Read on Twitter
Thoughts on front stacking and alternating beat rhythm. A thread on handling story tension for narrative-driven single player games (and why the three act structure is probably not your friend).
So first, what I am not talking about; games driven by micro transitions and keeping players in the session as long as possible. There's probably some overlap, but that's a very different model with different requirements. I am talking about games that have a start and an end.
Front stacking. This is the idea that you don't slow burn toward the narrative climax of the game. Why? Because PEOPLE DON'T FINISH GAMES. https://www.gamerevolution.com/features/486029-rdr2-and-assassins-creed-data-reveals-no-one-completes-games-anymore
The whys and the hows of that don't really matter to us right now. What does matter is that we want to provide a fulfilling experience for the players who don't finish, which is the majority. Front stacking means you get to the juice immediately.
This is different from the traditional Hollywood hook, as it's more substantial. It's not that you have to lay everything bare, just that you give the player plenty to chew on early to drive them forward.
But Strix, you say. If we dump everything at the front, what does that do to the narrative rhythm? That's where alternating beats come in. Because it's a game, and not cinema, our tension points need to be modular.
As @jeffpobst likes to say, think of a game as a TV series, and it's made of up episodes, rather than a three act movie. Each episode can stand on its own as a narratively fulfilling experience, while still driving a larger story.
This modular form means that we get regular periodic payoffs. And we can play with overall tension through the size of those pay-off. One episode can fullfill the role of a big beat, and the next a little beat. So you could have BEAT beat BEAT beat BEAT.
And then if you want to start to boil things it can be BEAT beat BEAT BEAT VERY-BIG-BEAT. Since each beat is a full modular episode, you are still getting fulfillment no matter where you cut off, but you're still driven forward.
This relegates the three act formula to being a metastructure, which I think is the correct thing to do. Games are a different medium than movies, but Hollywood's influence in narrative games is currently pretty high (we love screenwriters).
We'll continue to evolve this medium, but it means letting go of popular structures for other mediums to some degree, being willing to experiment, and think critically about how our medium works in order to understand what will work best.
One last thing I'll add. Narrative pacing success doesn't just lie with the narrative team. Gameplay has a huge influence on narrative pacing. Often times when we want to be hitting the period of highest tension is when gameplay expands into an open grind.
Games are a truly interdisciplinary craft. It takes everybody working together to deliver a successful experience.
