Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2008 - 20

of a voluptuous waitress-even after being asked to stop. One
click too many caused the game to pause while the gamer was
linked to a sexual harassment training website.

IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING
"If you're not screaming at the screen, whoever made that game
might not get to make another one," explains game producer
and designer Tom Meigs. He lists game design goals as "Developing innovative, re-playable, highly addictive and lasting
play" (Meigs 2003). The close relationship players form with
a game is humorously illustrated in a recent GameStop commercial as the player's avatar breaks the news to a formidable
monster he will be traded in for a new game. "What!? What
about all the things we've been through together...the killer
levels, the painful incinerations?" the shocked creature whines.
(Available on YouTube as Gamestop-Self Worth posted by
GamestopVideo.)

game players than draw them in... Give them some reference
point... such as, 'Oh, I am in a spaceship' or 'Hey, this must be
the engine room' ...Even something like 'Wow! These look like
alien toilets!?!' will bring your audience back to relating to the
environment, and even lend a little humor" (Carson 2000).
Immersive storytelling for games relies on the same elements as live or other recorded entertainment: clarity and
emotional response. Joel Goodsell says that clarity is foremost:
the objective must be immediately apparent-where to go and
what to do, and what to expect when you act. Without clarity,
players cannot negotiate the world and grow frustrated. In a virtual world, clarity is also architectural. Planning a game world
is similar to the parameters of theme parks. Are there sufficient
entrances and exits for the number of creatures in your environment? Will rampaging aliens accidentally pile up at a toosmall door? Is the hallway with a life-saving weapon a dead-end
so you are killed every time you try to acquire it?

Game design usually relies on some
form of stylization for its
visual design. In the past, technological constraints
often dictated
Video game stories must be compellingly structured to
withstand episodic story structure, similar to television structure. Games are sufficiently long and complex that it is the rare
gamer who may suspend their lives to play straight through.
The stories are divided into smaller segments, or levels. Each
level is a story arc unto itself, with a beginning, middle and
an end. Good story design will create continuity of time and
space within the level. The passage of time is unique in games,
however. Actual game-play occurs in real time and a delineated
geography, and lasts as long or short amount of time as the
individual player requires. Larger leaps in time or place occur through "cut scenes," highly produced mini-movies with
exposition. A game's initial appeal may lie in its association with
known franchises or sequels such as the continuing Halo series or the many manifestations of Guitar Hero. But, like other
forms of entertainment, a game will not succeed unless it offers
unique and exciting game-play.
As a new entertainment form, new designers are learning
the age-old tenets of composition still apply to their work. With
few limitations on a virtual world, it is tempting to over-design
the game environment, or to emphasize technological bells and
whistles. While still offering a unique experience, Don Carson
counsels designers to take a lesson from themed entertainment. "Use the familiar in your designs...it pays to periodically
give your audience something to anchor them themselves to.
All too often, game designers will create a level built entirely of
pulsating walls of intestine like material. Although the concept
of such a place may sound "cool," it does more to alienate

abstraction.
Goodsell also notes the emotional impact of a story comes
from several sources: the dynamic elements- such as the sound
track and the action itself-and static elements such as the
visual design. The visual and audio designs define the mood
of the game, and hook our human emotions. "Just try playing
your favorite game with the sound track off," suggests Tom
Meigs (Meigs 2003). Visual elements create focus, using detail
or lighting to draw the player's eye toward the next location.
In this matter games use the classic compositional elements
of painting. One example is the concept art for the dungeon
in the soon-to-be released Fable 2. Dynamic use of light and
color lead the eye toward the next location in the back ground.
The innermost hallway is a cool blue, creating the impression
of depth. The architectural details are more abstract when
compared to the interesting detail of the foreground columns.
These classic compositional elements create a foreground and
a background. The difference between painting and gaming,
however, is the player will actually walk down that hallway to
unlock a new playing area.
The final frontier for video games is an adult emotional
engagement that is more complex than escapism, or the group
mechanics of achieving missions and surviving combat. Fable
2 may have made progress in this area. It introduces a dog as
the main accomplice for the player, encouraging the same type
of attachment humans have for pets in the real world. One reviewer for Games Radar notes after a three-hour test "It's adult
without being angsty; character customization is powerful' and
the dog is brilliant. Seriously" (Houghton 2008).

2008

theatre

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2008