He framed his entire argument in terms of “replayability.” where the other forms of narrative were limited in some way, but good emergent narrative “…could allow for even single-player games that you can play over and over again for a very long time.” But other than admitting that even linear games could be replayable, he showed no real inclination to examine that concept. (In fact, Fahreus mentioned that he’d have loved to have called the original Crusader Kings by the more accurate title Game Of Thrones, had it not been taken.)īut the talk really started to become interesting as Fahraeus began to describe why emergent narrative was a good thing for games. Indeed, The Sims was one of the models used to create the original Crusader Kings, as Fahraeus showed on a slide, combined with Game Of Thrones and the classic 1980s strategy game Lords Of Midnight. The last is gameplay where the story derives naturally from the interaction of the game’s systems, a common feature in strategy games, “and also huge blockbusters like The Sims,” he said. I’m certainly one of them, so I was keen to hear more about the process behind the creation of such an impressive game.įahraeus began by explaining the four different types of narrative that he saw: linear, branching, improvised, and emergent. That’s certainly the case with CK2, which has built both its sales and critical reputation over time, as more and more people have realized its potential as a story generator. The quote isn’t inspiring because of its tragedy, but instead, because it’s the perfect representation of Crusader Kings 2 project lead Henrik Fahraeus’ thesis in the presentation: that with the proper mixture of non-player actors, open-ended gameplay, conflict, randomization, AI actors with personality, and just a bit of scripted narrative, a game can become a surprise hit. The most inspiring line of the “Emergent Narrative In Crusader Kings 2” presentation at GDC was this: “…a warrior saint who weeps over the corpses of her dead family.” It’s the last line from an “After Action Report” on the Paradox forums. The result is something akin to a replayable Game of Thrones. The grand strategy game has become popular for it’s story-driven nature, but takes it cues from such games as The Sims.
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