Abstract
A game is best evaluated by playing it and prototyping is therefore an important activity in game development. Game writers and narrative designers are responsible for the narrative structure of a game, which may have a varying degree of interactivity to it. The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of prototyping tools for game writers. There is a limited range of such tools available, of which Twine is one of the most established. Most of these tools have a text-based programming interface for modelling of game mechanics. This paper presents Deig—a prototyping tool for creating point-and-click adventure games. In Deig, game mechanics is modelled graphically using nodes from a set of primitives. We present an interview study where game writing students reflect on their experience of using Deig and Twine as prototyping tools. The result shows that both tools have their merits and complement each other. Deig was found to be intuitive for modelling of game mechanics, which lead students to create interactive narratives. Twine was found to be more useful for experimental writing. The conclusion of this work is that there is a need for a diverse set of prototyping tools to support game writing.
Highlights
Game development is a collective activity, where individuals from a range of disciplines collaborate to create a complex product, and where the player is involved in the creation of the experience
In Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics (MDA), mechanics is defined in terms of the algorithms and data; dynamics is the run-time behavior of the mechanics; and aesthetics is the emotional response evoked in the player
In this paper we present Deig—a prototyping tool for creating dialog-based pointand-click adventure game
Summary
Game development is a collective activity, where individuals from a range of disciplines collaborate to create a complex product, and where the player is involved in the creation of the experience. A game writer needs to collaborate with other disciplines, and the written material is integrated into a complex game production system. Testing is essential in game development (Schell 2008) None of this is supported by traditional writing tools. Aarseth (2012), for example, presents a ludicnarrative design-space with four independent, ontic dimensions: world, objects, agents and events. He gives examples on how different games can be positioned at the pure story–pure game scale along these dimensions. Elements of Deig How did you perceive the possibilities to: test and debug; play on tablet; use speech synthesis? What are the strengths and weaknesses of Deig? To what extent did you feel you created: a narrative; an interactive game? To what extent did you feel that you master the features of Deig for creating game logic? Describe how you perceive the differences between Deig and Twine when it comes to:
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