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That's not how it happened: unreliable narration through interactivity

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That's not how it happened: unreliable narration through interactivity

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Content That’s Not How it Happened
Unreliable Narration Through Interactivity
by
Meny Menczel
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
(INTERACTIVE MEDIA)
May 2022
Copyright 2022 Meny Menczel
Dedication
For my mom, Vered. The singular reason I am here in the first place and whom I
miss every day.
ii
Acknowledgements
Making That’s Not How it Happened has been a gargantuan task, and I would
not have been able to do so without a long list of advisors, collaborators and critique
givers. I would like to thank both my thesis committee and AGP advisors: Danny Bilson,
my chair for our 1 on 1’s and the great script feedback you gave me. Sean Bloom, who’s
experimental games class instilled in me the creative mindset that helped me to come
up with the idea in the first place, and whose advice along the process has been
invaluable. David White, who has taught me a ton in terms of game production. Tracy
Fullerton, who helped me develop the idea through our directed research and who
always pushed me to think how I can refine my idea even more. I would also like to
thank Martzi Campos, Laird Malamed, Richard Lemarchand, and the rest of the USC
Games and AGP faculty who were instrumental voices I could always turn to when
needed. Thank you to Mike Senott, my industry advisor, for his excellent advice and
critique of my script. I would like to thank my USC Games MFA Cohort class of 2022 for
their insightful comments, feedback and friendship. Thanks to Blindlight for the
opportunity to collaborate with them on industry quality voice over recordings. Of
course, I would also like to thank my team: Annie Feng, Ashley Kim, Emma Wei, Rachel
Geng, Normen Peng, Aylish Turner, Yuwei Lin, Gethsy Gonzalez, Gwen Hozman,
Sophie Chu, Mi Coz, Trenyce Tong, Brendan Tighe, Juan Bernal, Stephanie Cheng,
Mauricio Miranda, David He, April Chang, Julian Kida, Zach Northrop, Mei Zhang, Chen
Qian, Jenny Jiang, Dexter Knaack, Kobe Weinstein, Alex Cap, Katiana Sarkissian,
Andrew Wong, Luke D'Errico, Reid Weston, Kelly Kim and Destinee McCaster. The
game could not have been made without you and it has been one of the honors of my
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life to direct such a dedicated and talented team. You helped me make this over-scoped
project not just possible, but better than I even imagined. Lastly, I want to thank Maya
for always believing in me and supporting me every step of the way.
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Table of Contents
Dedication................................................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................ iii
List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ v
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. vi
Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter 2: Designing Unreliability .................................................................................................. 3
2.1 The Unreliable Narrator 3
2.2 Why These Genres 3
2.3 Prior Art 4
2.4 Story 9
2.5 Story Development 10
2.6 Game Loops 12
2.7 Setting 21
Chapter 3: Production....................................................................................................................... 22
3.1 Scoping Three Games 22
3.2 Managing a Large Team 23
3.3 Varied Yet Cohesive Art Styles 24
3.4 Juicy Design 26
3.5 Audio and Voice Over 27
Chapter 2: Conclusion....................................................................................................................... 28
4.1 Current Status 28
4.2 Launch 28
4.3 Reflections 29
Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 30
v
List of Figures
1. Rashomon’s three viewpoint characters and their perspectives 5
2. Screenshot from Streets of Rage 3 (Sega, 1994) 6
3. Screenshot from Dream Daddy (Game Grumps, 2017) 7
4. Screenshot from The Inner World (Studio Fizbin, 2013) 8
5. Concept Frame Story UI 13
6. Frame Story UI Final Design 14
7. Main Narrative Loop and Frame Story Function 14
8. Real George and fantasy George 16
9. Beat ‘em up gameplay 16
10. Beat ‘em level layout, including enemy placement and visual gags 17
11. Beat ‘em up gameplay loop 17
12. Dating sim gameplay 18
13. Dating sim gameplay loop 18
14. Real Zoey/Winston and fantasy Zoey/Winston 20
15. Point and click gameplay 20
16. Point and click gameplay loop 21
17. Excerpt from TNHIH project macro 23
18. TNHIH mood boards 24
19. TNHIH style guides 25
20. George in each style 26
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Abstract
That’s Not How it Happened is a comedic cross genre game that lets players
experience three family members’ vastly different and contradicting recollections of how
their inn burned to the ground. Their different stories are represented through different
genres, mechanics, narrative, art and sound. This game project evolved through a
lengthy process of ideation, pre-production, and production, emulating similar
production timelines and standards as the game industry. During this process I learned
how unreliable narration can be represented through contrasting game genres, how to
communicate my creative vision and break it down into manageable tasks, and how to
manage a large scale team.
