{"id":2186,"date":"2019-12-17T17:57:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T16:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/uncategorized\/your-game-needs-drama-in-ways-you-might-not-have-thought-of\/"},"modified":"2020-02-05T15:00:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T14:00:46","slug":"your-game-needs-drama-in-ways-you-might-not-have-thought-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/frontend\/gamedev\/your-game-needs-drama-in-ways-you-might-not-have-thought-of\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pivot model: Understanding Drama in games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gaming is predicted to bring in nearly $200 billion in revenue next year, according to <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-dd671721-2796-4870-a051-0b1663077d38\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/research\">research<\/span> from IDG Consulting, with others predicting it will <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2019\/gaming\/news\/video-games-300-billion-industry-2025-report-1203202672\/\">reach over $300 billion<\/a> by 2025. More people are playing (and watching) a game than watching terrestrial television programs, and more people watching other people play <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-a8b9525d-c87a-4064-932c-e42196bd08e9\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/quake_video_game\">video games<\/span> on digital screens than live sports.<\/p>\n<p>Games need drama to attract players, maintain interest and empower players. At this year&#8217;s <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-1fa35caa-4997-459d-a5cb-8f32fbb6e3f9\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-organisation\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/codemotion_2\">Codemotion<\/span> in <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-5bf3a59e-f64d-49b1-bdf8-e2d13bfc9242\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/madrid\">Madrid<\/span>, we were joined by Eskil Steenberg, who has spent a decade developing a model he calls The Pivot Model for understanding and constructing games that naturally produce drama. Let&#8217;s take a look:<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"8o2it\"><strong>Interactive storytelling is an oxymoron<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"video regular \">\n<div class=\"embed-container\">\n<div style=\"max-width: 100%; position: relative; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qZMbEGm1J2s?feature=oembed\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Eskil notes that some of the principles behind effective game development as inherently contradictory, for example, storytelling in practice is someone telling you things, it&#8217;s not &#8216;story dialogue&#8217; &#8220;and if you try to make it interactive you&#8217;re sort of ruining it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"bedf5\"><strong>In the game, you are really being controlled<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Black-Mirror-Bandersnatch-1064027_6b8b66f24f6d051936abb8cc1064101d_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Black-Mirror-Bandersnatch-1064027_6b8b66f24f6d051936abb8cc1064101d_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Black-Mirror-Bandersnatch-1064027_6b8b66f24f6d051936abb8cc1064101d_800.jpg\" alt=\"Baldersnatch is a movie meets game where you choose your own adventure\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><strong>A movie or choose your own adventure game?<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In reality, those who creative narrative-driven games spend a lot of time controlling the players. Hands up who watched Charlie Brooker&#8217;s <em>Black Mirror <\/em>movie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/80988062\">Bandersnatch?<\/a> It&#8217;s an interactive movie in &#8216;choose your own adventure&#8217; style, requiring the viewer to make a decision between two options to continue watching. Each decision, whether to die or let someone else die,\u00a0 what breakfast cereals you prefer, or if you decide to attend a medical appointment or go with Colin, all lead to a series of possible twists and turns and different endings.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"36ov8\">The most memorable parts of the game might not be what you think<\/h2>\n<p>According to Eskil, <em>&#8220;a really good game is not a game where he said this thing happened in the game.\u00a0 It&#8217;s something where we say\u00a0 &#8216;this thing happened to me. I did this thing right&#8217;, when the player creates their own stories within the game, that&#8217;s where it becomes more powerful. It is in this way that games are fundamentally different to linear media&#8221;.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"55mh5\"><strong>Why do we want to simulate reality? Reality is boring and mundane.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>With the trend towards hyperreality and a simulated world that mimics reality, Eskil cautions will the temptation might be, <em>&#8220;what if we just like simulate everything and we&#8217;ll make this really complex world where anything could happen and then everything will be amazing. But if we have reality, why would we play <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-6242b2d4-e060-4883-b81b-2b596818de13\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/quake_video_game\">video games<\/span>?