Storytelling Tools to Boost Your Indie Game's Narrative and Gameplay

In this 2017 GDC talk, NHTV University professor Mata Haggis shares his practical tips for creating compelling drama in your indie game and how those tips can bring new life to your overall game design.

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[MrKraignos]

The part at 24:48 where he explains that "the player can still progress while the character fails" is pure gold !

[jacobmakob]

Can't believe how much this guy crams into one half hour talk

[thpwninatr]

I want to make a game by myself with absolutely zero experience, and although it's easy to find learning resources for code and art, I had no idea where to start with storytelling. This talk is amazing! Explains a lot of things I should have already known. Now I can analyse my favourite stories from movies and games, figure out why I like them, and understand how to make my own basic timeline into an actual story enhanced by gameplay mechanics that will feel necessary and rewarding. Thank you Mata!

[SealDev]

More people should do the end wrap-up filled with insights section, they were really cool!

[DennisJ]

One of the best talks I've seen in awhile. Very confident, easy to follow, he's a great speaker.

[DangerDurians]

I learned more about writing here than a year in a creative writing course

[kabeltelevizio]

This is basically the eight sequence narrative. with a bit of the Hero's journey.

[danoncho]

Woow, this talk is a gem for education... Sure there's a lot of practice needed to master all of those skills and knowledge, but amount of important information in this talk is insane! Thank you very much GDC and professor Mata Haggis!

[samwallaceart]

I imagine that Bongo Cat is behind the screen switching the slides for him. And Bongo Cat does a bangup job syncing to Matt’s talk.

[JustinPBarnett]

Only he could make Tetris sound like an emotional game...wow what a talk!

[magnusm]

Things I know about good story telling:
Ambiguity and hinting at a story continuation. You don't shove it in people's faces but show that it's there and let the players search for it them selves. Push the player through the story but don't tell what it is or what's going on unless they want to know. Give it in bits like something attacking and asking afterwards what it was. If you want to know they continue.

Let the characters tell the damn story. Let the characters be them selves and talk naturally and act as they would. It wouldn't make sense to have a lone wolf girl who keeps to herself to spout all this massive amount of plot and her entire life to some random person and join them. Just let them be them selves and their actions tell that there is something but not clear what but you know what it leads to.

Personal things matter. Undertale shows so much of how to make a great story. You see what the king did but also why and it wasn't just for the people but his own personal grudges and that's relatable. It's not like other villains who see one bad thing and instantly thinks everything is bad. He is good and means well but he was pushed to these extreme lengths because of his own struggle with the humans. They need a purpose for what they are doing but they also are still individuals and that's a thing to put in to thought.

They act how they want. There are a lot of things that can be weird.
A guy likes candle lights and always has one lit in each room but his brother died in an incurable disease. So he commands his army to conquer the land and unity all the people by force. Why and what does the candle have to do with this. Maybe he sees the candle as a light to see the world and each individual together becomes a bigger flame that's harder to blow out and if more people are united then trouble is spotted faster and can be dealt with faster since they can now see it clearly.
Or a guy just really like the color green, maybe he doesn't like being told where there is something that they can use.
Random things like that adds more to a character as everyone likes something to pursue, even loneliness. They might not like being alone but instead see it as a small past time hobby. Doesn't make as much sense but why not? Just do it and make up whatever comes along

[TheMemoman]

I needed this talk right about NOW. This some serendipitous synchronicity. wat.

[dominiquebauer]

Thanks, I was immediately able to write the beginning of my game while watching the video, definitely learned a lot from this!

[Borszczuk]

I generated video summary based on the transcript:


The speaker seems to be giving a lecture or presentation about how to effectively structure and design video games. They discuss a variety of strategies and methods to make game experiences more compelling and rewarding for players.


* Player-Character Journey: The speaker discusses a model for player journeys, indicating that players start from a point of external motivation (to play the game) and internal motivation (the character's goals). They must overcome challenges, find new ways of dealing with problems, build skills, and eventually reach a satisfying conclusion.

* Horror and Thriller Games: The speaker mentions additional elements for these types of games. One is the "grabber" at the beginning, a burst of action or fear that promises excitement before the main game begins. They also mention a final moment of fear or twist at the end, when evil lurks or the antagonist isn't quite defeated.

* Game Objectives and Conflict: The speaker highlights the importance of clear player objectives and escalating conflict, either through narrative or game mechanics, in order to keep the game interesting and challenging. They discuss how a successful player action can still lead to character failure or more difficulty, which can make the story more engaging.

* Debugging Questions: Towards the end, the speaker offers four debugging questions to assess whether a game level or event is satisfying. These questions revolve around the clarity of the player's objective, the presence of escalating conflict, the meaningfulness of the outcome, and the change experienced by the player or character from start to finish.

* Conclusion: The speaker concludes by encouraging designers to think like storytellers and use story structures consciously to shape player experiences. They also emphasize the importance of change, for both players and characters, in making game experiences feel good.

This appears to be an insightful presentation for game designers, offering valuable techniques for creating engaging game narratives and mechanics.

----

here are what I believe are the five most important takeaways from the lecture:

[daambanaan]

Amazing. I've learned so much from this. Genuinely great speaker, knows exactly what you need and want to know.

[mer_meh]

Holy crap. Never thought Johnny Rotten cared about story so much

[khanisrok]

This is a lot to cover, so I'm gonna be talking fast
*Plays at 2x speed*

[travellerinthedark]

I see Hagrid thumbnail, I watch video.

[scriptyvlogs]

Hey!! This professor is from my university!! I'll be starting in September, can't wait!

[appletreepear]

This is great, works both as a check-list of what to keep in mind (even if you subvert or play with it) and highlights a few points I haven't thought about much (despite learning them ^^;;) - thinking about internal vs
external motivation and playing with consequences of player’s success.