In this blog post, I will talk about my games narrative.
Admittedly, I didn’t do a lot of work for narrative, since it typically isn’t the focus of a video game. One of my inspirations of this game, Bloons TD 6, as a brief intro that shows the player the story of the game, and that’s it. Nonetheless, I did look up on how to write a video game story, and I found this article from Polygon. This quote is particularly useful:
Like many creative writing tutors, Yorke argues that all great characters come with three things. They have to want something. They have to need something. And they have to demonstrate a flaw that the story addresses (Campbell, C. 2019).
The way I accomplished this was by writing each character wants, needs and flaws.
The Owner
Wants
To build a large theme park with lots of visitors.
Needs
To protect his theme park from the robots that invade when he attempts to do so.
Flaws
A overindulgence in wanting to increase profits.
The Robots
Wants
To invade the owner’s theme park; to get the hidden treasure secured inside the island’s base.
Needs
Company; to be with other robots, to achieve its ultimate goal of getting a treasure hidden down in the park’s soil in order to survive.
Flaws
Selfishness desire to achieve ultimate programmed goal.
The Visitors
Wants
To have fun at the theme park.
Needs
Food, water, toilets.
Flaws
No due diligence (doesn’t check to see if a ride is safe).
The game used to have a on-screen owner, which the player would control, called Charles McKinsey, and humans visiting the theme park, the former was pared back to have an owner, but who was nameless and didn’t have an in-game appearance, in this case, it could be interpreted as the player who is the owner, who looks after this patch of land and that who wants to rebuild a theme park. The humans would also be removed altogether, as explained in the following week.
I came up with a basic narrative for my game:
You are the owner of a glorious theme park, well, it used to be glorious. It has been attacked in the past by robots who want to recover a mysterious object, which can only be found below the surface. There is a path to this object in your base, and this object also powers the whole of your theme park.
It has been in ruins for several years, but in the year 2025, you decide to start rebuilding the theme park, brick by brick. Your past attempts however have been foiled by the robots sensing this and returning, so you come up with a plan. You are going to destroy them once and for all by building weapons that are disguised as theme park rides.
References
Campbell, C. (2019). How to write a video game story. [online] Polygon. Available at: https://www.polygon.com/features/2019/1/10/18165611/how-to-write-a-video-game-story-narrative-building-tips.