Chris - I didn’t catch on to the Ultima series until I was in grade school, and got severely hooked playing Ultima VII: The Black Gate on my 486. What was your first Ultima experience?

Stephen - My very first Ultima was Quest of the Avatar on the Amiga. To this day it remains my favorite game of all time. That’s not to say later Ultimas didn’t improve upon what made Ultima IV so incredible but I still regard it as the ‘soul’ of the series, the game that truly defined Ultima.

(Editorial note: For those who have not yet had the pleasure of playing Origin’s seminal Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, or simply need a refresher, I strongly suggest reading either Scorpia’s review or the review at Mobygames for exemplary analyses of the game. These reviews demonstrate just why Ultima IV remains to be a capstone of novel and meaningful RPG design and storytelling, even 20+ years later. It can be played on a variety of systems thanks to the XU4 emulator, available free here.)

Chris: I have fond memories of sitting for hours exploring the catacombs in Ultima VIII, and the jungle in Savage Empire, and the vast dungeons of the Stygian Abyss in Ultima Underworld. Do you have a personal favourite in the series, and if you do - why? Has it withstood the test of time?

Stephen: Now THAT’s a tough question… So many aspects of the series appealed to me. Each game had its own unique charms that I will always look back on fondly - even the less popular games like Pagan (and I played it *before* the patch). I really enjoyed exploring all the worlds… In fact for Ultima I-IV I mapped everything - every world, every town, every dungeon. The Ultima I Sosaria and Ultima IV Britannia maps are HUGE.

If I had to pick one thing that really stood out for me though it would be the belief systems. While the Britannian Virtues are the most commonly known, almost every Ultima from Exodus on had at least one unique belief system. The ethical dilemmas you encounter during your quests really set the games apart for me. It wasn’t a matter of absolute good or evil, it was about the many shades in between.

Chris: What inspired you to write an Ultima collector’s guide? The series certainly has a tendency to produce fans and collectors… I even have a sizable collection on the bookshelves of my basement. Is there something specific about Ultima, say - compared to the Might and Magic series, or the Wizardry series - that invites rather ardent fandom?

Pictured above: A few shots from Stephen’s stunning Ultima/Origin Systems Inc. Collection.

Stephen: I’m a collector by nature so over the years I’ve collected quite a variety of things… Gaming being my biggest passion it was only natural for me to focus on that. I currently have over 3500 games spread across almost every gaming platform. Of all of them Ultima remains my favorite, and not just because they were such outstanding games. Most game collectors would agree that Origin consistently went above and beyond when it came to packaging and contents, particularly with the Ultima series. Beautifully detailed booklets, cloth maps, and meaningful ‘trinkets’ from Ankhs to Moonstones were the norm. With most games (then and now) you’d be lucky to find that in a special collector’s edition.

As for starting the guide, one thing that really struck me was the lack of collecting resources available for video games. Sports cards, comics, coins, stamps, toys… Almost every other collectible out there has a wealth of information available from checklists to grading systems to price guides and more. Mind you since I first began my guide information has become more readily available, but even now it’s almost exclusively limited to the internet. Being a completist I wanted to dig deeper than the standard information and find all the variations and obscure items that most people would never bother with. It was a project I really started for my own benefit but will hopefully be useful to most Ultima collectors.

Chris: (And of course, I have to ask) - What was it like meeting the Ultima game developers like Garriott, Spector and Loubet at the Videogame Archive fundraiser? Given that these folks have been more-or-less idolized by fans and gamers for over 20 years, was there anything about them that you found particularly surprising?