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Chapter 1: Introduction
I’ve always enjoyed making people laugh.
As a storyteller, I find I am at my most effective when I lean into more offbeat and
absurdist territory. When I arrived at USC, I discovered that this holds true to game
design as well. My most humorous games were the most well received, and the ones I
most enjoyed making. I felt like I found my strong suit in game design, and this is the
direction I decided to pursue in my thesis project.
From the day I started studying at USC, I knew that my eventual thesis project
would focus on the relationship between mechanics and storytelling in games, and how
each of these core game elements can be used to strengthen the other. I deliberated
what premise would allow me to best explore that area of interest in an experimental
and humor filled way, the style I feel most at home with. The concept came to me as I
was watching a Rashomon (Akira Kurasawa, 1950) inspired episode of Bojack
Horseman (Raphael Bob-Waksberg, 2014) the summer between my first and second
years, and I immediately thought of how this structure would be the ideal fit for my
stated thesis goal.
This concept also led me to crafting a much more specific thesis question: How
can unreliable narration be represented through an interactive medium?
Exaggerated, contradicting versions of the same event is a common storytelling
trope in other media, but by expressing those differences not just through narrative, but
1
through gameplay mechanics as well, I could prove that games have a unique card up
their sleeve when it comes to weaving together engaging narratives.
The concept has remained intact though ideation all the way to production. In
fact, the game’s title – That’s Not How it Happened (subsequently referred to as
TNHIH), came to me before anything else did. I also knew I would have three main
characters and three corresponding game genres and art styles, as three viewpoints are
the standard for Rashomon style stories and designers often use three-part structures
to construct stories and interactions that surprise and satisfy (Lupton, 2017).
The story went through several iterations, as I explored how to best serve my
unique structure. Eventually, I landed on the idea of telling a family driven tale. This
decision was driven by my heavy familiarity with family based animated comedies, the
fact that families tend to be underrepresented in interactive media, a medium in which
individualistic hero journeys tend to be favored, and the fact that I realized how common
comedic familial archetypes could be translated into game mechanics (the blustering
dad, the love struck teen, the know it all kid). With this narrative decision, the rest of the
game’s vision quickly fell into place.
2
Chapter 2: Designing Unreliability
2.1 The Unreliable Narrator
I will first touch upon what it means for a narrator to be unreliable. Booth (2010)
defines unreliable narration as the internal inconsistencies in the text between the
personified narrator and implied author, placing the focus of unreliability on the intended
inconsistencies between the actual author and existing moral standards. Likewise, in
film, narrative unreliability is defined as the discrepancy between the determining
intentions of the implied author and the reporting intentions of the narrator (Currie
1995).
Therefore, it can be concluded that in order to present a story driven by
unreliable narrators, two layers of diegetic narrative must be created. First, a framing
layer which represents reality, or the author’s intent, which serves as the reference point
to which the second layer is compared. Second, the unreliable layer, in which the point
of view character paints a picture of reality as they see it. The discrepancy between
these two layers represent the narrator’s subjective reality.
2.2 Why These Genres
Before I even had a story, world or characters I had decided on two of the three
genres I’d be featuring – “beat ‘em up” and “dating sim”. Beat ‘em ups are action games
that usually feature a protagonist fighting off an improbably large number of opponents,
while dating sims are usually text driven social dramas in which the protagonist attempts
to build relationships with other characters via dialogue choices. I believed that
portraying the same event through these two blatantly different game genres would
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provide the highest comedic contrast. In addition, the dating sim genre would be
presented as a visual novel, an easier to design and program section to help manage
an already large scope project due to the multiple mechanics involved.
