View source for Predetermined Story Structures

[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Narration Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs work]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
[[Category:Needs examples]]
[[Category:Needs references]]
[[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
[[Category:Stub]]
[[Category:Staffan's current workpage]]

''Narration structures whose order presentation in a game exists before game instances begin.''

This pattern is a still a stub.

=== Examples ===
Many [[:Category:Tabletop Roleplaying Games|Tabletop Roleplaying Games]] provides [[Predetermined Story Structures]] in the form of adventures or campaigns that consist of a series of adventures. These have detailed descriptions of locations, important characters, possible events but in most cases not the characters that players should play. Early examples of adventures are "The Keep on the Borderlands", "Rahasia", and "Ravenloft", all for [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Well-known examples of campaigns include "Queen of the Spiders"<ref name="queen"/> for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and "The Enemy Within campaign"<ref name="enemy"/> for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]. [[:Category:Live Action Roleplaying Games|Live Action Roleplaying Games]] are often less pre-planned regarding events since coordinating these with all players poses huge practical problems but may still have a few important event planned. [[1942 – Noen å stole på]], [[Conspiracy for Good]], and [[Trenne Byar]] are examples of this; [[Krigshjärta]] is an example of a LARP series where parts of previous LARPs carry on to the next ones in the series. 

[[:Category:Adventure Games|Adventure Games]] as the [[Myst series|Myst]], [[King's Quest series|King's Quest]], [[Leisure Suit Larry series|Leisure Suit Larry]], [[The Secret of Monkey Island series]] are based upon telling stories. Similarly [[:Category:Computer-based Roleplaying Games|Computer-based Roleplaying Games]] typically contains whole stories as [[Predetermined Story Structures]], with the [[Dragon Age series|Dragon Age]], [[Elder Scrolls series|Elder Scrolls]], [[Fallout series|Fallout]], and [[Final Fantasy series]] as examples. The only have vague relations between games in the series but the [[Ultima series|Ultima]] and [[Witcher series]] are examples of where the stories of the games continue between individual games. In contrast [[:Category:Massively Multiplayer Online Games|Massively Multiplayer Online Games]] such as [[MUD2]] and [[World of Warcraft]] have many [[Predetermined Story Structures]] in the form of quests but these are used repeatedly by different players and often completing one does not affect others besides what the direct changes in the game states do.

As books that provide players with gameplay while reading, Gamebooks<ref name="Gamebooks"/> like [[The Warlock of Firetop Mountain]], [[Scorpion Swamp]], [[Clash of the Princes]], and the [[Lone Wolf series]] have [[Predetermined Story Structures]].

== Using the pattern ==
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TAKE PATTERNS AWAY FROM [[Narration Structures]] !!!!

stuff to add:
[[Adventures]]
[[Campaigns]]
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[[Predetermined Story Structures]] are explicit [[Narration Structures]] that designers create before gameplay begins. They consist of two main parts: the important game entities in the [[Game Worlds]] and the events that are planned to occur which affect them. 

Common story elements related to the physical aspects of [[Game Worlds]] include [[Alien Space Bats]], [[Big Dumb Objects]], [[Controllers]], [[Environmental Storytelling]], [[MacGuffins]], [[Switches]], [[Traces]], and [[Traps]]. [[Clues]] can also be used, as long as they work within the [[Thematic Consistency]]. Games then commonly create [[Predetermined Story Structures]] by putting these in relation to how players move in [[Game Worlds]] (similar to aspects of the narrative Monomyth<ref name="Monomyth"/> pattern and the "Road Movie"<ref name="Road Movie"/> genre). The elements can be compartmentalized by [[Inaccessible Areas]] and [[Levels]], while [[Privileged Movement]] (given as a [[New Abilities|New Ability]] and [[Conditional Passageways]] can be used to progress a game's narration by opening up new areas. While not necessarily a part of the [[Predetermined Story Structures]], requiring [[Puzzle Solving]] at specific locations can serve the same role as [[Conditional Passageways]]; one example of this can be found in the [[Myst series]]. [[One-Way Travel]] can hinder players from spending time in areas which no more narration is supposed to take place within. [[Quests]] can motivate players to move between places in [[Game Worlds]], as can gameplay specific goals such as [[Reconnaissance]], [[Rescue]], and [[Traverse]].

[[Characters]], especially [[Player Characters]] and [[Companions]], are often important in planning the narration that is to take place during gameplay. This is since they both provide points of [[Emotional Engrossment]] to the players and are [[Agents]] which can act in the [[Game Worlds|Game World]] and be the target of actions. Granting them [[Privileged Abilities]] is common as a way of distinguishing them from [[NPCs]] but these [[NPCs]] may of course also be important for planned events, for example by being [[Helpers]] or belonging to [[Factions]]. [[Helpers]] can beside moving narration forward also be used to support any [[Predetermined Story Structures]] by reminding or pointing players in the "right" direction. An issue that need to be considered when using [[NPCs]] in conjunction with [[Predetermined Story Structures]] is how to deal with their possible deaths, in some cases [[Invulnerabilities]] may be required to guarantee that they can performed their planned roles. 

[[Scripted Information Sequences]] are actual actions and events that progress [[Narration Structures]] while being designed beforehand for specifically story purposes. [[Cutscenes]] do the same but does not provide players with opportunities for interaction; [[Quick Time Events]] do but unlike [[Scripted Information Sequences]] forces players to focus upon these. While [[Predetermined Story Structures]] can be built from [[Cutscenes]] among other things, individual [[Cutscenes]] are themselves [[Predetermined Story Structures]] so the patterns can instantiate each other. 

