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Can a video game level tell a story? In this video I look at a bunch of examples and best practices for embedding narrative elements into the very spaces and places we visit in games. We’ll tackle environmental storytelling, evocative architecture, and contextualising player identity.

Sources

Environmental Storytelling: Creating Immersive 3D Worlds Using Lessons Learned from the Theme Park Industry | Gamasutra
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/featur...

What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling | GDC Vault (Free Access)
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012647...

Hitman 2's Jakob Mikkelsen and Eskil Mohl | GMTK on YouTube
   • Hitman 2's Jakob Mikkelsen and Eskil ...  

Ask a Developer: Emilia Schatz Talks Level Design | YouTube
   • Ask a Developer: Emilia Schatz Talks ...  

The Art of Environment Storytelling for Video Games | YouTube
   • The Art of Environment Storytelling f...  

Emotional Journey: BioWare's Methods to Bring Narrative into Levels | GDC Vault (Free Access)
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1017761...

Level Design Workshop: 'Hitman' Levels as Social Spaces: The Social Anthropology of Level Design | GDC Vault (Paid Access)
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025879...

Find out more

Designing Journey | GDC Vault (Free Access)
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1017700...

Environmental Narrative: Telling Stories in Spaces Without Saying Anything Aloud | GDC Vault (Paid Access)
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025876...

Environmental Storytelling in Prey | YouTube
   • Environmental Storytelling in Prey / ...  

Level Design Workshop: An Approach to Holistic Level Design | GDC Vault (Free Access)
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024301...

AAA Level Design in a Day Bootcamp: Techniques for In-Level Storytelling | GDC Vault (Free Access)
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1017639...

Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance)

BioShock (Irrational Games, 2007)
Prey (Arkane Studios, 2017)
Journey (thatgamecompany, 2012)
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Naughty Dog, 2016)
Dead Space (Visceral Games, 2008)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios, 2015)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios, 2008)
Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios, 2016)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios, 2011)
Dark Souls III (From Software, 2016)
Metroid Prime (Retro Studios, 2002)
Gone Home (Fulbright, 2013)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal, 2011)
Portal (Valve Corporation, 2007)
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Eidos Montreal, 2016)
Half-Life 2 (Valve Corporation, 2004)
Portal 2 (Valve Corporation, 2011)
Alien: Isolation (The Creative Assembly, 2014)
Thief: The Dark Project (Looking Glass Studios, 1998)
Hitman 2 (IO Interactive, 2018)
Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment, 2015)
God of War (Santa Monica Studio, 2018)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics, 2013)
Mass Effect 3 (BioWare, 2012)
P.T. (Kojima Productions, 2014)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games, 2010)
Aragami (Lince Works, 2016)
Metro Exodus (4A Games, 2019)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games, 2018)
DOOM (id Software, 2016)
Yakuza 0 (Sega, 2017)
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions, 2019)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Kojima Productions, 2014)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt, 2015)
Control (Remedy Entertainment, 2019)
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games, 2013)
Hollow Knight (Team Cherry, 2017)

Music used in this episode

BioShock soundtrack - Garry Schyman
Dirt Rally 2.0 soundtrack - Stuart Ross

Thanks to GMTK Patron Satellite for help with audio on this episode

Contribute translated subtitles - https://amara.org/en-gb/videos/Lv64Yf...