In comedies, comedic trios are often divided into certain archetypes that play well
off of each other, such as the brains, the brawn, and the beauty, the contrasts of which
can often lead to humorous situations. I noticed that I already had chosen genres that
correspond to brawn and beauty, and that it would make sense for the third character to
represent brains, or a more cerebral type of gameplay, eventually leading me to decide
on “point and click adventure” as the third genre. The most narrative driven of the
puzzle leaning genres, and one that completes a trifecta of retro style gameplay
mechanics.
Interestingly, I find the flow of brains, brawn and beauty to be compatible not just
in terms of narrative, but also commonly in terms of gameplay as well. Many well known
games incorporate elements of combat, puzzles and dialogue, which can easily be
slotted into the categories of physical, cerebral and social respectively, and further
strengthens one of my main goals in creating this thesis - finding commonalities
between narrative design and game design.
2.3 Prior Art
Since the very premise of TNHIH necessitates the aping of multiple game
genres, there are quite a few prior art inspirations that help influence its design. The
unique narrative structure is also influenced by prior work in other media as well.
4
Fig. 1. Rashomon’s three viewpoint characters and their perspectives
Rashomon is a film centered around the repeated retelling of an encounter
between a samurai and his wife with a bandit, an encounter that leaves the samurai
dead. Each eyewitness to the crime — the Bandit, the Wife, and the Dead Samurai
(through a medium) — give vastly different accounts of what happened, and each
eyewitness portrays themselves as the most sympathetic figure in their story.
Rashomon gave birth to a unique storytelling structure, in which the same event
is recounted by several characters, and the stories differ in ways that are impossible to
reconcile. It shows that two or more people can view the same event quite differently.
5
The author invites the audience to hear them all out and then compare and contrast
these divergent points of view. Sometimes the work provides no definitive answer as to
what actually happened. This is the same structure that is featured in TNHIH, with the
added layer of interactivity opening the door to new ways in which to portray the
contradicting accounts told by the different characters.
Fig. 2. Screenshot from Streets of Rage 3 (Sega, 1994)
The beat ‘em genre is so ubiquitous in the gaming landscape, any game in its
style is easily recognizable. It also serves perfectly as a fantastical lens for a character
who perceives themselves as tough. The games I found myself most often referencing
when designing TNHIH beat ‘em up segment are those of the Streets of Rage (Sega,
1991) series. Their simple yet engaging combat mechanics inspired my own beat ‘em
up segment. In TNHIH, the beat ‘em up segment also acts as a satire of the inherent
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nature of beat ‘em ups, presenting the improbable act of single handedly defeating
dozens of enemies in combat as a farcical exaggeration of the actual events.
Fig. 3. Screenshot from Dream Daddy (Game Grumps, 2017)
Dream Daddy (Game Grumps, 2017) is one of the most well-known western
dating sims, owing to its novel premise of dating suburban dads, its charming writing
and collaborative development with famous Youtubers the Game Grumps. In it, players
have the ability to create their own dad/character and explore a quaint little town as they
get the chance to try their luck with several local fathers while also helping their
daughter during her transition from teenager to young adult. I looked to Dream Daddy
as one of my main inspirations for the dating sim segment due to the charm of its
characters and writing.
7
Fig. 4. Screenshot from The Inner World (Studio Fizbin, 2013)
While the popularity of point and click adventure games peaked in the 90’s, and
thus offered the widest selection of reference material, I decided to search for more
modern references for my own point and click segment. This is mainly due to the fact
that many modern point and clicks put more emphasis on accessibility and narrative
flow, rather than the often cryptic puzzles that were common in the past. I came across
a german indie title called The Inner World (Studio Fizbin, 2013), which became the
inspiration both for the simplified, inventory driven puzzle mechanics we adopted, and
also as an inspiration for Zoey’s (the frenetic young daughter) art style - cartoony and
appealing.
