作者：Angel Leigh McCoy

为电子游戏创造故事与拼图一样，既有挑战性也具有乐趣元素。这两种任务都需要你既拥有批判性思维，同时也拥有能够着眼于全局与细节的能力。
成功的条件便是去学习如何评估每一环节并决定它们在更大规划中的位置。以下问题将能够帮助你朝着更强大更有凝聚力的故事叙述去进行故事设计。

puzzle(from gamasutra)

它是否能够支持并强化品牌？

每一件产品都拥有玩家和读者所了解的身份。如果玩家正在寻找一款科幻类第一人称射击游戏，他们便会去寻找一个带有所有相关标记的品牌。而当他们开始游戏并发现这其实是关于关系与RPG风格的互动时，他们便会大失所望。所以你必须确保你的故事能够支持整个品牌。

如果你完全不熟悉品牌识别，那你可以读下Christy MacLeod所写的文章《Defining Brand Identity》。

品牌识别的核心在于向玩家承诺你将会传递你所承诺的一切。作为一名叙述设计师，你的职责便是支持并强化你的游戏（以及你的公司）的品牌。

大多数现有的公司都对公司和游戏本身的品牌识别拥有明确的定义。可能包含一个任务或价值生命，游戏的基调，外观与感觉。关于游戏，ESRB（娱乐软件分级委员会）评级在游戏识别中也扮演着一个很重要的角色。如果你开始创造自己的游戏，那么你想要做的第一件事便是决定并公正你的游戏身份。因为你的很多决策都将依赖于此。

从玩家的角度来看这是否有意义？

这听来再基础不过吧，但这却是游戏编写中最具挑战性的部分。你必须站在玩家的角度进行考虑。就像我们经常会陷入“作家全知综合症”中，即作家了解有关故事的一切并想当然地认为别人也是如此。但事实却并非如此。你的读者和玩家并不会清楚全局，所以他们可能会对某些你觉得很合理的事件感到困惑。

你该如何避免这种情况？避开作家全知综合症就和练肌肉一样需要投入较多时间，并且你在一开始需要在任何地方都去“锻炼你的肌肉”。你可以问自己：“我是否提供给了玩家他们在理解这里发生了什么时所需要的所有信息？”

如果你的答案是：“没有”，你便需要着眼于之前内容中的一些铺垫。为了获得让人满意的结果你就必须有效进行设置。

实体的设置是否合理？

每个故事都有自己的内部实体决定着世界及其元素的运行。其中两个最重要的故事实体便是世界动态和角色动机。如果你在游戏中所讲述的故事破坏了你之前设置好的规则，你最好能够意识到这一点并清楚为什么你要做出这样的故事选择。

例如在科幻世界中，星际旅行的设定好像已经出现很久很久了。如果你想让角色能够在不同星球间瞬间移动， 你就必须解释为什么现在的你能够这么做。如果你不能做出解释，那就不要做出改变。

同样的情况也适用于角色动机。如果你的一个角色做出特别的行为，你可以通过创造一个全新动机或修改行为去支持它。当角色在游戏中间改变了动机或行为，玩家可能会对此产生疑虑，并因此会破坏故事叙述的沉浸感。

陷阱：很多作家会陷进光鲜亮丽的陷阱中。千万要避开它。也许你的想法很棒，但是你必须去测试它并搞清楚这是否能够帮助你创造你的作品。

我是否能够协调这一故事理念？

游戏公司总是充满一群满腔热情且富有创意的人才，他们往往都拥有各种优秀的想法。叙述设计师的主要工作便是选择某些人的优秀理念并将其整合到叙述中。游戏设计师的核心便是协作。

