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Whenever there is a talk about narrative design, it tends to end up being a laundry list of examples of how the environment can be used to communicate the backstory of the game world without cutscenes. This talk is different: rather than just focusing on the backstory, we are going to explore how environmental design creates opportunities for gameplay. The focus will be on leaving traces and indications in the space, both by the designers and the players. This is called “indexical storytelling,” because interpreting and engaging with these traces is the core of narrative gameplay. These traces are systematically classified depending on their type: they can turn the player into a detective, help create an identity, teach the player what to do (or not) and how, give a sense of progress or mess up with other players. Although there will be a couple of requisite mentions of Portal and Bioshock, some of the core examples come from games as diverse as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Myst, Super Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid, Demon’s Souls and Colossal Cave Adventure.
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Indexical Storytelling:
All that You Can Leave Behind
Clara Fernández Vara, PhDSingapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab
Who am I?
Games and narrative
Environmental storytelling
Environmental storytelling
Avoiding Cutscenes
A bit short-sighted
Environments packed with opportunities for interaction
Indexical storytelling
The practice of using indices in order to construct a story.
Index? Wha’?
Index?
Index?
Index?
Academese section
Peirce’s three types of signs
IconSymbolIndex
The concept of indexical storytelling derives from Charles Peirce’s philosophy of language. According to Peirce, a sign is a mediation, a representation that conveys to a mind an idea about a thing. Thus the nature of the sign involves the idea, the object that represents it (the sign), and the interpretant who establishes the relationship between the idea and the object. In Peircean philosophy, there are three types of signs:
Peirce’s three types
of signsIcon
icons / likenesses: signs that convey ideas by imitating them, such as a photograph, a drawing, gestures or onomatopoeias (words that imitate the sound they refer to, such as crack or roar).
Peirce’s three types
of signsSymbol
-! symbols / general signs: signs that are associated with meaning through usage; the relationship between the sign and its meaning is arbitrary (Saussure, 1983) and part of a tacit social agreement. Most words are symbols, the sign denoting biohazard is a symbol where the association between the object and the idea it represents means is purportedly arbitrary.
Peirce’s three types
of signsIndex
-! indices / indications: the idea is physically connected with the sign. Peirce provides a sign post as an example (the direction of the signpost is where one should go).
Peirce’s three types
of signsIndex
Peirce’s three types
of signsIndex
Indices in
“[S]ome indices are more or less detailed directions for what the hearer is to do in order to place himself in direct experiential or other connection with the thing meant.”
Peirce, C. Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings. Vol. 2. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1998.
End of Academese(it didn’t hurt, right?)
Indexical storytelling
It’s not storytelling,it’s storybuilding
Indexical Storytelling in Practice
Indexical storytelling
History of the worldDetective WorkInterpretation of RemainsSignposts and Tutorials
History of the playerPlayer’s trace
History of the worldDetective work
History of the worldDetective work
History of the World
Detective workWhat has happened in the environment before?How has it left a trace in the space?How can the player read those traces to reconstruct the events?
History of the worldInterpretation of
remains
Interpretation of Remains: Ghosts
History of the World
Who has been in the space before the player?How does the player relate to the people who left the traces?
History of the worldSignposts and
tutorials
History of the WorldWhat is the role of signposts in the game?
NavigationIn-game directions
How does the tutorial integrate with the story, if it points to the world of the player?
History of the player
Player’s trace:Persistence of the
world
History of the player
Player’s trace
History of the Player
History of the player
Player’s trace
History of the PlayerHow can the player leave traces in the world of the game?Who can read those traces?
Other playersNPCs
How does leaving traces create opportunities for gameplay?
Indexical Storytelling can be applied to
non-AAA games too.
Player’s Trace
Player’s Trace
Hidden Object Games
*work in in progress*
TakeawaysIndexical storytelling is using traces and indications to construct a story.Indices are not only a way to save in cut-scenes, but also a way to involve player in gameplay.Designers can leave traces for the player as indications, as well as creating systems to let players leave a trace.
