View Full Version : Warren Spector on Interactive Storytelling
Gazza_N
09-11-2007, 07:35 AM
Most of you should know by now that I'm both a huge proponent of interactive storytelling, and a vicious Deus Ex fanboy for that very reason. Browsing through The Escapist after watching Zero Punctuation, I came across an awesome series on storytelling in games (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/70852-Next-Gen-Storytelling-Part-One-What-Makes-a-Story) by the man himself, Warren Spector. It's an interesting four-part read for those who, like me, aspire to tell stories through their games somewhere down the line. Share and enjoy!
Thaumaturge
09-11-2007, 11:54 PM
Ooh, this sounds interesting! It also seems long, so I thank you for the link now, and intend on commenting later. ;)
Gazza_N
10-11-2007, 08:58 AM
It's actually not all that long, oddly enough. It's just a slight mission to find the links to the other parts (I linked Part 1).
While I'm at it - Postmortem of Indigo Prophecy by David Cage (http://gamasutra.com/features/20060620/cage_01.shtml). I know you'll like this one, Thaum. ;)
Thaumaturge
11-11-2007, 02:41 AM
Ooh, indeed, I am interested! I'd love to read that! Thank you again, Gazza! *grins*
*bookmarks it to be read in the near future*
Thaumaturge
14-11-2007, 01:56 AM
Having finally read both articles (and a few others discovered nearby), I am very glad that I did - both were very interesting indeed.
I like Warren Spector's vision for story-based games, and the types of progress that he wants to see brought about - and his suggestion of relying heavily on academia and the independent sector for such innovation, less fettered as they are by industry commercial cycles, seems to me to be a very good one.
I don't entirely agree with the impression that I got from the conclusion that games of the type that he is advocating are necessarily always better than more rigidly-scripted games - I think that both have a place.
I would love to see such games as he describes come about in full - but I do not want them to be the only story-driven games being created - I would like to see both they and the more traditional forms being created.
I'm glad that you recommended to me that Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy article to me as well - while reading the storytelling article I was reminded of Fahrenheit's "rubber-band" story system, which is one that I find quite admirable (in fact, I seem to recall that Fahrenheit was mentioned at the end of the storytelling article).
I find it mildly amusing, by the way, that the conclusion of the storytelling article has more sections than the rest of the article. :P
While moving through that article, I found two other articles of interest:
Creative Hara-Kiri (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_86/488-Creative-Hara-Kiri), an article about the stance that casual game publishers take on legal agreements with regard to submissions made to them, and Slouching Towards Black Mesa (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_122/2597-Slouching-Toward-Black-Mesa), which, to use a term from an old art teacher, "compares and contrasts" Half Life (and particularly Half Life 2) with William Butler Yeats' poem The Second Coming. The former is ; the latter I found to be perhaps a little overdone, but rather interesting and well-thought-out nonetheless.
[edit]This too I found interesting: Cart, Horse (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_100/557-Cart-Horse), and article on a small game company's approach to business and communication (the latter in light of their being a "virtual" company).
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4 Copyright © 2019 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.