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The Stanley Parable

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The Stanley Parable
Developer(s)Davey Wreden (mod)
Galactic Cafe (Davey Wreden and William Pugh) (remake)
Composer(s)Blake Robinson
Yiannis loannides
Christiaan Bakker
EngineSource
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X (Coming Soon)
ReleaseModification
HD remake
Genre(s)Interactive fiction
Mode(s)Single-player

The Stanley Parable is an interactive fiction modification (mod) built on the Source game engine, developed by Davey Wreden and released in July 2011. A high-definition remastered stand-alone version, including new story elements, was developed by Wreden and Source modeler William Pugh under the Galactic Cafe development team name. The remake was announced and approved via the Steam Greenlight process in 2012, and released in October 2013 for Microsoft Windows.

While both the mod and the remake use the first-person perspective common to other Source engine mods, there are no combat or other action-based sequences. Instead, the player controls the protagonist, Stanley, through a surreal environment, with each step of the process narrated, voiced by British actor Kevan Brighting. The player has the opportunity to make numerous decisions on which paths to take, including going against what the narration is telling them to do, each choice leading to different narrations and endings. Wreden envisioned the game after considering that most major video game titles confine the user to its rules, and considered how to construct a narrative to challenge that notion. Outside of Brighting's voice work of the narrator, Wreden built the modification himself, initially as a personal project for his career goals but soon expanding to a wider release once he had shown it to friends and other players. The modification received critical attention as a new variation of creating interactive fiction within a game engine, and provided a thought-provoking narration to discuss with others on the nature of choice and predestination within video games.

The remake grew out the experience, recreating many of the original mod's decisions within new environments while adding several more story pathways that could be followed. The standalone game has received similar critical praise from journalists favoring the expanded narrative and commentary on player choice and decision-making in modern video games.

Gameplay and story

The game begins in an office environment, but takes many divergent turns depending on the player's choice.

The game is presented to the player from the first-person perspective. The player can move around and perform interactions with certain elements of the environment, such as pressing buttons or opening doors, but otherwise has no other controls.

The story is primarily presented to the player via the voiceover of the game's narrator, who explains that the protagonist Stanley works in an office building, tasked to monitor data coming on a computer screen and press buttons appropriately without question. One day that screen goes blank. Stanley, unsure what to do, starts to explore the building and finds it devoid of people.

At this stage, the story splits off in numerous possibilities, based on the player's choices. The narrator continues the story, but when the player comes to an area where a choice is possible, the narrator will suggest which route Stanley will take. The player can opt to go against the narrator and perform the other action, forcing the narration to account for this new direction which may return the player back to the target path or create a new narration. For example, the first choice the player makes in the game is at a set of two open doors, with the narrator stating that Stanley choose the left door; the player can choose to follow this narration, which keeps the narrator's story on track, or may choose the right door, which makes the narrator annoyed and the player would be pressured by the narrator to get back on the correct track.[1] A total of six possible endings exist in the original mod, and Wreden states it would take about an hour for the player to experience them all.[2]

Because of this, much of the story considered thought-provoking about the nature of choice and decisions.[3] The narration also breaks the fourth wall on several occasions in handling the player's decisions.[2]

The remake does not alter the fundamental gameplay or preliminary story, keeping several of the choices and endings from the original modification while adding on new segments based on player choice.

Development

Davey Wreden, 22 years old at the time of the modification's release, was inspired to create The Stanley Parable about three years prior,[4] after considering the typical storytelling narratives within video games, and thought of what would happen if the player would go against that narration; Wreden also saw this as a means towards his planned career as a game developer.[3][1] As a video game player, Wreden has found that most major triple-A titles at the time make numerous assumptions about the player's experience and fitting that within the game, and don't provide answers for "what if" questions that the player may consider.[3] Wreden considered that more recent games with more engaging or thought-provoking stories, including the Metal Gear Solid series, Half-Life 2, Portal, Braid, and BioShock, started to approach this void, giving reason for the player to stop and think about the narration instead of simply going through the motions.[3] Though his initial intent was a personal project simply to try to make such a game that asked the questions about why people play video games, he found that there were other gamers that had been considering the same type of questions.[3] He then set out to make a game that would be the subject of discussion for players after they completed it.[1] According to Wreden, his design document for the game was "Mess with the player's head in every way possible, throwing them off-guard, or pretending there's an answer and then kinda whisking it away from in front of them."[2]

