Author(s): David E. Freeman; Will Wright
Main Page
Table of content
Copyright
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Tell Us What You Think
Foreword
Gallery
Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1.1. Communicate… Explore… Help… Words… Edge…
Communicate
Explore
Help
Words
Edge
Chapter 1.2. An Introduction to Emotioneering
Chapter 1.3. Why Put Emotion into Games?
Reason #1: Expanded Demographics
Reason #2: Better Buzz
Reason #3: Better Press
Reason #4: So Games Don't Seem Amateurish
Reason #5: An Inspired and Dedicated Creative Team
Reason #6: Consumer Loyalty to the Brand, Which Is Worth a Fortune
Reason #7: So You Don't Burn Millions of Dollars of Potential Profit
Reason #8: Competitive Advantage
Reason #9: So You Don't Come in Last
Summary
Chapter 1.4. 17 Things Screenwriters Don't Know About Games
What Screenwriters Need to Learn About Games
Putting It in Focus
Facing the Challenge: A Guide to Hiring a Screenwriter
Final Thoughts
Chapter 1.5. Why Game Designers Often Find Writing to Be So Challenging
The Same Problem Often Besets Game Designers
Yes, But Games Aren't Movies, so That Isn't Relevant
Final Thoughts
Chapter 1.6. Why 'Writing' Is a Bad Word and 'Emotioneering' Is a Better One
Chapter 1.7. How to Hopefully Be Unappreciated
Chapter 1.8. Where Screenwriting Leaves Off and Emotioneering Begins
Deep Isn't Necessarily Interesting
From Screenwriting to Emotioneering
Part II: The 32 Categories of Emotioneering Techniques
Chapter 2.1. Emotioneering Techniques Category #1: NPC Interesting Techniques
Major NPCs (NPCs Who Recur Throughout the Game)
More About Traits
The Hypothetical Game
The Hypothetical Game
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.2. Emotioneering Techniques Category #2: NPC Deepening Techniques
Emotional Pain
An Example of Technique Stacking' [1] '
Regret—and Hiding a Secret
Appreciation—and Wisdom
Cover a Real Emotion with a False Emotion
Combining NPC Deepening Techniques
Having Emotion Relate to Player Actions and Decisions
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.3. Emotioneering Techniques Category #3: Dialogue Interesting Techniques
NPC Dialogue to Add Color
NPC Dialogue to Prompt Action
Splitting Up the Information
Some Common Fallacies and Problems
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.4. Emotioneering Techniques Category #4: Deepening Deepening Techniques
Give Your NPC Some Depth
The Hypothetical Game
Combining Emotioneering Techniques
An Example of Technique Stacking
The NPC Has Emotions Beneath the Surface
The Hypothetical Game
Ambivalence
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.5. Emotioneering Techniques Category #5: Group Interesting Techniques
The Basic Idea of Klingons
Relevance for Games
Two Important Considerations
Traits Versus Quirks—Carrying the Analogy into Groups
Hypothetical Game Case Study
So, All Groups Need a Diamond?
The Diamond of the Group and the Diamond of the Individual
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.6. Emotioneering Techniques Category #6: Group Deepening Techniques
Giving Depth to Groups
The Hypothetical Game
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.7. Emotioneering Techniques Category #7: NPC Toward NPC Chemistry Techniques
There Doesn't Need to Be a Relationship Between the Two Characters' Layer Cakes Toward Each Other—But There Can Be
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.9. Emotioneering Techniques Category #9: NPC Character Arc Techniques
A Character Arc Doesn't Come Easily to a Character
Relevance for Games
Ins and Outs
Exceptions
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.10. Emotioneering Techniques Category #10: NPC Rooting Interest Techniques
The Sorcerer Among Us Is You
Relationship to the Character Diamond
Put the NPC in Danger
Self-Sacrifice
Undeserved Misfortune
Learn About a Painful Part of Their Past
Bravery
Some Techniques Fall into Two Different Categories
Characters You Invest with Life
Characters for Whom You're Responsible
A Note About Multi-Function Techniques
Using Rooting Interest Techniques and Their Opposites to 'Dial Up' or 'Dial Down' an NPC's Likability and the Degree to Which We Identify with Him or Her
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.11. Emotioneering Techniques Category #11: Player Toward NPC Chemistry Techniques
The NPC Admires You
The NPC Reads Your Mind
The NPC Has Things in Common with You
The NPC Anticipates Your Needs and Desires
An NPC Makes You Grow to Become a Better Person
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.12. Emotioneering Techniques Category #12: NPC Toward Player Relationship Deepening Techniques
Layers of Feeling
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Post-Apocalyptic America Game
Hypothetical Game Case Study: The Detectives
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Another Hypothetical Game Example
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.13. Emotioneering Techniques Category #13: Player Toward NPC Relationship Deepening Techniques
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Our Post-Apocalyptic Gunslinger
A Hypothetical Game: Mixed Emotions in WWII
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.14. Emotioneering Techniques Category #14: Group Bonding Techniques
Elements of Shared Appearance
Shared Goals
Shared Rituals
Going Through Shared Ordeals and Adventures
Taking Heroic Actions to Protect Each Other
Complementary Skills
Say Good Things Behind Each Others' Back—Even if They Don't to Their Faces
Bam-Bam Dialogue in Cinematics
Shared References
Group Bonding Challenges in Squad-Based First-Person Shooters
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.15. Emotioneering Techniques Category #15: Emotionally Complex Moments and Situations Techniques
You Are Forced to Do Potential Evil
You Are Forced to See Through the Eyes of Someone You Don't Like or Are Ambivalent About
Ambivalence Toward a 'Friend'
Ambivalence Toward an 'Enemy'
Ambivalence Toward a Situation
You Discover You've Been Tricked
Helpless to Aid Someone You Love
What's Good and What's Evil Is Not Black and White
Forced to Violate Your Own Integrity
Creating Emotionally Complex Moments and Situations Through Incongruence' [1] '
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.16. Emotioneering Techniques Category #16: Plot Interesting Techniques
You Call This a Story?
