THEMES AND MESSAGES

author=JosephSeraph
Ok! But what do you consider a story that "needs to be told"?

That... is a good question. I think that's up to the individual. Personally, I come up with a concept, think of some possible central themes, but they are tentative at best. My stories end up being very, VERY different by the time I get to the end of them.

If it helps, here are the 22 rules of storytelling from Pixar. They might help get over creative blocks.

...and I don't feel like I have a "story that needs to be told" all that well. (though I'm bursting with general concepts.)

Then write something simple. Make a short, 1 hour game that's only RTP to get the juices flowing. That always helps me, anyway.

Pixar is formulaic. They're successful, and they make films that are really solid for children's films, but I don't know. I've heard Up was supposed to be really fantastic, but people told me that about Wall-E, and I felt the writers were trying to manipulate my heartstrings in a really corporate way (cool setting and ground situation, though). Pixar makes films that are good at being financially successful, charming, and evocative, which are all good things, but they're not writing stories that challenge the audience in any way, so I guess it really comes down to what you want to do as a storyteller/game developer. Just a little counterpoint to that Pixar link--sorry for the aside.

For me, trying for a theme isn't just important--it's paramount. If I get to the end of what I've written and for some reason the story is different than where I started (which has never happened and I don't really see how it would if you're consistently thinking about that theme--maybe that's just more common with a group of writers instead of writing individually), then I would shelf the idea or rewrite to make the theme clearer. When I write, I tend to want to explore something about myself or the world that I don't understand. If I'm not doing that--if I'm not reaching towards something beyond me--then it's like, what's the point? If I wanted to make money I'd do anything else. Entertainment's a valid goal, and I want to entertain as well, but just entertainment would be unfulfilling for me in the same way that if I spend all day playing Monster Hunter, I feel like a useless piece of shit. That kind of thing is great when you're younger, but the older you get, the more you want things to matter (even if you're just fooling yourself, but whatever).

What is the intention of my "game-making"? (Game-making between air-quotes because most of my game-making happens inside my head xP) ...Good question. Well, I think it's just to explore ideas, scenarios, characters, etc. Or to put it simply: to tell stories. Just that. Stories. Period. All kinds of stories. Some may require I tackle complex/delicate subjects, some may reflect what I personally think about something, and yet some may be the complete opposite of all that. I have no interest in sending "messages" of any kind. And it bothers me when people ascribe this property to games or to developers by default, regardless of any actual intent. =/

For similar reasons, there's not a game that has like, touched me deeply, or whatever. I play games mostly for "fun" not to feel validated in any way. But generally speaking about the themes I like, I guess the Soul Blazer trilogy is the series that has resonated with me the most. Other similar games would be the Xenogear/Xenosaga titles, The first two Star Oceans, or the Suikoden series: Games that are about a goal that transcends space or time, or the very people who fight for those goals themselves.

author=JosephSeraph
What's the purpose, the intention of your gamemaking? Is it simply to give people fun, or do you try to etch a message in your creations?

To me, this is indeed essential. I know some people think it is "pretentious" to say you want to deliver a message or moral in a creative work. I couldn't disagree more, and I can only reply by saying that I can't force anyone to accept the message I am trying to get across. But I can try to illustrate my thoughts through a game (or other media) and hope people will see the points and give them some fair consideration. Wanting to bring attention to and explain things you believe to be important is not a bad concept at all. And if you can present your epiphanies in a way that is actually enjoyable for its recipients, even better.

author=JosephSeraph
What about you? Are you content with the concept of creating "fun"?

I think having an actual message (i.e. something that is important to you and you want other people understand) in works of art is not strictly necessary. Allowing other people to have fun with the help of your creation and enjoy its beauty is definitely a great thing and has a certain value in itself. I won't call creating fun "shallow" - but it does lack another valuable aspect: Relevance.

As humans, we are communicative beings. We are dependent on our ability to share our knowledge and insight, on being able to understand others and make others understand us. But we also don't want to be ordered around, we want to be able to decide for ourselves. We don't want to be told what to think and believe, we want to explore the possibilities and then make up our own mind. And one of the ways to solve this dilemma is by creating and experiencing meaningful art.

author=JosephSeraph
Can you remember games which had meaningful messages to you?

Yes, and mine's an interesting case. I played quite some games during my life, and many of them influenced and shaped my personal taste, defined and changed what I like in games. But there has only been one game so far that literally changed my life, and it's an RPG Maker game: Master of the Wind.
The way it handled its extremely relevant subjects, its storytelling and its messages resonated so well with me and had such a deeply felt impact on me that for the first time, it made me realize games are a true form of art, equally valuable as literature. If it weren't for that game, I wouldn't be here making games now, I would never have gotten to know many wonderful people and I would be much more ignorant than I am now.

I'm sure I have spent much more time on playing Minecraft than on playing Master of the Wind. And I think that's totally okay, because Minecraft is fun to play for me. But if I were magically forced to forget all about one of the two games and be unable to ever play it again, the choice would be easy. Because as much as I enjoy Minecraft, it ultimately only serves the "beauty" (i.e. fun) aspect of art, but has no real relevance. It does not have the power to help me grow as a person, an ability relevant and beautiful art does have.


In short: Relevance without beauty (or, in our case, fun) usually results in a meaningful, but boring product. Beauty without relevance can be a pleasure to experience, but it is short-lived and superficial. But when you manage to combine both (which is difficult), the resulting work is capable of creating an actual, meaningful impact. And that, in my humble opinion, is the highest form of art.

@Housekeeping: If you're exploring an idea that's not familiar to you or is outside your comfort zone, shouldn't it be GUARANTEED that your story, message and theme will end up somewhere other than where you started?

My purpose of making games has never been to convey a message. I focus on gameplay, visuals, sound. The technical aspects. I usually put something together, debug it forever, make a few maps with it, and then stop :/ I have yet to get to the point where I insert a story.

I had a nice buildup in my head two hours ago leading to this point, but I forgot it. So I'll skip straight to my point.

Players have their own messages. Things they want the world to hear or see, that they wish people understood. You don't have to make a game telling a message to toych people. You can touch them just as strongly with believable characters woven into a strong story.

The player doesn't need to hear anything - they need to say it. Games are an interactive medium! If you can make a world, an experience that matches what the player's soul is screaming, and let them live there for a while, I think that will enrich people's lives FAR more than any message you want to say.

This is why I think having a theme is vital, but having a message is unnecessary and naybe pointless. Give the player a fantasy that they think is incredibly cool.

Personally, I just write stories with characters. If there's an over-arching theme after it's written, bully for me! If not, well, I'm sure players will find one. It's like any art form - people are going to pull different things out of it, things that resonate to them. You can either slap them down and say 'NO I DID NOT INTEND THAT MESSAGE!!!' or just let them interpret what they want.

That said, sometimes you do have to point out that a certain message isn't what you meant to portray, especially if you did mean to use a certain theme - for example, if you meant to make a piece that talks about how slavery is bad and the players took it to mean that you're racist... yeah, you might want to look at how you tried to communicate your message. You may have missed the boat just a tad. XD