GCAP (Games Connect Asia Pacific) is a professional networking event where the industry comes together to learn, upskill, and develop their relationships – not only with other professionals in the industry, but also with those who are looking to get into games – and one of the highlights is the selection of keynote talks.
GamesHub was given the opportunity to speak with Karrie Shao, the lead writer and narrative designer for Pacific Drive, and previously a writer for League of Legends. We spoke with Karrie about her upcoming keynote for GCAP, where she’ll examine how in-game player behaviour, sound design, and tone can come together as narrative tools.
“We’re really in a golden age right now with games where everybody loves a good narrative,” she said. “We understand the value of narrative now and the best AAA games out there, just have great stories. And yet, we’re still early as a field.”
When it comes to storytelling in games, it really is in the hands of the narrative designers to not only tell a good story, but also communicate that story in a way that’s easy for the player to digest.
“The reason why we call it narrative and not writing, is because it’s so much about the delivery of how we tell you a story in addition to the words we actually tell you. League of Legends is a really good example because no one who interacts with League at all says, ‘I’m really in it for the story’.”
Read: GCAP 2024: Schedule and keynote speakers revealed
The impact of player behaviour
One of the cornerstones of her GCAP talk is how you blend narrative with other functions, especially player behaviour and how it guides the story. Not every player will be keen to dive into an ocean of lore, but it needs to be present in some way in order to give context.
“With League of Legends, the lore is available – if you really want to read these stories about champions they’re there,” said Shao. “But what like 90% of players are going to be able to tell you is, ‘well, Morgana, she’s like a fallen angel and hates her sister Kayle’.”
The way that most League of Legends players uncover the lore isn’t through reading the short stories on the Riot Games website, but by playing characters in PvP matches. During matches in League of Legends, the character you play will speak throughout the course of the game, with multiple barks that are unique to them as characters. These quips and quotes place them in a context, so you’re really able to get a grasp of the lore of Runeterra and all its inhabitants the more you play the game.
For example, if you play Caitlyn (the Sheriff of Piltover) and you walk past Ekko (an inventor and time traveller from Zaun), Ekko will scoff and say “who called the cops?” And so it’s all the more important that when designing a narrative around the game, that it aligns with where player focus will go.
“It is great if we want to sit there and just write just tons and tons of text, but if less than 10% of players or even going to engage with that, is that the best way to spend our time?” said Shao. “And if not, how do we best use our time wisely to kind of infuse the world with lore?“
Environmental storytelling makes a difference
Of course, narrative isn’t exclusively formed by something that’s written or spoken, but something more abstract that can also be communicated through visuals and sound design. Karrie’s GCAP talk also touches on how sound design is utilised in Pacific Drive to add to the worldbuilding and storytelling, especially in the way it helps the player to create their own narrative in a way.
“In Pacific Drive, you’ll notice there are no cutscenes – we never pause the game and we never control the camera to be like, “Look at this story”, or focus your attention somewhere,” said Shao. “We let the player just drive and listen to the story – and if they are falling off a cliff while an emotional beat is being delivered then so be it, welcome to the world.”
Giving credit where it’s due, Shao sang the praises of A Shell In The Pit, who partnered with the team for Pacific Drive on the sound design.
“You’re just out there, locked in, scavenging for 40 minutes, having a grand old time in the woods, and then something just sounds wrong … it will make the player write a narrative of what’s going on in their head, much better than anything I could ever tell you in text,” she said.
It furthers the messaging that narrative isn’t just a clump of text, but more an organic development of the characters and their personalities, including the way they behave and interact. This is why, as we’ll learn at GCAP, even if a player base doesn’t directly engage with a game’s lore, the game still needs storytelling to truly bring it to life.
“Think about your favourite game,” said Shao. “Even if it’s a game you loved mechanically, think about the emotions that it evoked within you – usually it has something to do with narrative. Perhaps not solely because of narrative, but because narrative is there rounding out the game mechanic.”
Personally, when I think about the hundreds (or even thousands) of hours I’ve spent in League of Legends, I find myself reflecting on all of the things that make me love the characters. When I see Amumu, the sad mummy, I can hear him sniffling because he wants friends.
While I’ve never actually read any stories about Amumu, I still know enough about his lore that I feel inherently bad for the little guy – because even the smallest scraps of lore, when discovered organically through exploration and cues, impact deeply on the player experience.
“At the very least, you need the world to be filled with something – you need it to have a point of view and a desire to progress through the game, and just being a gamer who wants to get that trophy or reach the end is truly not enough,” said Shao.
Bringing the story to GCAP
Getting this kind of insight from people working day-to-day in narrative development can add an extra layer of depth to your gaming experience, which is why Shao is so excited to be able to bring her experiences and stories to GCAP.
“Everything you see is painstakingly coded and pixel by pixel put together, crafted by people. A human had to decide what happens in every little bit of the game,” she said. “Similar to movies … Someone has to build that set. Someone has to put in every nail.”
“And so I think that understanding how games are made, the art of it, and the humans behind it specifically, will help you appreciate games more.”
