The visual style within video games makes up the visual representation of a video game. Visual styles can vary greatly between games, classic 2D to 3D and also graphics wise, from ultra-realistic to a cartoon based style. It is important for developers to achieve the correct visual style for their intended audience, as even though most gamers will agree that; "It's not about the graphics" they're the most direct method of showing a game off and a bit of eye candy never goes amiss.
World (Terrain, architecture, objects): The environment of a game, the landscape and the objects which inhabit it. This can range from foliage to trees and buildings. The world of the game houses the various elements of the game and is what the player will traverse throughout.
Character models: A virtual model used to represent a character in-game. These models can be made up from a range of different methods, the most common in games as of 2013 would be polygons, the more polygons which make up a character, the more detailed it can become.
Another method comes in the form of sprites, this was initially used in older games to fool the eye into seeing movement where there really is none. Instead a sprite consists of a number of pixel based images which display one after the other.
Gameplay models & Gameplay features
The models and features of gameplay are made up of a variety of things, they can include the avatar you play as, the narrative of the game, how you play a game and even the mode of game your playing; Single player, multiplayer etc...
Narrative: A video game narrative is used as a basis to give the player a reason to do whatever they are meant to be doing in the game, in most blockbuster games today, the narrative of games tends to be set up much like that of a film and in some cases, such as with Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls, the gameplay it's self plays backup while the narrative takes the lead.
Game Setting: The setting of the game is made up of numerous factors, from environmental aspects to the emotional. It all helps build up the world which the development team have envisioned in order to deliver the intended experience to the player. In the case of The Last of Us by Naughty Dog, the intention was to put the player in a foreboding, high tension situation, but also to put emotional focus on two characters which ultimately allows hope into a seemingly hopeless situation.
The Goals, Challenges and Rewards of a video game are all closely related, let me give an example to prove my point. Goal: Reach the radio tower. Challenge: Defeat the armed soldiers in the way whilst avoiding deadly traps. Reward: Reach the radio tower and receive that shiny new assault rifle. See where I'm going with this? Each one of these are used in order to keep the player engaged, to start the player obviously needs a goal, but without the challenge, reaching the goal wouldn't hold any interest, then there's the reward at the end, which makes the challenge worth while.
This concept doesn't just factor into games either, it's something used to motivate people in almost any situation. Athletes could be used as another example, their goal could be to become a world champion cyclist, their training and eventual competition would be the challenge with the reward being a medal at the end.
The Rules, Difficulty and Mechanics
An age old notion in the realms of games is that they always have rules, these rules determine what the player can and cannot do whilst playing the game. When it comes to video games, these rules tend to be hidden behind control schemes and hidden parameters, but wherever there are rules, there are ways to break them.
Some players have found ways to exploit the games rules in order to achieve an unexpected effect, then there are others who just straight up mess with the games code. In most cases this is used to either make the game easier, more convenient or just to have a laugh, which brings me on to my next point; Difficulty.
The difficulty in games is a difficult thing to judge (No pun intended, but hey I'll take it), as all players have differing experiences when it comes to video games, not everyone is willing to put them selves through what may be considered a gruelling experience, on the other hand, those that are more experienced want to be challenged and won't appreciate the games ai (Artificial Intelligence) pulling it's punches. This is why in most games these days, you'll find you are able to determine the difficulty you play at.
These usually consist of the difficulties; easy, normal and hard although some games will also add, very easy and very hard. The main difference between difficulties tends to be a simple change in parameters at the developers discretion, ex: change in health, change in damage to enemies, differing instances of item drops, etc.. However, some games go the extra mile and will even reward players with extra content for attempting the harder difficulties, such is the case with the Kingdom Hearts series which adds new enemies and items and also provides a secret ending for beating the game on the hardest setting.
The mechanics behind games basically refer to how the game runs. Why does Crash Bandicoot spin to attack while Nathan Drake takes down his enemies with a pistol? It's because both games have their own unique set of mechanics. I purposely used two games from the same developer there to prove my point. Even though they were both essentially made by the same people, they are both played very differently
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| I'm going to explore that submarine!!... In the middle of a jungle? |
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| I'm gonna go jump on those boxes... At a beach? |
Mechanics factor into more than just controls or how the character behaves, they factor into almost every aspect of the game. How a player scores points, how inventory is gained and used, what the goal of the game is in the first place.