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2.4 Story
The story begins set against the backdrop of a shabby inn, collapsed in flames,
where Rose Turner stands in shock. Returning from a day out, she finds her husband
George, teenage son Alan and young daughter Zoey arguing out front, blaming each
other for what had transpired. Through this frame story, each of the three recount
what happened. Though they all agree on some of the details, a woman named Verity
came to the inn in search of the deed, leading to a confrontation and the fire, the
manner in which they describe that event differs greatly.
George describes himself as an action hero who bravely fought off an army of
goons before facing off against Verity in an epic battle, which he won, but also
resulted in the inn being destroyed. Alan paints a portrait of himself as a suave
romantic who developed a relationship with Verity, who had pure intentions. Zoey
depicts herself as a brilliant detective who, together with her trusty partner Winston
the dinosaur, pieced together Verity’s plan to steal the deed. Zoey also claims to have
uncovered Verity's dark history with the inn. Her villainous family used to run, and
steal from guests, until an employee blew the whistle on them and got them kicked
out. When Verity realized Zoey was on to her, Winston burned down the inn to protect
the family.
Back in the frame story, as Zoey’sis about to confess to her responsibility for
the inn burning down, George jumps in and claims responsibility. The family
reconciles and each concede that they may have exaggerated, just a little bit. The
sweet moment is interrupted, however, when Verity returns, claiming that it was Rose
she was after all along, as she was the employee who got Verity’s family kicked out.
Rose rallies the family, calling on the unique strengths of each member, and leads
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them to vanquish Verity, who explodes into a huge ball of fire after a laser battle with
Rose. The family cheers Rose on, only to flashforward to a year later, where, in the
newly rebuilt and upgraded inn, it is revealed that Rose was the one telling the story
all along. The now merry and unified family joke around and tease her for
exaggerating.
2.5 Story Development
My first narrative explorations for this game occurred in Maureen McHugh’s
writing class. Under Professor McHugh’s guidance, I feel my writing abilities grew
substantially, and I wanted to take advantage of her feedback to develop my idea.
Initially, my thoughts gravitated towards different activities that could be undergone by
small groups, and my first attempt at this narrative centered on a team of heisters,
explaining why they failed their latest mission. While I was able to extract a lot of humor
out of this premise, I felt that there was a lack of connection between my characters,
which I identified as an important aspect of the narrative, since much of the plot
surrounds how my different characters interrelate.
Once I realized that I needed to establish a strong existing connection between
my characters, I naturally pivoted towards a more family based narrative. Having
multiple protagonists allowed me to explore multiple perspectives as well as easily
identifiable family dynamics. This is another unique aspect of my game, as the
traditional frame for interactive fiction centers on one protagonist and one perspective. I
turned to the cartoon influences that I watched growing up, like The Simpsons (1989).
This allowed me to reference and write in the vein of the cartoon family comedies that I
love and an area in which I am comfortable.
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The characters came to me rather quickly as I discovered that many of the
cartoon family archetypes were perfect matches for my already selected genres. The
bloviating dad, the emotional teen, and the frenetic child all became fleshed out almost
on their own. I wanted the stakes of the event they would be arguing about to be high,
which resulted in the idea of them losing their home. This evolved over time to a family
operated inn. With them running a family business together, I had another reason why
their connections, and tensions, ran deep.
The road towards fleshing out the villain of the story was more challenging than
that of the main characters, for several reasons. First, I had the daunting task of
creating a character who could be seen through the prism of several different genres.