这些理念可能是来自总监，关卡设计师，或者像美术或质量保证等支持团队。根据理念背后的激情力量，你可能会发现自己能够将理念真正整合到游戏世界和故事中。

但事情并非总是如此，你可能不得不去解释为什么要这么做并且有可能遇到同事激情退却的情况。

这是需要去解决的问题，这可能需要你使用最大的创造性和策略。因为当你的理念变成“传教士”一般的存在时你的同事便会真正喜欢它。所以你的工作便是去评估理念并寻找将理念最有效整合到故事中的最佳方法。

是否存在更好的方法？

PBS的节目“The Brain”的主持人Neurologist David Eagleman相信，你所拥有的第一个理念可能不会是最佳理念—-根据自己的经历，我对此表示认同。而这里的问题在于我们总是会被牢牢捆绑于第一件想起来的事，并且这通常都会受到我们当时所喜欢的流行文化，我们所玩的游戏，再或者我们的脑子里觉得最重要的事的影响。

这里所存在的真正挑战便是如何进行调整并真正将你的创意带入所有理念中，或许之后会出现比第一个理念更优秀的理念。Eagleman便建议你不应该在第一个理念出现时彻底认定它，而是应该列出至少10个理念。我同样也听过有人建议最多应该拥有100个理念，不过当我真正去尝试时发现这有点过于牵强了。所以10个理念应该就是不错的选择。

要记得你是叙述设计师，这意味着你的责任是想出最佳理念然后向别人宣传它们。如果你拥有一个理念，其他人也会想出自己的理念，而他们就像你这样并不能跳脱自己的理念去做出其它更酷的选择。你需要自己走向他们去解释并证实为什么你的理念更加优秀。

这一情节是否必要？

在工作中我经常需要提到舞台和聚光灯。我将游戏环境视为舞台，你将在这里用聚光灯去突显你正在讲述的故事。故事中的许多部分还不会公开，所以它们不会出现在聚光灯下。区分该曝光哪些内容以及该隐藏哪些内容也是你必须掌握的叙述技能。

你所投放于聚光灯之下的任何情节点都必须能够推动故事的发展。游戏故事设计中不能出现任何离题因子。所以你的关注点，也就是聚光灯应该罩在任何能够有效支持故事发展的核心内容上。

故事时刻是否会问些我们不能回答的问题？

当你在选择照亮哪些时刻时你也必须为之后做考虑。就像使用这一对话或引进这一条款是否会导致玩家推测并渴求更多？如果你计划还清这一切的话自然没事！但如果你做不到，那就糟糕了。玩家总是很讨厌那些游戏所展现的但却不能真正体验到的内容。

我们将这种情况称为“故事债务”。这是作为创造者的我们亏欠玩家的债务，我们应该努力避免这样的债务。任何推出了多个版本并且每个版本都推动了故事发展的游戏都因为引进了难以偿还的情节线而创造了这样的“故事债务”。

这可能是因为设计师致力于游戏的改变，因为部落信息随着时间的发展而遗失了，或者是因为设计团队缺少足够的带宽去追逐故事情节的发展。

叙述设计师可以对此保持警惕并识别出这种情况，去评估风险并决定其中的价值，判断是否存在其它更有效的方法。

如何发展？

“过去已经过去，未来却还未到来。你唯一能够生存的时刻便是当下。”—-Gautama Buddha

Buddha说的是对的，除非你是叙述设计师，并且你的故事未来正堪忧。只有当未来真正到达时我们才有可能去改变它，在游戏设计中也是如此，所以你可以事先想好故事可能的发展方向。这将让你能够尽早规划一些之后可以讨玩家喜欢的元素。

你并不需要准确了解目的地，但你必须清楚接下来的故事地标。就像之前所提到的，铺垫能够为你的故事添加深度和清晰度。如果你对故事未来的了解越深入，你对铺垫的控制力度便会越大。

同时你还必须保证自己足够灵活。如果有棵树倒了并阻挡了你的去路（游戏邦注：就像一个资产不能及时完成），你便需要绕道而行。这种灵活性以及对于所有问题的实践能够帮助你成为更优秀的叙述设计师并让帮助你为玩家创造出真正优秀的游戏体验。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

8 Questions That Improve Your Game’s Narrative

by Angel Leigh McCoy

Quips: Quick Tips for Game Narrative and Other Noodlings

Creating narrative for a video game has similar challenging, frustrating, and fun elements as those you encounter when putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Both tasks require critical thinking and the ability to see the big picture as well as the details.

