#Ken Birdwell

[mvfm-25]

" Cabal \ka-'bal\: To unite in a small party; to promote private views and interests by intrigue; to intrigue; to plot... "

Game Developer Magazine - December, 1999

[muqaddasaman]

Blog 1 – Balancing Narrative and Gameplay 

Video games must carefully balance narrative storytelling with gameplay to deliver the best experience. In this blog, we’ll explore several recent games and the techniques they employ to present compelling narratives without sacrificing gameplay enjoyment. 

“The first lesson for any video game designer is to get the player to stop and look at something that you want them to look at, and the second is to repeat the first lesson the entire game long” (Valve, 2023). These were the words spoken by Ken Birdwell, gameplay designer at Valve who worked on Half Life (1998), as he mentioned the struggles in striking the balance between allowing the players to explore the lore and narrative of the world that requires focus and attention while simultaneously giving them the freedom to enjoy the various gameplay mechanics allowing them to do whatever their heart contends to do so. Thus, it becomes a challenge within a challenge to not just create a game enriched with a great narrative with entertaining gameplay mechanics while encouraging players to slow down and engage with the narrative amidst the lure of the game’s mechanics. 

To overcome this challenge various companies, utilize different methods ranging from utilizing cutscenes that forces the players to watch a non-interactable video that shows the story, all the way to giving the players complete autonomy with barely any guidance in terms of narrative storytelling. And while one may prefer one form of story and gameplay above another, at the end this is completely subjective as numerous video game studios have successfully showcased drastically different methods in balancing narrative and gameplay.  

One of the most prominent examples of achieving such balance between narrative and gameplay is the infamous narrative cutscenes. The term ‘cutscene’ was coined by Robert Gilbert in 1987 when he introduced fully animated story sequences in his game ‘Mania Mansion’. During a presentation in Germany Gilbert shared that he called these moments as cutscenes as they cut away from the game itself allowing for a clear showcase of narrative. (Elumski, 2012). Games like “Metal Gear Solid” and “Yakuza” games series adhere to this idea that true balance cannot be achieved if players are allowed complete control as this will produce a vast degree of possibilities that will disrupt the detailed narrative that is created by the writers, hence the control from the players is taken away during key moments while an animated cutscene showcasing the narrative is played out. This idea is best explained by Jesper Juul (2001) as he describes that even if platers act out the entire play of William Shakespeare's ‘Hemlet’ themselves, they will still not experience the exact story of the ‘Hemlet’ had they watched the play instead of participating in it. 

But recently new creators and studios have risen to challenge this perception and notion by not only creating a vast world with engaging gameplay mechanics that require time and focus to master while simultaneously giving no inkling about the lore and narrative of the game, apart from a few abstract cutscenes or textual cues. Games like “Elden Ring” and “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ are popular examples of this kind of gameplay and storytelling. Yet despite the apparent absurdity of this form of balancing of narrative and gameplay, these games utilize the concept of goal-oriented narrative storytelling, where narrative bits are rewarded after difficult trials and hurdles that the player must overcome. These games understand that player “intractability is a key dimension of computer game narrative” (Qin, Rau & Salvendy, 2009) and thus by providing narrative as a reward for player’s interaction with the game’s mechanics pushes players to actively seek out narrative’s by interacting with the mechanics themselves.  

While many games succeed in balancing gameplay and narrative, some narrative experts argue that 'interactive storytelling' is inherently contradictory. Their reasoning is that a cohesive narrative requires a certain level of focus to be comprehensible, whereas video games often present distractions in the form of gameplay mechanics. For a player to understand a game’s narrative, they must grasp not only the immediate storyline but also the broader world, including its lore and the character's place within it. Games like Heavy Rain and the Dark Souls series have been criticized for disrupting key narrative moments with mechanics like quick-time events or enemies attacking players during pivotal scenes. These interruptions can force players out of the story, diverting their attention and ultimately detracting from the narrative, which in turn hurts overall experience. 

Yet, despite the drawbacks attached with the idea of interactive storytelling, many video games have successfully managed to find a balance in allowing entertaining gameplay and complex narrative storytelling. Relying on the concept of embedded and emergent storytelling, video games allow their players to not only discover narrative elements in the universe of the game itself, but it also allows players to craft their own personal stories through gameplay. This produces a certain degree of realism in video games, just like the stories in our daily lives are mostly a biproduct of activities and experiences instead of a preordained narrative. This realism in-turn leads to immersion which is an achievement that every game developer desires to achieve in their games. 

Sources 

Elumski (2012). Ron Gilbert - Maniac Mansion postmortem. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNpjGvJwyL8 [Accessed 11 Oct. 2024]. 

Juul, J. (2001). Games Studies 0101: Games telling Stories? by Jesper Juul. [online] www.gamestudies.org. Available at: https://www.gamestudies.org/0101/juul-gts/. 

Qin, H., Rau, P., Salvendy, G. (2009) Measuring Player Immersion in the Computer Game Narrative. In: Entertainment Computing [online] https://www.researchgate.net Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220302079_Measuring_Player_Immersion_in_the_Computer_Game_Narrative. 

Valve (2023). Half-Life: 25th Anniversary Documentary. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbZ3HzvFEto&t=3124s [Accessed 11 Oct. 2024]. 

[thethinkingman]

From Charlie Kirk

The Ken Paxton sham impeachment verdict is expected to come back between today and Saturday. The Texas AG needs 10 state senators to vote to acquit. I've been told by insiders the following senators' votes are unknown at this time. If you're a Texas resident, kindly, respectfully contact these elected representatives offices and tell them you support the attorney general, a man who was overwhelmingly re-elected by double digits by over 4 million Texans, even after every allegation against him was made public:

1. Bryan Hughes

(512) 463-0101

2. Mayes Middleton

(512) 463-0111

3. Drew Springer

(512) 463-0130

4. Phil King

(512) 463-0110

5. Charles Perry

(512) 463-0128

6. Brian Birdwell

(512) 463-0122

7. Pete Flores

(512) 463-0124

8. Kevin Sparks

(512) 463-0131

9. Charles Schwertner

(512) 463-0105

10. Kelly Hancock

(512) 463-0109

Repeat, be respectful. These are potentially the AG's greatest allies for acquittal.

