Basic player goals

Started by jrp, Mon 21/04/2003 01:11:04

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jrp

I was wondering guys; which are some good basic plots for adventure games.

I'm writing and found out that I can get very repetitive in my chapters (or parts if you prefere the Monkey Island reference) in terms of what the main goal is. As of now, I have the player:

-Gather the peaces to fix something in order to leave.
-Escape.
-Rescue.
-Infiltration.

(in other words: "Getting out", or "Gettin in")

And soemhow I have come across a writer's block, and can't think of anything else to be the goal of a chapter.

Can you guys throw me some ideas?  maybe things already done in comersial adventure games that I might not have seen. I'm sure There must be thousands, but at this point, I can't think of any more.

c.leksutin

I was always a big fan of fire-bombing public buildings.  Thats probobly why I never got into any of the good schools though huh?



C.

BlackBaron

Quote from: c.leksutin on Mon 21/04/2003 04:04:20I was always a big fan of fire-bombing public buildings.  Thats probobly why I never got into any of the good schools though huh?
And you call that "The Voice of Wisdom" ?  ???

As for a suggestion, what about not knowing your goal (I mean the player) that could be really for a first chapter (or part), you just wander around completing minor goals without knowing exatly what your ultimate goal is, but everytime finish something you get closer to the truth.

(I know I'm not helping much because I'm not suggesting any new goal, I'm just suggesting you to hide it, but I think is a good idea anyway)

(Note that abuses on that resosurce can severy demotivated players, so be careful if you use it).
"Do you thirst for knowledge no matter the cost?"
            -Watrik, master glassblower

Jimi

#3
not knowing your goal is a bit rubbish, bacause you don't get any direction.

how about " in search of the truth"? (I am currently eating an easter egg, and I think I willl trow up in a sec....[blargh!] ahhhhh....that did it.). An example would be a detective game.

BlackBaron

No, you get directions, you get minor goals, but you're geeting information about your ultimate gola step by step, everytime you finish some minor goal, until late in the game you have no idea what your ultimate goal is...

A detective is a perfect examle, you get to solve some minor crimes and at first you think are completely unrelated, but as the games goes on, you find out that they were all part of a major plan...

Do I explain myself? Does that makes any sense to anyone?  ???
"Do you thirst for knowledge no matter the cost?"
            -Watrik, master glassblower

WildCaToad

I think some of the best games made are driven by "discovery" (search for the truth) as their largest goal.  You can make any other of the "get in or get out" goals part of this one.

jrp2

the fact that you dont know the goal doesn't mean there isn't one.
unless the game is pointless, there must be a goal, eaven if the player doesn't know it

BlackBaron

As much as I try I can't find any other goals (note that "discovery" can be added to your list), only cool combinations of those come to my mind... like you awake in the middle of nowhere with your memory lost, you try to both find who (discovery) you are and return home (get out).

Sorry I can't help you.
"Do you thirst for knowledge no matter the cost?"
            -Watrik, master glassblower

jrp2

come on people, there have t be more!

GarageGothic

#9
Not sure how much off topic this is. "Goals" seem to be a hard to define word, because on a macro level (the whole arc of the game storyline), it usually means very little for gameplay, on a micro level (specific situations within the game), it's more related to puzzles than plot.

From what I understand, you are looking for goals somewhere in between, as subquests to split up the story.

I seem to recall some article that listed the possible "plots" in adventure games. I'll see if I can find it. Meanwhile I think it is important to simplify the list to it's basics. For example the "Gather the pieces to fix something in order to leave" are actually combined of two parts: The Quest plot (looking for stuff in all the wrong places a la King's Quest I) and a Parts-of-an-item puzzle (As in "the amulet has been split in six pieces, and you must combine them to unlock the gate", actually not unlike the keys in KQ2), which is just a way of structuring the plot (key to the next part of the game). This could also be parts of a map (MI2).

For some plot ideas, that might be used in games, check out George Polti's classic "36 Dramatic Situations" which can be found at http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article255.asp
it's written with drama and litterature in minds, but it could easily be used for interactive narratives as well. Links to a lot of other great articles at http://www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=63#23
and also check out Gamasutra.com.

Also, to everyone writing stories, I'd like to recommend http://wordplayer.com/columns/welcome.html
A great site for storytellers, and probably the best screenwriting resource I've ever seen (and I've read plenty of books on the subject).

Edit: Some rather obvious additions to your list consists of character interactions. Killing someone, seducing someone, getting someone to help you etc.

TerranRich

Another example of a "Finding the Truth" plot would be, say, finding yourself victim (or survivor) of something, then wanting to just find out what happened/why it happened, etc. Like a conspiracy or an attack.

Another plot could be something low, like just "Getting Revenge". A spin on that would be "Getting Revenge", but then finding something out that makes you seriously re-think your actions.

