Game Development Essentials Game Story & Character Development,9781401878856

Game Development Essentials Game Story & Character Development

by ;
Edition: 1st
ISBN13: 9781401878856
ISBN10: 1401878857
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2006-03-23
Publisher(s): Cengage Learning
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Summary

Game Story & Character Development-the newest installment in Thomson's acclaimed Game Development Essentials series-shows how to create compelling stories and characters specifically for games. The book examines the history of storytelling, traditional and game-specific story structure, and all aspects of character development, including physical, psychological, sociological, and verbal. Filled with commentary from game industry professionals-and featuring a companion CD containing game story documentation and demos-Game Story & Character Development is an essential guide for game designers, writers, students, and professionals.

Table of Contents

Introductionp. xiii
About the Game Development Essentials Seriesp. xiv
About Game Story & Character Developmentp. xiv
Who Should Read This Book?p. xv
How is This Book Organized?p. xv
How to Use This Textp. xvi
Key chapter questionsp. xvi
Tipsp. xvi
Sidebarsp. xvi
Quotesp. xvii
Profilesp. xvii
Case studiesp. xvii
Notesp. xvii
Chapter reviewp. xviii
About the Companion CDp. xviii
About the Instructor's Guidep. xviii
About the Authorsp. xix
Acknowledgementsp. xx
Questions & Feedbackp. xxii
Dedicationp. xxiii
Storyp. 1
The History of Story: how we've evolved as storytellersp. 3
Key Chapter Questionsp. 3
Cave Paintingsp. 4
Oral Traditionsp. 5
Fablep. 7
Mythp. 7
Legendp. 7
Urban Legendp. 8
Ah, the Theater!p. 9
The World of Textp. 11
Film: Back into the Cavep. 12
Televisionp. 14
Chapter Reviewp. 17
Game Genres: storytelling through style of playp. 19
Key Chapter Questionsp. 19
Actionp. 20
Platformersp. 21
Shootersp. 22
Racingp. 24
Fightingp. 25
Adventurep. 26
Action-Adventurep. 27
Puzzlep. 31
Role-Playingp. 32
Simulation & Sportsp. 36
Turn-Based Strategy (TBS)p. 37
Strategyp. 38
Real-Time Strategy (RTS)p. 39
Chapter Reviewp. 41
Building Your Story: how to construct a story from concept to executionp. 43
Key Chapter Questionsp. 43
Conceptp. 44
Springboardp. 45
Settingp. 46
Contextp. 47
Backstoryp. 50
Premisep. 53
Synopsis or Treatmentp. 54
Themep. 57
Traditional Structuresp. 58
Three-Act Story Structurep. 58
The Hero's Journeyp. 60
Episodicp. 63
Devices for Executionp. 66
Inciting Incidentp. 66
Foreshadowingp. 67
Conflictp. 68
Unity of Oppositesp. 69
Goalsp. 70
MacGuffinp. 71
Ticking Clockp. 71
Story versus Plotp. 72
Plot Pointsp. 73
Plot Twistsp. 75
Climaxp. 79
Deus Ex Machinap. 79
Chapter Reviewp. 81
Game Storytelling Devices: integrating game-specific elements into a storyp. 83
Key Chapter Questionsp. 83
Conveying Informationp. 84
Cinematicsp. 85
Cut-Scenesp. 86
Triggered Eventsp. 87
Player Controlp. 89
Character Customizationp. 90
Plotp. 91
Consequencesp. 92
Engagement and Interactivityp. 92
Collaborationp. 92
Immersionp. 93
Repetitionp. 93
Consistencyp. 94
Flowp. 94
Non-Linearityp. 94
Emotional Contentp. 96
Experiential Storytellingp. 96
Creating the Emotional Experiencep. 101
Chapter Reviewp. 104
Characterp. 105
Character Types: who are your characters?p. 107
Key Chapter Questionsp. 107
Archetypesp. 108
Herop. 108
Shadowp. 109
Mentorp. 109
Helpersp. 110
Guardianp. 110
Tricksterp. 111
Heraldp. 111
Contemporary Character Typesp. 112
Protagonistp. 112
Antiherop. 113
Co-Protagonistsp. 114
Antagonistp. 115
Ancillary Charactersp. 116
Pivotal Characterp. 117
Sidekicksp. 117
Lackeyp. 118
Alliesp. 118
Henchmenp. 119
Molep. 119
Game-Specific Charactersp. 119
Player Characters (PCs)p. 120
Avatarp. 120
Non-Player Characters (NPCs)p. 121
Chapter Reviewp. 125
Character Development: building compelling charactersp. 127
Key Chapter Questionsp. 127
Creating a Character Backstoryp. 128
Character Physiologyp. 128
Character Sociologyp. 130
Character Psychologyp. 132
Discovering Characterp. 134
Internal Conflictp. 134
Finding the Conflict: Free Writingp. 135
Turning Up the Heatp. 136
Compassionp. 138
Ancillary Charactersp. 139
Consistencyp. 139
Character Growthp. 140
Character Arcp. 140
Relationshipsp. 144
Dyadp. 144
Trianglep. 144
Point of Viewp. 145
First-Personp. 145
Third-Personp. 146
Visual Character Developmentp. 147
Back to the Drawing Boardp. 147
Character Movementp. 149
Stylep. 149
Chapter Reviewp. 151
Verbal Character Development: effective use of narration, monologue & dialoguep. 153
Key Chapter Questionsp. 153
Narrationp. 154
First-Personp. 154
Third-Personp. 155
Monologuep. 156
Dialoguep. 157
Purposes of Dialoguep. 159
Non-Verbal Dialoguep. 168
In-Game Dialoguep. 168
Writing Great Dialoguep. 172
Chapter Reviewp. 177
Gameplayp. 179
Gameplay and Story: incorporating challenges and strategies into a game storyp. 181
Key Chapter Questionsp. 181
Conflict in Gameplayp. 182
Balancep. 185
Game Balancep. 187
Dynamic Balancep. 191
Building Tensionp. 192
Rulesp. 196
Gameplay Elementsp. 197
Game Theoryp. 203
Zero Sum vs. Non-Zero Sump. 203
Prisoner's Dilemmap. 204
Tragedy of the Commonsp. 205
Level Structurep. 207
Spacep. 207
Flowp. 208
Timep. 209
Choicep. 210
Goalp. 211
Relationshipp. 211
Progressionp. 213
Chapter Reviewp. 215
Putting Your Plan into Action: implementing a successful storyplayp. 217
Key Chapter Questionsp. 217
Your Game Planp. 218
What is the Theme?p. 218
What is Your Story?p. 218
What is Your Genre?p. 219
What is Your Environment?p. 219
What is Your Setting?p. 219
What Character Types Do You Need?p. 220
How to Tell Itp. 221
Goalsp. 221
Game Documentationp. 222
Hamlet: Prince of Denmarkp. 223
Caesar's Questp. 230
Movies and Gamesp. 236
Where Does the Writer Fit in?p. 239
Chapter Reviewp. 243
Resourcesp. 244
Newsp. 244
Directories & Communitiesp. 245
Organizationsp. 245
Eventsp. 246
Books & Articlesp. 246
Indexp. 252
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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