作者：Richard Terrell

在本章节，我们继续用例子来说明故事设计的每一个元素存在的必要性（请点击此处阅读第1、第2部分）

执行

效能。一般来说，电子游戏的故事效能主要受到了故事场景和游戏设置的影响。为了不把这一元素与步调元素混淆在一起，我们只需要考虑故事内容的设计空间，艺术设计等等元素。如果故事中反复出现相同的地点，定位，人物角色或场景等，那么可以说，这个故事的效能大大降低了。如果你已经感受到一个故事开始重复一些情节，主题或者场景，那么你可以考虑缩减这些重复内容的出现。《仙乐传说》就是一款在功能角色（即游戏设置）和叙述角色中充斥着太多类似地点，角色和场景的游戏。所以，我们可以看到那些过于重视于游戏设置的电子游戏，经常会出现故事效能的大大流失的问题。

条理性。一个故事中的任何细节都不能有相互矛盾问题出现。而“ludonarrative dissonance”（游戏邦注：ludonarrative是由原LucasArts创意总监Clint Hocking提出，这是一个合成词，由ludology和narrative两个单词组成，意指游戏故事与玩法之间的冲突）便是防止电子游戏故事丢失其条理性的一大广为人知的方法。与效能元素一样，我们知道游戏的故事内容必须与游戏设置紧密结合在一起，但是因此却可能会影响，甚至破坏故事内容的呈现。因为电子游戏的设计始终围绕着一些抽象且非和谐的因素，而随着游戏的进行，这些因素可能会不定期地发生变化。例如在游戏《最终幻想7》）中，士兵在游戏的一开始就朝玩家扮演的角色发射子弹。但是这种出击却未对玩家的生命值（HP）造成太大的影响。是否说这些枪弹的威力太弱了，或者这些游戏角色太坚不可摧？这些都难以判断。事实上，在很多电子游戏中，任何角色都有可能从一系列的暴力对抗中幸存下来。因为对于玩家来说，我们宁愿接受游戏中的抽象因素和解释，也不愿意接受游戏主角因为一颗小小的子弹就毙命。在像《光晕：致远星》等游戏中，也同样出现了这种带有故事性的“子弹”。

光晕：致远星(from gamefy.cn)

步调。对于每一个波段来说，故事的高潮都是随着故事性和戏剧化的能量或者说是一种紧张感的形成而产生。在游戏设置的步调方面，同样也需要借鉴一些类似，或者是更有难度的游戏设置理念。与执行元素的其它方面相同，我们同样也必须考虑如何做才能让故事的步调与游戏设置相匹配。《魔法门之英雄交锋》便着重于突出多个不同的游戏章节。而在每一个章节中，都会出现一个新的角色，并且从级别“0”开始执行游戏任务。这些章节在一开始难度都很低，但是随着游戏的进行，玩家将会面临更多更厉害的敌人，甚至是最后的终极对手。当整个游戏故事完全形成时，游戏设置的难度级别也会经过多次重置而最终形成。而且这种不协调在游戏的最后一章会变得最为明显。在最后一章节，玩家并非投入最后的战斗，而是重新操纵一个新的角色，进行一场相对简单的战斗。

风格/语言。《Super Smash Brothers Brawl: Subspace Emissary》和《超级食肉男孩》的故事场景是以一种无声影片的形式呈现出来。没有对话或者文本，只有视觉上的叙述传达。《最终幻想6》让玩家感受到了一种亲临电影院的真实体验。屏幕上的游戏角色不断地进行一些夸张的肢体语言，向我们这些观众们进行自我展示。而就像我们在剧本中会看到的情形一样，这款游戏的每一个角色的出现都伴随着属于自己的音乐主题和个性化描述。而那些单纯借鉴日本漫画中故事模式的游戏，则只会通过呆板的对话场景像观众透露游戏信息，例如《超级大战争》系列游戏，《仙乐传说》和《美妙世界》等游戏。当然了，还有一些是被认为拥有电影般完美效果的游戏，如《神秘海域》，《天剑》和《光晕：致远星》等。

媒介。在这系列文章中的第一部分，我已经列举了一些带有其它媒介特征的游戏案例。因为电子游戏设计者能够自行挑选其认为合适的特定媒介元素，所以对于电子游戏的设计来说，这一领域并未存在任何单一的媒介选择判断标准。换句话说，现代游戏既可以选择配音形式，也可以通过文本描述展现游戏。而且也未存在任何说法能够判断哪一种模式更好。我为何如此强调解释这一观点，正是因为有太多人固执地相信电影模式表达方法才是所有游戏都必须遵循的唯一章法。

动态。有一些游戏强调区分不同的叙述途径，并鼓励玩家在游戏中努力探索各种可能性因素，这种游戏包括《光辉物语》，《奥伽战争：命运之轮》，穆修拉的假面和《质量效应》。但是也有一些游戏开发者并不支持玩家去探索游戏故事中的多种可能性，如《暴雨》。虽然说这些游戏都是一些较为典型的例子，但是我们必须知道，像在《超级马里奥》这种游戏平台中，空间的转换也会因此改变游戏设置的叙述表现。按照这种方法，大部分游戏将呈现出动态化/非固定的游戏设置，而因此表现出一些多层次的动态化叙述模式。所以说这种类型的游戏是参考了动态化非游戏设置元素而制作出来的游戏。“支线任务”（游戏邦注：即详细流程）可以说是动态化游戏故事特征的显著表现。

