Book Review for Video Game Storytelling: What Every Developer Needs to Know About Narrative Techniques by Evan Skolnick
Video Game Storytelling Video gaming has come a long way. Once upon a time Pac-Man raced around an uncomplicated maze. The gamers great quest was to get the little guy to swallow all the beads before being eaten by a ghost. It was mindless fun, but hardly epic storytelling. Times have changed. Video games now can contain large casts of characters complete with complicated backstories. With avatars, the players enter through a fictional portal to become actual participants in a digital realm. Evan Skolnick has produced a very readable guide to the storytelling involved in the creation of these worlds. The book is divided into two parts. Part I is called Basic Training and includes a solid wrap-up of writing techniques. He makes the case that conflict is at the heart of every story and includes very clear explanations about such things as transitions, plot points, and exposition. Each description is punctuated with examples from video games. I found the chapter on believability ...