The purpose of this tutorial is providing guidelines to write stories for computer games. In the last tutorial you analysed a computer game and became familiar with the stages of game stories. In this tutorial we provide you a framework for game breakdown. Game breakdown can be beneficial for writing game stories.
To do the following exercises, you need to explore the structure of hero's journey (a common topic for an action game) in the game breakdown material provided by Joe Velikovsky (game writer of Ratbag Games Co.) At the end of the tutorial, you are expected to fill in the following framework and return it to Dr Kavakli .
A typical action game involves the following stages:
The ordinary world
Call to adventure
Refusal of the call
Meeting with the mentor
Crossing the first threshold
Tests, allies, & enemies
Approach to the innermost cave
The supreme ordeal
The reward
The road back
The resurrection
The return with the elixir
Please read "the hero's journey structure" to understand these stages in detail and do the following exercises by filling in the framework provided at the last page of the tutorial material.
Exercise 1: locations
In each stage, there must be a specific location that is required to
be presented graphically. These locations are not necessarily used once.
They may be used in different stages allowing the hero to return back or
move forward. You are expected to plan what actions will occur and define
the locations for each stage of the story for creating an action game.
Exercise 2: plots
Define the plots corresponding to each stage and location. Plots are
events in the story of a game. In plot cells, you are expected to outline
the events.
Exercise 3: missions
Difine the missions corresponding to each stage, location, and plot.
Mission is a particular task or duty undertaken by an individual or a group.
You are expected to plan what task or duty will be undertaken by the hero
in mission cells.
FRAMEWORK
| HERO's JOURNEY | LOCATIONS | PLOTS | MISSIONS |
| The ordinary world | |||
| Call to adventure | |||
| Refusal of the call | |||
| Meeting with the mentor | |||
| Crossing the first threshold | |||
| Tests, allies, & enemies | |||
| Approach to the innermost cave | |||
| The supreme ordeal | |||
| The reward | |||
| The road back | |||
| The resurrection | |||
| The return with the elixir |