With no prior experience working with the Source engine, Wreden relied heavily on information and help from wikis and forums on the Source Development Kit, self-teaching himself the fundamentals.[3] Outside of Kevan Brighting's voicework, The Stanley Parable was all Wreden's work. Wreden used an open audition process to find a narrator, and found Brighting's submission to be ideal for the game.[5] Brighting had provided his voice in a single pass for Wreden.[1] Wreden wanted to keep the game short as to allow players to experience all the endings without spending an excessive amount of time replaying the game.[1] The shortness of the game would also allow him to introduce ridiculous and nonsense endings, such as "and then everything was happy!", that would otherwise not insult the player as a poor reward for a completing a long game.[1] Most of the ideas he had envisioned for the game were included though some had to be dropped due to his inability to figure out how to work with them within the Source engine.[3] In one case, Wreden wanted to include a point where the player would have to press buttons as the narration and screen prompts would have said, but could not figure out how to bind keyboard input to do this, but left the element in there as a "broken" puzzle; he later was praised for this, as to players, this gave the impression of lacking control during the stage of narration.[1] Despite the success of completing the game, Wreden considered the overall project "grueling" and stifling his career ambition,[1] noting that his efforts became more intense once he started learning of other players' interest in the title.[3]

Wreden initially tested the game with a friend before posting the modification to the website ModDB.[3] The title quickly became popular, and in time led to various offers from others to help work on new games. Wreden also got some job offers from larger developers which he turned down, as at the time it was "not the kind of scene" he wanted to work in.[3] Instead, Wreden started to gather other independent programmers to work out an improved version of The Stanley Parable and leading towards a completely new title in the future.[3]

High-definition remake

The "Mind Control Facility" in both the original mod (top) and remake (bottom). The mod's environment was primarily created by Wreden using default models in the Source engine, but Pugh helped to significantly improve the game's assets for the remake.

Shortly after the release of the original mod, Wreden was contacted by William Pugh, a player who had experience in creating environments within the Source engine and had previously won a Saxxy Award for this work; Pugh offered to work with Wreden to work on more material together.[6][4] Though initially Wreden wanted to recreate the original game "beat for beat", his discussions with Pugh led to them deciding to alter existing material and add more, an "interpolation" of the original game, and creating a stand-alone title.[4] The game includes the six endings from the original, but provided in a new light of larger changes made to the remake.[4] Brighting remains the voice of the narrator in the remaster, as Wreden considers his voice "half the reason this game has been successful".[1]

In playtesting the newer version, Pugh found that players did not respond well to having a preconceived idea of where the divergent points in the game took place, as represented by a flowchart early in the game, and this was taken out. However, Pugh also found that without some visual cues as to where divergent paths occurred, they would often miss these choices, and so added elements like colors to highlight that a choice was available at these points.[5] In the original mod, one set of choices briefly takes the player to sections modeled after parts of Half-Life 2. In the remake, Pugh and Wreden included one section where the player briefly revisits the opening of Portal, and another where the player is dropped into the middle of a Minecraft game. These sections were included after getting approval from their creators Valve Corporation and Markus Persson, respectively.[5]

To distribute the new version, the team initially considered a pay what you want scheme,[4] but later sought the use of the Steam Greenlight service, where independent developers can solicit votes from other players in order to have Valve subsequently offer the title through Steam.[7] In October 2012, the game was successfully approved by Valve to be included on Steam upon the game's completion.[8] Wreden originally called the stand-alone version The Stanley Parable: HD Remix, he later opted to drop the distinguishing title, affirming that he believes the remake is the "definitive" version of the game.[9]