Crash can score points via collecting Wumpa fruit, Drake can rack up a score by performing special feats; 100 headshots, 50 stealth kills, etc... Crash can collect masks for increased health, Drake can pick up new weapons for bigger booms. Crash beats a level via reaching the end of the stage, Drake beats a level via reaching the end of a stage.. Wait what? That's another thing, mechanics used in games aren't always unique to that game, nor do they need to be. Mechanics get reused and refreshed all the time, if something as simple as an end of stage goal wasn't reused, games would be lacking a lot of incentive.
The next point on my list is video game addiction. As with all things people can enjoy, video games can also take over peoples lives. Even though I've never personally felt I've had a video games addiction, I simply enjoy them for what they are and play them when I can. I did have a friend who let the MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game; World Of Warcraft take over his social life. He literally spent every day from waking up to going back to bed playing the thing all summer. Now while I'm not going to harass the guy and say he should have been doing something else with his time, I personally feel he was kinda addicted to the thing.
Video Game Genres
A video game genre is simply a means of categorising a game by it's theme. For example an action game is probably going to have more explosions than a puzzle game and therefore the player will have a very different experience between each genre.
- action
- fps
- tps
- racing
- RTS
- TBS
- Adventure
- Role play
- Simulation
- Puzzle
Interactive Story Telling Techniques
Cinematic: A method of advancing a video games narrative through the use of animated CGI scenes.
Cut-scene: A method of advancing a video games narrative through the use of in-game models and dynamic angles.
Triggered events: A scene or event triggered by the players actions, an example of this can be found in the Kingdom Hearts series. Once the player has defeated the final boss, secret bosses can be found upon visiting certain areas.
Full Motion Video: A scene filmed using live action performers. This isn't used often in video games, however it is fairly popular with video game trailers.
Cinematic: A method of advancing a video games narrative through the use of animated CGI scenes.
Cut-scene: A method of advancing a video games narrative through the use of in-game models and dynamic angles.
Triggered events: A scene or event triggered by the players actions, an example of this can be found in the Kingdom Hearts series. Once the player has defeated the final boss, secret bosses can be found upon visiting certain areas.
Full Motion Video: A scene filmed using live action performers. This isn't used often in video games, however it is fairly popular with video game trailers.
Forms of Story Telling
Approaches to Story telling
The Three Act Structure: A common story telling method which involves a beginning, middle and end.
The Hero's Journey: A story telling method consisting of 12 steps. Generally it consists of the hero starting off uneasy with his/her situation, then they gain more confidence with a discovery of latent ability or via meeting a mentor, finally they return with something to make it all worth while at the end.
Episodic: A story structure which spans across multiple episodes, usually three. This can also be found within video games too, such as with the Sonic 4 episodes, the Walking Dead episodes and the George Washington DLC from Assassins Creed III.
Setting: The place, time period and situation which characters within a narrative find them selves in. Narratives basically run on how characters react to the setting they have found them selves in.
Conditions: Generally a narrative must contain a beginning, middle and End, lending it's self to the three act structure.
Representation and Emotional themes in Story telling
Characterisation: A method of creating characters for a narrative. The characters created can be presented through various methods, be it their actions or thoughts.
Stereotypes: A widely believed behaviour of a distinct group of people, gender, race, groupies, etc... Whilst stereotypes are commonly believed, they are not always accurate and are often exaggerated.
Symbolism: A method of influencing a characters actions via a symbol or strong belief. An example of this can be found in the Assassin's Creed series, in which both the Assassin's and Templar's fight each other tirelessly for their individual beliefs.
Emotional Themes: A theme based on emotional state. You could say games such as Dead Space and Resident Evil are made to inspire fear, whilst games such as Kingdom Hearts and Pokemon inspire hope or happiness. The idea here is to inspire these emotions in the viewer/player via the narrative.
Writing Strategies
Pre-writing: This consists of various methods both common and unique among writers in order to aid in creating a good narrative. Common methods include; brain storming sessions, mood boards and spider diagrams. However just like the narrative it's self, this process is only limited by the imagination.
Drafting: This part of the process usually consists of experimentation. At this point the author will usually have a working title in place and a few branching paths of where the story may or may not go. At this point the ground work is set, but anything and everything can still change.
Revision: The final process of writing a narrative. At this point the author and most likely a publisher will review the final work and begin changing odd details here and there, correcting plot holes or simply rearranging or even removing parts of the story.
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