Half the battle is learning how to evaluate each piece and determine where it belongs in the grand scheme of things. The following questions can help guide your narrative design toward stronger, more cohesive storytelling.

Does it support and strengthen the brand?

Every product has an identity that players and readers rely on. If a player is looking for a science fiction first-person shooter with mature situations, then they’re going to look for a brand that has all those markings. They will then be surprised and disappointed if they start playing and learn that it’s actually all about relationships and RPG-style interactions. Thus, it’s important that your story support the brand.

If you’re completely unfamiliar with what brand identity is, the article “Defining Brand Identity” by Christy MacLeod has basic information on it. Read that first, then come back.

At its core, the brand identity is a promise to players that you will deliver what you’ve said you will. As a narrative designer, it’s your duty to support and strengthen the game’s (and the company’s) brand.

Most existing companies will have well-established definitions of what their brand identity is both for the company and for the game itself. This may include a mission and/or value statement, the voice/tone of the game, and its look and feel. With games, the ESRB rating also plays a strong role in a game’s identity. And, if you’re starting to make your own game (hello, indie teams), one of the first things you’ll want to do is determine and document your game’s identity. Many of your decisions will be based on it.

Does it make sense from a player’s perspective?

Sounds basic, right, but this is one of the most challenging aspects of game writing. You have to always put yourself in the mind (and heart) of the player. There’s a phenomenon I like to call “writer omniscience syndrome” which describes the fact that a writer knows everything about the story and thus assumes everyone else does too. This, however, is never the case. Your readers and players do not know the whole picture, and so they may be confused by events that make perfect sense to you.

How do you avoid this? Avoiding writer omniscience syndrome is a skill you develop over time, like a muscle, and it starts by exercising that muscle at every turn. Ask yourself, “Have I given the player all the information they need to understand what’s happening here?”

If your answer is “No,” then you need to look into foreshadowing and lore delivery in prior content. Getting the set-up right is critical to a satisfying pay-off.

Have you ever experienced writer omniscience syndrome? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.

Are the physics right?

Every story has its own set of internal physics that determine how the world and its elements work. The two most important story physics are world dynamics and character motivations. If the tale you’re telling in-game breaks the rules you set up previously, then you’d better be fully aware of it and know exactly why you’re making that story choice.

For example, in a science fiction world, interplanetary travel could be established as taking hundreds of years. If you choose to now say that your characters can teleport between planets, you must explain why they can now do this. If you can’t explain it, then don’t make the change.

The same applies to character motivations. If one of your characters behaves out of character, then either fortify the behavior by building in a new motivation or modify the behavior to fit. When a character changes its motivation or methods in mid-stream, it pulls the player out of their suspension of disbelief and triggers their right-brain critic, and that is not immersive storytelling.

TRAP: Many writers fall into the Shiny! trap. Don’t be that writer. Your idea may be awesome, but examine it closely to see if it truly fits what you’re trying to accomplish with your product.

What other areas of storytelling have story physics that you should fortify?

Can I make this story idea fit?

Game companies are filled to brimming with passionate, creative people who are overflowing with great ideas. A large part of the narrative designer’s job is taking someone’s else’s great idea and fit it into the narrative. Game design is collaborative at its heart.

These ideas may come down from the director level, from the level designers, or from support teams like Art or Quality Assurance. Depending on the force of the passion behind the idea, you may find yourself working magic to weave an idea into the rest of the world and story.

Straight up, this isn’t always possible and you may have to explain why and see the excitement die from the eyes of your coworkers. (My least favorite part of the job.)

