Kyran Adams

Text Based Game

Best Practices for User Interface. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
https://developer.android.com/training/best-ui.html

This suite of documentation has many tutorials and explanations for designing
user interfaces on the android platform. For example, it explains the different
types of views, their uses, and API documentation. The site also explains different
best practices when designing UIs, such as keeping the nesting of views very low,
to reduce processor load. Another important thing to consider, it shows, is
backwards compatibility with other versions of android OS.

This is an important resource for programming our game, because it will be

primarily GUI, rather than programmed with a game engine. To increase our
audience, we also want to make a GUI that is as backwards compatible as
possible. This may require programming a GUI for both newer and older systems,
or abstracting the interface to allow implementations on both systems. The
documentation also explains ways to transition between different interfaces, such
as the main menu and ui of our game.

Cuarn, A. (Director). (n.d.). Gravity [Transcript]. United States of America: Warner Bros.
Pictures. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Gravity.pdf

Kyran Adams
Text Based Game
Gravity is a science fiction film set in space. It won many awards, including the
academy award for best director. The script has unique characters and conveys
distinct ways of speaking through text. It shows off speaking styles stemming
from location (accents), different personality types, and speaking styles stemming
from their role.

In our game, because it is told through a textual medium, conveying personalities

through text is important. While only one character will be speaking, other than
the player, different moods and feelings can be shown through just text. The script
of Gravity shows many ways to show tension, for example, such as repeating or
stuttering. Even when characters are low on oxygen, they speak in a different way.

Stubbs, D., & McAllister, D. (2015, March 03). Six Elements That Make For A Quality Survival
Horror Game. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from
http://thefederalist.com/2015/03/03/six-elements-that-make-for-a-quality-survival-horrorgame/

This article explains six principles that can be followed to create a scary
atmosphere when designing a game. The first principle is disempowerment, which
is when characters are essentially given very little ability to resist the opposition.
Many popular horror genre games show this by only giving the option to run or
hide, not fight enemies. The second principle is isolation, which is when the
player doesnt have any other friendly characters, PC or NPC. The third principle

Kyran Adams
Text Based Game
is tension, which is created by giving the player mental challenges, such as
keeping track of resources. The fourth principle is uncertainty, which is shown in
the human fear of the dark. The final principle is creating a weak protagonist,
which makes him relatable.

Many of these rules can be followed in our game. The first is followed in
principle, because the protagonist has no control over any of the action except by
talking to another character. For the second, the other character inherently gives
companionship, so our game cannot really follow the rule. For the third, we could
create a resource management aspect of the game, as well as make the game
permadeath. The article doesnt say that these are necessary to create a horror
environment, but rather pointers, so our game have to follow all of them.

Lee, T. (2013, October 24). Designing game narrative. Retrieved December 02, 2016,
from http://hitboxteam.com/designing-game-narrative

In this article from his game development blog, Lee takes a theoretical approach
to storytelling and explains the concept of dimensionality in stories using books,
movies, and games. He describes many concepts to keep in mind when writing
narratives, such as cognitive dissonance, consistent point of view, problems with
cutscenes, and the differences between player and explicit narratives. Lees idea
of a perfect narrative is one where the player wants to do the same thing as the
writer, and is perfectly immersed in the medium.

Kyran Adams
Text Based Game
This article explains many helpful concepts to keep in mind when writing any
story. In application to our game, this article would describe our medium as two
dimensional, because there are no visuals. However, the articles purist approach
to storytelling creates a disconnect with many successful games that serve a
different experience. Lee explains that emergent narrative should be the goal of
storytelling in games, where stories are not explicitly told, but allow the player to
create their own stories. This strategy disallows any game that has an explicit
narrative, such as our game.

Sheldon, L. (2004). Character Development and Storytelling. Boston, MA: Course Technology.

In this book, Sheldon lays a number of principles for writing a story, and, in
specific, a game. One important idea he considers is creating respectable
characters and the different roles characters can have in a game. For example, the
player character can have different roles based on the story; he can be controlled
by the player, or be the player himself. Similarly, there is the idea of the pivotal
character, who drives the story forward with his uncompromising search for his
own goal. Lee describes many aspects of character creation to consider, such as
development, psychology, sociology, and physiology, as well as role in the
narrative.

This book has many sections helpful for designing unique and relatable
characters, which are going to be a large part of our game. The Heros Journey,

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Text Based Game
described in the book, is a nice formula for a story that ours will be similar to. In a
different setting, it also will be important to pay attention to the sociological
effects of the characters culture on his actions.