Stephen: It was huge for me just to have the chance to go to Austin and meet the developers I’d idolized for so many years - but for them to not only know ME but to be impressed with MY work… it was almost surreal. In the course of my book I’d emailed a couple of them in the past, but it was great to actually shake their hands and talk to them in person. Between the UT fundraiser, the Tabula Rasa pre-launch party and the Austin GDC I got to meet:

Pictured above (left to right): Warren Spector, Richard Garriott, George Sanger, Bill Bottorff, and Stephen Emond. Bottom right: A copy of the book! (image courtesy of the UT Videogame Archive)

Richard Garriott (’Lord British’), Warren Spector, George Sanger (’Fatman’), Starr Long, Denis Loubet, Sheri Graner, Billy Cain, Mike McShaffry, Robin McShaffry, Caroline Spector, Chris Launius (’Binky’), David Watson (’Iolo’), Michelle Caddel (’Mariah’), Paul Sage, Tim Cotten (UO Dev), as well as April Burba (’CuppaJo’) and most of the people at Destination Games (Richard Garriott’s new company currently developing Tabula Rasa).

They were all outstanding and made me feel right at home. Lord British was of course the star of the show so I only got to talk with him briefly but I did get the full tour of the amazing Britannia Manor.

Warren was awesome, he even wrote about me in his blog! According to Fatman he’d spent quite some time searching through my guide to find anything I missed but couldn’t come up with anything

Fatman was kind enough to help me get through the swarm surrounding Richard and Warren so I could talk to them before the main event started. He put on a great performance with his group ‘Captains of the Chess Team’.

Denis invited me to the launch party for his new company’s game “Fireteam Reloaded”.

Billy Cain invited Joe Garrity (curator of the Origin Museum) and me over to his house to go through some of his old Origin artifacts.

Spending the afternoon with Iolo (David Watson) was everything I could have hoped for. He is incredibly diverse and fascinating to listen too - they captured his character quite well in Ultima. He had numerous stories of a young Richard Garriott who had just joined the SCA. After I toured his workshop (and played with his crossbows) he presented me with my very own crossbow bolt - which he pulled from a quiver he made for Sentri He even pulled out his lute and played Stones for me, with the seldom heard lyrics no less… I really have to thank Joe for letting me tag along and asking Iolo to give me the full package tour

Starr was really cool too, I talked with him about Tabula Rasa and assured him my Ultima Online book was on the way.

April (community manager for Tabula Rasa and all around amazing woman) gave me the full tour of Destination Games / NCsoft. Very cool - ESPECIALLY the Hall of Ultima. I think the janitor had to mop up a little drool afterwards but that’s ok. ALL the original Denis Loubet cover arts, prototype maps, gold disk sales awards… I even got to pet D&D #1

Needless to say it was an experience I will *never* forget.

Chris: Warren Spector said on his blog that he’s looking forward to reading your book when it’s done - what kind of response have you gotten from those who have seen an advance copy so far?

Stephen: So far only three copies exist (mine, a copy I presented to Richard and the one auctioned off at the fundraiser). As such exposure has been somewhat limited. The feedback I did receive though has been quite positive and enthusiastic. Considering it came primarily from former Origin legends and the Center for American History (who requested another copy as reference material for the archive itself) I really couldn’t ask for higher praise. I just hope other collectors will feel the same way if they decide to get a copy.

Chris: Hell, I could go on forever here. So maybe just one last question - have you secured a publisher for the book? When can we hope to get our grubby hands on one?

Stephen: I’m working out the final details now but it should be available very soon. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Stephen ‘CmdrFalcon’ Emond is the Tabula Rasa Managing Editor over at Tabula Rasa Stratics. You can find out more about Ultima: The Ultimate Collector’s Guide and other books at his web site.

Much of the chapter is devoted to operational definitions of key ideas that a game writer should be familiar with. While the definitions are short and sweet (usually half a page, or a paragraph), they do provide some amount of insight into how we can understand games in terms of their narrative delivery. For instance, Boon distinguishes between a few kinds of narratives: implicit/emergent narratives (ie. a Roguelike, or Animal Crossing), formal narratives (ie. the Wing Commander series), interactive narratives (ie. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess), and interactive stories (ie. Ultima VII: The Black Gate) {3.1}. While I won’t go into detail here, each definition builds upon the previous - and gives the reader a sense for how games can be understood in terms of interactivity and the balance between the author’s need for “narrative delivery” and player-choice.