讲述

创造性。不管我们是否喜欢特殊元素，所有的游戏在某种程度上都具有一定的创造性。我们很乐于看到自己的作品比其它作品更特别，且更具有创造性，然而实际上，这种比较却是一件非常困难的任务。因为没有一个玩家能玩遍所有的游戏，甚至不可能精通特定某种风格的游戏。即便真有人不得不玩大量游戏，他们也总能通过深入研究一款游戏，找到其故事内容之外的其他特点。所以，如果单纯依靠细节比较来决定一部游戏作品的创造性，那么你将永远得不到想要的答案。相反的，如果我们能够适当地审视我们的相关评价（游戏邦注：即那些基于游戏系列或风格等评价），那么我们便能触及创造性这个话题，特别是当我们能够辨别一款电子游戏是否是拙劣的复制品时，我们便能够抓住创造性。《Linear RPG》，《You Must Burn the Rope》以及《Super PSTW Action RPG》都是很好的例子。如果你一直执拗于这些游戏只是一些拙劣的复制品，那么你便不能感受到它们优秀的游戏设置和出色的故事情节。我看过一个视频（链接：http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z2Z23SAFVA），该视频制作者可以说完全不理解我所提到的这种创造性，因此才会制作出如此滑稽可笑的视频。在某种程度上，复制其它作品对于这些游戏来说并非完全是坏事。而且，幸运的是，这些游戏模仿的痕迹并不多，而且都能抓住重点以突出自己游戏所要表达的亮点。

系列。游戏续集和游戏系列的魅力不可阻挡。在众多媒介中，故事系列和IP品牌在推动新产品的销售过程中都有着功不可没的作用。我们总是喜欢一些相同的事物，并且渴望知道完整的故事情节。所以，当玩家在挑战一个游戏系列时，总是享受着游戏中贯穿始终的细节，同样地，如果系列游戏失去了连贯性，那么玩家便会因此感到失望。就像《塞尔达传说》，虽然这并不是一款基于故事内容展开的系列游戏，但是却仍有很多玩家尝试着去把每一个游戏系列的故事串在一起。甚至有些玩家认为《银河战士》的故事内容必须与《银河战士：猎人》以及《银河战士弹珠台》串联成一个完整的故事情节。这个元素能够将许多相对独立的游戏故事有条理地贯穿在一起。

跨媒体作品。《光晕》是一款很受欢迎的电子游戏系列。这部作品可以说是动画短片，漫画与小说的结合体。我们甚至还能在游戏中看到一部绯闻电影的影子。而这些元素都集中在一起，汇聚着《光晕》这个巨大的宇宙。《死亡空间》和《银河战士》都是较为出色的跨媒体作品。

共鸣（和谐）

匹配游戏故事和游戏设置很难，但是如果能做好，将能为电子游戏带来不错的反响。然后，故事中的任何两个元素都能产生相互的共鸣作用。最为突出的便是主题元素，它能够轻易地与其它元素产生共鸣。因为主题是一相对抽象的元素，能够灵活地与其它具体元素，如环境，角色和情节相呼应。我特别欣赏《时空幻境》中的诗歌文本和游戏设置所产生的那种和谐感。游戏以诗歌的基调去描述主人公Tim的过去，流露出爱，失落与渴望的情感。而这些抽象的概念与游戏设置中的挑战和机制很好地结合在了一起。例如悔恨的情绪让Tim想要重新回到过去，试着去解决并挽回一些事情。而游戏设置使得玩家能够回到过去，尽力做出挽救。通过这种和谐的共鸣，我们能够通过Tim在游戏中解决问题的行动而去思考更多关于角色的问题，例如是否Tim比以前更加聪明了？或者我们是否真的能够回到过去挽救一些已经发生了的事情等等。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Story Design pt.3

by Richard Terrell

Continuing with examples for each facet of story design…

Pages from the DS game Ni No Kuni.

Execution

Efficiency. In general efficiency for video games is measured in both its narrative scenes and gameplay. To not confuse this facet with pacing, think along the lines of design space, art assets, and the number of elements of story content. If locations, set pieces, characters, scenes, etc. overlap in what they bring to the story, efficiency goes down. If you feel like a story begins to repeat its lessons, themes, or scenarios, consider if it could have gotten by with less. Tales of Symphonia is a game filled with many locations, characters, and scenarios that are very similar to each other both in their functional role (gameplay) and narrative role. Often in video games, a gameplay necessity will force a narrative inefficiency.

