Just today I received a Private Message from somebody who wanted me to
go over his new project's storyline. I won't name the game here, but I
thought it did have a good start so far. One thing I noticed that I
recommended the gamemaker accentuate was the excellent use of
contrasting at the beginning of his story. And, that very idea gave me
an idea here. In my very first storywriting article, I remember one
person who posted his personal favorite technique for storywriting-
heavy use of contrast. If I remember correctly, that person was working
on a humorous role-playing game in which a man had to travel on a quest
with a group of beautiful succubi- the man knew he had to resist for a
reason, but the urge to share company with the succubi was so terribly
great for that man. That is one sort of contrast you may understand
quickly. Let's define contrast, as well as some of the benefits and
disadvantages of its use, simple instructions for introducing it to
your games, and some good examples of its uses.
The verb contrast is defined as comparing two different things for
their differences. You probably know of compare and contrast charts,
which are used to show with images the differences and similarities
between two or more things. Gamemakers use contrast for a wide range of
storytelling (tale-telling) purposes- for character relationships,
character and situation relationships, situation-to-situation
relationships, and many other things mostly associated with these three
types. Let's examine all three for their individual use of contrast,
along with examples of some older community games that made good use of
each.
I. Character Relationships

• Three the Hard Way: Vance, a self-serving bounty-hunting creep, meets a dignified and sympathetic duchess named Fayette.
  
  
• Forgotten Majesty: Kethan, a quiet, nieve, loser cherub, is the brother of Cici, an arrogant, mean, untouched witch.
  
  
• Easy Mac: NightBlade, a hateful, quiet, intelligent jerk, hangs out with Matt Hakor (Spelling?), an idiot console game fan.
  
  

Come on, how many good RPGs have you seen that haven't used even
the tiniest pinch of contrast in the relationships of the main
characters? Some of the best-known RPGs have used this- the popularity
of the "tough badass boy meets kind nieve girl, they learn from each
other, change their ways, and fall in love" cliche is proof of it! In
fact, many of the popular save-the-princess games, RPG and otherwise,
contrast their characters very well. In the classic Mario Bros, for
example, Mario (And his EXACT GREEN CLONE LUIGI) mixes pretty well with
other characters like the Princess and all those dratted Toads spotting
up Bowser's castles. However, Mario isn't fighting a legion of
disgruntled social workers or fast-food employees- he's fighting an
awful army full of some of the most diverse and dangerous monsters ever
spawned, led by the nefarious King Bowser! If you contrast the monster
army with humans altogether, you should see interesting differences
immediately. For example, humans differentiate physical differences
with things like skin, eyes, and hair color. Meanwhile, Bowser's
soldiers just seem completely messed up, from mushroom-shaped pests to
shell-spinning man-sized turtles, to much more. And then there is Mario
and Bowser himself- Mario, the plain red-clothed warrior of the jump
and fireball attacks, goes up head-to-head with the behemoth Bowser and
all his bridge-stomping antics. It's a simple example of the matadore
and the bull, the man and the beast. It's simple, yeah, but it works so
well!
II. Character and Situation Relationships

• Fallenwood- A nieve (player-named) hero with experience in
  skills but not independent living is thrust into the world following a
  chain of events.
  
  
• Codename- The Shockwave- Tony, loyal to his own
  association in the elimination of psychotic dangers, because what he
  once targetted.
  
  
• WarCraft 3: Reign of Chaos- Arthas, a proud and loyal
  prince to his country, slowly deteriotes into a hateful murderer
  because of his hatred for the Scourge.
  
  

This is also a fairly common type of situation in games, in which
characters that are usually bull-headed or set in their ways are taken
into chains of events that cause great reaction in them, often
resulting in drastic change. How about that particularly famous cliche
set by the Star Wars trilogy, when Luke Skywalker learned his father
had become none other than Darth Vader? The contrast is obvious in the
first, but look further at the second and you'll notice it there too-
Luke, a pure-hearted Jedi Knight dedicating to fighting the corrupt
Empire, learns that his honorable father actually chose to become a
sinister figure of evil and death? If he weren't some fictional
character, Luke may have thought things like, "How can I ever honor my
father again? Why should I even continue fighting, if my own father
chose a different path? Maybe my father knows better? What if all this
time I've been nieve to truth, or I've been duped? What if the
rebellion really is the evil cause?". You the viewer can watch Luke and
just imagine his pain- but is he really in pain? How do you know for
certain? In fact, you might (And probably are) placing most of your own
thoughts unfairly into Luke's situation, inventing for yourself what
Luke must be experiencing. Some people may see Luke's emotions and come
to the conclusion that he is concentrated even more on aiding the
rebellion against the Empire. Others may believe Luke feels alone,
frightened, and powerless against much larger motions through a complex
universe; still others will see Luke as being transformed into a
duplicate of his own hateful father, harboring dark feelings of murder
to purge himself of his corrupt lineage with the death of Daddy. Every
viewer watches for him or herself, and the most commonly-held beliefs
taken from the movie are used as the general truth of it.That's quite a
few events spinning off from just one great twist in the storyline,
isn't it? Could you duplicate such a huge effect? Probably, if you can
'think outside the box'.
III. Situation-to-Situation Relationships

• Crazy Guy's Journey- After completing a section of the game
  with a hot land, the player next enters a very cold, snowy land very
  close by!
  
