What the heck is "Narrative Design" anyway? Part 1

Narrative Design. It's one of those terms you only seem to hear in the games industry, and even then, not very often. It's a mystery to some, to others it's a job title looking for a function. I've even met some people who were so irritated by the term that they tried to have it erased from their workplace, even though it didn't effect them at all. It's probably because the word "Design" implies an understanding of game mechanics and interactivity that a lot of writers don't have experience with. Some people see this as a threat to their position, or just another opportunity for Game/Level Design to interfere with their work. That's understandable - writing for games is one of those fields  everyone seems to think is a no-brainer... until they actually try it themselves. But there really isn't any reason to feel threatened; a well-coordinated team has enough space for dedicated writers and a Narrative Designer, and leverages the strengths of both disciplines to completely immerse the player in the story presented.

If we're going to analyse the job of a Narrative Designer, we should start with the title itself; Wikipedia defines Narrative Designer as "a role in contemporary video game development, the focus of which is to design the narrative elements of a game, and to champion story within the development process, which differentiates it from the role of game writer" Personally, I think there's a simpler, more precise way of explaining it; Narrative Design, (or the Narrative Designer, if you prefer) is the direct link between the story and gameplay. But what does that mean in practical terms? To get there we're going to have to break things down a bit... Although Narrative Design incorporates two different disciplines and departments, it falls a bit closer to the Design domain than the world of writing. Generally speaking, a good Narrative Designer is a Game Designer or Level Designer with a strong interest in storytelling. The Narrative Designer should be aware of the mechanics of the game, pay attention to the pace and flow of levels, and have a strong appreciation of what motivates a player's choices.

It's a common belief that when it comes to gaming, gamePLAY is king. Stories in games are often given short shrift - they're what happens when you're not playing, (and when most people stop paying attention to what's happening on screen). And all too often, game stories are disregarded as "filler". Often truncated by time and resources, it's no wonder many games offer a "skip" feature during the narrative sequences. But storytelling is an innate part of human nature; it's how we understand ourselves and our place in the world. Film, television, books and comics all live and die by the quality of their stories... so wouldn't it benefit games to leverage narrative so that players gain a deeper connection to the characters and events they present? How do we do this without resorting to the old playtime/storytime dichotomy? This is the job of the Narrative Designer - to incorporate story into gameplay and vice versa. And it turns out there are lots of ways to do it!

Environmental Storytelling
Probably the most basic method of bringing gameplay and narrative together comes from the setting. Far more than just a background, a game's locations should contain information about the world and the situation the player needs to overcome. To an extent, all settings do this - if the location is a desert, then the player can reasonably expect to deal with the kind of problems a desert is known for - heat, dehydration, sandstorms, etc. But an environment like this can provide less direct storytelling opportunities; mirages, hallucinations, the sounds of distant animals, campfires on the horizon, the remains of less lucky travelers half-buried in a sand dune... by leveraging the player's preconceptions of what a desert might and might not be like, we can subtly explain the current state of the world, the character's mindset, even suggest cultural traits and historical backstory. The Narrative Designer's job in this case, is to compile as many of these environmental "beats" as possible into a location document, and submit them as a package to the writers, environment artists, level designers and animators, (preferably at the early stages of development).

Puzzles
A classic example of mixing gameplay with narrative can be found in adventure games and RPGs. These games often contain puzzles or riddles to break up the gameplay and create a sense of mystery and discovery. All too often, these puzzles feel like arbitrary non-secquiturs, when they could draw on the lore or storyline for their solutions. This involves players directly in the story - they can't solve the puzzle without thinking about some element of the narrative, and that makes it important to their success. You probably wouldn't want to use situations like this to introduce new story ideas - it's better suited to restating concepts that are important to the theme or elements of the plot that you really want to resonate with players. During the production of Eternal Darkness, I designed a puzzle that reiterated a key bit of the storyline, through the lens of Cambodian mythology. This had the added effect of grounding our story in the visage of reality, always a plus! Our publisher, Nintendo, really liked this solution. I think it helped them appreciate some of the ideas we were trying to get across, without the language barrier that might have interfered with spoken or written explanations.

Loot
Another great example of making story part of the gameplay experience can be found in the Dark Souls series. These games put an emphasis on loot collection; consumable items, weapons and armor, things players want and need in order to make progress. These loot items are given detailed descriptions in the player's inventory screen, often incorporating lore from the game world. And to top things off, these item descriptions are randomly displayed as loading screens when players move between different locations. A similar technique simply displays back story and lore during loading, but the added motivation of desirable loot means that without even noticing it, players end up learning about the game-world through a kind of narrative osmosis. This is also one of the most cost-effective methods of involving players in the story, so developers can save cinematic cut scene and dialog-recording budgets for more crucial sequences.

Narration
When we think of narration during gameplay, the most common example that probably comes to mind is the "voice in your ear" made famous by series like Halo and Metal Gear. And to be sure, this is an effective and very successful narrative technique... but that's not all that can be done with in-game narration! For one thing, there's the concept of the narrative as collectible - you see this method used prominently in games like the Bioshock series; players search for audio diaries in the environment, which explain the story from different character's perspectives. This technique is notable because it actually turns the story into a reward for the player, instantly implying value. In an industry where narrative is often under-valued, this alone is a big win! There's also an interesting narrative element in the placement of the audio diaries - here Narration and Environmental Storytelling come together to give the player a complete picture of what happened. Then there's the seldom used technique of First Person Narration, where the protagonist character is telling the story in the past tense... with this method, everything the player experiences has already happened, so the Narrative Designer can foreshadow upcoming events or use a "flawed narrator" to fake the player out, (this technique is more commonly used in books and films, often to great effect).