Genres in which typical character motivations and objectives are highly different. How
can one character be seen as an action beat ‘em up villain, a romantic conquest target,
and a point and click adventure mystery suspect? Developing a constantly shifting
character that morphs to suit the needs of each playable character was a unique
challenge. Second, how can I communicate their true motivation in a succinct and
engaging way, without taking too much of the spotlight off of the main stars, the family,
or getting bogged down in exposition. After several iterations of the villain, I made
several important decisions that helped shape her character, named Verity, derived from
the Latin feminine noun veritas, meaning "truth". I decided on a simple and clear
motivation for her, tied to the game’s setting, to steal the deed to the inn. I framed each
family member’s segment around their reaction to that one simple goal. I also decided
on a simple reason for why she wanted the deed, and wrote her a backstory explaining
how her family used to run the inn, but were villainous innkeeps who stole from guests.
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An employee blew the whistle on them, which subsequently got them evicted, leading to
Verity’s long lasting grudge.
Finally, every Rashomon-esque story needs a “jury”, the character to whom the
contradicting stories are told. Here this is Rose, the family wife and mother who comes
back to see her inn in ruins. In a twist on the regular format, I establish Rose as the
secret protagonist all along, Verity’s actual mark, based on their shared history at the
inn. Rose used to work there, and was the one who acted to oust Verity’s parents, the
previous, criminal, owners. The game ends on an epic, over the top laser battle
between Rose and Verity, which the rest of the family interrupt, revealing that it was
Rose who was telling the entire story all along, in a final affirmation of the unreliable
narrator style of storytelling.
2.6 Game Loops
The game's core loops have remained unchanged since the beginning of
ideation, as the Rashomon format provides a clear structure to the game, jumping from
character to character by way of present-day frame story, in which their argument takes
place. This provides the player clear beginning and end points for each section and
informs them that the style of play is about to change.
Frame Story
The frame story scenes, while the least mechanically intensive, serve an
important function as the narrative framing device. Common to all Rashmon style
narratives, these scenes take place in the present day and typically feature the main
characters arguing about the nature of the event, which they then narrate via a playable
segment. In TNHIH, these scenes also help delineate the characters in traditional
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narrative manners, setting a frame of reference for each of the interactive segments,
which are then freed from much of the work of character and world building.
Since the climax takes place during the frame story, I.e. the present day, and
features a montage of all three gameplay genres, The team and I also had to take into
account how to best represent those transitions visually. Thus, the UI was designed in a
way that allows for the character and text elements to shift aside, creating a window in
which this climactic final battle takes place. I chose to present this portion of the game in
this manner to illustrate that the event taking place is happening in the “present”, and is
not another narrated flashback sequence.
Fig. 5. Concept Frame Story UI (Rachel Geng)
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Fig. 6. Frame Story UI Final Design
Fig. 7. Main Narrative Loop and Frame Story Function
Beat ‘em up (George)
George is the well-meaning but over the hill middle-aged dad. In his mind, he is
the all-powerful brilliant patriarch, defender of the family. In his telling of the event, our
villain, Verity, was the leader of a gang of thugs trying to invade their home, and only he
14
bravely stood between his family and calamity. His mechanics pay homage to classic
beat ‘em ups such as Streets of Rage, with melee combos, throws and screen clearing
special attacks.
George’s gameplay, art style, level design and dialogue all serve to aggrandize
him in a comedic way. His children adore him and even his enemies shower him with
praise, the level is littered with trophies for him and an employee of the month poster of
him, and he possesses peak human combat ability, in stark contrast to his appearance
and demeanor in reality. This segment goes first for a specific reason. The sequence
shows the starkest example of the major differences between our characters’ stories
and reality. This is our most energetic and mechanically intensive genre and shows the
player that TNHIH is more than just a “talking game.” Also, since George’s fantasy
version of himself is so visually far removed from his real appearance, his reveal as a
muscular figure with flowing hair immediately makes the unreliable narrator theme clear
from the first moment we flashback to his perspective, and in a humorous way.
Keeping in line with one of the game’s experience goals of being accessible to all
types of gamers, including casual players this section does not have a fail state. In fact,
I treated the typical fail state trigger in these types of games, losing all your character’s
health points, as another opportunity to lean into the game’s unique style of humor.
