unlocking, take it with you. -Barry, Resident Evil I Dont Want to - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

▶
unlocking take it with you
SMART_READER_LITE
LIVE PREVIEW

unlocking, take it with you. -Barry, Resident Evil I Dont Want to - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Mar 19, 2024 244 likes •711 views

Here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you. -Barry, Resident Evil I Dont Want to Kno Know Delivering Exposition in Games Greg Kasavin greg@supergiantgames.com kasavin.blogspot.com About

slide-1
SLIDE 1
slide-2
SLIDE 2
slide-3
SLIDE 3

“Here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you.”

  • Barry, Resident Evil
slide-4
SLIDE 4
slide-5
SLIDE 5
slide-6
SLIDE 6
slide-7
SLIDE 7
slide-8
SLIDE 8

I Don’t Want to Kno Know

Delivering Exposition in Games

Greg Kasavin greg@supergiantgames.com kasavin.blogspot.com

slide-9
SLIDE 9

About Me

slide-10
SLIDE 10

Who Cares? No One Finishes Games

 Example: Half-Life 2: Episode Two

 Metacritic: 90  Avg. Completion Time: 6h 53m  <50% of players reached the final map

Sources:

 http://www.steampowered.com/status/ep2/ep2_stats.php  Robertson, Margaret: “Stop Wasting My Time and Your

Money: Why Your Game Doesn’t Need a Story to Be a Hit”

slide-11
SLIDE 11

Solution: Panic!!!

 Make Games Shorter  Remove Story  Waste No Time Polishing Later Levels

slide-12
SLIDE 12

On Second Thought...

slide-13
SLIDE 13

Short Attention Spans, High Standards

slide-14
SLIDE 14

Players Are Not a Captive Audience

slide-15
SLIDE 15

The Role of Exposition in Games

slide-16
SLIDE 16

What Exposition Is Not (Limited To)

 “Things the Designer Thinks I Should Know”  The Opening Cutscene  The Tutorial  Mission Objectives  Backstory  And also…

slide-17
SLIDE 17

Exposition Is Not Dialogue

”Damn, those alien bastards are gonna pay for shooting up my ride”

  • Duke Nukem, Duke Nukem 3D

"I knew there was one on board!“

  • Marine (referring to the Master Chief), Halo

”Hey, catch me later, I'll buy you a beer!”

  • Barney, Half-Life

”What, you’re going to fight against me? You damn fool.”

  • Master-D, Bionic Commando
slide-18
SLIDE 18

What Exposition Is

 A way of looking at content delivery in

games

 A tool for maximizing player engagement  An underlying commitment to thoroughness

and consistency

 Related but not limited to narrative

slide-19
SLIDE 19

A Working Definition

A game’s exposition refers to the deliberate arrangement of its content, including its structure, its systems, and its narrative, in support of the game’s experiential goals.

slide-20
SLIDE 20

Well-Crafted Exposition

 Builds immersion  Builds investment  Teaches the player  Is hard to achieve, and requires iteration

slide-21
SLIDE 21

Well-Crafted Exposition, Cont.

 Presents an internally consistent gameworld  Ramps elements of play at a deliberate rate  Withholds intriguing new information

“You do not keep the audience's interest by giving it information, but by withholding information, except that which is absolutely necessary for comprehension.”

  • Robert McKee, Story
slide-22
SLIDE 22

Well-Crafted Exposition, Cont.

 Makes the audience feel smart  ...by using subtext  ...by inducing speculation  ...through the user experience / UI  ...by withholding unnecessary info

slide-23
SLIDE 23

Three Types of Exposition in Games

 Structural  Systemic  Narrative

slide-24
SLIDE 24

Structural Exposition

slide-25
SLIDE 25

Systemic Exposition

slide-26
SLIDE 26

Narrative Exposition

slide-27
SLIDE 27

Three Types of Exposition in Games

slide-28
SLIDE 28

Example Case: Plants Vs. Zombies

 No real story  One-button gameplay  No player character  Silly theme

slide-29
SLIDE 29

Plants Vs. Zombies, Cont.

 Structural exposition

 Simple ramp through tutorialized stages  New gameplay twists introduced every few stages  New minigames

introduced every few stages

 Player choice

introduced at a comfortable pace

slide-30
SLIDE 30

Plants Vs. Zombies, Cont.

 Systemic exposition

 New plant types introduced each stage  New enemy types introduced every few stages

slide-31
SLIDE 31

Plants Vs. Zombies, Cont.

 Narrative exposition

 Crazy Dave  Day/night cycle  Sense of escalation

slide-32
SLIDE 32

Applying Principles of Exposition

slide-33
SLIDE 33

Bastion Narrative Design Goals

 Story should not interrupt play  No dependencies on rich presentation  Take advantage of the medium

Hence...

 Reactive Narrator  VO lines short, don’t repeat  No breaking the fourth wall  Deep backstory

slide-34
SLIDE 34

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

 10 techniques  Use them in any combination in any order  Use them during pre-production and production  ...But don’t wait too long  Not all techniques apply to all types of games

slide-35
SLIDE 35
  • 1. Check for an Even Coating

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

slide-36
SLIDE 36
  • 2. The Breadcrumb Trail Test

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

slide-37
SLIDE 37
  • 3. Why Isn’t Your Game Suspenseful?

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

slide-38
SLIDE 38
  • 4. Get Inside the Player’s Head

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

slide-39
SLIDE 39

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

  • 5. Confirm Your Expository Reward Loops
slide-40
SLIDE 40

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

  • 6. Are You Reinforcing, or Repeating?
slide-41
SLIDE 41

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

  • 7. Account for Different Levels of Engagement
slide-42
SLIDE 42

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

  • 8. Do You Know Where Your Story Is Going?
slide-43
SLIDE 43

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

  • 9. Are You Using Every Part of the Buffalo?
slide-44
SLIDE 44

Testing for Well Crafted Exposition

  • 10. Make Sure the Chopping Block is Well Fed
slide-45
SLIDE 45

The End / To Be Continued

slide-46
SLIDE 46

Questions?

contact: greg@supergiantgames.com