About this course: In this course, you will examine how storytelling acts as a vital mechanism for driving video gameplay forward. Looking at several historical and contemporary games, you will be asked to evaluate and interpret different story styles with the goal of identifying themes and procedures for your own game ideas. We'll examine traditional narrative story processes, such as three-act structure, and how they fit into game story flows and the strategic elements of gameplay. Ultimately, you will learn how to define character, setting, and structure to create a compelling game concept.

Created by: California Institute of the Arts

Taught by: Dariush Derakhshani, Faculty, Character Animation
School of Film/Video

Basic Info	Course 2 of 5 in the Game Design: Art and Concepts Specialization.
Language	English, Subtitles: Chinese (Simplified)
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.6 stars Average User Rating 4.6See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Week 1: An Introduction to Story

For the first week of the class, we will be analyzing the components of three-act structure using a classic fairytale as an example. We'll examine the characters in the story by figuring out their goals and the main conflict that creates a rising arc of action...

6 videos, 3 readings

Graded: Breaking Down the Story

WEEK 2

Week 2: Game Story Structure

In this week, we will draw a parallel between last week’s discussion on rising action and how that relates to gameplay. Looking at a pair of contemporary games, we'll learn how to identify story structure and themes of rising action, just like we would with tr...

4 videos, 12 readings

Graded: Character Studies

WEEK 3

Week 3: Story Workshop

This week, we explore ideation techniques and learn how to consolidate our ideas into more formalized stories specifically for pushing them towards a game design. We will take a look at the importance of, and ways to refine, characters and settings as we devel...

4 videos, 8 readings

Graded: Rewriting “The Shooter”

WEEK 4

Week 4: From Story to Game

For this last week of class, we will begin by seeing what a game design document is, and evaluate a few different templates you can use. Then, we will take the story we built in last week’s course, The Shooter, and define it as a playable game outlined in a ga...

5 videos, 6 readings

Graded: Finalizing “The Shooter”

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California Institute of the Arts

CalArts has earned an international reputation as the leading college of the visual and performing arts in the United States. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater—CalArts has championed creative excellence, critical reflection, and the development of new forms and expressions.

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