Chapter Four

The essence of an Interactive fiction

The Plot

In sixth issue of the xyzzy news magazine, and in an article called Distinguishing between game design and Analysis: One view. Gareth Rees defines the Game plot as:

"The set of elements of the game that might be used to make a story, what the background is, what happened before the game started, who the characters are, the major events that form the course of the story, and how the story will end . The plot is a map that shows how the characters will interact and change as they go from the beginning of the story to the end (or ends, if the plot is branching)." ⁽¹⁾

This plot is basically the main structure of the story, it is what makes it interesting or not, commercial or artistic. And it corresponds directly with all other basics of a fiction. Braningan defines it as:

"[..] Certain events which surround a character, events which have already occurred, or might occure in a particular manner, in a certain sequence or time span, and so forth. We understand such events as occurring in a world governed by a particular set of laws." "Some of the metaphors offered by the film theorists suggest that our comprehension of film proceeds only forward, one step at a time, and depends simply on a local immediate juxtaposition. [..] The spectator's organization of information into diegetic and nondiegetic story worlds is a critical step in the comprehension of a narrative and in understanding the relationship of story events of everyday world." . ⁽²⁾

Approaching the plot is not a direct action. It is sometimes hard to be understood immediately, and sometimes, not supposed to be fully approached before the end.

Colin McCable has proposed that classical narratives are composed of a " hierarchy of discourses" which aims to place the spectator in a position of superior knowledge by using the camera to equate vision with truth. A hierarchy permits the spectator to make judgments and to measure relative truth moment by moment. At the end of the story, for example, the spectator is finally able to solve all the enigmas of character and action because the structure of disparities responsible for managing the partial truths of the plot becomes known through the camera." ⁽³⁾

An important part of the game design is the way you will approach your player. How will you tell him the story, how will you explain the characters personalities (If vital in the game), and how would you relate them to the environment. Nocturne has a cinematic introduction to each level where Stranger, The hero, meets his supervisor in the "Spook house" building and gives him an introduction to the quest. Cinematic bits follow this introduction by having several automatic chats with other characters to explain some points , They introduce you to secondary characters, battle techniques, and some essential tips. Final fantasy uses a different way of explaining itself, where you don't have an opening description. You get introduced to the story and the quest as you advance in the game. The tutorial and the tests you go through in the first stage teach the player how to play, and what to do.. Cinematic parts give good explanation on the relation between the characters and what is each one's quest. Tomb raider's way was different, Apart from the first session where Dr Verner teaches Lara how to move, only short animated scenes without any conversation tell the player what to do next.

[Time location] - [Time] - [The Genre] - [The plot] - [The quest] - [Characters] - [Point of view]

(1)Rees, Gareth, Distinguishing between Game design and Analysis: One view. The XYZZY newsgroup. Issue 6

(2)Braningan, Edward, Narrative comprehension and film, Routledge 1992

(3) Braningan, Edward, Same