When it is possible, then it’s a puzzle that demands solving, and it will call on you to use your most creative and strategic muscles to make it not just work, but work smoothly. Your coworkers love it when their ideas become canon. It’s your job to evaluate ideas and find ways for the best of them (or the one’s forced on you by bigger fish) to fit into the story.

Ever had to incorporate someone else’s idea into a creative project? How did it go? Tell me about it in the comments.

Is there a better way?

Neurologist David Eagleman, host of the PBS show “The Brain,” believes that the first idea you have may not be the best idea—and I agree with him based on my own anecdotal experience. The problem is that we’re wired to grab the first thing that comes to mind, and often that originates with whatever pop culture we’re enjoying at the moment, or whatever game we played most recently, or just whatever’s foremost in our minds.

The real trick—and challenge—is to stretch beyond that and really dig into your creativity for all the ideas, some of which may be better than your first one. Eagleman recommends that you not stop at the first idea, but force yourself make a list of ten ideas. I’ve also heard the advice to force yourself to come up with 100 ideas, but when I tried that it devolved quickly into the ridiculous. Ten seems a good number.

Remember that you’re the narrative designer and that means it’s your responsibility to come up with the best ideas and then pitch them to others. If you had one idea, then others did too, and they’re not trained—as you are—to look beyond the obvious for the extra cool option. You will have to walk them there yourself, by explaining and justifying why your idea is better.

Let’s talk about the lazy human brain!

Is this plot necessary?

In my job, I talk a lot about stages and spotlights. I view the game environment as the stage, and where you shine the spotlight defines the story you’re telling. Many parts of the story will and should remain in the eaves, never making it into the spotlight. Learning to discriminate between what should get the spotlight and what shouldn’t is another important narrative skill to hone.

Any plot point you put in the spotlight should advance the story—no exceptions. There are no good digressions or detours in game narrative design because we don’t have that much gas to go wandering around the countryside. The focus, and thus the spotlight, should be on the core through-line and any moments that strongly support that through-line.

If you were the technician behind the spotlight, how would you choose where to shine it?

Does the story moment ask questions we can’t/won’t answer?

It’s also important, when choosing what moments to spotlight, to consider the future. Does using this dialogue or introducing this item cause players to speculate and yearn for more? Great if you plan to pay it off! Boo, bad if you can’t or won’t. Players hate few things more than when the game teases them with something that they never get to experience.

We call this “story debt.” It’s a debt that we creators owe players, and we should endeavor never to renege on that debt. Any game that is putting out multiple releases and advancing the story in each will undoubtedly create “story debt” by introducing plot lines that they won’t pay off.

This may happen because the people working on the game change, because tribal knowledge is lost over time, or because the team no longer has the bandwidth to pursue the storyline despite their best intentions.

Narrative designers can learn to be vigilant and recognize these situations, evaluate the risk, and determine whether it’s worth it. Is there a better way?

Ever been saddened because an anticipated game story got dropped?

Where is this going?

“The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There’s only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment.” —Gautama Buddha.

What Buddha said is true, unless you’re a narrative designer and the future of your story is at stake. While it is true that the future cannot be set in stone until it becomes the present—and this is especially true with game design—it pays to have some idea of where the story will be going. This allows you to seed elements early on that you can pay off later to fans’ delight.

You don’t need to know exactly what the destination will be, but you do need to have an idea what the next few story landmarks will be. Foreshadowing, as mentioned above, adds depth and clarity to your story. The more you know about the future of your story, the more control you have over foreshadowing.

The best laid plans of mice and men (and women) often go awry, however, so you have to remain flexible. If a tree falls across the path you’re on (or an asset doesn’t get completed in time), you’ll have to take a detour. It’s this flexibility and practical use of all these questions that makes you a great narrative designer and allows you to create awesome experiences for your players.（source：gamasutra）