8th
One Storytelling Village
I did not mean to imply that the two camps referenced in the previous post were mutually exclusive. It is merely a description of focus—one outside moving inward and the other inside looking outward. There are studios who seem to have people standing in both camps. Lionhead, as I mentioned, and Team Ico both spring to mind.
Nor did I mean to imply one was more valid than another. Both have their limitations and struggles. Both have their strengths and benefits. I personally feel like exploring the idea that game mechanics convey meaning is too often overlooked and the more we learn about it, the better it will be for the industry at large.
I also did not mean to imply that every single developer falls into one of these two categories. Developers who aren’t remotely interested in storytelling clearly don’t fall into either (although their work can still be examined for its ability to communicate meaning).
Interactive fiction developers quite likely also fall into different camps altogether. As the core mechanic of IF utilizes language, it muddles our attempts to break people out into convenient philosophical camps.
