The 4 Elements
Narrative Mechanics
The 4 Spaces
Stories are Told
So where is this
all Going?
The Elements and Spaces of Interactive Storytelling
#bigd13
@danielburwen
Deep mechanics keep me out of emotional availability
Interactive
Passive
Cinematic Maximum
- High Production Value
- Deep Mechanics
- Complex Emotions
Work Related Activities
- Crafting
- Farming
- Asset generation
- Tools of work used for play
- Deepest mechanics
Personal
- Audience of 1
- Puzzles
- Books
- Focused Attention Span
Another
World
Communication Oriented
- Quick Bursts
- Cheap Content
- Light on Emotional Depth
Depth of
Emotion
Depth of
Agency
How does my experience look?
How does it feel to
interact with?
How do I build
my experience?
What happens in
my experience?
Who I Am
What other interfaces
do we now have and what is their implications
- Tools
- Publishing Options
- Platforms
- Medium
- Presentation
- Motion
- Sound
- Characters
- Plot
- Pacing
- Narrative structure
- Will the audience care?
- User Interface
- Information Architecture
- Game Mechanics
A Lens and Context for Understanding
Interactive Stories
Value Determines Coherence
2013
10$ - 60$
The Longer Our Attention Span
When the 4 elements
are in balance to serve the
overall experience
Attention Economies
The Spectrum of
The Higher the Value
Hearth
Reading Nook
Feeling
10$ - 60$
1983
The Gamepad is Built for Mechanical Depth
Film
1993
Dragons Lair
1991
Workbench
Anywhere
Last of Us
3D Games Emerge
Why can't we have both
Another World
vs
Layer of Agency (Interface)
2006
Emotional
Complexity
Mechanical
Depth
+
Thanks!
Passive
Interactive
Press Button to Not Die
Highly Abstract
Great for Doing
Run, Jump, Stomp, Kick, Shoot, Etc
Unified Aesthetic Between
Film and Game
Agency in a Film Experience
Games
vs
Doing
at the same time?
On Top of a Linear Passive Story
Doing
1985
hello@danielburwen.com
Camera Language
Vast Amount of Data
Cut Scenes Appear in a Game
Mechanical
Depth
Emotional
Complexity
Analog
Digital
Mechanical Depth
For Interactive Storytelling to evolve, we need
Digital
1978
Hearth
Reading Nook
=
+
Seamlessly Interwoven
The Less Abstraction in Interface
Natural Interfaces
with High Mechanical Depth
Coherence
63 years
Workbench
Anywhere
Jesse Schell
Can our Emotions
Affect Agency in Interactive Stories?
The more Emotional Connection We Feel
1994
2010
2006
2010
2011
2013
1972
LOTR Return of the King
Emotional
Depth
Below the neck verbs
- shoot
- run
- jump
- crouch
41 years
Abstraction of Interface
Above the neck verbs
- empathize
- laugh
- cry
- yell
Dragons
Lair
Another
World
More
Abstract
Less
Abstract
Emotional
Complexity
Narrative Mechanics
Mechanical
Depth
Emotional
Complexity
Cutscenes Appear in a Game
The Spectrum of
Narrative Mechanics
1993
Mechanics
Story
Mechanical
Depth
Emotional
Complexity
Mechanical
Depth
Alma
Interactive
Operation
Ajax
Human Attention is a
Scarce Resource
Reading Nook
Hearth
Anywhere
Workbench
Games
Book
Our Tool Needs
for Ajax:
- Timeline Control
- Sound Triggers
- Publish to iOS
- Translate
- Rotate
- Scale
- Alpha
- Tint