  
• A Blurred Line- After escaping from the mechanical, dirty Lashe City, Talan retreats into the beautiful world outside.
  
  
• The Tower- Although only a demo so far, this game's Evil
  Campaign shows what is normally considered 'bad stuff' in a more
  positive light.
  
  

This is the rarest of the three types, I think, or at least in
video games, but like the other two examples of contrast, it can really
improve your game a ton. I really don't have a terribly good example of
this from the top of my head, but why not Final Fantasy 7? Similar to A
Blurred Line, several hours into FF7 the party escapes the city of
Midgar and its powerful controller, the monopolizing Shinra Inc
company. The city itself is extremely large (For an RPG), with terrible
clouds of smog and dirty air, and ugly gray metal everywhere. The city
is full of life yet lifeless, breathing with industrial might, yet
built from the work of humanity's hands, with no 'God' or 'nature'. In
Final Fantasy 7, it really is a testament to the triumphs that humans
had made with their own trust in themselves. However, once the party
has escaped and is in the world map itself, the player really is
introduced to a much different atmosphere, where the world really feels
much more alive and living. Everything is brighter and warmer- remember
Costa De Sol's sunny beach and humorous character interactions, or the
Chocobo Farm's simple, sunny, grassy fields? The severe contrast
between Midgar and the outside world made both of them that much more
exciting and improved. This is a much larger example of a
situation-to-situation relationship contrast. You can try things of
this scale, or apply StSRs to much shorter event chains. Use what fits
you best!
There is a major advantage and a major disadvantage to using
contrast in your amateur games. The benefit of contrast's use is that
it can really pack an immediate 'wow!' effect into your game's
storyline, plotting, and/or characters. Mean people and nice people
brought together can easily reveal more to the player through conflict
and resolution. Pacifist karate masters can quickly reveal their
tempers and powers when thrown into heated battles with old evil
rivals. That ice dungeon you've added to your game would seem even
chillier with a fire dungeon to oppose it. Those are three quick,
somewhat-cliched examples off the top of my head. By using contrast and
some good ideas, you should be able to reveal a much deeper game to the
player much more easily. There is a downside to contrast, especially
for the less-imaginative- avoiding cliche. You really need to make your
contrasting ideas as original as you can, or you'll fall for some of
the oldest plot bits in the book. Hero falls for the princess? Come on.
Evil emperor's home burnt as a child? Spare me. Honorable hero's father
is the maniacle bad guy? Please. Make sure when even adapting contrast
ideas you liked in the past to your own game that you do not copy off
others' ideas or cliches, at least not too often. Contrast is great,
but originality is always better and more important. Make sure you keep
those priorities in mind.
So, for those without a clue on getting ideas for contrasting parts
of a storyline, what can be done? First, always be open to changes and
additions to your game's world- it's okay if you don't want to remove
things once you've began working hard on the game and are far into it,
but always be freed up for adaption and change. The brainstorming part
is simple- just remember to try 'connecting the dots' anytime your mind
isn't preoccupied. Let's say you're out jogging and see a puppy. The
puppy has a playful bark, and likes running around on its bright green
lawn chasing rabbits. You first need to take as many of these things to
your memory- happy puppy, chase, bright grass, bark sound. If you have
poor memory, carry a small notepad and pencil with you. Later, stew
over these ideas from your memory or notepad. Perhaps in a serene
village area the hero could encounter a small happy puppy running about
playfully in the town? Then, later in your story, the town is attacked
by marauders and nearly everyone is killed. What could happen to the
puppy? You could play it simple and just kill off the puppy. Sure,
yeah, that's REAL deep, go you. But wait a second- if we want a deeper
reaction from the player, how about we keep the puppy alive and just
change it somehow? Instead of the dog merely being killed off, perhaps
something 'worse' happened to it? Here's something for the players that
remembered this extremely cheery puppy they saw earlier- the dog has
become a fearful, snarling menace of the dead town, a chilling ghost of
something that disappeared in just one evening. It could growl at the
party on their approach, and maybe even fight them! I personally like
the second idea more, not only because it generally seems better than
the first in complexity and impact on the player, but because it was my
idea and not some traditional cliche.
The process for contrast idea brainstorming isn't hard, as you
probably gathered from the above paragraph. First, you see ideas, and
write them down someone in your head or on paper. Then, you brainstorm
your ideas. And of course, you finally add the new ideas to your
project. While making your game, be sure to always be open to additions
or minor changes, always.
Well, that's it for this article, folks. I know I used the word
'contrast' in a few places where 'irony' would have done just as well
or better, but ah well. The article still seems fine to me, so I'm
finished. I hope you enjoyed reading this, thank you!