Description
Book SynopsisThe newest addition to our Influential Video Game Designers series explores the work of Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda Studios, known for how he consistently pushes the boundaries of open-world gaming and player agency. Howard's games create worlds in which players can design their own characters and tell their own stories. While many games tell the story of the game's main character, Todd Howard's worldbuilding approach to game design focuses more on telling the story of the game's world, whether it be the high fantasy environments of the
Elder Scrolls series or the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the
Fallout series. This focus on sculpting the world allows for remarkable amounts of player freedom and choice in an expansive game environment by creating a landscape rich with open opportunity. Drawing on both academic discussions of narrative, world design, and game design, as well as on officially released interviews, speeches, and presentations given by Howard
Trade ReviewIn
Todd Howard: Worldbuilding in Tamriel and Beyond, Wendi Sierra illuminates this beloved game developer's mind, his struggles and passions, the history of his career from humble beginnings to towering success, and his visions for the future of games. Choosing to highlight his excellence in worldbuilding, she examines how rich, expansive game worlds like Tamriel keep players coming back again and again, logging hundreds or even thousands of in-game hours trudging up and down snowy mountains, collecting herbs, ore, and flowers, and questing for colorful NPCs—and for the sake of a compelling story in which they are the protagonist. This book is an essential guide to one of the greatest worldbuilders in the history of fantasy, and it belongs on the shelves of game scholars and game lovers alike. * Lauren Woolbright, Assistant Professor of Communication and New Media Studies, Alma College, USA *
Table of Contents1: An Unlikely Beginning 2: Little Catastrophes 3: Set Pieces for Player Experience 4: Expanding the Game World 5: Todd Howard: In His Own Words 6: The Future of Open World Gaming Appendix - Chronology of Works Bibliography Index
