This post will be about the concept of theme. In order to properly think about this, a short re-construction of some familiar conceptualizations will happen first.
Meaning, Story
When a designer creates something, a work, then he builds an arrangement of signs. Whether the work is physical (a book, a piece of furniture), digital (a computer game, an image) or of other form (a spoken thought, a dance) - it is always a collection of signs. The pure movement perceivable when viewing a dance has meanings: There might be an entity called hand, another that is cloth and a movement across the floor.
These meanings can be more convoluted - a sign might stand for something that is not itself: A trace in the snow might stand for a rabbit having passed here, a heart stands for the concept of love.
A narration is a forthbringing of signs that is authored, possibly without straightforward meanings and entertaining/artistic. Here, entertaining shall mean "an interesting arrangement of signs" and artistic "an interesting arrangement of meanings" (I'm not yet sure about the definitions in this paragraph). In my view, a lot of works may thus be a narration.
But not all of them have a plot which tells a story: If those exist in a work, then it implicates a recognizable connected series of events - and while this is for instance clearly part of films, a piece of furniture doesn't afford that easily to read a story from it.
Theme
In the mixture of all the signs and meanings incoming through possibly a lot of communication channels and being driven to progress, some guidance, orientation might be helpful.
Here comes the theme and shines:
A theme (Greek; actually "the lawful, the placed" [..]) is a concise musical figure which, as the fundamental idea of a piece of music, is designed for recurrence, variation and processing in the further course and, if necessary, can be confronted or combined with further themes.
- German Wikipedia on musical themes Link
The fact that a theme is indeed "designed for recurrence, variation and processing in the further course" makes it automatically a kind of golden thread to the work. A narrative theme might be a certain constellation of meanings. A visual theme might be a color palette and a collection of textures. And if such things repeatedly show up, then they give a certain structure to the player's experience, grounding them in the game.
This citation moreover gives the designer a neat perspective on what to do with themes: They are the perfect source of inspiration for content and all the given freedom of designing in the game engine, in the time spans given by schedule etc. can be further concretized with the edge given by a theme. In the concretization, the theme can be e.g. positioned in certain places (a character speaking about sth., a place, a mechanic, ..), transformed (variation, modulation, twisting, ..) or set up in opposition(s) to something else.
Lastly a theme is - by its very nature of permeating thhe whole experience - that, which the audience is most likely to take away, remember from the work. Thus, being able to choose a theme gives the designer a certain power. And as it goes with such in tendencies unidirectional powers, one needs to be very conscious about them. A good theme, as Jesse Schell puts it, is meaningful and has a strong resonance with people.
Quotes
"These minor tales ultimately reinforce the theme of the major narrative" - Pinault, David.
"In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based." - Wikipedia, Subject(Music), Link
"A theme may be exemplified by the actions, utterances, or thoughts of a character in a novel"
- Wikipedia, Theme(narrative)
"The theme of a work of literature is its central
or dominant idea. This idea is seldom stated explicitly; rather, it is
conveyed through the selection and arrangement of details, through the
emphasis of certain events or images, and through the action and
reactions of the characters."
- Fiction: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Link
Further Reading / Inspiration
Wikipedia, Theme(narrative) Link. Among other concepts: "thematic patterning is the insertion of a recurring motif in a narrativ"
- Wikipedia, Rhetorical modes Link. What distinguishes a narration from other modes of discourse?
- Wikipedia, Thematic transformation Link. Thematic transformation as a technique.
Pinault, David. Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights. I'd like to read this book some time.
A Solarpunk Quest: Sustain the Moon
Solarpunk is an artistic genre that is concerned with showing a successful human future and how to get there:
“what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?”
- A Solarpunk Manifesto Link
It is contrasted with rather dark settings like Steam- or Cyberpunk and is by its very nature quite optimistic, close to nature and close to sustainable technology.
Here I'll draft a game and a quest in it. The game:
Humans have transcended: They left their bodies behind and transferred their minds to space-walkers: Cyborgs that are able to beam through space and change their own size. Space-walkers are of white-black-yellow color and get their energy via solor panels. An important part of the gameplay is to not loose so much energy such that the next sun for recharging can't be reached. The second important part is the 3D-movement and resizing, needed to avoid planets, land on planets. The third part is the hatch on the walker's front, which can be opened and closed and may be used to transport everything imagineable.
The player plays a space-walker who is sent back to the humans home, Earth, and investigate some issue there.
Phase 1
The player reaches the local governmental mission-dispatching node (a level with tech-heavy, metallic architecture, but mixed with natural elements / several NPCs are around). It is unusual, normally a mission is dispatched via radio, to save the energy of moving a walker through the universe.
In a cutscene, a apparently high ranking authority gives the player the task of "sustaining the earth's moon" without much further ado. When the player asks what the problem is, he gets the answer: "The Earthers have gone capitalistic on their planet again".
New goal: Reach Earth and talk to the local authorities.
Phase 2
The player travels to Earth, shrinks and takes a visit in the glassy parliament of the UNO. With horror she perceives that the inhabiants of earth have apparently forgotten/mystified their spatial expansion via various catastrophes.
The player is forced to a
Decision: 1) Try convince the Earthers with ethical logic. 2) Search for a different solution.
Trying 1) will fail, for the Earthers are too deep in the capitalistic system. The player is then thrown back to the decision and will eventually choose 2). In a monologue, the avatar decides to visit the moon and see how things are there.
New goal: Visit the moon.
Phase 3
The moon is inhabited by a mostly scientific colony which apparently is much more rational and open-minded than their earthly counterparts. Upon learning of the state of humans in space and the concerns regarding earthen overexploitation of the moon, they propose to have the moon transferred to another planets orbit. After some questions, the avatar agrees.
There is a discussion concerning the future of the soon to be condemned moon colony. Being able to promise support by the galactical government, the player can influence the outcome of the discussion, resulting in one of the folowing goals:
New goal: Transfer the moon's inhabitants back to earth.
New goal: Transfer the home-bound part of the moon's population back to earth.
(No new goal - step skipped: All of them want to stay on the moon)
And after that is done:
New goal: Transfer the moon to another planet.
Phase 4
The moon is gone and the contract fulfilled. The player sends a message to the galactical authority and gets a reward.
The player may optionally visit Earth again where she'll find some very upset NPCs and different happenings depending on the previous choice. She'll similarly be able to visit the moon.
I have to admit, it was very funny to come up with this quest. And I could easily imagine a follow-up quest, or even a quest line - maybe its even part of the game's main story.
Ideas for Feedback
Do you share my understanding of theme as a golden thread?
- Is this quest actually solarpunky in its message?
Conclusion
Seeing how the term 'theme' could be approached from a musical side made me happy, for I am for quite some time already convinced that quests and music have a lot in common. Pacing is another great example supporting my suspicion.
My Solarpunk quest wasn't that much Solarpunk in its hopefulness, I think - but I'm not sure. However the quick game and quest design I produced here revealed itself to be astonishingly effective. This will be tried again.
Until then, have a good time!
No comments:
Post a Comment