Integrating Cinematics

Integrating a cinematic into a game requires planning so that a cutscene does not seem out of place. Cinematics should complement the storytelling experience by creating a natural break in the game without feeling jarring to the player.

Poorly placed and shot cutscenes can hurt a game or feel useless to players. Before investing a lot of time creating cutscenes, be sure that a cinematic is the most effective way to communicate with players. Cutscenes should never interrupt a player in the middle of gameplay or break the flow of a game.

Plan cutscenes by considering what the audience needs to know, why they need this information and when. The following elements can help you think about the kinds of cutscenes you want in your game.

Onboarding

If your game mechanics are not easily understood, a cutscene showing players how to navigate and play your game can greatly help. Sometimes a Billboard device can provide instructions, but there are times where showing a player how to do something is more effective than reading about it.

Think about the best way to present onboarding information. Does the player need special equipment, do they need to start in a particular place to find health and weapons before leaving an area? Answer these types of questions alongside showing players how to traverse a level so they know everything they need to start playing.

If players can’t grasp your game mechanics, they will likely leave your island frustrated and some players may not return.

Narrative

Narrative refers to the overarching story of your world and can set the scene for players. If you’ve got an engaging story you want to tell, you can create cutscenes that provide background on characters and events in your world. Narrative can even involve dialogue between characters.

For games involving dialogue, here are a few considerations:

• Is the dialogue engaging?

• Is the dialogue too long?

• Is the dialogue necessary?

• Is the dialogue important to how the game is played?

Revelation

Revelation can be considered another form of onboarding because you're providing the player with information and dropping hints about gameplay elements. Revealing information is suitable for cutscenes as long as you’re not revealing any secrets, but showing information the player may not have easily discovered on their own.

The right amount of revelation in a cinematic reduces player frustration. As long as a cutscene doesn’t come too early or too late in the game, a short cinematic is exactly what a player needs to continue playing.

You can use camera movement and video editing to match the style of gameplay to reveal information to players. This can be as simple as using a cutscene to focus on a symbol, a character, or anything in the level that needs to be brought to the player’s attention.

Using a storyboard can help you identify areas in your island where players might need some help or information revealed to help them advance in the gameplay.

Staying Organized

Storyboarding keeps a game’s story on track and accounts for all cinematics by selecting points in the gameplay where a cinematic can provide background information, look at obstacles ahead, or reveal what a quest requires to continue.

You can even use a storyboard to plan out the visual aesthetics of your project by using images as inspiration for the atmosphere you aim to build in your game and cutscenes.

Click image to enlarge.

More Topics

• 

  Composition Techniques

  Use composition to capture artful cinematics for your gameplay.

• 

  Lighting and Color

  Use lighting and color effectively in a cinematic to create emotion and set the scene.

• 

  Camera Movement and Framing

  Discover how camera movement and framing creates satisfying and thoughtful cinematics for your game.