C-Can you feel it?SAMURAI, Chippin’ In Approaching the end, this blog series literally got more emotional. We’re ending this on a high note: Empathy not only as a tool for good storytelling, but also as a principle. The Empathy Principle Good ol’ German Wikipedia differentiates three kinds of empathy: authentic – feeling with someone elseContinueContinue reading “#52 Empathy”
Tag Archives: storytelling
#41 UI: Ocularis
Back from vacation I’m carrying a lot of new ideas with me. Some of these have already started before, some are new. This post is about how UI storytelling is employed in a project I’m participating: Ocularis. Aesthetic Cohesion and Dissonance A while ago I wrote a post about how video games present themselves viaContinueContinue reading “#41 UI: Ocularis”
#40: Transitions: The small Fox
Well, I finished the Mistborn series. This wouldn’t be of particular relevance to this blog, if it weren’t for the author Brandon Sandersons lectures on Writing, which I can now continue to watch and review on this blog. Hooks and Transitions When writing episodic stories, or stories with chapters, sections – in short: Any storyContinueContinue reading “#40: Transitions: The small Fox”
#39 UI: Cybertext
“Substance before Style” Another post, another storytelling device: The user interface, or for short UI. Principles of Interaction Design On his website, Bruce Tognazzini gives a holistic (my favourite!) introduction to what he calls “interaction design”. The background he is writing from is that of the great design, UI, UX (user experience) trends which cameContinueContinue reading “#39 UI: Cybertext”
#36 Scene: The Father
This post presents the conclusion of long ongoing project of mine, a scene for trial 6 in the trial of radishes, which are a tutorial for the radish modding tools for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Cinematography Techniques The active reader might remember post #18, where I introduced how the creation of scenes is organizedContinueContinue reading “#36 Scene: The Father”
#34 Quest Givers
Today we’ll inspect and deconstruct the concept of a quest giver. Following that I’ll start implementing the quest I devised last time. Quest Givers In stories, characters are one major source of movement/change. One specific figuration of that is a quest giver. Such characters provide the player with quests and are function thus as initiatorsContinueContinue reading “#34 Quest Givers”
#31 Quest Items
Shifting to some more – well – profane, or rather: ‘classic’ quest design topics. The first one in the line is quest items. Items So what are items in the first place? The wictionary tells me, it is a “distinct physical object” and, more specifically for video games, “an object that can be picked upContinueContinue reading “#31 Quest Items”
#29 The Drive of Narration
This post is concerned with the potential of narrations to be captivating, such that you can’t wait to see what’s next. Narration Drive What do I mean by narration drive? Well, the drive (or drives) of a narration is that which makes the audience want to follow that particular telling of a narrative. This mightContinueContinue reading “#29 The Drive of Narration”
#28 Storytelling and its Reflective Potentials
Blog post #28 has arrived. It is in general about storytelling and specifically about how storytelling manifests in quests in the video game medium. I’ll try applying a very central idea in my very own practical design. Storytelling The introduction to a definition for “storytelling” by the National Storytelling Network (NSN) emphasizes that storytelling isContinueContinue reading “#28 Storytelling and its Reflective Potentials”
#27 Suspense
While we dived into enduring things last time, today I’m going to write about how to use those things which aren’t there yet. It is about the feeling called suspense. Afterwards, I’ll apply my learnings in an unexpected manner. Suspense That, of course, was a lie. But it showcases what I mean: The feelings thatContinueContinue reading “#27 Suspense”
Gregor Sönnichsen 