Angry Robot

Map Beats Script

Hell yeah

We already build incredible, vivid places, but feel the compulsion to pave over them with our attempts at compulsory pre-authored story structures. In embracing the immersion model of meaning, one’s approach would shift away from building games around a core of Hollywood-style narrative, and toward building unique, convincing, open, integrally full gameworlds, populated by intriguing people to meet and things to do, and providing the player with tools of meaningful self-expression within that context that he might return changed by his experiences.

In my view, this is not to say that narrative does not exist – far from it. Narrative would be tied to places and people and dispersed about a map. It is also far from an abdication of authorial control – it’s less controlled, but the author still creates the architecture that the player explores.

“Meaningful displacement” is another excellent turn of phrase.