Breaking These Different Structures into Elements
Creative Toolbox or Wellspring of Psychosis?
Structure Twists
Hypothetical Game Case Study
Pancaking Scripted Sequences
Meaningful Nonlinear Re-Sequencing (MNR)
Final Thoughts'Man Cannot Live by Twists Alone
Chapter 2.17. Emotioneering Techniques Category #17: Plot Deepening Techniques
Two Key Characters Trade Places
The Story Makes a Spiritual Power Palpable
A Symbol Takes on More and More Emotional Associations
A Character We Like Dies
A Bittersweet Ending
An Ending That's a Little Uncertain
Greetings from a Land Outside Your Awareness
Relevance of 'Crouching Tiger' for Games
A Downside to Victory
Emotion Mapping
Idea Mapping
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.18. Emotioneering Techniques Category #18: World Induction Techniques
Creating a Rich World
Creating a Rich World Through Visual Incongruence Using Emotionally Resonant Items
A World That Takes A While to Figure Out
Friendship or Responsibility Toward NPCs You Care About
Revenge
Don't Hold Back on Cool Weapons or Cool Things to Do
Don't Change All the Rules at the End
World Induction Techniques Commonly Used in Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs—Sometimes Called MMOs)
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.19. Emotioneering Techniques Category #19: Role Induction Techniques
Skill Sets
Rewards for Playing the Role
Against All Odds
Accomplishment
Leadership Attitudes and Abilities
A Valuable and Appreciated Role
License to Break the Rules
Beguiling New Identities
Abilities Beyond the Norm
The Character Has Emotional Responses We Recognize and Can Identify With
Self Auto-Talk and Self Auto-Thought
Fewer Words Usually Invites the Player to Identify with the Character
Character Silence (No Self Auto-Talk and No Self-Auto Talk)
Generalizing a Problem
Tradeoffs When Using Role Induction Techniques
A Case Study in Role Induction: 'Thief'
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.20. Emotioneering Techniques Category #20: First-Person Character Arc Techniques
Defining the Problem
Past Attempts to Create a First-Person Character Arc
Emulating Life Itself
Should Going Through a First-Person Character Arc Be Essential to Winning a Game?
Various Types of Rewards and Punishments
Where a First-Person Character Arc Begins
Alternative Character Arcs
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.21. Emotioneering Techniques Category #21: First-Person Deepening Techniques
Emotionally and/or Morally Difficult Decisions
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Woman from the Future
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Choice of Player Character
Hypothetical Game Case Study: The Kidnapped Teenager
Responsibility
Hypothetical Game Case Study: The Terrellens
Multiple and Sometimes Even Conflicting Viewpoints (Learning from Mr. Bill)
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Return to the Terrellens
Certain First-Person Character Arcs
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Returning to the City
Seeing Situations That Aren't Black and White
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.22. Emotioneering Techniques Category #22: Revealing Complex Characters Through Their Actions
A Real Game Case Study
Khensa
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.23. Emotioneering Techniques Category #23: Enhancing Emotional Depth Through Symbols
Usable Symbols
Symbol of a Character's Condition or Change in Condition—Visual or Verbal
Game Case Study: 'Ico'
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Symbols of Sadness and Achievement
Symbolic Subplot
Game Case Study: Aidyn Chronicles
Symbols Used in Foreshadowing
Hypothetical Game Case Study: The Samurai
A Symbol That Takes on Increasing Emotional Associations—Visual or Verbal
Hypothetical Game Case Study: The Pendant
Game Case Study: 'Max Payne'
Hypothetical Game Case Study: The Hood Ornament
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.24. Emotioneering Techniques Category #24: Self-Created Story Techniques (a.k.a. Agency Techniques)
A Spectrum of Impact
Mixing Impact Modes
Different Ways of Fulfilling the Mission
Other Ways to Create Self-Created Stories
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.25. Emotioneering Techniques Category #25: Motivation Techniques
Don't Interrupt Gameplay
If Possible, Try Not to Let the Way the Player Receives Information Interrupt the Game
Don't Hold Back Too Long on the Carrots
Avoid the Feeling of Repetitive Gameplay…Sometimes
Keep Those Plot Twists Coming
