thread: 2011-04-12 : A background in Principled Freeform
On 2011-04-23, Josh W wrote:
Just read a load of writing advice by an old murder novelist, and he observed that suspense can appear in a novel even when the character involved is someone you know will survive. Providing;
the expression of the scene is so graphic and vivid that you can imagine being in the situation, and you can imagine that feeling of being in danger well enough to suspend your broader view of their survival chances.
But if you're going to do that in a game, you're going to need to outsource the job of survival chances. A pacing system can allow you to get out of rationally assesing how close they are to death, and into what it feels like in the moment, so long as it can reliably handle them surviving.
And plus, there's my conception of a good cliff hanger; you're not worried about whether they will get out of something, you're wondering how on earth they will get out of it.
In game terms there's a creative challenge there, formed by the tension between investment in characterising the danger heavily, but also to pull back just enough. A pacing mechanic can turn that tension into a series of buildups and inversions, it can mean you don't know if any of your changes are going to stick, so you just go for it then land yourself in more difficulties.
Of course that's not exactly the suspense you want to focus on all the time, as it's basically tension formed of pushing your ability to keep things running!
