choice system. In Mass Effect 2, if the player chose not to complete all the side missions for a given companion, that companion would die in the endgame suicide mission. On the other hand, if the chose to complete all side missions, the companion in question would survive. While this might be immersive the first time, it loses its power in consequent playthroughs, and at a meta level, is quite basic. One of the strengths of the The Witcher Franchise (which are based on the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski) is that the choices made by the player may not have readily apparent consequences. The player might opt to spare someone early in the plot, only to have them reappear many acts later to aid the player (or oppose them). Often, and to the game's credit, the player has no way of foreseeing the possible outcomes, which makes the game especially immersive. Impressively, some games (The Witcher included) do not make these choices obvious, and the player might make them with little serious thought (much like the real world). Some players, however, might find this extremely frustrating.

As you can imagine, having to write in such detail, and with such robustness, must be extremely talented, and video game writing teams the world over, I feel, deserve a round of applause, and infinite respect.

Wrapping up Part 1

As you would have guessed, this will be a multi-part discussion. Today I intended to lay down the groundwork, and impress upon you just how had the writer's of video game narrative have to work to succeed. The next instalment (or two) will roll out in the coming weeks. I intend to look at character writing in video games, and the complexities there, as well as look at the social impact that video game narratives can have.

Until then,

Thanks for reading...

N N B Clarke

Delayed Works

Just a brief note this evening.  I am currently working on a discussion on interactive media, but it is taking a little longer than I anticipated.  As such,  part one of this discussion will come later this week.
Apologies for the delay,
N N B Clarke

History within Fantasy

First of all, I would like to apologise for the somewhat ambiguous title.
This week I will be looking at the writing of lore/history, and what functions it fulfils within a fantasy narrative. This, of course, means that after something of a hiatus, I am returning to the 'normal' form for The Narrative Within. Sorry, should have told you to sit down before dropping that bombshell.
Are you ok...?
Hello..?
Ah good, you are twitching, that is at least a start.

History in Fantasy?

When talking about 'History in Fantasy' I am not talking about 'real' history and how it influences fantasy works, nor am I talking about the fantasy of history writing. Or is that the other way around?
What I am talking about is the history and lore a writer creates during the creation of his or her narrative world. I have touched on this before, but I thought it would be good to go into greater depth - and yes, it does tie in with Credibility within the Narrative (see post from 24/03/2015).
As you might have guessed, I love my lore, and greatly enjoy writing the history of my world (hell, my first published work was essentially just that), so this discussion is obviously going to have certain biases. As always, these are my thoughts and opinions, and I am not dictating to you as a certain bearded chap did to another, lesser bearded chap did (supposedly).

Structuring History

When I use the word history in this context I am stretching it a bit, as I will also be talking about things that could be considered 'pre-history' (creation of the world, for example), but please, bear with me.
For me, history comes into play during the creation of the narrative world, and functions on many levels.
When shaping the landmasses, I ask myself why they are the shape they are. Were they volcanically shaped? Were the mountains and valleys created by tectonic activity? And, because this is fantasy, did magic/gods play a role in shaping part of the world. At first I jot this things down, to be fleshed out later.
When placing nation states/nations/kingdoms/etc there is a whole swathe of things that I must consider:
Why are they there? - How did this particular nation form? Did the people travel here recently? Did they conquer this land? Why are the cities where they are? (When placing cities in your world, a bit of research would be advisable. Examine why ancient cultures settled particular places, and mimic that.)
How is it ruled? - Is it a democracy, oligarchy, monarchy, theocracy, magocracy? How big is the government? Are there multiple levels of government? Is there corruption? Shaping the political system helps to shape many factors of the nation (or other designated nationesque body) - don't skimp on your bureaucracy! Each of the above forms of government would then need to be worked out (ex gratia: How does the Royal family function? Is it an elective gavelkind monarchy? Or perhaps it is based on the idea of Primogeniture?
How big is it? - Is it a city state? Or perhaps there are twelve large population centres across a large area. How many people live there?
WHO lives there - In this category I include distribution of wealth, ethnicities, and religious groups. All of these elements are important in fleshing out the world and making the narrative credible.
Enemies/Allies? - Pretty straight forward, but how a particular nation interacts with its nation is important, and should be consistent (at least so much as international politics are able to be consistent).
As you can imagine, a similar process can be used when fleshing out racial groups (elves, dwarves, etc) and I find this template to be very useful.

What about Lore?

Whether you call it Lore, Mythos, the History of the World, or whatever else, this is particularly key to the fantasy world. My post from last week is an example of lore, in that it is part of a creation myth.
Lore is tied in at a fundamental level to belief systems, as well as to other elements of society (Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as: A body of traditions and knowledge relation to a particular subject). Lore is often used by a culture to define itself, and to explain its origins. Naturally, this makes it very important to the narrative.
For example, the elves might explain how they came into existence in one way, while humans would (possibly) explain the creation of the elves very differently. Of course, as the writer, you can also tell the reader how it really happened, which - let's be honest - is really cool.
Lore is very important in giving elements of the narrative (especially cultures) a feeling of being something that is alive. Well-written Lore allows the writer's creations to stop just being ink on the page, and permits them to step out from the book and interact with the reader. As I will discuss further a bit later, the sign (for me) of good lore, is it being rich enough for others to write their own stories within the world that you have created.

Hey, this book hasn't got any lore/history, but it is still good! YOU'RE WRONG MR BLOGGER MAN!