Wreden and Pugh announced that the remake would be released on Steam on October 17, 2013, and accompanied the announcement with a playable demo. Given the unique nature of the title which is aimed at surprising the player and breaking their expectations, a traditional demo that would showcase some parts of the actual game would take away from the surprise in the full title. They also found that using a section of the game, taken out of context, left playtesters confused and annoyed with no understanding of that section without including additional monologues.[10] Instead, they opted to create a non-traditional demo, which was developed to give the player the flavor of the game, using the same concepts of misconceptions and non-linear storytelling that were part of the original game.[11] This includes a section modeled after a waiting room, which was one of the first elements designed for the demo. According to Wreden, "It catalyzed this sense that even very mundane tasks like sitting in a waiting room are fun if they're not what you're ‘supposed' to be doing".[10] Wreden had sent personalized versions of the demos to Game Grumps and Adam Sessler of Revision3 for Let's Play versions, each including a few re-recorded lines directed at these players; Wreden considered that based on the higher-than-average viewcounts for these videos that this helped towards marketing of the game.[12][13] Wreden considered that the demo received similar coverage as the full title, effectively helping to generate media buzz equal to two game titles for the additional two months of work it took to create the specialized demo.[14]

Reception

Mod

The Stanley Parable modification was praised by journalists as a thought-provoking game, praising it for being a highly experimental game that only took a short amount of time for the player to experience.[26][2][1] Many journalists encouraged players to experience the game themselves, desiring to avoid spoilers that would impact the player's experience, and to offer discussions about the game within their sites' forums.[26] Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica noted that while the game purported gives the player choice, many of these end up lacking an impact, as "to feel like you're in more control than you are".[26] Brighting's voice work was considered a strong element, providing the right dry British wit to the complex narration.[1][27] Alex Aagaard from What Culture believes that The Stanley Parable "will be regarded as one of the most pioneering games of all time" during videogames' transition from entertainment to a legitimate and respected art form. [28]

Within two weeks of its release, the modification was downloaded more than 90,000 times.[2] The game was listed as an honorable mention for the Seamus McNully Grand Prize and "Excellence in Narrative" award at the 15th Annual Independent Games Festival.[29] The Stanley Parable was also a showcased nominee and received the Special Recognition award at IndieCade (the International Festival of Independent Games) in 2012.[30]

High-definition remake

The standalone high-definition remake has received critical acclaim from reviewers.[31][32][33] At Metacritic, as of November 15, 2013, the game holds an 90/100 score based on 37 critic reviews.[16] At GameRankings, it maintains a 91.24% based on 21 critic reviews.[15]

Brenna Hillier of VG247 opines how the standalone game highlights the current problems in writing story-driven games, and that "it takes the very limitations of traditional gaming narratives and uses them to ruthlessly expose their own flaws".[34] Ashton Raze of The Telegraph considered that the game "offers [..] a look at, not a critique of [...] the nature of narrative construction" that can be a factor in other video games.[35]

Wreden reported that more than 100,000 sales were made within the first three days of being available;[12] this was far more revenue than he was expecting, considering that sales from these three days would be enough to allow him to live comfortably and become a full-time developer for the next five years.[36] Wreden plans to release a patch for the standalone version to replace some imagery used in a 1950s-style instructional video which some players believed could be racially offensive.[37]