<\/em>&#8221; The popularity of 8-bit <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-fe7577c7-0749-474c-9728-daf4acbdf97a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/quake_video_game\">video games<\/span> show that complexity and details aren&#8217;t everything. He continues, <em>&#8220;it&#8217;s nice to be in a world where you know all you need to get a date is just get to the castle&#8221;.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"10pus\">Games need to have goals and acceptable failure<\/h2>\n<p>Under the Pivot model, people need goals to create meaningful and motivation. People hate to fail but will accept a certain degree of <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-1fb0d332-5282-4293-9987-edd96d38d3da\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/failure\">failure<\/span>.\u00a0 Noth of these factors should be built into any game. Eskril gives an example of how Monopoly could be tweaked:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/6371039_sd_b63f407f13119d85c903d7d3792c0820_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_16344\/6371039_sd_b63f407f13119d85c903d7d3792c0820_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/6371039_sd_b63f407f13119d85c903d7d3792c0820_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_16344\/6371039_sd_b63f407f13119d85c903d7d3792c0820_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/6371039_sd_b63f407f13119d85c903d7d3792c0820_800.jpg\" alt=\"monopoly as a game of chance \" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Monopoly is a fairly broken game, because the mechanics are so limited,<br \/>\nand the acceptable failure rate to too high. (The dice control the<br \/>\ngame). One way to re-balance this a <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-541f32f5-68eb-42ca-a33e-63f9face4bd3\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/bit\">bit<\/span> would be to let players roll the<br \/>\ndice twice and then select one of the two outcomes.<\/p>\n<p><em>The game lacks a pivot state, so let&#8217;s add a bear\/bull market state:<\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>In a bull market, all the normal Monopoly rules apply.<\/li>\n<li>Add the ability for players to somehow initiate a crash, that turns the game into a Bear market lasting for a set number of rounds. In a bear market if you land on someone&#8217;s street they have to pay you, instead of the other way around.<\/li>\n<li>This completely upsets the normal <span id=\"urn:batch-analysis-5d714d7f-f84e-48e2-a982-8b2abe0df73b\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-no-link wl-other\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/strategy\">strategy<\/span> of \u201cbuy everything\u201d and lets<br \/>\nthe game twist and turn making it far more dramatic, and players try to<br \/>\nswitch the market into their advantage.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"5125m\">Subgoals and situation pivots keep things interesting<\/h2>\n<p>While games need control they also need unpredictability. What if a character is trying to control the gear of a car using a gear stick? What if a monkey appears? What if the character is not only trying to control the gears but also stop the monkey controlling the gears. In games, anything can happen.<\/p>\n<p><em>Take a look at some of our articles specific to game development in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/dev-hub\/gamedev\/\">Codemotion Magazine. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- strchf script --><script>        if(window.strchfSettings === undefined) window.strchfSettings = {};    window.strchfSettings.stats = {url: \"https:\/\/codemotion.storychief.io\/your-game-needs-drama-in-ways-you-might-not-have-thought-of?id=118055414&type=2\",title: \"Your Game Needs Drama in Ways you Might not Have Thought of\",id: \"66543c6c-96d5-4792-a44b-49339654b7a1\"};            (function(d, s, id) {      var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];      if (d.getElementById(id)) {window.strchf.update(); return;}      js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;      js.src = \"https:\/\/d37oebn0w9ir6a.cloudfront.net\/scripts\/v0\/strchf.js\";      js.async = true;      sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs);    }(document, 'script', 'storychief-jssdk'))    <\/script><!-- End strchf script --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Games need drama to attract players, maintain interest and empower players. At this year&#8217;s Codemotion in Madrid, we were joined by Eskil Steenberg, who has spent a decade developing a game model he calls The Pivot Model for understanding and constructing games that naturally produce drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":2187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[78],"collections":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gamedev","8":"tag-codemotion-madrid","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ 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