🧵My 6 main takeaways from this guide to environmental storytelling in games by Brandon Dolinski (Minecraft Legends, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Marvel’s GotG level/world designer) ⬇️
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6. The goal of environmental storytelling is to help players discover the narrative by interacting with the game world directly. (Ex: Exploring a Fallout vault)
5. Lighting, contrasting color schemes and sound cues can tell a story using the environment itself. (Ex: Silent Hill 2’s creepy fog that mirrors your character’s psychosis)
4. Main 5 types of environmental storytelling:
Embedded (hidden stories in ruins, objects, etc.)
Emergent (stories emerge from player + system interaction)
Spatial (architectural storytelling)
Interactive (touch/examine objects to reveal story)
Atmospheric (lighting, sound, etc.)
3. Hidden plot and historical lore fragments left for players to uncover make them feel like a detective actively participating in the story. (Ex: The hidden graffiti telling you what’s really going on in Portal)
2. Use “designer hugs” (highly emotive, micro-story scenes) to create a more believable, immersive narrative by going beyond the core plot. (Ex: In Dragon Age, one corpse covers a smaller one holding a bloody teddy bear)
1. Great case studies:
The Last of Us (abandoned objects tell stories of survival)
Dark Souls (social collapse seen everywhere)
Gone Home (intimate family story told environmentally)
BioShock (visibly failed utopia)
The Witcher 3 (environmental details hint at past conflicts)
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Embedded (hidden stories in ruins, objects, etc.)
Emergent (stories emerge from player + system interaction)
Spatial (architectural storytelling)
Interactive (touch/examine objects to reveal story)
Atmospheric (lighting, sound, etc.)
The Last of Us (abandoned objects tell stories of survival)
Dark Souls (social collapse seen everywhere)
Gone Home (intimate family story told environmentally)
BioShock (visibly failed utopia)
The Witcher 3 (environmental details hint at past conflicts)