“Clementine will remember that” – Methods to Establish Design Conventions for Video Game Narrative

Abstract

In this paper, we describe narrative game design as an area for empirical research and aim to promote additional work in this area. The focus of our paper is therefore on the process. We start by discussing the relationship between the design of the narrative aspects of video games vs. non-narrative aspects, as well as in comparison to earlier narrative media. On this basis, we identify specific challenges from the perspective of design. Then, we define “design conventions” and introduce our method for identification and verification using empirical methods. In this context, we discuss methodological issues and advocate best practices. Finally, we report on early results and outline future work.