Creating Emotion in Games: The Craft and Art of Emotioneering™

Chapter 2.32. Emotioneering Techniques Category #32: Opening Cinematic Techniques

Beginning to master beginnings.

This chapter shows

ways of using an opening, pre-rendered, or in-game cinematic to suck the player into the game.

As was discussed in the previous chapter, because both pre-rendered and in-game cinematics are like movies, many of the techniques that apply to writing films also apply to cinematics.

note

All the guidelines and techniques explained and demonstrated in Chapter 2.31, “Writing Powerful Pre-Rendered and In-Game Cinematics,” also apply to a game's opening cinematic.

In films, there's usually a desire to “hook” the audience within the first few minutes. There are many techniques that quickly engage a viewer. They'd work just as well ...