In terms of narrative delivery, Boon discusses how several delivery methods (text, FMV, voiceovers, cutscenes, etc) can be used to provide different gameplay experiences. These sections cover the pros and cons of each method in a fair amount of detail, and demonstrate that effective game writing begins with a critical eye for the different kinds of tools the author has to work with. Of course, this critical eye is interleaved with the usual cautions against ‘too much in-game reading’, repetitive dialogue, etc. However, unlike previous chapters, Boon is careful to delineate between the development of “conventional” (read: mass-market) games, and more “unconventional” (read: experimental) games, and how each narrative delivery method might benefit or detriment a game based on these principles {3.2}. Boon’s message, throughout the section, is that narrative delivery methods must reflect the pacing that the writer has chosen for the game - although usually he means that the player should be never left bored.

The chapter ends with a short “suggested writing process” section that outlines the typical developmental steps that a conventional game writer might follow. While Boon does not go into a great amount of detail here, the section acts as a decent overview of the kind of writing process that the rest of the book implicitly relies upon. In fact, readers of this book benefit most by reading Boon’s “suggested writing process” outline before the rest of the chapter.

Conclusion

Boon’s chapter profitably introduces several key concepts otherwise missing throughout the rest of the book (such as distinctions between narrative and story for instance), and makes reference to a few modern games (such as Max Payne and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). I would have liked to see a much wider range of game examples (some of us have went beyond the standard mass-market fare), but considering that the rest of the book uses so few examples - Boon’s illustrations are a welcome change. In short, his chapter is lucid and precise, and should provide new game writers with the necessary conceptual tools to deliver narratives in conventional game production environments.

Editorial Comments

3.1
While I offer these games as possible examples of each kind of narrative, none of these games obviously fit every detail of the definitions. For example, while Animal Crossing mainly consists of an emergent narrative that the player comes to be a part of as the town grows and changes, it also has more scripted “formal” narrative elements such as the introductory sequence, where the player assumes the role of a character moving to a new town. In essence, all games certainly feature many kinds of narrative methods with varying levels of interactivity. What is of more value, of course, is understanding the value that each narrative form brings to the game-playing experience.

3.2
As I discussed in the previous reviews, I often find that “conventional” advice is most useful when turned upside-down. For instance, Boon cautions against the use of in-game documents because they may alienate players who do not wish to read large amounts of text. While this might be good advice for the next Haloesque shooter, in-game documents can be used effectively when delivered in the right manner. One of the most interesting uses of text that I’ve seen is in the classic RPG Wasteland, which requires the player to look up narrative passages in the supplied player’s manual. While this design decision was made due to space limitations (the original version for the Apple //e was distributed on a single 140Kb diskette), it provided players with a truly unique and surprisingly engaging way of playing through the narrative despite conventional wisdom. “Feelies“, as they used to be called, were maps, documents, or trinkets that used to be included in game boxes due to disk space limitations, as anti-piracy measures, or simply to increase the immersive quality of the game. More experimental or visionary games these days might make use of such innovations in order to tailor the gameplay experience in certain ways.

The second chapter of the book is written by Stephen Jacobs - an Associate Professor who teaches graduate-level courses on game history and writing at Rochester Institute of Technology. Jacobs’s chapter contains a short introduction to some of the history of storytelling (both classic and modern) using modern films and literature as examples. Read on below..

Jacobs begins the chapter at the very beginning of literary criticism by introducing some of the central concepts in Aristotle’s Poetics. The Freytagian Pyramid of course makes its debut as a depiction of Aristotle’s conception of “plot” … a familiar sight for the average high-school student.

