How Level Design Can Tell a Story

Every single re game uses space to tell stories, re games before re4 are proficient in that in particular.

Спасибо за очень интересное и полезное видео! Качество и подача на высшем уровне.

The entire Dirt Rally 2.0 OST as music for this episode, eh?

@GMTK definitely knows about the kerbs in Rally Spain.

I see you.

Isn't environmental storytelling in a sense set-dressing, a form of environmental art? Can it be a part of level design if it isn't interactive/doesn't impact the gameplay in a meaningful way?

Watching further, I know you make a distinction in the video. But still, isn't how you interact with a space rather than how it looks key to level design?

Also, since you are talking not just about level design, but by what you term 'environmental story-telling' and 'world-building', couldn't the title more accurately reflect this? Like How Games tell Stories through their Structure? Or some other word, like Environment (as you refer to towards the end) since in your pyramid, Level Design is just one segment.

I mean I follow your videos and like them but not talking about Dark Souls when you talk about level design is like a blasphemy to me. Yes, I'm a Dark Souls fun boy :D

Environmental storytelling, or literally showing and not telling, is what truly makes games a unique form of storytelling. It's why I can't stand overwritten games. Remedy explains EVERYTHING. They vomit words on you like you're reading a badly written novel, not playing a game. Or those awful Bloober Team games, who can't make environmental stories to save their lives, instead leaving you with audio logs and overwritten kak.

thx for explain the world, level design how to enrich the game, give it sense, emotion player feeling, etc.

Aside of the examples you showed in this video (with Bioshock as my first reference for this subject), I would mention Bloodborne. FromSoft has always been known for its focused on visual storytelling, showing more than telling, and I think that Bloodborne is (as far as I played their games, up to Dark Souls 3) the best example this type of level design, as its the game which (in my opinion) take out more of this tool, being what you need the most to understand the tragedy of Yharnam.

Another example would be Hollow Knight, almost following the same the type of narrative design of Souls games, only showing what Hallownest is right now, and letting you imagine what it would be like in the past.

nice video but im surprised you didnt use dark souls series as an example

That narrow space you mentioned in GOW 2018 was primarily due to loading of the next environment and deletion of the previous.

i think my ultimate favourite is black mesa (remake of half life). you start your journey in black mesa, explore everywhere then watch everything turn into a nightmare and feel extremely claustrophobic. by climbing upper in each chapter it felt like the tones were becoming brighter which becomes very sunny and clear in the end when we arrive at the top level, the nevada desert.

at questionable ethics and final chapter before xen where we open the locks for the portal for xen everything is very clear in an orderly way just like a lab. in other chapters environments differ by size and feeling. i just love that game.

Dark Souls is a masterclass in this. Not only is the storytelling done through the level design (and items) but it's also incredibly interconnected and done in a way to have you see something in the distance and eventually make it to that point and be like OMG! it's that castle I saw at the beginning of the game... Also it makes a huge impact on gameplay - you can fight the same enemy in twi very different spaces and it be an incredible challenge in one area and be pretty simple in the next just due to the level design. Ingenious

who else felt like playing Dirt Rally 2.0 ?

My favorite story in the environment is the Burnt Science Lab on Cinbar Island in Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow where you can just do the storyline, or explore and find books explaining how MewTwo was made in this lab and how he escaped, the place is a ruined science lab. and you get the idea that an accident happened. when exploring more you find journals of the scientist

The Metroid Prime games but especially the first one have some of the best storytelling in any game I’ve ever seen. And of course you can completely ignore all of it and just focus on the runny shooty stuff. It’s even better on Switch.

how did I miss this video so far? :O

Gris

I don’t think a single player who played Mass Effect from the first installment that even contemplated for a moment betraying the Krogan.