[[Ability Losses]]
[[New Abilities]]


In contrast to [[Levels]], [[Scenes]] allow gameplay not only to be spatially separated but also temporally separated. [[Persistent Game World Changes]] based upon story events is a way to clearly indicate development of the game narration. 




=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
, 
[[Quests]], 
[[Information Passing]], 
[[Main Quests]], 
[[Sidequests]], 


=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]], 
[[Detective Structures]], 
[[Ephemeral Goals]], 
[[Factions]], 
[[Feigned Die Rolls]], 
[[Freedom of Choice]], 
[[Game Masters]], 
[[Information Passing]], 
[[Loading Hints]], 
[[Melodramatic Structures]], 
[[Permadeath]], 
[[Persistent Game Worlds]], 
, 
[[Red Herrings]], 
[[Spawning]], 
[[Summary Updates]], 
[[Temporal Consistency]], 


=== Diegetic Aspects ===

=== Interface Aspects ===

=== Narrative Aspects ===
[[Predetermined Story Structures]] is a [[:Category:Narration Patterns|Narration Pattern]].

== Consequences ==
[[Predetermined Story Structures]] provide [[Narration Structures]] to games.




=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Character Defining Actions]], 
[[Companions]], 
[[Luck]], 
[[Predictable Consequences]], 
[[PvE]], 
[[Storytelling]], 
[[Tension]]

==== with [[Clues]] ====
[[Gain Information]], 
[[Gain Ownership]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Alternate Reality Gameplay]], 
[[Boss Monsters]], 
[[Character Development]], 
[[Freedom of Choice]], 
[[Gain Competence]], 
[[Player Characters]]

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Freedom of Choice]], 
[[Persistent Game Worlds]], 
[[Player Elimination]], 
[[Procedurally Generated Game Worlds]], 
[[Randomness]], 
[[Replayability]], 
[[Self-Facilitated Games]], 
[[Unwinnable Games]]

[[Death Consequences]] when these can apply to [[Characters]] important to the narrative

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Character Defining Actions]], 
[[Companions]], 
[[Cutscenes]], 
[[Narration Structures]], 
[[Luck]], 
[[Predictable Consequences]], 
[[PvE]], 
[[Storytelling]], 
[[Tension]]

==== with [[Clues]] ====
[[Gain Information]], 
[[Gain Ownership]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Alternate Reality Gameplay]], 
[[Boss Monsters]], 
[[Character Development]], 
[[Freedom of Choice]], 
[[Gain Competence]], 
[[Player Characters]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Ability Losses]], 
[[Alien Space Bats]], 
[[Big Dumb Objects]], 
[[Characters]], 
[[Companions]], 
[[Conditional Passageways]], 
[[Controllers]], 
[[Cutscenes]], 
[[Environmental Storytelling]], 
[[Factions]], 
[[Helpers]], 
[[Inaccessible Areas]], 
[[Information Passing]], 
[[Levels]], 
[[MacGuffins]], 
[[Main Quests]], 
[[New Abilities]], 
[[NPCs]], 
[[One-Way Travel]], 
[[Persistent Game World Changes]], 
[[Player Characters]], 
[[Privileged Abilities]], 
[[Privileged Movement]], 
[[Quests]], 
[[Quick Time Events]], 
[[Reconnaissance]], 
[[Rescue]], 
[[Scenes]], 
[[Scripted Information Sequences]], 
[[Sidequests]], 
[[Switches]], 
[[Traces]], 
[[Traps]], 
[[Traverse]]

[[Clues]] together with [[Thematic Consistency]]

[[Invulnerabilities]] together with [[NPCs]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]], 
[[Detective Structures]], 
[[Ephemeral Goals]], 
[[Factions]], 
[[Feigned Die Rolls]], 
[[Freedom of Choice]], 
[[Game Masters]], 
[[Helpers]], 
[[Information Passing]], 
[[Loading Hints]], 
[[Melodramatic Structures]], 
[[Permadeath]], 
[[Persistent Game Worlds]], 
[[Puzzle Solving]], 
[[Red Herrings]], 
[[Spawning]], 
[[Summary Updates]], 
[[Temporal Consistency]] 

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Freedom of Choice]], 
[[Persistent Game Worlds]], 
[[Player Elimination]], 
[[Procedurally Generated Game Worlds]], 
[[Randomness]], 
[[Replayability]], 
[[Self-Facilitated Games]], 
[[Unwinnable Games]]

[[Death Consequences]] when these can apply to [[Characters]] important to the narrative

== History ==
New pattern created in this wiki. However parts of it was taken from the pattern "Narrative Structures" from the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
<ref name="Gamebooks">Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamebook entry] for ''Gamebooks''.</ref>
<ref name="Road Movie">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_movie Entry] for "Road Movie" on Wikipedia.</ref>
<ref name="Monomyth">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth Entry] for "Monomyth" on Wikipedia.</ref>
<ref name="queen">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_Spiders Entry] for "Queen of the Spiders" on Wikipedia.</ref>
<ref name="enemy">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enemy_Within_Campaign Entry] for "The Enemy Within campaign" on Wikipedia.</ref>
</references>