Jacobs seems cognizant of this fact, however, and quickly moves on to discuss details of Joseph Campbell’s classic “Hero’s Journey Model” - an interpretation of storytelling that permeates the majority of game story models. Jacobs discusses Campbell’s model in some detail, examining the crucial stops along the way such as “the call to adventure” (when the Hero is summoned to help), “supernatural aid” (when the Hero receives aid from the gods), or when the Hero “approaches his inmost cave” and is faced by her/his greatest challenge (p. 29). To those unfamiliar with the Hero’s Journey model, Jacobs’s discussion is sufficiently enlightening and succinct and serves as a good starting point.

Jacobs then considers the familiar “Three Act Structure” formula used by Syd Field (p. 30). After discussing the bare necessities of the model, he is quick to move on - obviously underfed by the formulaic results that the structure provides. Of more value is the next section that discusses “Bending and Breaking Models” which provides the reader with examples of films and novels that break away from the usual fare (pp. 31-32).

Next, Jacobs takes on a quick’n'dirty plot structure analysis of Star Wars: A New Hope through the lenses of the aforementioned models. The two-page analysis should be enough to familiarize both new and rusty writers with the basic mechanics of story models. With his whirlwind tour of story structure complete, Jacobs continues his examination of Poetics with a discussion of “character” in narratives.

The character section begins with a discussion of how Aristotle conceived of characters - and how characters must be always written in relation to the audience. In that way, he shows that if the audience cannot empathize with the protagonist of a classic tragedy, the character’s “fall from grace” will not be accompanied by emotional impact in the audience (p. 35). Refreshingly, Jacobs takes the position that stories must at least include one dynamic character; plot events must show some sort of effect in the character to be believable. {2.1} With these tenets introduced, Jacobs unfolds a few central kinds of characters through an exploration of various character archetypes in Jung and Campbell.

Before Jacobs even begins discussing the various Jungian archetypes, he is careful to caution against the use of stock, canned, or stereotyped characters - while they may be immediately recognizable as ‘roles’ by the audience, they are not memorable. The writer’s job, Jacobs says, is to interpret archetypal characters in such a way that they remain memorable to the audience. He then goes on to describe several of the character archetypes, such as the “Threshold Guardian”, “Trickster”, “Herald” and “Shapeshifter” - and how modern films and novels interpret these kinds of characters.

Finally, Jacobs ends the chapter with a cursory discussion of the remaining concepts in Aristotle’s Poetics: Theme, Diction and Pattern, and Spectacle. The sections are covered hastily, and again use a few modern films, plays and novels to do most of the explanatory work. His discussion of “spectacle” may be of interest to some video game writers, for it specifies a logic to the development of stylistic interpretations of already-existing literature (p. 40). With this approach, a re-telling of the classic Shakespearean tragedies through interactive mediums is possible - for it specifies that a ‘tragedy’ story can remain intact even though we have changed the setting of the play {2.2}. The chapter ends on a rising note, as Jacobs claims that, “We cannot trust conventional models of plot or character because in an interactive media the lines may become immeasurably blurred”.

Conclusion
In review, Jacobs presented a scholarly-oriented chapter focused on describing some of the current literary models available for writers to make use of, bend, or break. While the chapter introduces concepts of character and plot already understood by many literary-minded folks, his descriptions and examples provide the reader with sensible, practical understandings of storytelling. While readers might already be familiar with some of the literary devices described in the chapter, Jacobs does a reasonably good job of showing how each of these devices can and should be broken in order to provide the audience with an interesting, memorable story. As a final note, however, I believe the chapter would have benefited from some real examples of modern video games that make use of some of these literary tools rather than relying so heavily upon films and novels for their description.

