"No Plot" as a plot

[DanMarshall]

Anyone got any opinions on games which are pretty much devoid of plot as to what you're up to?

I'm thinking Lemmings and Worms. What the hell _is_ going on there, besides what's explained through the gameply mechanics? Did Quake3 have a plot, or was it "There you go. Fight."?

I'm of the opinion that they'd be ruined if there was an intro sequence/ individual characters/ paragraph explaining the backstory.

I'm asking because, in my 2 player conflict deathmatch thing, I'm almost tempted to explain _why_ these two teams are fighting... but maybe it's better off without it... but then can I do that in this day and age??

Odd question, I know... but any opinions?

[mahlzeit]

My opinion: don't explain it in the game, but write a nice page on your site for those people who are interested in it, or make it a downloadable ebooklet. (You can also add those pages to the download, but give it a separate icon in the start menu.) Or, if your game is big enough, create a hint book with these stories and sell that as a separate product.

[Hiro_Antagonist]

I was trying to purposefully stay generic/archetypal and have no plot in my game, but unfortunately our campaign ended up requiring a plot in order to put each mission's tasks in context. If it hadn't been for the campaign, we would have pursposely left the game as plot-less as possible.

But I'm a believer that unless the story really *matters* to your game, leave it out. I believe most developers add story because they feel they have to. But old arcade games never had story. And they were pretty beloved by most folk.

I think that in today's market, making a game that can stand alone without a pointless and obligitory pointless is the artsy and better thing to do.

-Hiro_Antagonist

[papillon]

But old arcade games *did* have story. Tiny, tiny fragments of it only, but they had *something*.

Or, at least, home ports of old arcade games, like the things I used to play on my Colecovision waaaaaaaaay back when... not in the game itself, but in the manuals. WHich, being a weird little girl, I used to read sometimes to refresh my memory.

And arcade attract sequences would give out story details and character bios. And I stood there watching the cycle to read them.

Of course, I'm a known bookworm and story person, so I hunger for story, even dumb story.

[Martoon]

It depends entirely on your individual customers. Some customers will see a game (any game) as being "less" for not having a story, and other customers won't care.

Personally, I love a good story where the story is significant - in a book, a movie, or a game where the gameplay is about the story (like an adventure game, etc.), to me a good story is a must. But in, for example, a shmup where the point is to shoot everything that moves, I don't care, and I don't bother reading the backstory if one is provided.

But that's just me. I've seen shmup fans specifically complain about the lack of backstory in sequels to shmups that had backstory.

So I think the upshot is that providing a backstory for a game that doesn't rely on one will add value for some of your customers, but be a completely null issue for other customers. Just make sure the customers who don't care have the option of skipping past any story screens, etc.

[Abscissa]

But old arcade games *did* have story. Tiny, tiny fragments of it only, but they had *something*.
They had a *backstory* (That is, the ones that had any form of story at all). And the nice thing about backstories is that they're generally non-obtrusive to the game: They're skippable, and don't contain any information that's essential to playing the game.

Some examples of "story-mania" gone horribly, horribly wrong:
- Breakout (Remake) by Hasbro Interactive
- Tetris Worlds (Story Mode, specifically)
- Metal Gear Solid 2 (I may catch flack for this, but anything that has 30-60 minutes of unskippable introduction cinematics is *not* a game. If Hideo Kojima had put it on DVD-Video instead of PS2, I probably would have loved it.)

It all really just falls under the category of "If you can't do it right, don't put it in at all." Some games just don't need to be story-driven, and trying to cram a story into it takes away far more than it adds - Just as any half-baked feature takes away more than it adds. (Note, again, that I'm making a strong distinction between "story" (as in story-driven) and "backstory" (as in thankfully-disposable))

(Disclaimer: I'm not saying that all story-driven games are bad. Just that there's a tendancy to go overboard and either cram it in when it doesn't need to be there (Breakout) or end up with some sort of identity-crisis that doesn't know if it wants to be a movie or a game (MGS2))

[lakibuk]

I'm proud of the story to my freeware game Frozen Fruits:
Foul aliens from the other end of universe travelled through an interstellar wormhole and took over mother earth. Mankind's last chance: Infiltrate all of their 35 gigantic fruit storage buildings and destroy every single piece of fruit! (The aliens are vegetarian) Without food their reign of terror will come to an end.