Yeah, I know you were thinking it.
Fantasy novels can be, and have been written without a fleshed out lore (or an apparent one, anyway) and have been insanely successful. I have a few thoughts on that.
The novel follows a focussed series of events: When a novel, or series thereof, is bound very tightly to a particular protagonist/antagonist, or series of events, the Lore and History of the world doesn't (initially) seem as important. The reader can ignore what would otherwise be (at times blatantly) obvious holes in the world's background. Especially when the plot is well written, the writer can avoid explaining things as adequately as one might like. While this works, people will inevitably start to poke holes.
The Author just hasn't told you: Different writers present things differently. Just because the narrative doesn't shove its world's history in your face doesn't mean it doesn't have any. Some writers (like yours truly) like to immerse the reader in the Lore and History of the Universe they have created, and relish sharing everything they have created with the reader (though they should do so in a way that is meaningful to the central plot). Others, however, may have maps, books worth of history, and a whiteboard covers in mindmaps, flowcharts, and everything else, but don't express that in their writing. Ultimately, it is down to the writer to decide what they do and don't share.
The narrative doesn't require it: Some books, especially one-offs, may not need extensive world building to function. After all, it is a bit of an economy of scale issue. If you were going to write one novella in a particular universe, you wouldn't do the same amount of world building  as an author who intends to set 30+ epic novels in a fantasy universe. It just wouldn't make very much sense.

What do History and Lore bring to the party?

Ideally? Cider and nice cheese.
For me, well written Lore and History give novels life they wouldn't otherwise have. The books I have enjoyed reading the most are those that have thoroughly written, and well though out back-stories. I know how much I enjoy immersing myself in a functional world. When a book has so vividly expressed its narrative universe that you can imagine day to day life within it, or mentally create your own adventures within it, then it is successful.
I could gush on and on about how amazing books with good Lore and History are, but I think you get the point, and hope you feel the same way (p.s. the same applies to other narrative mediums, such as Films and Video Games.)

Conclusion

As is probably quite obvious, I see Lore and History as a crucial element in the creation of a Narrative World. There isn't much more to say - I would like, in the future, to expand upon this discussion.
Also, if you have any suggestions for what you would like me to discuss in future posts, let me know!
As always, please comment and share as you will.

Until next week,
N N B Clarke

The Book of Ortus

This week marks the beginning of a new element of The Narrative Within. I will endeavour, on a monthly basis, to introduce a new piece of the lore of my narrative world of Doranath. This is to broaden the sort of content here on the blog, adding a lightness to counter the heavier content I cover at times. I hope you enjoy the first instalment of this new element: The Book of Ortus.

The Book of Ortus

In the beginning was the Void, and into the Void came the Aether.

From the Aether came Three.

First came Sanas, from whence came all life, and the Void and Aether grew abundant.

Second came Goras, who did govern over the balance, allocating the spans of all things.

Thirdly came Henas, who was all fire and fury. Henas cast down its siblings work, rending into pieces what Sanas had borne and Goras had preserved.

Enraged, Saren did battle with Henas, and the Void and Aether did tremble. Goras, who did loathe disorder and was greatly grieved, stood betwixt its siblings and did cease the conflict. When the Three did observe the Void and Aether after this battle they did see what their blood, tears, and fire had created.

Planes of all kinds now filled the spaces once dark and empty. Some planes were pure in form, and these did become the Heavens and the Abyss. One was borne of a wound suffered by Goras, and did swarm with Arcane Power. But one plane stood separate, borne of Sanas’ blood, Goras’ tears, and the fires and bile of Henas. This plane was firm and diverse, its core unwavering and permanent, its surface veiled in blue oceans. Life grew in abundance, filling the waters, but was balanced by time and death. This plane was the world, and the Three saw that it was good.

Unbeknownst to the Three, they had a Brother. He did wrap himself in the Void and did relish his solitude. Whilst his kin did fashion all things, he sought to create only things for himself. First, he fashion himself a name, and did whisper it in the Darkness of the Void. Upon seeing the planes borne of his kin he did fashion a plane of his own. Forged of the Void, Aether, and the Detritus of his kin’s creations, and not of him, it was a pale copy of the others. Its essence did seep through the Void, and was come upon by the Three as they did rest. They saw how this essence did create shadows of all things in the light, and concealed itself in the Darkness.

Henas wished to destroy this strange thing but Goras, who sought balance in all things, did bid his kin to calm, claiming that the shadows brought balance. Sanas was pleased as the shadow made all things of light brighter by comparison to its presence.

The Brother, enraged by such kindness, hid himself deeper in the Void, watching his kin with envious eyes as he created a physical form for himself.

While the Brother secluded himself, the Three inspected the World. Sanas breathed fresh life into the seas and oceans, and Goras gave motion and direction to the winds. Henas, bored by the endless waters, raised fires beneath the skin of the World and gave rise to Three great lands: Sarentis, Doranath, and Yskaron. Sanas gave life to the new soil, whilst Goras did guide some life from the waters to the land.

For a time, the Three were content to watch their new world thrive. Eventually they desired to further explore the Void and Aether, and came upon an idea.

Goras gave some of its Spirit to the natural things, and they would serve to preserve the world, watching over it as Goras had. Sanas and Henas went further, once more mixing their blood to create custodians who would cherish their World. Sanas’ blood gave these custodians breath and life, whilst Henas’ blood gave them strength, but mortality. Goras gifted them with Spirit and sense. So was born the first of the mortal races: The Elves.

That wraps it up for this week. I hope you have enjoyed. As always, I welcome comments, and encourage you to share my blog should you have friends that might enjoy it as well.

Until next week,

N N B Clarke