My Editorial Comments

2.1

Jacobs is not explicit about why it’s so important to write an empathizable character. In my view (and concordant with Aristotle’s Poetics I believe) is that empathized characters evoke a sense of identification with the audience. Thus, to identify or empathize with a character is to put yourself in their shoes, and to feel as they feel to some degree. What signifies trouble, I think, is when a book, film, or game with an obviously dynamic plot is laid against a static yet empathized character. What typically happens in this situation is that we begin with a sense of identification with the character, but quickly feel discord with the character when he/she refuses to change in the face of significant events. Games such as The Longest Journey and The Last Express present the protagonists “April Ryan” and “Robert Cath” (respectively) in such a way as to ensure that the audience empathizes with their plights, as well as show how the characters change in relation to their experiences of events.

2.2

An interesting question, worth discussing elsewhere, is in fact if stories can maintain their identity despite changes in not only setting, but plot, characters, or medium. This is a crucial question, I suspect, because computers as a medium are inherently different than plays or oral stories - and each medium offers its own enablements and constraints.

As the Slashdot article mentions, the book begins with an introductory chapter by Richard Dansky - story writer for games such as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Far Cry: Instincts. In the beginning of the chapter, Dansky spends time defining and formalizing terms such as ’story’, ’setting’, ‘narrative’ and ‘cut scene’ - terms that are used throughout the rest of the book by other authors in various ways. {1.0}

Dansky’s interest in the first chapter is both to give a general overview of what is entailed in what appears to be in the typical game development houses. He envisions the role of the writer as a person who must come up with ways of integrating a story into an already existing game design. For the most part, Dansky does not speculate on qualities of stories or narratives that are more valuable than others, and chooses instead to focus on specific writing practices and concepts that make narratives easier to incorporate into games. There are exceptions of course. For example, Dansky argues that “writing is extraneous” to the game if what was written falls outside of advancing the player’s opportunities for “movement” or progression in the game. He says that while “little extras” may be important to the writer in terms of contextualizing the plot, they should be, “saved for promotional materials, tie-in novels, or projects that are personal to the writer. Many players won’t want to hear it.” While he does except role-playing and adventure games from this rule, but the implied spirit of his original claim still stands: it’s better to cater to the lowest common denominator than risk alienating players. {1.1}

Later in the chapter Dansky moves on to discuss how narratives must be delivered in a such a way that provide players with reasons to continue playing the game. In that way, the writer must develop characters that have “traits that make them appealing to the player so that they can serve their roles in the narrative”. Just as he stresses that the player’s progression through the game is always at stake in a narrative, Dansky implicitly envisions (non-player) characters as being a necessary cog in the narrative machine; they ultimately owe their existence to the plot and not vice-versa. {1.2} This is of course consistent with Dansky’s overall message that the writer’s job is ultimately to keep the player playing - a point worth considering in all respects.

Dansky then discusses some particular challenges that writers may face in games, such as what he sees as narrative techniques unfit for use in games. He says, “A lengthy, tense conversation fraught with emotional violence is superb in a Harold Pinter drama, but what does the player potentially do during that time? Sit and watch?” (p. 17) {1.3} He also believes that “forced failure” techniques (situations that force the player into a situation in order to satisfy a writer’s predefined plot point) also find no place in modern games, and should be avoided (p. 18). {1.4}

One of the last important points that Dansky covers is showing how writers might work, knowing that an entire team of engineers, programmers, artists and designers have technical constraints of their own. Since cutscene creation is an expensive process, he encourages writers to take conservative approaches based on the technical capabilities of the team from the beginning, rather than writing a full draft and scaling it back to fit technical constraints. {1.5}

Conclusion
As a self-contained chapter, Dansky presents some cursory do’s and don’ts of game writing through the lens of a seasoned mass-market game writer. While some of the basic terminology might be of use to complete newbies, the ways in which he operationalizes some of the concepts (ie. story, plot, character, etc) might be found wanting by more literary-minded folks. The chapter is best understood as a conservative task-based approach to game writing, rather than a literary or artistic approach. This choice is of course consistent with the rest of the book - a comment that I will return to in later chapters.