George will merely remark on how he made a mistake in his storytelling and revive as if
nothing happened. This mechanic is an example of a creative decision meant to bend
the conventions of the established game genre to suit the theme of unreliable narration,
while also serving my experience goal of keeping the game accessible to all types of
players, including those who are inexperienced with this type of game genre.
15
Fig. 8. Real George (Gethsy Gonzalez) and fantasy George (Aylish Turner)
Fig. 9. Beat ‘em up gameplay
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Fig. 10. Beat ‘em level layout, including enemy placement and visual gags
Fig. 11. Beat ‘em up gameplay loop
Dating Sim (Alan)
Alan is the awkward and naive teenage son. In his mind, he is a charming and
charismatic Lothario type figure. In his telling of the events, Verity is a captivating and
elegant stranger with whom he made an immediate connection. His mechanics pay
homage to dating sims like Dream Daddy and a multitude of classic Japanese visual
novels.
Meaningful choices in dating sims mainly revolve around which romantic target to
pursue, and whether that pursuit will ultimately be successful. In crafting the narrative
for this mini dating sim, I encountered difficulties in creating meaningful choices of this
nature. I only had one option for a romantic target, Verity, and introducing a possibility of
failure in Alan’s romantic endeavor would fly directly in the face of the core fantasy -
presenting himself as a suave casanova.
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Instead, I had to turn Alan’s inability to fail to seduce Verity into the key joke itself,
and even include some meta-commentary about the fact that no matter what choice you
make, Verity will only fall more and more in love with you. The innate humor of the script
is intended to make up for the lack of choices that fundamentally alter the course of the
narrative.
Fig. 12. Dating sim gameplay
Fig. 13. Dating sim gameplay loop
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Point and Click (Zoey)
Zoey is the hyperactive, inquisitive, and free spirited 8-year old daughter. In her
mind, she is a cool, calm and sophisticated Nancy Drew-like detective. In her telling of
the event, the deed has gone missing, Verity is a shady stranger, and Zoey is the only
one who can sniff out exactly what happened. Her mechanics pay homage to
point-and-click adventure games exemplified by The Inner World.
The point-and-click genre seemed like the natural genre for a character
presenting themselves as analytical and shrewd. These games tend to be driven by
both puzzles and narrative, exactly the formula I was seeking. Many classic
point-and-clicks are infamous for being unapproachable with their puzzle design, with
unclear goals and with a “pixel hunting” approach to exploration required to locate
items. To mitigate this in my much more casual game, I made sure that interactable
items are clearly marked in the scene. I also introduced Winston.
Winston is Zoey’s plush dinosaur (seen as a plush toy Zoey’s arms in the frame
scenes) that comes to life as her full sized detective partner in her segment. Besides
emphasizing Zoey’s childlike POV by coming to life, Winston’s inspiration comes from
Nintendo’s tendency to introduce new mechanics in their games as represented by
characters. Prominent examples of this include the characters of Navi, who introduced
players to lock on targeting in The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (Nintendo,
1998) and Lakitu, who demonstrated how to navigate with a 3D camera in Super Mario
64 (Nintendo, 1996). Winston here serves the same purpose, tutoring the player to their
new point-and-click environment, and also always telling the player what their next
move should be, making sure that even casual players can clear the section’s puzzles.
19
Fig. 14. Real Zoey/Winston (Gethsy Gonzalez) and fantasy Zoey/Winston (Stephanie Cheng)
Fig. 15. Point and click gameplay
20
Fig. 16. Point and click gameplay loop
2.7 Setting
Finally, a word on the setting. The By The Way Inn. In contrast to almost all of the
other dramatic elements in the game - characters, game mechanics, objectives etc.
which are constantly reframed throughout the experience, the environment itself is
constant. No matter which perspective is being played through, the player will always
begin in the inn reception area, and then proceed to the lounge. This deliberate design
decision was made to help orient the player whenever a new gameplay segment starts.
It makes it clear that what they are playing through is an echo of the other segments,
which all share the same setting. Of course, there are minor differences between each
segment, such as the shifting art style and the manner in which the player is able to
interact with the environment, according to the rules of the genre they are playing
through, but the main landmarks throughout the environment remain constant.
