In this lecture, we were taught about the three-act structure. A simple way to look at the three-act structure is as follows, Act 1 sets up the premise, Act 2 serves to set up/payoff relationships, and Act 3 sets up the resolution.
We were asked to use this formula when identifying our favourite games and put them into the three-act structure. I decided to use Dragon Quest V.
Dragon Quest V:
Act 1: MC is born to royalty.
Inciting Incident: Mother is kidnapped and father takes son to find her.
Plot Point 1: Father is killed, MC is put into slavery by a cult (responsible for his mother's kidnapping and his father's death)
Act 2: MC escapes and goes on a journey to find the hero. Eventually he gets married and returns home to take the throne.
Plot Point 2: After his children are born he finds his son is the chosen hero he was searching for and his wife is kidnapped, after going to rescue her, he and his wife are turned to stone.
Act 3: Children free MC and rescue their mother and defeat the evil demon Big Bad.
We were then given the task to create a new game narrative using the three act structure.
Space Idea:
Act 1: The year is 2605, mankind has taken to the stars after a calamity drives them to flee from earth. Science has rapidly advanced and wars between colonies are fought using 'mobile armor', robotic armor that allows one to move more freely in space than they ever could. The Phodei Federation is fighting a major battle in the war against the Principality of Eldrada (formerly the Republic of Eldrada). The fight is taking place just outside the atmosphere of Terra (formerly Earth). This is the motherland of mankind, a place no explorer has ever returned from due to mysterious occurences in the atmosphere which cause incoming ships to always crash.
Inciting Incident: In the final clash between Commander Ray Karster and the Eldrada commander, Ray manages to land a decisive blow against his foe. He lets his guard down and he is hit by an attack from his own side. This sends him plummeting down to Terra and heavily damages his mobile armor.
Plot Point 1: Ray survives the fall and finds himself in a world beyond anything he has seen before. After 500 years without man, civilisation on earth has become decrepit and nature has taken ahold of the planet once more. He rushes to search for a way to communicate with his ship before night falls, fearing the predators that have developed in the time earth has been unpopulated by man. Even worse, he fears the beasts that drove man from Terra in the first place. After searching for a way to communicate, he feels his fears have been realised, he hears sounds of someone or something creeping up behind him. He discovers that mankind has not died out.
Act 2: Ray meets Lune, a boy from a tribe of Gunda, people who had survived on earth since the calamity. He takes him to see the tribe who are not welcoming of him at all, the people of Gunda have shunned all science developed past the year 2000, fearing that it would bring the calamity upon them once again. Ray is told to leave the tribe unless he stops searching for the communication device, unyielding in his desire to return home he leaves the tribe but to his surprise Lune chases after him. Further to his surprise Lune shows him to his hidden stash of parts, he was an outcast in his tribe due to his unwavering interest in science and the world above, Lune allows Ray to use the parts to make a communication device if he can take him to space. Ray promises Lune that he would show him the world above one day and uses the parts to make a communication device. After getting in touch with his comrades he finds out that the person who shot him down was a member of an opposing political party, they planned to eliminate Ray and start a civil war whilst the federation was at it's weakest after the war. The federation is in chaos and Ray needs to hurry back, luckily the one he contacted was his loyal comrade Ely Kievs who recklessly decides to go to Terra to help Ray escape. Ely Kievs crash lands on earth bringing a new version of the mobile armor designed for use on planets.
Plot Point 2: Ray, Lune and Ely dive deep into the remnants of human society following the only clue they have to go by, a signal of power coming from the depths of a great crater. Lune tells them that the tribe forbade anyone from going there, but they know that if they are to return home they will need to brave the dark secrets of the past. When the trio find themselves at the epicenter of the crater they find the reason why the species fled to the stars, they find a great beast, a mass of flesh like the beasts they faced outside on their journey. They had not evolved to be like that, man had attempted to create life, only that power had gotten out of their hands and caused a worldwide calamity.
Act 3: After defeating the beast the trio find all the parts needed to create a rocket and escape Terra. The trio launch out of earth and straight into another battlefield, the civil war between the uprising forces created by the man who shot you down, your commanding officer General Krantz Ghelots. Ray, Lune and Ely fight together to take him down and are successful, resulting in the war ending and an era of peace arriving for the Phodei Federation.
For our self-directed study we were tasked with doing what we did in class but for our game premise.
SOMNIA
Act 1: The protagonist wakes up at home after having a bad dream about causing a car crash, they have a strange feeling that something isn't right. They go to tell their mother who dismisses it and tells them to go outside and play, after they go outside they realise that they cannot see past the horizon. A strange fog surrounds the house.
Inciting Incident: That night they are spoken to by a ghost that warns them they are in danger, scared beyond belief they run back home as fast as they can and hide in bed until they pass out. After waking up in the middle of the night the air feels heavy, as if something is looming around, they go to tell their mother but find it is a demon in disguise; Their right arm melts out of it's socker and their mother's face contorts into fear incarnate.
Plot Point 1: The protagonist runs for their life, tears flowing as they realise that dream and reality have flipped. Due to the fog (which has now changed to resemble a cloud of lost souls) they fail to realise that the house is surrounded by cliffs on all side causing they to fall. They are saved by a familiar looking man who takes them back to his home, a town formerly known as wonderland, he tells them how they can get home. The protagonist sets off on a journey.
Act 2: The protagonist faces down against fear after fear, regaining their memories and gaining more and more power as they do. As they free each realm from the demon the crystalline power stolen from the Lucids place themselves in the sky, shining like stars.
Plot Point 2: The protagonist discovers that they are in a coma and their soul somehow found it's way to the land of dreams, a spiritual realm similar to heaven. They learn the fate of their father but not their mother, causing them to rush to defeat the demon without saving all 7 realms from it. The demon awaits their arrival and takes the chance to kill the protagonist only for them to be saved by their father, the one who saved them at the beginning. The protagonist is not killed but falls into a nearby ravine, the location of the 7th and last realm.
Act 3: After saving the 7th realm the protagonist sets off to defeat the demon once and for all. After fighting a battle where the demon takes away the powers bestowed upon them in the 7 realms the protagonist overcomes fear in it's entirety, the stars descend and the protagonist gains the power of the Last Lucid, they then destroy the demon.
REFLECTION
For most of the lecture we learned about the three act structure and how to structure our stories using it. We discussed how the three act structure is used in stories and
I was very happy with what I did during the lecture. I feel that I have developed on the foundation that I laid down last lecture.
I could improve my work by saying more about what happens in certain arcs, I fear that I try to cut to the point too quickly to avoid overwriting and overdescribing.
I learned about how to structure game plots using the three act structure and tools I can use to do this more easily. I also learned about creating tension in the story and building up the tension until the climax.
To conclude, I am very happy with the progress of my work. I have been able to develop my game premise and document it.
In the future, I will learn to write the plot as concise as needed whilst keeping in elements of the story that help the audience understand the flow of things so it doesnt feel too quick.