As someone else mentioned, "Inside" has fantastic environmental storytelling. The fact that there is no dialogue or other written hints to get you to the story, almost everything is told through the environment and the development of the main character.
Another great game not mentioned here is Final Fantasy 7. The whole city of Midgar with it's districts from poor to rich, added with different enemies and npc's that differ and fit the area really helps evoke the story.

splatoon is one of my favorite series so I'm a little biased
but the environment in those games are always so detailed and say a lot about the people that live in these places
(example stickers on every surface, spilled soda on one of the tables, slushee machines in one of the buildings. it shows off that it is fun teenagers and kids in these areas)

I’m surprised you didn’t mention Metro Exodus.

the clockwork mansion in dishonored 2 is one of my favourite level aesthetics of all time

There is this dilemma of whether story or gameplay is more important, but you're practically already wrong just by participating in that dilemma. The gameplay IS the core of the storytelling.

I will always remember when I first entered Ravenholm in HL2. When I opened the door, I was so freaked out that I immediately told my younger brother to leave the room.

I always thought the elder scrolls games did a great job providing narrative through the environment. They didn't necessarily reinforce some main narrative but just gave you the sense that you were in a wide world with a bunch of people who all had their own (sometimes nefarious) intentions.

Blackreach and the other dwemer ruins is an obvious example. As yo'ure exploring those ruins you really wonder just who the dwemer were, what an earth happened to them and why the automatons are the only thing left of them.

The Witcher 3 Velen, Novigrad and Toussaint are all vastly different

👍

Great perspective and content - thank you!

One of my favourite worlds is Mad Max. Beautiful but desolate and haunting. It has little stories all over the place.

I know this video is old, but I think you should do a new one for when the Remake of Dead Space launches, because they will change a lot of things for the better and make this idea even stronger! Also using other new and old games, like Scorn and Alien vs Predator 2!

Half life 2 is a game

Linear games really don't get the respect they deserve. As this video points out, crafting the player's experience as they journey through a level is both an art and a science. Exploring an open-world game can be pretty fun, but the story experience of going through a well-crafted level in a linear game will always be my favorite way to play.

That moment on the radio tower in Tomb Raider was magical. Love that game.

Love this video! My two favorite examples are Skies of Arcadia, where you can find "Discoveries" all over the world that tell you different stories within that world and make it feel alive, and The Talos Principle, with the computer program showing signs of decay which makes your mission all the more important.

"I should play a game" watches hours of game development videos

I think you could make quite a video about storytelling in Undertale.

Why do you never talk about Bendy and the Ink Machine. I’m pretty sure you literally used a piece from its sound at the beginning of the video, and it’s a great example of what you’re literally talking about! It tells about the actual story through lots of environmental clues and writing on the wall; it encourages certain emotions with its environment! I think you should talk about it!

I know its old - but i really thought you would talk about the game Riven in this. It was the first game i ever played that had this experience - and the entire experience rolled itself into a fantastic puzzle that pulled on the story threads created by the environment. There is a great documentary too by the Cyan leads that talks about the making of Riven and they go into how they grew on the Myst environmental experiences into Riven.

I don't think I've seen this example yet, but my personal favorite storytelling moments through level design is in The Last of Us Part 1 (I haven't played Part 2 yet). The moment in particular that stood out to me is when you're in the sewer system and you pass a section that looks like it was used as a preschool/kindergarten. There's shelves with shoes and chalk drawings everywhere with numbers and the alphabet drawn on the walls..then on the ground you see 3 little bodies covered up with blood on them with their little shoes poking out the bottom of the sheets. It's haunting, yet an amazing moment of telling a story in a blink and you'll miss it moment.

I will be honest, I didn't know bioshock had anything to do with New Year's Eve 🐴

Awesome

Yeah Id probably be bad at hitman for the soul reason of......autism I mean honestly this might sound weird but imagine trying to figure out social cues and vague societal rules from hitman lol 😅..😐no honestly imagine that because I'd probably do that

Excellent video! Liked and subscribed!!

And in a stealth horror game, darkness is... confusing.

kid icarus uprising

if you're gonna spend 18 minutes to basically say "show, don't tell" im gonna kms

One good example of environmental storytelling is in undertale. Spoilers by the way. In undertale Toriel is Asgore's wife, but it's never directly said that she's his wife. Instead this is conveyed through the fact that Toriel's house is almost identical to Asgore's. So when Asgore talks about how his wife left him, but doesn't tell us her name, we still know exactly who he's talking about.