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Chapter 3: Production
3.1 Scoping Three Games
Making what basically amounts to three games in one is not an easily scopable
task. I had to break down each genre to its core elements, and decide which one were
important to keep to preserve its essence. Sacrifices had to be made in every segment
without sacrificing the overall experience goal. I had to cut the possibility of jumping in
the beat ‘em up, knowing that the art and engineering cost of such a mechanic would be
too high. As mentioned previously, my narrative decisions, as well as art considerations
barred me from designing a multitude of paths in the dating sim. I had also intended on
including a variety of simple mini puzzles in the point-and-click, like the tasks you would
find in a game like Among Us (InnerSloth, 2018), but those were cut in favor of
exclusively inventory based puzzles.
In the project macro I mapped out the entire game, including all major narrative
and gameplay beats, into manageable chunks. This macro served as the roadmap for
the entire game. With it, I was able to prioritize the most important features, and ensure
the scope of the game would not inflate to something my team and I couldn’t handle.
22
Fig. 17. Excerpt from TNHIH project macro
3.2 Managing a Large Team
With such a large scope for a student game, I knew one of my main tasks would
be to recruit a team large enough to actually make it. That is why I pitched this project to
USC’s Advanced Game Project (AGP) class. By enrolling in AGP, students from around
the school can work on my game for credit in this capstone class. In the end, in addition
to volunteers, my team size grew to be in the thirties.I made an effort to ensure that my
vision was always clearly communicated, while leaving room for every team member to
have their own creative freedom. My direction philosophy was to flow with my team’s
work, even if not perfectly aligned with what I had in mind, unless they were working in a
23
direction that clearly contradicts my vision and experience goals. Through working with
such a large team, I learned much about communication with people who have diverse
backgrounds and skill sets and how to incorporate other ideas into my own vision. Task
management becomes integral to the process when there are so many contributors,
and I learned how to properly delegate and facilitate communication between teams
when necessary.
3.3 Varied Yet Cohesive Art Styles
Representing each character’s exaggerated perspective in an entertaining and
immediately understandable way required the art style to shift in addition to the game
genre, representing a literal change in how every character views the world. Once I had
the characters and their respective game genres locked in, my lead artist and I decided
on a visual style and color palette that would match each character’s fantastical view of
themselves.
Fig. 18. TNHIH mood boards (Rachel Geng)
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My lead artist created mood boards and style guides for each of our four art
styles. The frame story “reality” would feature relatively realistic proportions for the
characters, and a washed out, plain palette, meant to contrast the more stylized takes in
each character’s perspective. George’s style features bold colors and thick, weighty
lines, reminiscent of western comic books and classic beat ‘em up games. Alan’s style
plays up his emotional and social, with delicate brushstroke environments, and light
flowing linework. Finally, Zoey’s style is cartoony, featuring bright colors and rounder,
simplified characters, to better reflect the imagination of a child.
Fig. 19. TNHIH style guides (Rachel Geng)
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Fig. 20. George in each style (Gethsy Gonzalez, Aylish Turner, Mi Coz, Stephanie Cheng)
3.4 Juicy Design
To make sure that the game feels good to play despite its simplicity, my design
team and I researched some common, easy to implement features that make moment
to moment gameplay feel more satisfying.
Despite the beat ‘em up not being particularly mechanically intensive, several
features were implemented to ensure that every punch thrown feels gratifying and fun.
The screen will shake momentarily when an enemy is thrown to the ground, the action
freezes for a split second on every punch to sell the force of the contact, and characters
flash red with every hit, which also produces a comic book style “action bubble”
(Ka-Pow!). In the dating sim, UI elements on the screen such as Alan’s love meter and
stars like charisma and intelligence fill up with every choice, giving some visual
feedback to the player outside the dialogue. For the point and click adventure, much
26
effort was put into making Zoey’s animations look appealing, and to have Winston
update his dialogue functionality depending on what state of the puzzle the player is in,
to make sure that he will always be able to give a hint as to what the player should do
next.