My Editorial Comments

1.0
I’m arrested almost immediately by the narrow way in which Dansky chooses to delimit the terms he uses; while I understand that operational definitions offer a ’starting point’ for discussion, it becomes obvious that these kinds of restrictions on narrative and story permeate the book. More on that soon.

1.1
The difficulty I have with Dansky’s claim that “players just won’t want to hear it” is precisely in that he doesn’t define just what kinds of players he’s talking about. Sure, if we’re making a hardcore shoot’em’up FPS for children with attention deficit disorders - it really might be worthwhile to contain the amount of ‘extraneous’ dialog and story in the game. But this begs the obvious question: what if we’re making games for more serious audiences? Effective and involving stories aren’t possible without those so-called ‘extraneous’ details. Take Planescape: Torment for instance. The game is filled with countless ‘extraneous’ dialogs, NPCs, and quests not central to the player’s “advancement”. But each of these details combined create the convincing, atmospheric experience that has earned Torment acclaim from both players and critics alike.

1.2
By prioritizing the narrative over character development, we risk remaking the mistake of developing “plot-driven” games. Rather than having a world populated by interesting, detailed and dynamic (non-player) characters, plot-driven games tend to feature static, stock characters that are only there to fill in their roles. Completely plot-driven games such as Splinter Cell or Tomb Raider provide characters only insofar as they give the player new directions for their next job. In that way, characters themselves provide the player with absolutely nothing valuable, and detract from the gameplay experience in the end. Rich and detailed characters with their own motivations and idiosyncratic quirks, such as ‘Murray the Talking Skull’ in the Monkey Island series, ‘Cid’ in Final Fantasy VII, and ‘Bastila’ in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, all serve to add a dimension of realism to the game world as well as give the player the sense that their actions actually make a difference to someone. Without sufficiently deep characters, the developer risks turning the world into a sandbox environment lacking a sense of meaning and responsibility outside of the player’s personal desires.

1.3
On the subject of dialogues, he continues by saying, “Whatever the players decide to do, they are not playing, and that can be deadly to a game.” To be fair, I think Dansky means to say that dialogs in which the player is not directly involved in (ie. a lengthy cutscene) can be frustrating for players who must keep their hands busy at all times. But what about games in which action occurs most primarily in conversation - such as Planescape: Torment? Considering that Torment features over 68,000 lines of dialog (or 1 million words), would Dansky conclude that the player is probably spending most of her/his time in sheer boredom? The problem with Dansky’s claim is - again - that he presupposes an audience suffering from A.D.D.

1.4
Unfortunately, Dansky does not provide a single example of a “forced failure” technique used in games. Of immediate mind is King’s Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder. Early in the game, ‘Graham’ is captured and imprisoned in a cellar by a swarthy innkeeper and his cronies, and he must find a way of escape before being killed. While situations like these do not lend the player much agency (ie. they only have two choices: escape, or get killed), they do manage to carry along the narrative in a sensible way. I don’t believe that we automatically “diminish the player’s experience” (p. 18) by introducing these kinds of techniques - but I do accept that if these techniques are applied unskillfully (ie. by addition of a heavy-handed deus ex machina literary hack) they can lend to bad storytelling. And will players be “frustrated” by forced failures? Sure will. Will they keep playing? Yup. I did at least.

1.5
While this is likely good advice for ‘hired gun’ writers, this probably does not bode well for story-driven games whose basis rests on a detailed, difficult story provided by the writer from the beginning. Ultimately, I feel that decisions like these should be made by the entire development team, since the entire structure of the game grows from decisions made early in the cycle. If the designers already have a concept for the game, and require a writer to fill in the gaps (which seems to be Dansky’s approach), then a conservative writing approach is likely best. If the writer has more freedom however, it makes sense that s/he might work in a more liberal style that requires designers and engineers to push the limits of their technical abilities before asking the writer to cut or rewrite the story.

Each week I will post a review of a chapter, along with my editorial comments. This week will be my review of Chapter 1.