An announcer pack for Dota 2, featuring the Narrator, is being developed by Wreden and Pugh.[38]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hamilton, Kirk (2011-08-09). "The Stanley Parable Turns Video Game Storytelling On Its Head". Kotaku. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e Schreier, Jason (2011-08-16). "Brilliant Indie Game The Stanley Parable Will Mess With Your Head". Wired. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Matias, Jeff (2011-09-27). "Interview: The Stanley Parable developer Davey Wreden". Shacknews. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  4. ^ a b c d e Yang, Robert (2011-11-11). "Level with Me, Davey Wreden". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  5. ^ a b c Rose, Mike (2013-10-17). "Behind the scenes with The Stanley Parable". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  6. ^ Petit, Carolyn (2013-08-20). "Breaking Out of the Routine: Player Agency in The Stanley Parable". Gamespot. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  7. ^ Walker, John (2012-09-13). "Stanley Clicked "YES": The Stanley Parable Returns". Destructoid. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  8. ^ Grayson, Nathan (2012-10-16). "Postal Dad: Stanliest Gnome – 21 New Games Greenlit". Destructoid. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  9. ^ Wreden, Dave (2013-08-13). "About that name..." Dave Wreden. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  10. ^ a b Tach, Dave (2013-10-10). "The Stanley Parable's super clever demo hits Steam today". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  11. ^ Rose, Mike (2013-10-10). "The Stanley Parable: The demo that's not a demo". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  12. ^ a b Hillard, Kyle (2013-10-20). "The Stanley Parable Has Sold More Than 100,000 Copies Since Launch". Game Informer. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  13. ^ Wreden, Davey (2013-10-20). "A postmortem on the launch of the Stanley Parable". Galactic Cafe. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  14. ^ Correia, Alexa Rae (2013-10-21). "The Stanley Parable's popular demo helped make the game a success, dev says". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  15. ^ a b "The Stanley Parable". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  16. ^ a b "The Stanley Parable". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  17. ^ Donlan, Christian (2013-10-17). "The Stanley Parable review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  18. ^ Petit, Carolyn (2013-10-17). "The Stanley Parable review". Gamespot. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  19. ^ MacDonald, Keza (2013-10-18). "The Stanley Parable review". IGN. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  20. ^ Marchiafava, Jeff (2013-10-22). "The Stanley Parable". Game Informer. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
  21. ^ Savage, Phil (October 25, 2013). "The Stanley Parable review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  22. ^ Kollar, Phillip (2013-10-17). "The Stanley Parable Review: The Soul of Wit". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
  23. ^ Raze, Ashton (November 12, 2013). "The Stanley Parable review". The Daily Telegraph. London, England: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  24. ^ Cunningham, James (17 October 2013). "Review: The Stanley Parable". Hardcore Gamer. Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  25. ^ Aaron Riccio (October 17, 2013). "Game Review: The Stanley Parable". Slant Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  26. ^ a b c Kuchera, Ben (2011-08-11). "A tragedy, not a challenge: understanding The Stanley Parable". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  27. ^ Rossignol, Jim (2011-08-04). "So, Yes: The Stanley Parable". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  28. ^ Aagaard, Alejandro (2012-09-21). "Why 'The Stanley Parable' Almost Granted Videogames 'Art' Status". What Culture. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  29. ^ "2013 Independent Games Festival announces Main Competition finalists". Gamasutra. 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  30. ^ "IndieCade 2012 Award Winners-The Complete List". indiegamereviewer.com. October, 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ Hargreaves, Roger (2013-10-21). "The Stanley Parable review – choose your own adventure". Metro. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  32. ^ Anderson, Daniel (2013-10-18). "'The Stanley Parable' simply has to be experienced". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
  33. ^ Kieser, Joe (2013-10-23). "I Choose You". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  34. ^ Hillier, Brenna (2013-10-25). "The Stanley Parable calls shenanigans on narrative-driven design". VG247. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  35. ^ Raze, Ashton (2013-11-12). "The Stanley Parable review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  36. ^ Kuchera, Ben (2013-10-21). "The Stanley Parable creators are struggling with success, and why the best thing you can buy is time". Penny Arcade Report. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  37. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2013-10-23). "The Stanley Parable update in the works to remove offensive images". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
  38. ^ Sarkar, Samit (2013-11-18). "Dota 2 getting Stanley Parable announcer pack". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
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