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Part II. Storytelling in the Information Age | 55
The design team for such video games has three main tasks: designing the
non-narrative elements which are unlocked during the game (e.g., levels and
gift points), creating the narrative module system with challenges appearing
at dramaturgical milestones, and creating the programming logic. The
scriptwriters of the games create the context and setting for the scenes and
prepare the dialogue for each plot branch with a concise and consistent logic.
The storyboard of a video game is therefore not linear, but can be compared
to a branch diagram. However, the most important task of the scriptwriters is
undoubtedly the development of the characters, since the central characters
(i.e., the protagonist and antagonist) are the driving forces of the plot. The
antagonist can be a controlling figure, a competitor, the embodiment of evil or
a character who is an obstacle because of his or her incompetence. Regardless
of genre, Jungian archetypes recur in the characters of video games, such as
the wise old man, the trickster, the beautiful girl/young man, the seducer
with magical powers, or the mother and the child (Berger, 2020).
Even when choosing a video game, the player has choices to make. Computer
games can be grouped by access, number of players and genre. Access can be
interpreted at several levels, using the dimensions of subscription or purchase
vs. free, technologically savvy user-oriented vs. technologically unsavvy user¬
oriented, and online vs. offline. In terms of number of players, there are single¬
player and multiplayer games. Different genres can be linked to different game
objectives, and can be basically described as strategy, simulation or adventure
games. The first video games based on storytelling were launched in the 1990s
and were inspired by famous Hollywood blockbusters. At the turn of the
millennium, games were typically based on crime genres (typically gangster
stories) as well as action or horror films, containing thrilling plotlines and
heroic characters.
In games, progressing through different paths and completing tasks also
means progressing through the narrative. However, in the new generation
of video games the player actively shapes the plot. The modular scenario
framework allows for multiple paths and story endings. Toth (2011) argues
that in a video game the simulation chain of events completed by the player
(i.e., the gameplay itself) is the plot from which the player reconstructs
the underlying story framework. Tamas Polya (2020), on the other hand,
compares the narrative framework of video games to a jungle gym or obstacle
course which forms the skeleton of the game’s puzzles. In his argument, he
emphasizes that in the case of video games the player does not develop a
reading and interpretation triggered by the narrative, but rather focuses
on the presence and task-centeredness of simulation interactivity which
presupposes participation through controlling, manipulating and creating
rather than active reception.
The immersion in narrative, interactive video games is enhanced by the
use of mis-en-scéne elements typical of Hollywood film narratives such as
perfectly crafted visuals and the harmony of the background music and