I've had a bit of a breakthrough recently, between designing computer games and reading about Pen and Paper RPGs (you know, DnD and stuff). It seems like there are a lot of concepts from Pen and Paper that we should be using in video games. It's a level of abstraction, very imaginative, creative.

Consider the flow of a Pen and Paper game (at least, in my mind, since I've never played one properly). Before the session, the GM or DM will have a starting point set - a mission for the players. There would also be prepared content (NPCs, possible dungeons maybe, items, important events) that may or may not get used, but is there for whatever twists may happen, and be brought in wherever necessary.

From the starting point, the game plays out and the players make choices - to some extent, they have control, a fair amount of freedom, but also restriction within the set situation. The GM adapts to these choices and events that happen because of them, the GM creates new situations, maybe throws more nasty stuff into the mix, and guides the drama from all angles. For everything that happens, the GM can make something up that fits well and leads on organically. The objective in mind at the beginning may even be completely different as the game progresses, as even when goals are failed, it's not straight 'game over try again', it creates new narrative opportunities from the tragedy of failure. It would take a lot for everyone to die and fail outright (This in itself is an important point - failure doesn't need to be a frustrating setback, it can be a dynamic story-telling device!).

Now if we take this, and put it in a video game situation. You have the player(s) with the role of the character(s), and you have the game, with the role of GM. It may not be as smart as a human, but there's no reason why it can't be as dynamic or decisive. Part of the problem is easy stuff, like spawning enemies and other hazards, which could easily be generated on-the-fly - all that needs is a good rules system to stop too many enemies coming and regulate the pacing.

The bigger problem is the physical game space. In a pen-and-paper game, the concept of space is abstract, and because of this narrative can be driven through somewhat crazy coincidences - perhaps you kill an ogre and he topples into the dungeon walls, breaking through it to another room filled with important treasure, or the den of a cult you've been trying to find. In a video game with a set space, this kind of thing would either have to be scripted, or built into the engine and only happen with an extremely slight chance!

What if video games had abstract space? What if a game generated areas on-the-fly, as particular events happened? As you slay that ogre and it falls into a wall (as the game physics would allow), certain rules would decide what happens. If the ogre falls through, there would be a number of possibilities as to what's behind that wall, and the area would be generated accordingly. Maybe the impact of the ogre hitting the wall causes the floor of the room to crumble, and you both tumble down into the abyss - again, a new area is generated, the player is given new challenges.

From that idea, comes the possibilities of generating just about any immediate narrative event you could want to happen. With a good system of control measures to keep it making sense, and to keep from too much stuff happening at once or too much deviation from a possibly defined story-line, a player's journey through a game need never be the same, but also take hundreds of play-throughs to get stale (assuming the core gameplay is fun). The system can generate meaningful areas to explore, dictate when cool stuff happens, force important decisions on the player, and even control when they reach their objectives - it doesn't have to lead off in a random tangent of endless play, or twist in too many strange, awkward or down-right silly ways.

The player would have a new kind of freedom, not restricted to a physical and specific space or down a pre-defined line. In fact, the game could always have the exact same objective, but the journey would be a new adventure every time. The player might simply have to make it through a variable number of obstacles, or use their head and choose the routes that would most likely reach their goal - and the engine would check certain conditions to see if the player has reached that goal, or is getting closer. How it's set up depends on the kind of game you want, but the abstract space concept is still the same. Everything about the game can be dynamic.

The beauty of it is that it would be almost entirely player-related. Everything that happens, happens to really add something to the game, improve the player's experience. Perhaps there's an 'intensity' value, that might have an action so when it drops for a long enough period, can allow stuff to happen to bring it back up! Then if it stays intense for too long, it can be brought back down to give the player a rest. It's a fairly abstract value, but it would be important in directing the player's experience, almost like a movie would. Just an example for what a 'GM' engine might include.


If all this goes over your head or just seems a little too rambly, I suggest finding out more about Pen and Paper RPGs, looking into what makes them fun and how certain design principles can apply to video games. Mouse Guard RPG in particular was what set me off. In my eyes, Pen and Paper RPGs are pretty much the ideal games. It's where Sandbox gameplay should be going. I'd love to cook up an example of what I'm talking about - I'm sure it could be done fairly easily with enough planning.

I don't think I've gone too in-depth, I really only hope to spark some inspiration related to some important aspects of game design. I'm getting tired of the same old narrative structures and lifeless open worlds. I think Dynamic and Organic are key words here. Even Cinematic and Dramatic. Lots of 'ic's.

Be sure to point out any gigantic (or tiny) flaws in my theories, I'd love to hear them. I'll be applying them to some extent in my next game, whatever it is.

Thank you!