Now is this sci-fi or what?

[soniCron]

I'm asking because, in my 2 player conflict deathmatch thing, I'm almost tempted to explain _why_ these two teams are fighting... but maybe it's better off without it... but then can I do that in this day and age?? Some pointers:

If a story exists, it should be a "backstory." That is, it should have no real bearing on the gameplay.
If there is a backstory, it should be inconsequential to skip or ignore completely.
If there is a backstory, it should be unobtrusive.
If the characters are interesting enough themselves (Worms), a backstory certainly won't hurt.
If the characters aren't interesting (Quake 3), there's no point.

[Raptisoft]

This was the backstory for Chuzzle:

You're a dark alchemist (think Gargamel) trying to make the life potion. The only way to make it is to distill it from these cute little fuzzy creatures you find the forest. Do this by matching them up, then you can collect their essence in a bottle. Finally, you can alchemify and drink that essence to obtain immortal life and go on to the next game sequence which was kinda like Soul Caliber and was where you challenged the gods.

Popcap axed that, can you believe that sh!t?

[Anthony Flack]

I like games that make a point of having no story, no explanation. Plus, you can go wild when you don't have to keep up any kind of pretense whatsoever... "and now we're fighting on a giant cake, and... argh! It's raining elephants!"

My favourite example of a game that had a story where it shouldn't has to be Arkanoid. Fancy trying to pass off Breakout as an epic space battle...

And then there's Bangai-O, which has a story that's totally ridiculous - "Giant space fruits? Where can I find these valuable items?", and also has the player's character arguing against the restart button, and praising 2d games in general, and Bangai-O in particular "Three cheers for Bangai-O!"

I'd like to see more games with "stories" like that. It has all the fun of a proper story, with none of the pretentious fiddle-faddle.

[Jim Buck]

I myself am a fan of games not having stories.. except in the cases where it really is inherent in the game (like Half-Life). I don't need a story to have fun.. if I wanted a story, I'd read a book or watch a movie since those are far better mediums for story-telling. Can someone tell me what the "story" of Pac-Man was?

[papillon]

So I'm a freak; that chuzzles-smurfs comparison made me giggle and feel more like playing it, and while breakout certainly doesn't need a story, the wacky spaceship Arkanoid thing was part of what made it special (And I thought DOH was a hilarious name for a villain.)

I suspect I was more strongly invested in backstory as a child than I am now, with the playing urge to anthropomorphise and explain things around me. But it doesn't take *much* to satisfy my story urges. Sonic the Hedgehog is hardly a story-focused game, but it had plenty of wacky characters and story behind it to interpret. (No, I haven't played since Sonic 3 or so; I know nothing of later female characters or evil shadow clones.)

Hrm, it's late and I'm not sure I'm making any sense. I guess I'm saying that if the game isn't completely abstract, I would like the developer to have done a tiny bit of thinking about the world they've created... these are the things that provide flavor and make games memorable?

[soniCron]

Hrm, it's late and I'm not sure I'm making any sense. I guess I'm saying that if the game isn't completely abstract, I would like the developer to have done a tiny bit of thinking about the world they've created... these are the things that provide flavor and make games memorable? I couldn't agree more. I certainly don't think you're crazy; silly backstory adds life and character to an otherwise empty experience. Some can choose to ignore it; some can choose to enjoy it. As long as the story doesn't interfere with the gameplay, there's no excuse not to have it. (Well, laziness! ;))

[Anthony Flack]

Have you tried Bangai-O, Papillon? The story really is terrifically enjoyable. The conversations you have with the bosses, and the woman (with a tree on her head) at the infostation really add to the experience a lot. But it also makes a point of being pointless, and actually draws attention to the fact that you're playing a game "What? Who put all those boxes there?", "That makes no sense!"

You have all the fun of the dialogue (very fun dialogue), with none of the restrictions of trying to bend the game to fit the shape of the story.

[Jim Buck]

I like a quote from Carmack on this subject:

"Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."

[DanMarshall]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Here's the conclusion I've come to:

I really don't think a 'plot' in my game is necessary (especially not a paragraph of text), but I _am_ going to hint at a backstory through dropping visual clues in the background images. No, I haven't just ripped that off HalfLife2, honest...!

Hopefully it'll work well -- there's something there if you want to look for it, but it makes no difference whatsoever if you don't piece the clues together...

All the best,

D