Yet another plot would be "Pursue the Love Interest" or some general kind of "Chase" plot. You chase around another character for some reason or another.

* TerranRich shrugs.
Status: Trying to come up with some ideas...

DGMacphee

Here's a simple idea.

You have to deliver and object from A to B.

So, for example, you have been given a roll of Micro-film that shows a murder.

You have to get that film to the police.

However, there are several obstacles in the way.

Let say, for example, that the main character is from a small country town and the police station is miles away.

And your pick-up truck is out of fuel.

Plus, the murderer knows you've got the film and wants to murder you for it.

There are hundreds of things to stop the goal of delivering "the object" from A to B.

Other plots in a similar vien:
- A space pilot needs to deliver something to a certain planet, but a huge civil space war prevents the pilot
- A hospital needs medical supplies are you're the only one who can deliver them through "DEATH CANYON".
- Your a mercenary who must deliver a nuclear weapon across the world, but you've got the Feds on your tail.



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Andail

How about this:
You play a bouncer in front of a disco. All you do is standing there refusing Larry Laffer entrance. Until he finds the disco-pass, of course. Then it's game over.

WildCaToad

Andail's last post actually got me to thinking.  Why is that a boring game suggestion?  Because there's no conflict.  We've just been talking about goals, mostly, but conflict is made of a goal that is blocked by an obstacle (notical all the "but's" in Macphee's post).

If you read the article that GarageGothic posted a link for, you see that each "dramatic situation" is only labled by the situation...it is actually defined by the players involved.

I teach elementary school, and the way we teach young kids to identify conflict in stories is by identifying the antagonist--that is, who or what is it that is blocking the goal...the obstacle.  We have four major types.

The protagonist versus...
1) Another character
2) Society at large
3) His or her environment
4) Him or herself

Most games take the first approach, with hints from the second, and especially the third added to aid in puzzle design.   As a side note, I actually don't use the word "puzzle" in writing my games....I use the word "obstacle"--it helps keep trivial "puzzles" out of the picture and helps make the "obstacles" more organic and embedded in the plot, since the character is motivated to solve them.

My favorite game series of all time is the Gabriel Knight series, and I think it's because it's one of the few games I've seen that succesfully integrates the fourth option into not only the plot, but the gameplay.  In fact, the second installment was based on this setup, hence the name "The Beast WITHIN."  Von Glower may have been the "bad guy," but he was not only reasonably likeable (moreso for some than others  ;) ), but he was not the true source of conflict in the story.

Or perhaps I'm getting too cerebral with all this.  After all...it is *just* a video game.....!(?)    ::)

DGMacphee from work

WildCaToad is right about conflict.

We're moving into the more complex theories about game plots rather than basic ones.

I'll add my "complex" theory too (This one I've metnioned before)

In high school drama, we were taught basic methods of creating conflict and tension.

There were four methods -- a) goals b) relationships c) mystery d) suprise

Goals -- Getting from A to B

Relationships -- Tension between people, most notably the reltionship between good guy and bad guy.

Mystery -- Trying to solve a mystery, like a detective

Suprise -- A new element suddenly arrives in the story, and has an impact upon the surroundings.

Like WildCaToad's theory, you can mix these tensions together into one story.

Andail

The term obstacle is pretty fine, except that it puts in a value...it assumes that the puzzle only is something between you and the goal.

Most games work like this, however - you need to get from A to B and there are some obstacles in your way that you must overcome.
However, in many games the path is not really well defined, and many puzzles can be there just to make the player collect clues and ideas regarding the plot itself.
For instance, you can only call a puzzle an obstacle if the player knows what the result will be or what will be achieved by solving the puzzle.

Of course, a good percentage of the puzzles need to be clear-cut obstacles, or the player will lose motivation to solve them. There must be an obvious efforts/reward relationship in a game to establish a good gameplay.

On the other hand, the relationship between solving the individual puzzle and reaching a goal can be quite "local".
In PQ1, you played a police dealing with small incidents and crimes, few of which actually had anything to do with the overarching objective - to catch the Death Angel.
In the Monkey Island games, the plot is often divided into three or four parts, where a local objective is set in each part. But here, each part actually has something to do with the main objective. It's just different acts in one play.

In this perspective, we could establish two terms:
Isolated local events
Linked local events

The latter is a chain of local puzzles and goals that have an obvious connection to eachother and the main goal.
The former is just something to fill out the plot, it provides extra gameplay and a local goal, but has no connection to the main plot.

This category can be divided further:
Isolated Local Events
|-----> Side plots (Are not necessary to finish the game)
|-----> False connection (Are necessary to finish the game, but not logically, and not according to the plot. It's just in the script)

The oposite to both these categories would be the
Global Linked Events

Where all puzzles are on the same path on the way to the final goal, and the purpose and objective are very obvious to the player.

Yes, theorizing is wonderful....

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