Coherence. The details of a story shouldn’t contradict each other. One of the most well known ways for video game narratives to lose coherence is from ludonarrative dissonance. Like with efficiency, we know that the story content communicated through the gameplay can influence and conflict with the story content presented otherwise. Because video games are designed with varying levels of abstractions dissonant elements are very likely to occur. For example, in Final Fantasy 7, at the beginning of the game soldier shoot guns at the player characters. The damage dealt is only a small percentage of HP. Are we to believe that these guns are weak? These characters are armored? It’s hard to say. In fact, many video games characters survive from a range of cartoon violence. Though we accept these abstractions and interpretations, it’s hard to turn around and accept the death of a main character from a single bullet shot in a cutscene. These narrative bullets are even in games like Halo: Reach.

Pacing. For every wave, the climax is the result of building narrative and dramatic energy/tension. In terms of gameplay pacing, there should be a similar building of gameplay concepts or difficulty. And like the other facets of execution, we have to look at how the pacing of the story content and the gameplay match up. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes features multiple chapters. In each, a new character is introduced starting at level 0. These chapters start out easy. As you progress you’ll fight stronger enemies and eventually a boss. As the overall story builds, the gameplay difficulty resets several times throughout the game. This disconnect is most apparent at the final chapter. Instead of launching into the final battle, you pick up yet another new character and are forced to play through a long gauntlet of relatively easy battles.

Style/Language. The story scenes in Super Smash Brothers Brawl: Subspace Emissary and Super Meat Boy are presented in the style of silent films (see Brawl videos here). No dialog or text.

Just visual storytelling. Final Fantasy 6 has a strong theater like presentation. Characters turn to the screen to emote opening up their bodies to us, the audience, via the screen. Each character is also introduced with their musical theme and a personalized description like you might find in a playbook. Other games borrow from the Japanese manga/anime style of storytelling featuring somewhat stilted dialog scenes that divulge lots of information. Examples include the Advance Wars series, Tales of Symphonia, and The World Ends With You. And of course there are the games that go for a movie like cinematic presentation from Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, to Halo: Reach.

Medium. I presented many examples of games that take features from other mediums in part 1 of this series. Because video game designers can basically pick and choose the kinds of medium-specific elements they want to incorporate, there isn’t anything close to a singular scale of craft/design all video games are measured by. In other words, a modern game can feature voice acting or text based dialog. One isn’t necessarily better than the other. I have to say this because many believe cinematic presentation is the singular standard that all games should aspire to.

Dynamic. Some games feature branching narrative paths and encourage the player to explore all the possibilities like Radiant Historia, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, and Mass Effect. Some developers have discouraged exploring a game’s story possibilities like Heavy Rain. These are well known examples. But remember even the warps in the Super Mario Brothers platformers dynamically change up the progression of the gameplay narrative. Along these lines most games wil have dynamic/emergent gameplay and therefore some level of dynamic narrative. So this category tends to refer to dynamic non-gameplay elements. Side quests are probably the easiest example of a dynamic ludonarrative feature.

Another image from Ni No Kuni.

Discourse

Creativity. All games are creative in one way or other whether we like the unique elements or not. It’s nice to compare how unique and creative one work is compared to others, however this is an inherently difficult task. No one plays all the games out there, not even of a single popular genre. And even if one were to play many games, one can always study a work more deeply to uncover more of its story content. So, if understanding how creative a work is depends on how its details compare, you’re quest will never end. Still, as long as we properly scope our comments (based on series, genre, etc.), we can talk about creativity. This is especially easy to do when identifying video game parodies. Linear RPG, You Must Burn the Rope, and Super PSTW Action RPG are all great examples. These games aren’t very good gameplay and story wise if you don’t understand that they’re parodies. This guy didn’t quite understand, and now we have a hilariously entertaining video based on his response. In some ways, being a parody gives these games a freebie. Fortunately, they’re all short and to the point (efficient).

Series. The power of sequels and series is undeniable. In many mediums, narrative series and IP brands have significant selling power over new products. We love the familiar and we love knowing the full story. So, when games continue in a series many gamers enjoy connecting the details. Likewise, many gamers get very upset when they don’t line up. There are some that try to piece together the story of all the Zelda games even though they’re not intended to be a narrative series. Some argue over Metroid canonical content even including odd games like Metroid Prime Hunters and Metroid Pinball into the grand storyline. This facet is basically coherence across multiple independent stories.

Transmedia franchises. Halo is a popular video game series. The franchise also includes a collection of animated shorts, comics, and novels. There was even a rumored movie in the works.

All of these products work to support the detailed overarching Halo universe. Dead Space, Pokemon, Zelda, and Metroid are also transmedia franchises.

Resonance (Harmony)

Aligning a game’s narrative and gameplay is the most difficult and effective way for a video game to create resonance. Still, one can create resonance between any two facets of a story.

Typically, theme is more likely to resonate with each of the other facets. Because themes are so abstract, there more flexibility matching it up with concrete elements like setting, characters, and plot actions. I particularly appreciate the resonance between the poetry text presented in Braid and its gameplay. The poems tell the story of Tim’s past filled with love, loss, and longing. These abstract concepts resonate with the kinds of challenges and mechanics in the gameplay. For example, regret is paired with the idea of wanting to go back and fix things; a do over. In the gameplay players have the power to rewind time to fix things with few limitations. From here the richness of the resonance invites us to consider Tim’s character through his gameplay actions of solving puzzles. Is he wiser now? Can we ever really get a do over? （source:gamasutra）