Sometimes Provide Unexpected Consequences to the Player's Actions
Action Puzzles
A Mysterious or Interesting World That Takes A While to Sort Out
An Interesting Plot That Unfolds in an Interesting Way
A Higher Score
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.26. Emotioneering Techniques Category #26: Cohesiveness Techniques
Your Character Gets a Reputation
Karma
NPCs in One Part of the Game Refer to NPCs in Other Parts of the Game
Give Your Game a Theme' [1] '
Relationships Between People or Groups That Take A While to Decipher, But Eventually Form Their Own Coherent World
Abilities You Learn in One Part of the Game Are Useful Later in the Game
Remind Us of the Stakes
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.27. Emotioneering Techniques Category #27: 'True-to-Life' Techniques
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.28. Emotioneering Techniques Category #28: Cross-Demographic Techniques
Cross-Demographic Techniques
The General Idea
Self-Deconstructing Humor
Giving NPCs Character Arcs
Trendy Comedy
A Game That Takes Place in a Rich World
Have Characters Who Undergo Either Adult or Complicated Emotions
The Use of Deepening Techniques
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.29. Emotioneering Techniques Category #29: Injecting Emotion into a Game's Story Elements
Dissecting a Story
Story Elements in Types of Games That We Normally Don't Think of as Possessing 'Stories'
Simple and Complex Emotion
Using Story Elements to Brainstorm Emotional Complexity
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.30. Emotioneering Techniques Category #30: Tying Story to Gameplay and Mechanics
Contrasting Examples
Just the Other Day
Final Thoughts
Chapter 2.31. Emotioneering Techniques Category #31: Writing Powerful Pre-Rendered and In-Game Cinematics
Learning from Film
The Example
Final Thoughts
Glossary for This Chapter
Chapter 2.32. Emotioneering Techniques Category #32: Opening Cinematic Techniques
Begin with a 'Fakeout Scene' (Faking Out the Player)
Begin with a Mystery
Begin by Introducing Us to a Unique Character
Begin by Throwing Us into a Suspenseful Piece of the Plot
Begin by Entering into a Unique World
Final Thoughts
Looking Back
Part III: An Emotioneering Gallery
Chapter 3.1. Introduction
Emotioneering in Reality-Based Games Versus Fantasy and Sci-Fi Games
Chapter 3.2. Chasm
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Boston Physicist
NPC Interesting Techniques ( Chapter 2.1 )
Player Toward NPC Chemistry Techniques ( Chapter 2.11 )
World Induction Techniques ( Chapter 2.18 )
First-Person Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.21 )
Player Toward NPC Relationship Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.13 )
Emotionally Complex Moments and Situations Techniques ( Chapter 2.15 )
Plot Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.17 )
Adding Emotional Depth to a Game Through Symbols ( Chapter 2.23 )
Final Thoughts
Chapter 3.3. Styx' [1] '
Hypothetical Game Case Study: The Roman Empire
Emotionally Complex Moments and Situations Techniques ( Chapter 2.15 )
NPC Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.2 )
NPC Toward Player Relationship Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.12 )
Plot Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.17 )
Final Thoughts
Chapter 3.4. Rough Trade
Hypothetical Game Case Study: Cyberpunk Novelist
NPC Interesting Techniques ( Chapter 2.1 )
NPC Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.2 )
Player Toward NPC Chemistry Techniques ( Chapter 2.11 )
Player Toward NPC Relationship Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.13 )
Role Induction Techniques ( Chapter 2.19 )
First-Person Character Arc Techniques ( Chapter 2.20 )
First-Person Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.21 )
Motivation Techniques ( Chapter 2.25 )
Plot Deepening Techniques ( Chapter 2.17 )
Final Thoughts
Part IV: Magic
Chapter 4. Magic
Let's Get Real—But in Whose Reality?
A Secret Land Where Smiles Are Born
Creating Life Out of Nothing: Hard for Scientists, a Cakewalk for You
The Ultimate Gift
Final Thoughts
Part V: Addenda
Chapter 5.1. Introduction
Chapter 5.2. Techniques for Creating Fun
Types of Fun
Incongruence
The Exercise
Final Thoughts
Chapter 5.3. Gatherings
Art Credits
Cover
Color Section
Interior
Artists' Bios and Contact Information
Glossary
Index
Index SYMBOL
Index A
Index B
Index C
Index D
Index E
Index F
Index G
Index H
Index I
Index K
Index L
Index M
Index N
Index O
Index P
Index Q
Index R
Index S
Index T
Index U
Index V
Index W
Index X
Index Z
