Traditional Narrative

A traditional Narrative is a very linear and simplistic way to tell the story with a clear Beginning, Middle and End that has no alternatives throughout. It gives the user little or no freedom as to how they can influence or shape the story.

I find that this works well for Shorter stories in which there is a clear ending that must happen and events in the body (middle) of the story that must be met in order to the rest of the narrative to make any sense.

Our team did not choose to use this as it did not give us an room to allow the user to make their own decisions based on how they feel about certain decisions being thrust upon them. I also feel that in terms of engagement, this is very low as there is little Interactivity as the user is very passive in their approach and has no influence or decision making — It seems disempowering.

Non-Linear

The Non-Linear Narrtive structure is similar to the traditional linear narrative above in the sense that there is a clear Begining point and a Clear Ending point. However, the difference is that there is slight variations within the story where the user can define their own pathway and make small decisions throughout to skip certain steps and advance further on within the story.

This is slightly more engaging and interactive that the Traditional Narrative, however isn’t enough for our Narrative we are creating. This is the reason as to why we are not using this for our Project.

Parrell Paths

The Parrell Paths Narrative structure is based on the idea of Multiple characters or characeristics playable within the story. An example of this typically used within Stories is the Good Guy/Bad Guy. The user can choose their trait or characteristic and follow the same story, with a slightly different perspective that can alter elements within the story.

Unfortantely, we felt that this wouldn’t work for our story as we decided that playing as our main character “Patty Hoffman” would be the most engaging and interesting. Also, because we had very clear and defined traits given to us before in the first lecture, we couldn’t impliment the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ aspect.

IF/Then

The IF/Then Narrative Structure is self-explanatory in a sense that IF a user makes a decision THEN it results in an outcome with something else happening. It is based on the Boolean Login that there is always two possible outcomes to every branch of a structure.

The shape of the Structure in my opinion resembles a Tree. It starts from a single branch and over a series of 3 or 4 decisions, can lead to 8 possible outcomes, as shown in the diagram below.

In terms of Interactivity for the user, this is much higher than the previous two mentioned. It continiously allows users to make decisions at every branch of the story. A disadvantage of this is that sometimes users may find this too much and that they are lost in the story and find themselves drifting away from the initial plot.

We decided not to use this Structure, despite the Interactivity it provides users mostly due to the fact that users have to continiously make decisions and after all that effort, may lead to failures at the very end.

Explorer Interactive

The Explorer Interactive is a very complex way of storytelling. It has alternative connections and paths based upon complex decisions that could impact the story hugely. It is very engaging and Interactive for the user and allows them to feel empowered that their efforts are valued in the story and are impactful. An interesting thing to note is that despite the complex narrative path that a user may follow, the end is always the same.

This is a very personal experience despite users may miss lots of elements to the story. It is often used within ARGs.

We decided that this Structure may not be useful for us as we wanted to have different ending based upon your decisions throughout, even as early as the 3rd or 4th branch into the story such as whether Robin Farmer loses his leg or not. We also had key parts of the story that the user must pass-through and this method did not offer this.

Branching Narratives

Finally, the Branching Narratives structure is very similar to the IF/THEN method, but allows for failures to happen throughout the narrative at various points, not just at the end. It also doesn’t suggest that decisions must be made at every branch and allows for elements of traditional methods where the user can sit back and play without much Interactivity at key points.

We felt that this halfway point between many of the Strutures discussed previously, was the perfect match for our Narrative ‘Something Beginining with… T’. We still wanted users to pass through certain key points in order for the story to make sense, but allow enough freedom to make their own decisions and feel empowered that the value and efforts they’re contributing is impactful and meaningful in deciding the outcomes of the story.

This method is considered to be complex, but works in the favour of personalisation and Interactivity to the user, without overwhelming them which could lead to confusion. It also suggest that the user is guided or persuaded on a ‘correct’ path, but have the option to mess up and lead to failure.

This technique is complex and requries planning to pull this off. However the reason we chose it is, it is the perfect mix of Interactivity, Enagagement, Complexity and meets the needs of the orignal plot we drafted weeks ago.

Tom.