04/10/11 - Task One


Summary Of A Three Act Narrative Structure
A Three Act Narrative is split up into three sections, a beginning, a middle and an end. This is what many movies, books, stories, poems and games use for there basic structure.

Story
A story is a common term for a recounting of a sequence of events known as the plot.

The Narrative
A narrative is all the descriptive elements that give the story meaning.

Act One

The Beginning, (also known as the set-up or exposition) which introduces:

The setting (place and time)

Several or all of the main characters/assets

The general conflict that the story focuses on

The tone of the narrative (humorous, suspenseful etc.)

This section is considered as a 'normal' stage where nothing is going wrong.

Act One Continued

Once the first scene is set and settled in, some form of conflict needs to be added to drive the action forwards towards Act Two - introduce a plot point, also called an inciting incident/catalyst.

Act Two

The middle part of the story which is driven forward by conflict or some form of complication.

The conflict arises from the plot point and forces the main character to solve this conflict, to do this he must come out of the 'normal' state.

When the main character solves this conflict or complication it should lead to another set of complications which keeps driving the story forward until it reaches the climax.

Act Two Continued

Each rise and action involved in the story is followed by a levelling off or falling off in the action.

Conflict can be physical, spiritual, emotional, cultural, social, internal, psychological etc.

Act Two is usually wrapped up by a plot point that resolves the overarching conflict that has been driving the main character forward.

Act Three

This act is sometimes referred too as the resolution or denouement. In this section the meaning/mystery of the story is revealed. This section usually happens quicker than others as it is a scene of unloading the build ups. In this act a summary of the lessons learnt/moral of the story is unfolded, the main character returns to ''normal'', loose ends are tied up as quickly as possible and the story twist or a suggestion of a sequel can be introduced by the use of a cliffhanger.


Look at the plots for 3 games you are familiar with. Make notes of the main plot 
points and how the action rises towards climax and resolution. Document this in 
your blog.

04/10/11
Game Plot Summary


Metal Gear Solid
Act One
MGS starts off with the main character secret agent Solid Snake who is yanked out of a well-earned retirement and sent to a remote island in Alaska, where a military black-ops team has gone rogue and seized a nuclear weapon. (although the first act of this plot is very brief, it fits in perfectly to theme of the game and helps convey the excitement and action that the rest of the sequel brings to the table.)

 Act Two
Act two is were the conflict starts, after being sent to this remote island, the main character "Snake" soon learns that that he's part of a government cloning project, and that his clone "brother" wants to kill him using a giant, walking, nuclear-armed tank called Metal Gear. (this is the conflict that forces the main character to come out of "normal" in order to solve the problem. This problem also creates a sub-story in the plot, the more the character learns about this island the more he discovers about the people which consequently leads himself into danger of his allies betraying him.)

Act Three
Act three quickly sweeps up all the action into one short section of the game - the main character "Snake" overcomes impossible odds, he ultimately saves the day (and the girl, if your lucky) by accidentally infecting his brother with a lethal virus for which he was made an unwitting carrier. Snake is unaffected by the virus - but for how long? (the last act in this game is very coordinated and smooth, and the great thing about it is that you can decide weather to save another character which changes the game. After the main conclusion, secrets are revealed and all is returned to normal which ties up all the loose ends and questions you may be thinking about. Another great thing about this plot is that it finishes on a cliffhanger - how long will "snake" be unaffected for? which is an introduction for the next game in the sequel.)

Gears of War 3
Act One 
GoW 3 starts right in the middle of the action, the war is still alive and the "Gears" (soldiers) are still trying to find a way to end it. You, (the main character, Marcus Phoenix) are told that Chairman Prescott is returning after mysteriously abandoning the CoG gears two years ago, who then presents Marcus Phoenix with a data disc that shows his father, scientist Adam Phoenix, is still alive. The sovereign then becomes under attack and the gears lose the ship, Chairman Prescott is wounded but amongst his last words he provides Marcus with an encrypted key with the location of a secret base known as Azura where Adam is being held. Marcus and his team then set out to find his father is search of an answer to end the war.

Act Two
Marcus and his team are forced to travel across enemy controlled bases in order to find Azura and save his father, they head off to Anvil Gate to help Defend against a locust onslaught, afterwards, they review the encrypted key to find the location of Azura but discover it is protected by a man-made Maelstorm, preventing arrival by air or on sea. They decide to travel by submarine in the ruins of Char, a nearby city, but they will need fuel. Dom Suggests travelling to Mercy, where a filling location is located, but also the home of his dead wife Maria which leads to an emotional scene of Dom missing her, he then sacrifices himself in order to save the others by driving a truck into the gas station, blowing up the enemies. Dom was Marcus's best friend which upsets him a great deal yet helps to keep him persistent on finding a way to end the war once and for all.  

Act Three
Marcus and his team ride the submarine and eventually arrive at Azura, discovering that it is a huge hotel resort/hideout that Chairman Prescott had built before the war began meaning that he had knowledge of this happening. Marcus and the team contact Marcus's father through the security cameras, he explains that he has a cure to stop the lambent but first to follow his instructions to shutting down the maelstorm so that they can provide air and land support. After shutting it down and a brief reunion with his father, Marcus's father, Adam Phoenix explains that the emulsion is a living organism and that he can destroy it using the maelstorm machine to send out waves of energy. After fighting a boss and waves of enemies the machine works and ends the war, although, Adam then reveals that he is close to death but tells Marcus and his team to live their lives to their fullest.

Fable 

Act One

Fable is an role playing game and certainly my favourite game of all time, it begins with the Hero as a child, his village, Oakvale, is raided and destroyed by bandits on his sister's birthday; along with her and his mother being kidnapped and his father killed. An old hero named Maze soon arrives on the scene, rescues the Hero, and convinces him to join the Heroes' Guild to be trained to become a champion; Maze sees great potential in the boy. The Hero then embarks on his journey to rescue his mother and sister and to take out revenge on who killed his father.

Act Two

After some time, and after honing his skills, Maze informs the hero of a blind seeress living among bandits near his home town, and advises the Hero to infiltrate the bandit camp. After gaining entry to the camp by stealing a bandit outfit he soon finds out that his sister is being held captive there by the bandits leader Twinblade, a former Hero and present Bandit King. After a showdown with Twinblade the Hero rescues his sister.

Later on in the Hero's life he is invited to fight in the Arena, where he meets the legendary Hero named Jack of Blades, who is running the arena battles and, as a final show, issues a challenge against the Hero and his rival/friend Whisper. When the Hero defeats her, he is given the choice to kill her or spare her life. It eventually becomes clear that it was Jack of Blades himself who destroyed Oakvale during the Hero's childhood. Aided by Theresa his sister, the Hero makes it his mission to defeat Jack of Blades one way or another, either through good or evil. The Hero tracks down his mother, and rescues her from Bargate Prison, where Jack has kept her since the day of the Oakvale raid.

 When he finally escapes with his mother, the Hero attempts to track down Jack. Maze, however, is revealed to be a traitor and working with Jack but the Hero soon defeats Maze, and before he goes, Maze tells the Hero that he is strong enough to defeat Jack and tells him where he can be found.

Act Three

The Hero is led into a final confrontation with Jack where his mother is killed. Jack reveals that The Sword of Aeons can only be wielded if it receives the blood of Archon. Upon the death of their mother, the Hero and Theresa are the only two remaining descendants of Archon, and if Jack destroys them both the sword will be even more powerful. After defeating Jack, the Hero must choose whether to keep the Sword of Aeons by killing his sister and gaining ultimate power, or cast it away forever into a portal created by Jack of Blades' death.