The course will help you to design and write your own games - learn how to generate and develop your ideas, how to structure a story-rich game, and how creating a narrative and storyworld will enhance all games, even those that are not story based! 

Description

Learn to create a compelling storyworld for your video game by developing ideas, characters and a memorable narrative. You’ll be given knowledge and tasks to cement and practice what you’ve learned.

Create Immersive Storyworlds

• Understand how writing for games differs from writing for other media.

• Learn which aspects of a game contribute to a memorable narrative.

• Discover how story is conveyed through games.

• Practice developing an idea from start to end.

Storytelling: Arguably the Most Important Aspect of Game Design.

Games that are “story-rich” have a deep story to uncover as you play the game, and have an extra dimension compared to other forms of media in that the player themselves is a part of that story.

The storyworld makes up so much of a game and it is communicated in many different ways. It’s everything from the artwork and the audio design to the dialogue between characters and the player themselves. As a game designer or a game writer, you are responsible for shaping this world and conveying it to the player.

Content Overview 

This course aims to help you develop your skills as a designer of games. We’ll talk about what makes games a unique form of media, how to tell good stories, how to generate ideas, and how story can be conveyed through games (spoiler: there are LOTS of different ways!). These are the core sections of the course, and we’ll be adding bonus sections soon.

Story structure will be the first bonus (coming soon!) and each new section will provide new ways to improve your game design techniques.

Each of the course videos is made using the Unity game engine, and we communicate information within this game setting.

As well as video lectures, this course contains ‘Reflection’ moments where we ask you to pause and think about what your answers to specific questions would be, “Missions” where we ask you to do some writing (and then show you our own example), and worksheets to guide your ideas.

We also encourage you to share your ideas and give feedback to others.

Once you complete this course, you’ll be able to design story-rich games using various different methods to convey your ideas.

• Game designers and Indie game developers wanting to integrate captivating story in their own games.
• Aspiring and professional writers looking to develop stories in the context of games.
• Game enthusiasts who are curious about storytelling in games.

Course content

• What is a Game?
  • Introduction
  • Game Definitions and Types of Game
  • Game Mechanics
  • Why Story is Important I
  • Why Story is Important II
• Storytelling - The Basics
  • Introduction
  • What is the Storyworld?
  • The Difference Between Story, Plot and Narrative
  • What Fuels a Plot?
• Start with an Idea!
  • Introduction
  • Generating Ideas
  • Generating Ideas Missions
  • How to Communicate Ideas Effectively
• Conveying Story Through Games
  • Introduction
  • The Goal and Mechanics
  • Characters and Dialogue
  • Visual and Audio Design
  • Delivery
• Story Structure
  • Introduction
  • What is Structure and Why is it Important?
  • Branches, Anchors and Emotions
  • Structure Models: Beginning, Middle and End
  • Structure Models: Linear Structure Guidelines
  • Reflection: The Structure of a Game/Level
  • Mission: Beginning, Middle and End
  • Mission: Linear Structure Guidelines
  • Structure Models: The Hero's Journey
  • Mission: The Player's Journey
  • How to Use Structure when Developing Your Game
• Developing Your Characters
  • Introduction: The Player P.O.V.
  • Exploring Characters
  • Mission: Build a Protagonist
  • RELIC Character
  • Mission: Build an Antagonist
  • Populating your Game
• Genre and Audience Expectation
  • Introduction: What is Genre?
  • Genre Characteristics
  • Your Game and Audience Expectations
• Bonus
  • Final Thoughts
  • Bonus Lecture: Jenny's Other Courses