In any development shop, you’ll hear at some point a debate between coders and artists about what should be the most important aspect of a game. Coders argue that code is what makes a game cutting-edge, and is what structures the work of other departments. Artists tend to think that code is only here to showcase content, especially 3D art, and that it is the advances in 3D that pressure coders to increase their performance.

The conventional answer to that debate is to argue that both code and art are supposed to serve "design". It is the design choices of a game, supposedly, that dictate the priorities of both art and code.

That’s avoiding an important question, and it is possibly misleading. Design, too, obeys its own constraints. Moreover, the exact same design ideas can be brilliant in one game context, and unnoticed in another. So what truly comes first? Art? Code? Design?

My answer is much simpler: fiction.

What is game fiction?

In a game, fiction comes first. Good fiction is the key to make a game compelling. It is the added layer of magic around a game that make the illusion believable, that hides the 0s and 1s.

 Fiction is not just a story. It is rather a context. There is some amount of fiction even in reality-based games such as football or racing games. Such games are not dry simulations. Being able to take part in events such as the World Cup or to drive a Ferrari are all very meaningful, even if we don’t know the story of the main characters - or even if there are no characters.

 Fiction helps the player to get into the game. By listening to the game’s tale, whatever its form, the player accepts all the hypotheses that should prevent them from believing that they are in the game (leading a fantastic army, piloting a space ship, saving fantasy princesses or exploring a haunted house) and not in their living room, mashing on a plastic controller while staring at a TV screen. In a sense, fiction acts as a fuse for game immersion.

 In order to perform that function, it is crucial that the fiction part of a game be coherent. Just like in books, comics or movies, if there is a good opportunity for the player to doubt the game universe, they will do so, and this will undermine the game credibility.

 A strong tool of fiction is game heroes. Through a variety of devices, such as toy potential, identification, and fan/idol relationship, game heroes can actively draw the player into the game. In some cases, however, the game universe itself can be so intense that it doesn’t need heroes to attract players.

 Finally, an aspect of fiction that is often neglected is game endings. Game endings are important to the replayability of the games, and largely determine how a player will remember the game.

How to use fiction?

Fiction is the keystone of game consistency. This doesn’t mean that the game idea is necessarily a fiction idea, it can come from the desire to explore a technique that has never been used (take, for instance, Doom - action games had never been so immersive before) or a graphical style (SaGa Frontier and its magnificent water painted backgrounds), or both (Jet Set Radio, the first game entirely done using cel shading, a tremendous innovation in both domains). But at some time even before the game concept is fully developed, the game should be defined in fiction terms: an introduction, a universe description, or even a tag line. Once this is done, the fiction becomes the focal point of game development. Code, art and gameplay will be used to illustrate the game fiction, in perfect consistency. Effectively, it is the fiction component that will structure and prioritize the work of the various game departments.

Examples of great uses of fiction in games

The first game that comes to my mind to illustrate this is the Resident Evil saga. It is clear from the start (well, clearer from Episode II, but that’s an aside) that a whole universe has been designed in which the game takes place, a universe of dark secrets, conspiracy and evil doings, centered on the mysterious conglomerate, Umbrella. Who is Umbrella, what are its origins, how many lives has it sacrificed in the name of profit and power, has there been other incidents such as the one in Raccoon City? Each new episode allows the player to discover a new parcel of the answer.

Practically, Resident Evil introduced the concept of horror, and therefore of survival, in action games. The RE concept meant that enemies such as zombies had to be depicted in as much gruesome detail as possible. In terms of gameplay, the player had to feel weak amidst a horde of mutant creatures. Instead of giving them enough firepower to just go hunting, the game constantly keeps them on their toes by providing them a very limited amount of ammo and hard to wield weapons.

Fine examples can be found in adventure games, which rely heavily on narration. The Last Express is a model of this, as it is the very last major game created in this genre. When the game starts, the player knows little of the main character. All they know is that they were to meet with a friend on board of the Orient Express in the summer of 1914. Unfortunately, the friend is found dead in his locked compartment - an impossible crime! the player is the first suspect and must get rid of the body in a matter of minutes, depriving himself of precious clues about this mysterious murder. As the game unfolds, the player will find in a situation much more complex than they had anticipated, and, in parallel, the events that led to World War I take place by the time the train has reached its destination...

In this investigation game, the player is largely on their own. It is up to them to eavesdrop conversations, to talk to various characters or not, to search other compartments or not, and to decide at each point their course of action. Meanwhile, the other characters live their own lives. If the player finds what is going on before the next stop of the train, the adventure goes on. Else, they can see one of the many "bad" endings.

Another great example inspired by horror games is that of Silent Hill, and especially Silent Hill 2. The plot of Silent Hill is very dense and complex. Playing the game is not sufficient to fully understand what’s going on in this place. Ruled by the arch-demon Samael, Silent Hill acts as a sort of cruel purgatory where sinners are tormented by the object of their guilt. This is why the different characters met in Silent Hill all live through a different nightmare, invisible to all others. The brilliancy of the scenario is that the player can only understand towards the end of the game what this guilt is. His character has completely buried his sin in his otherwise confused memories, so, like the player, he is not aware of this until he is faced with the truth, and a remotely possible of redemption.

As the game is about the inner exploration of one’s tortured conscience, the game feels as much as possible like a nightmare. The image is applied a filter that makes it look grainy and unclear. The game space feels immense and visibility is very poor, as enemies can jump out of nowhere. The game structure leaves a good place to narrations, with probably the greatest CG animation ever done in cutscenes.

My final example is the controversial latest installment of Zelda: the Wind Waker. The colorful and cheery universe of Zelda, with its fairies and green-capped elves, lent itself well to a cel-shading treatment. This was a radical departure from the previous styles of the game, as many fans had hoped that the Gamecube would allow the game to be more realistic and mature. In addition, in this episode, the sea has a very prominent role, as the hero spends quite some time sailing from island to island, hanging out with pirates, etc.

What is surprising in this episode is how well the theme is underlined by every aspect of the game. The logo, the music, the fonts, and of course the novel graphical style, all seem to scream "this is the story of the 12-year old hero Link at sea".