How to Write a Good Story Narrative for a Video Game

Creating a video game is not easy, particularly in the current time where the expectations of the players have risen. Now a day, narrative or a good story has become extremely important to give the player an immersive experience while playing a game online. Narratives can be of different times. Before knowing how to write a good story or narrative for a video game, it is important to understand the different types of narratives which can be created. The section below deals with the different types of narratives.

What Are The Different Types Of Narratives?

The non-player character narrative involves a character that often gives hints to the player by starting a conversation which can start with a plain Good Morning and then go ahead with their narrative, these stories are not playable but exist. The linear narrative in a video game consists of forwarding motion which tells the events of the video game. However, these stories do not allow the player to track or skip anything and also, do not play any role in the storyline of the video game. The string of pearls narrative is the narrative that is influenced by the player but generally is driven through a linear progression. The branching narrative is a narrative in which the choices of the player play a vital role. Depending upon the choices, the ending of the story is decided. For instance, instead of a good evening, if a player chooses Good Night, the story of the video game will have a different ending. The amusement park narrative gives the player the power to decide the storyline and may also consist of side quests. The different other types of narratives that are popular are cutscenes, hybrid games, and side quests. Now that the different types of narratives are known, it is time to figure out how to write a good narrative for a video game.

How To Write A Good Story/Narrative For A Video Game?

For creating the perfect story or narrative for a video game, you can follow the steps given below:

1. Create a storyline

Write the rough storyline of the video game, after deciding the type of narrative that you want to go for. The storyline should consist of all the major plot twists that you want the character to experience. On the basis of the narrative, the depth of the story can be decided.

2. What type of game are you working on?

To decide the perfect storyline, you will also have to decide the type of game for which you want to write the narrative. The type of video game will help you to create the perfect framework for the story. The narratives will be different for different types of games. For instance, action-adventure, role-playing, first-person combat and puzzles will require different types of stories.

3. Create the setup of the game world

Different video games will have different setups. For deciding the set-up of the video game, consider the time period of the game, the culture that you want to showcase and the settings, which again will include the time and location. It is a good idea to brainstorm the setup of the world and do research on the same to make everything as factually correct as possible.

4. Work on the main character

While writing the story of the video game, it is important to define the characters of the story. A story, of course, will consist of the protagonist, which is often the main character. Other characters which you can include in the narrative of the video game are antagonist and companion characters.

After working on these steps, create a flowchart to picture how the story will process. This will help you to understand the bigger picture of the story. Also, while creating the workflow, you will be able to identify the loopholes and fill them while writing the story. In this situation, if you need to add any more details, you can go ahead and add them. In addition to that, now is a good time to add small details to the story which you need to add. For instance, if you want to include the side quests, add the details of the same. Do not forget to keep an eye on the details to create the perfect narrative for the video game.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.