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Narrative Goals
Within narrative we order and reorder the givens of experience. We give experience a form and a meaning. —J. Hillis Miller, "Narrative"
Embedded and emergent structures are useful ways of conceptualizing narrative structures in games. But for narrative play to be fully engaging, it is important to remember the core principles of meaningful play. In the next several sections we take a look at some of the basic elements of games, including goals, conflict, uncertainty, and core mechanics, to see how they can be put to use in the design of narrative play. One fundamental building block of narrative game design is the goal of a game. Goals not only help players judge their progress through a game (how close are they to winning), but also guide players in understanding the significance of their actions within a narrative context. In Super Breakout, for example, the goal is to "break out" of the force field by destroying as many colored blocks as possible. The goal describes the nature of player interaction within a narrative context, making the interaction meaningful. The outcome of the interaction is clear on a formal level (blocks are destroyed) as well as on a narrative level (the space ship breaks through the force field!). In this example we see again how embedded narrative can provide a framework that makes the more immediate game play narratively meaningful.
In addition to the embedded narrative arc of the game, narrative play can occur on the moment-to-moment, emergent level as well. In the Hostage Rescue mode of multiplayer Counter-Strike, players compete in teams as either counter-terrorists or terrorists. Each team has complementary goals: to find and rescue the hostages or keep them from being rescued, over a series of rounds. The larger narrative arc of the game swings in tempo with the success or failure of each round, as one of the teams emerges as victor. But narrative is also experienced each moment of the game, as players make decisions regarding their interaction with teammates and opponents. Where are the hostages hidden? Why are the terrorists so unorganized? Can you count on your teammate to cover you as you sneak into enemy territory? With half your team down, will you be able to rescue enough of the hostages to beat the terrorists? Counter-Strike players constantly interact with one another hrough the narrative frame of counter-terrorist military opera- tions. The collaboration and competition of the game experience, defined by the intertwined goals of each team, shape moment-to-moment player behavior and narrative experience.Level or mission-based structures in games also provide impor- tant narrative goals for players. Completing a level means not only reaching an objective, but also passing through one episode of a larger story. As the player moves through multiple levels, the succession of completed goals creates narrative coherence. Game levels offer players access to specific areas of the narrative world, each level populated by unique events, objects, and characters that create a particular narrative tone and texture. Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident proceeds as a series of levels, in the form of network nodes that the player must defeat. The enemy programs at each level increase in difficulty, as do the abilities of the hacker programs under the player's control. More than just ramping up challenge, these new game elements enlarge the emergent narrative possibilities. As a result, the player's expanding palette of strategic actions corresponds with an expanding palette of narrative experience. Each successfully completed node rewards the player with messages and updates from the game's cast of characters; as the play unfolds, the level structure also drives the embedded cyberpunk storyline of espionage, sabotage, and betrayal.The Sims Hot Date Expansion Pack uses both levels and goals to shape the game's narrative. Going on a date is a narrative expe- rience composed of several smaller events. A romantic date has several distinct components:
Getting ready to secure a date: A player must prepare her Sim by making sure that the Sim has adequate Energy and that her Sim's Motive values are at their maximum. Mood, an aggregate of all Motive scores, plays a big role in the duration of the date and the success of each interaction during a date. Because a date's overall success is entirely based upon the sum of interactions between Sims, a large number of bad interactions results in an unsuccessful date.
Getting a date: A Sim can get a date by asking one of her housemates, accosting a visitor, calling a friend or acquaintance, or by randomly meeting someone downtown. Whether a Sim accepts the proposal of a date from another Sim depends on a Relationship score, which develops hrough social interactions. Sims can joke, flirt, apologize, tease, and scare each other in an attempt to accomplish the goal of getting a date.
Sharing one or more activities: A date consists of a set of carefully considered interactions and events, designed by the player to maximize the Relationship score of the two Sims. A poorly designed set of events will inevitably lead to bad interactions—and a bad date. A rejected kiss at the bar, for example, immediately ends a date. Each kind of event players choose to include in their date has its own set of narrative expectations. Trying on clothes in a store, for instance, offers a very different narrative experience than a dip in the hot tub!
Going home together (optional): The ultimate end to a date is to get a Sim to come home for some shenanigans on the Love Seat or in the Love Tub. In order for this to occur, how-ever, a player must carefully manage Energy resources as well as maintain a high Relationship score throughout the date. Achieving this goal affords clear narrative resolution.
Saying goodbye: If the date goes well, a Sim might invite a date to move in, or even to get married. With either of these outcomes, the new Sim becomes a member of the household. There is also the possibility that the date will end badly, meaning that the Sim's Relationship score has bottomed out. The player has some choice in defining his or her own goals for a date, but the final outcome is determined by the events and interactions that have taken place up to that point, and are emergently generated. This concluding step in the larger narrative event of the romantic date provides a snapshot of the overall experience, giving the player a sense of narrative closure.
Sims Hot Date
Level or mission structures allow players to feel the details of a story while the game designer maintains control of the larger narrative experience. A game's goal, or series of goals, is part of the narrative context that makes up the game. When goals are well-designed to support narrative play, a player's interaction with the game world becomes consistently meaningful. As usual, the discernability and integration of meaningful play is critical. The elaborate multi-step process of going on a Sims date is only meaningful because of the complex system that supports and links player actions. If every date ended the same way no matter what actions the player took, there would be no reason for the player to engage deeply in the decision-making process. Because each step of the process plays a role in determining the outcome, the experience of a Sims date provides genuinely meaningful narrative play.
