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Procedural Storytelling in Game Design
This edited collection of chapters concerns the evolving discipline of procedural storytelling in video games. Games are an interactive medium, and this interplay between author, player and machine provides new and exciting ways to create and tell stories. In each essay, practitioners of this artform demonstrate how traditional storytelling tools such as characterization, world-building, theme, momentum and atmosphere can be adapted to full effect, using specific examples from their games. The reader will learn to construct narrative systems, write procedural dialog, and generate compelling characters with unique personalities and backstories.
Key Features
Introduces the differences between static/traditional game design and procedural game designDemonstrates how to solve or avoid common problems with procedural game design in a variety of concrete waysWorld’s finest guide for how to begin thinking about procedural design
Key Features
Introduces the differences between static/traditional game design and procedural game designDemonstrates how to solve or avoid common problems with procedural game design in a variety of concrete waysWorld’s finest guide for how to begin thinking about procedural design
404 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 14, 2019
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346 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 5, 2020
This is a wonderful compilation of perspectives and ideas in the field of procedural storytelling. Many of the stories come from the practical experiences of academics, independent developers, and commercial developers, and that pragmatic, project-based experience helps illustrate and concretize the concepts they're sharing.
What I came away with, after reading this, is a broader sense of the kinds of approaches that can be applied to procedural storytelling and the kinds of questions I should be asking myself as I design such systems. This isn't a manual or a step-by-step guidebook; rather, it is food for thought, and in that regard it's a delightful buffet!
What I came away with, after reading this, is a broader sense of the kinds of approaches that can be applied to procedural storytelling and the kinds of questions I should be asking myself as I design such systems. This isn't a manual or a step-by-step guidebook; rather, it is food for thought, and in that regard it's a delightful buffet!
January 3, 2025
Fascinating approach, with lots of input from legends like Tarn Adams (known for developing 'Dwarf Fortress'). The perspective of 'failing forward' to craft stories is epic. Storytelling systems like “Rimworld” are inspired by concepts from this book, such as 'plot generators'.
Fair warning: it delves into topics like soft statistics and decision trees, so expect a mix of abstract ideas and technical frameworks.
Overall, it pushes developers to create choice, instead of a story the user follows. The sheer complexity simulated worlds pursue should be an indicator of the complexity we find on our very own. And if all of these creations are thoughtfully crafted and designed, then ours must be too.
Fair warning: it delves into topics like soft statistics and decision trees, so expect a mix of abstract ideas and technical frameworks.
Overall, it pushes developers to create choice, instead of a story the user follows. The sheer complexity simulated worlds pursue should be an indicator of the complexity we find on our very own. And if all of these creations are thoughtfully crafted and designed, then ours must be too.
November 14, 2022
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The other huge strength of procedural generation, to me, is that it creates too many possibility spaces for the designers to decide what is best. I do not like spending my time in a video game trying to guess what the designer wants me to do. That can sometimes be inevitable, but it still frustrates me when I start seeing the various gameplay inputs as tiny puzzles with a golden-path narrative outputs.
I am not immune to this; when my own brain starts telling me to look for the optimal route so I’m rewarded with seamless narrative breadcrumbing and cohesively designed narrative, I know I am not treating the emergent story like my story but like a book that I have to tape back together to read.
The other huge strength of procedural generation, to me, is that it creates too many possibility spaces for the designers to decide what is best. I do not like spending my time in a video game trying to guess what the designer wants me to do. That can sometimes be inevitable, but it still frustrates me when I start seeing the various gameplay inputs as tiny puzzles with a golden-path narrative outputs.
I am not immune to this; when my own brain starts telling me to look for the optimal route so I’m rewarded with seamless narrative breadcrumbing and cohesively designed narrative, I know I am not treating the emergent story like my story but like a book that I have to tape back together to read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews