Storytelling for Video Games Using Bitsy: A Guide for Aspiring Designers

Storytelling for Video Games Using Bitsy: A Guide for Aspiring Designers

Storytelling for Video Games Using Bitsy: A Guide for Aspiring Designers is a guide for teachers and independent learners interested in the expressive potential of video game narratives and the logic of computer programming. Using Bitsy—an open source, web-based “tiny online game engine” that is especially welcoming to beginner designers—this book explores how digital platforms shape creative works. Drawing from classroom experience and proven practices from the game industry, Storytelling for Video Games Using Bitsy is structured to follow the steps of the game design process, from character creation and world-building to playtesting and publishing. Educators will find the structure useful as the basis of a semester-long curriculum complete with prompts for small-stakes homework assignments and larger projects. Meanwhile, hobbyists and digital artists can follow a self-directed path to assist them as they realize their creative vision. Each chapter provides a theoretical overview of one step in that process as well as step-by-step illustrated tutorials, practice exercises, and examples of games published by the Bitsy community. By the end of your journey, you will know everything you need to be able to write compelling dialog, draw and animate pixel art characters and environments, and devise compelling puzzles and quests. Featuring a jargon-free, conversational tone and a wealth of handy illustrations, this book is a fantastic introduction to the craft of game development that gets you started inventing worlds and stories to play in right away. Storytelling for Video Games Using Bitsy: A Guide for Aspiring Designers is a guide for teachers and independent learners interested in the expressive potential of video game narratives and the logic of computer programming. Using Bitsy—an open source, web-based “tiny online game engine” that is especially welcoming to beginner designers—this book explores how digital platforms shape creative works. Drawing from classroom experience and proven practices from the game industry, Storytelling for Video Games Using Bitsy is structured to follow the steps of the game design process, from character creation and world-building to playtesting and publishing. Educators will find the structure useful as the basis of a semester-long curriculum complete with prompts for small-stakes homework assignments and larger projects. Meanwhile, hobbyists and digital artists can follow a self-directed path to assist them as they realize their creative vision. Each chapter provides a theoretical overview of one step in that process as well as step-by-step illustrated tutorials, practice exercises, and examples of games published by the Bitsy community. By the end of your journey, you will know everything you need to be able to write compelling dialog, draw and animate pixel art characters and environments, and devise compelling puzzles and quests. Featuring a jargon-free, conversational tone and a wealth of handy illustrations, this book is a fantastic introduction to the craft of game development that gets you started inventing worlds and stories to play in right away. Megan Condis is an associate professor of Communication Studies at Texas Tech University. She received her doctorate in English Literature from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 2014. She is also the author of Gaming Masculinity: Trolls, Fake Geeks, and the Gendered Battle for Online Culture (2018). Bobby Schweizer is an educator with decade of experience developing game design curriculum for college classrooms and community workshops. His professional practice revolves around the design of interactive experience for custom electronics hardware and novel platforms. As an independent scholar researching theme parks, Bobby writes about history, technology, and fandom. Megan Condis is an associate professor of Communication Studies at Texas Tech University. She received her doctorate in English Literature from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 2014. She is also the author of Gaming Masculinity: Trolls, Fake Geeks, and the Gendered Battle for Online Culture (2018). Bobby Schweizer is an educator with decade of experience developing game design curriculum for college classrooms and community workshops. His professional practice revolves around the design of interactive experience for custom electronics hardware and novel platforms. As an independent scholar researching theme parks, Bobby writes about history, technology, and fandom.