BioShock
A first-person shooter set in the ruined underwater city of Rapture.
Where BioShock comes up5 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow Level Design Can Tell a Story
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Power of Invisible Choices
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Genius of Prey's Gloo Cannon
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testWhat Makes Good AI?BioShock tells its story through environment and found objects, with no cutscenes: posed ruins, signs and audio cassettes let players deduce Rapture's fall. Its Little Sister choice is explicit, but many viewers never knew they could walk away from Sander Cohen. Lesson: express choices through normal play, and signal hidden options or players feel cheated.
- 1Explore ruined RaptureNo cutscene needed
- 2Spot signs, corpses, scribblesPosed props hint at how people died
- 3Connect details like detectivesCause and effect, not passive viewing
- 4Story comes throughPlayers who just want shooting can ignore it
From Mark Brown on BioShock
What was said about BioShock
1How Rapture tells its story through the environment
BioShock's sunken city tells its story without a single cutscene. Rapture's fancy bars, apartments and theatres show it was built for high society, while ruin, violent factions and people who lost their minds show its downfall.
Mark Brown argues the story would still come through with Andrew Ryan's bathysphere slideshow, Atlas in your ear and the audio diaries all removed. Even the date, New Year's Day 1959, is part of what the place shows.
Posed props and scribbles let players deduce the story themselves. BioShock's signs, corpses and scribbles suggest how people died, so players connect details into cause and effect like detectives instead of watching passively.
Players who only want the shooting can ignore the story without it getting in the way. Quote: "This makes us an active participant in the storytelling process, and not just a passive viewer."
Audio cassettes from Rapture's fall make lore feel like archaeology. Recordings made as the city collapsed carry side stories and lore that players find as they explore.
Brown credits them with inspiring games that tell their whole story through found objects.
A ruined setting makes looting and killing feel natural. In Rapture the only people left are insane, bloodthirsty splicers, so bashing skulls and looting everything makes sense. In BioShock Infinite, Columbia has working shops and innocent citizens, so the same violence and theft feel uneasy.
Players read the environment for clues about which actions are expected, permitted and punished. Quote: "Infinite's Columbia, on the other hand, is still a semi-functioning society when you get there."
2The Little Sister prompt and Sander Cohen: how BioShock handles choice
The Little Sister choice is an explicit button prompt, not a play action. The game takes your controls and shows 'Press X to harvest. Press Y to rescue.'
Brown uses it as the explicit counterpoint to games that let players choose through their normal verbs, such as shooting.
Hidden options need signalling, or players never find them. Many viewers did not know they could walk away from Sander Cohen in Fort Frolic without killing him.
When choices are ambiguous, players who later learn they had an option can feel cheated. Quote: "you may need to teach players that other actions are available."
3Combat systems: the electric bolt and the health dispenser
The electric bolt sets up kills instead of replacing other weapons. It stops enemies in place, giving the player a window to swap weapons or act.
Brown groups it with Prey's Gloo cannon and Metroid's ice missiles as utility tools that support the rest of the arsenal.
Enemies that use health dispensers seem smart and can be exploited. An enemy runs to a health dispenser mid-fight, which makes him seem self-preserving. Trapping that dispenser beats him.
Exposing AI to the game's own systems opens up roundabout ways to deal with foes. Quote: "By exposing an AI to the game's systems, we can provide loads of interesting ways to deal with foes in a more roundabout fashion."
4Similar examples from other apps
These are about other apps, not BioShock: examples from the same sources that help explain it.
Spec Ops: The Line lets players choose by shooting, with no prompt. You pick which of two hanging men dies simply by shooting him, using the same verb as the rest of the game.
Quote: "you decide which person Walker will shoot... by literally, just shooting them."
Prey's Gloo cannon freezes enemies to buy time, like BioShock's bolt. It freezes enemies and lowers their defence, leaving time to swap to a stronger weapon, scan them for research, or run.
The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
Cassettes recorded during Rapture's fall carry side stories and lore, and feel like archaeology. It inspired games that tell their whole story through found objects.
Audio cassettes from Rapture's fall make lore feel like archaeology. Recordings made as the city collapsed carry side stories and lore that players find as they explore.
Brown credits them with inspiring games that tell their whole story through found objects.
The Power of Invisible Choices
The Little Sister choice is explicit: the game takes your controls and shows 'Press X to harvest. Press Y to rescue.' Many viewers did not know they could walk away from Sander Cohen in Fort Frolic.
The Little Sister choice is an explicit button prompt, not a play action. The game takes your controls and shows 'Press X to harvest. Press Y to rescue.'
Brown uses it as the explicit counterpoint to games that let players choose through their normal verbs, such as shooting.
Hidden options need signalling, or players never find them. Many viewers did not know they could walk away from Sander Cohen in Fort Frolic without killing him.
When choices are ambiguous, players who later learn they had an option can feel cheated. Quote: "you may need to teach players that other actions are available."
Spec Ops: The Line lets players choose by shooting, with no prompt. You pick which of two hanging men dies simply by shooting him, using the same verb as the rest of the game.
Quote: "you decide which person Walker will shoot... by literally, just shooting them."
The Genius of Prey's Gloo Cannon
Its electric bolt stops enemies in the same way Gloo does, giving the player a window to act.
The electric bolt sets up kills instead of replacing other weapons. It stops enemies in place, giving the player a window to swap weapons or act.
Brown groups it with Prey's Gloo cannon and Metroid's ice missiles as utility tools that support the rest of the arsenal.
Prey's Gloo cannon freezes enemies to buy time, like BioShock's bolt. It freezes enemies and lowers their defence, leaving time to swap to a stronger weapon, scan them for research, or run.
How Level Design Can Tell a Story
Its sunken city tells its story with no cutscene: fancy bars and theatres show a high-society past, while ruin and mad splicers show the downfall. Rapture's ruin makes looting and killing feel natural.
BioShock's sunken city tells its story without a single cutscene. Rapture's fancy bars, apartments and theatres show it was built for high society, while ruin, violent factions and people who lost their minds show its downfall.
Mark Brown argues the story would still come through with Andrew Ryan's bathysphere slideshow, Atlas in your ear and the audio diaries all removed. Even the date, New Year's Day 1959, is part of what the place shows.
Posed props and scribbles let players deduce the story themselves. BioShock's signs, corpses and scribbles suggest how people died, so players connect details into cause and effect like detectives instead of watching passively.
Players who only want the shooting can ignore the story without it getting in the way. Quote: "This makes us an active participant in the storytelling process, and not just a passive viewer."
A ruined setting makes looting and killing feel natural. In Rapture the only people left are insane, bloodthirsty splicers, so bashing skulls and looting everything makes sense. In BioShock Infinite, Columbia has working shops and innocent citizens, so the same violence and theft feel uneasy.
Players read the environment for clues about which actions are expected, permitted and punished. Quote: "Infinite's Columbia, on the other hand, is still a semi-functioning society when you get there."
What Makes Good AI?
An enemy runs to a health dispenser mid-fight, which makes him seem self-preserving. Trapping the dispenser beats him.
Enemies that use health dispensers seem smart and can be exploited. An enemy runs to a health dispenser mid-fight, which makes him seem self-preserving. Trapping that dispenser beats him.
Exposing AI to the game's own systems opens up roundabout ways to deal with foes. Quote: "By exposing an AI to the game's systems, we can provide loads of interesting ways to deal with foes in a more roundabout fashion."
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