[lambdageneration]

In celebration of Half-Life turning 19 today, here’s a few photos of the original Half-Life dev team working hard and having fun at the old Valve office.

Crazy to think this was 19 years ago!

From top to bottom: Gabe Newell, John Guthrie, Chuck Jones, Mike Harrington/Gabe Newell, Ken Birdwell, Half-Life Dev Team Group Photo

[cytharatunes]

13 Republican state senators co-authored this bill, which was submitted 3/11/21. For context, there are only 31 senators in the Texas Senate, 18 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

Those 13 are: Charles Perry (lead author), Paul Bettencourt, Brian Birdwell, Dawn Buckingham, Donna Campbell, Brandon Creighton, Bob Hall, Kelly Hancock, Bob Hughes, Angela Paxton (wife of attorney general Ken Paxton), Charles Schwertner, Drew Springer, and Larry Taylor.

For the senate directory that gives information about each senator, the areas they represent, as well as their office addresses and phone numbers, look here.

For current information on the bill as it progresses, look here.

Texas Republicans are now trying to pass Bill SB1646, which would remove transgender minors from parents who affirm their gender and support them getting proper transition care.

I repeat, they are trying to criminalize parents supporting their trans children and make it legally child abuse, and a removable offense

Source: https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/SB01646I.htm

[tonin-terets]

SUBSTANCE from Jamaal Bradley on Vimeo.

Follow Us here: substanceshortfilm.com facebook.com/substancefilm/ twitter.com/JamaalBradley

Based on True Events; Two brothers battle over the future of the family, but it will be a young girl who changes her fathers SUBSTANCE and the fate of generations.

Written & Directed by •Jamaal Bradley

Co-Writer and Lead Story Artist •Michael Yates

Executive Producers •Ken Birdwell & Bruce W. Smith

Producer •Jamaal Bradley

Associate Producers •Amid Amidi & Nicole Weinstein

Musical Composition •Stephen "Bud'da" Anderson

Vocal Composition •Adolphus "Scottie" Scott III •Avery Sunshine •Dana "Big Dane" Johnson

Surfacing Supervisor •Nikie Monteleone

CFX Supervisor •Eric Warren

Modeling Supervisor •Mridul Sen

Rigging Lead •Dilip Lawani

Lighting Supervisor •John Huikku

Lighting Production •GIXEL

[thatorigamiguy]

Oh boy, love music stuff! I'll post some of my recent favorites from the past few months.

1. Sing into my Mouth - Iron and Wine and Ben Birdwell

2. Duvet - Bôa

3. Oh Sister - Neutral Milk Hotel

4. Space Asshole - Chris Remo

5. Adam Warski - Ken Ashcorp

@noneatnonedotcom @tanakavox I would tag more but most of the usual suspects have already been tagged.

🎶✨️when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favourite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨️

Oh boy oh jeeze

1. Let the rainbow remind you - mlp

2. Monster - skillet

3. 20 million trees - black gryphon

4. 1,2,3,4 - Alan doyle

5. Tír na nÓg - Celtic woman

@pilot-boi @remy-steel-official @queen-sloth @trislosher-main @pottermusprime @albion-93 @i-like-the-stars @kirbeejack @dicknouget @howlingday

There we go 10 lol love you all!!!

[albino-sun]

SUBSTANCE from Jamaal Bradley on Vimeo.

Follow Us here: substanceshortfilm.com facebook.com/substancefilm/ twitter.com/JamaalBradley

Based on True Events; Two brothers battle over the future of the family, but it will be a young girl who changes her fathers SUBSTANCE and the fate of generations.

Written & Directed by •Jamaal Bradley

Co-Writer and Lead Story Artist •Michael Yates

Executive Producers •Ken Birdwell & Bruce W. Smith

Producer •Jamaal Bradley

Associate Producers •Amid Amidi & Nicole Weinstein

Musical Composition •Stephen "Bud'da" Anderson

Vocal Composition •Adolphus "Scottie" Scott III •Avery Sunshine •Dana "Big Dane" Johnson

Surfacing Supervisor •Nikie Monteleone

CFX Supervisor •Eric Warren

Modeling Supervisor •Mridul Sen

Rigging Lead •Dilip Lawani

Lighting Supervisor •John Huikku

Lighting Production •GIXEL

[irfan-things]

SUBSTANCE from Jamaal Bradley on Vimeo.

Follow Us here: substanceshortfilm.com facebook.com/substancefilm/ twitter.com/JamaalBradley

Based on True Events; Two brothers battle over the future of the family, but it will be a young girl who changes her fathers SUBSTANCE and the fate of generations.

Written & Directed by •Jamaal Bradley

Co-Writer and Lead Story Artist •Michael Yates

Executive Producers •Ken Birdwell & Bruce W. Smith

Producer •Jamaal Bradley

Associate Producers •Amid Amidi & Nicole Weinstein

Musical Composition •Stephen "Bud'da" Anderson

Vocal Composition •Adolphus "Scottie" Scott III •Avery Sunshine •Dana "Big Dane" Johnson

Surfacing Supervisor •Nikie Monteleone

CFX Supervisor •Eric Warren

Modeling Supervisor •Mridul Sen

Rigging Lead •Dilip Lawani

Lighting Supervisor •John Huikku

Lighting Production •GIXEL