3.5 Audio and Voice Over
Taking on three genres has necessarily resulted in a complex set of sound
design requirements. Developing these recognizable game genres inevitably leads to a
certain set of expectations regarding each segment's unique soundscapes, which need
to both fulfill the emotional goals of the story, and ring true to as belonging to that genre.
In addition, since one of my initial goals was to create a sort of interactive cartoon, I
knew voice acting would serve as an integral component of this project, as I wanted the
game to come alive as an interactive cartoon, and much of the fast paced dialogue that
I wrote would be elevated by quality vocal performances.
27
Chapter 4: Conclusion
4.1 Current Status
At the time of this paper being submitted, the project is in its alpha stage,
meaning that the game is sequence complete, fully playable from start to finish, and
every mechanical feature that will be in the final product is already implemented in
game. The team’s main priorities ahead of beta are the creation and implementation of
the remaining art, sound and voice over assets, as well as polishing the transitions
between each of the game’s scenes. For example, each gameplay segment in the
game will start with a set of curtains drawing open, and the character’s title card being
displayed (George’s 100% True Story!). Another demonstration of the theatricality and
unreliability of each character’s perspective.
4.2 Launch
In preparation for the launch of the game in May 2022, my marketing team has
planned a social media campaign to raise awareness surrounding the game. The
campaign will gradually introduce the game’s characters and their respective game
genres, and playfully feed into the contradicting perspectives narrative, with each
character claiming their viewpoint is the true one. My team is also in the process of
building a website for the game. In addition, I have explored submitting the project to
multiple indie and student game festivals. As the game was developed with PC and Mac
in mind, I am currently looking into which distribution service would be best suited for
the launch of the game.
28
4.3 Reflections
Directing TNHIH has been the most challenging undertaking in my professional
and academic career, and I’m not even done yet. I set out to create this project because
I believed in the idea and in my ability to pull it off, with the help of the right people.
Despite an intimidating scope and a development cycle that is taking place during the
Covid-19 pandemic, my team and I have successfully created an experience that is
receiving excellent feedback from my peers, professors and playtesters.
Through this project, I have learned how to explore narrative perspectives and
characterizations through gameplay mechanics, art styles and dialogue. I’ve learned
how to communicate with a wide assortment of collaborators, communicating a clear
vision while leaving room for their creativity to shine as well. Perhaps most importantly,
I’ve learned to trust my own voice when it comes to narrative and game design
philosophy, tap into my unique ideas, and develop a roadmap to turn those ideas into
realities. Thanks to these lessons, I am confident that I will deliver a unique and
entertaining gaming experience.
29
Bibliography
Bob-Waksberg, R. (2014) Bojack Horseman. [Television Series] Netflix.
Booth, WC. (2010) The Rhetoric of Fiction. University of Chicago Press.
Currie, G. (1995) Unreliability Refigured: Narrative in Literature and Film. The Journal of
Aesthetics and Art Criticism 53 (1). Wiley-Blackwell: 19–29.
Game Grumps (2017) Dream Daddy. [Computer Game]
InnerSloth (2018) Among Us. [Computer Game].
Kurasawa, A. (1950) Rashomon. [Film] Daiei Film.
Lupton, E. (2017) Design is Storytelling. 40-43.
Nintendo. (1996) Super Mario 64. [Computer Game].
Nintendo. (1998) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. [Computer Game].
Sega. (1991) Streets of Rage. [Computer Game].
Studio Fizbin. (2013) The Inner World. [Computer Game].
30

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Asset Metadata

Creator Menczel, Meny (author)

Core Title That's not how it happened: unreliable narration through interactivity

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 04/16/2022

Defense Date 04/20/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag comedy,game design,narrative,narrative design,OAI-PMH Harvest,rashomon,unreliable narrator,video games

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Bilson, Danny (committee chair), Fullerton, Tracy (committee member), Nealen, Andy (committee member)

Creator Email menczel@usc.edu,meny87@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC110964828

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