Page 1 of 1

Examples for encoding Requirements: How things are changing

Posted: May 23, 2012 2:45 pm
by iqbal
I understand requirements as things that must be satisfied in order to reach the Story Goal. However I am struggling with an example of encoding How Things are changing as a Requirement.

For example in a story where :
Story goal is Future - Some people trapped in a haunted house, need to find the exit to survive
Requirements: How things are changing - [What to use here]

All examples I can think of seem to be more to do with Understanding, or Doing. For example, people trying to figure out what is going on or why things are happening (seem more like understanding).

Apologies if this post makes no grammatic sense - a little sleep deprived at the moment :-)

Re: Examples for encoding Requirements: How things are chang

Posted: May 24, 2012 4:01 pm
by SilentRuse
Well, you can play around with this pretty well. Since it's a haunted house, maybe the house morph's at given times, providing different routes and or possible exits, and maybe when they first entered there was no way out, but when the house morphs (How things are changing) an exit presents itself.

You can also stretch it, maybe something about the house doesn't have to change, but a person. Everyone wants to escape, and yet one person gets the idea not to escape, but embrace the house entirely, and by doing so leads him to an area of the house the presents an exit they never would have found otherwise.

The fun thing about dramatica is its flexibility, so long as you can word a sentence or situation that forms (And makes sense) to the subject at hand. I'm pretty sure someone can give a better example than me though since I'm just starting out and my knowledge on Dramatic is still green around the ears.

Re: Examples for encoding Requirements: How things are chang

Posted: May 29, 2012 7:55 am
by Chris Huntley
I think your example about the morphing house is a sound one. In fact, it has been used in several films including the remake of 13 Ghosts. I think you can imagine a whole lot of ways where How Things Are Changing might be requirements for a story goal of The Future.

For instance, if the goal was that someone interested in the house wanted to set it up as a future tourist attraction for a dying town, then the improvements and renovations being made to the house could be seen as necessary steps to achieving that goal.

Or how about a house from the future that has somehow time-shifted to the present. The goal could be to send it back to the future, or prevent a possible future by destroying it. Then the requirements either describe the progress made toward sending it back or tearing it apart depending which version you choose.

Or how about a haunted house that can show you the future, but only if you go through its progressively stranger and more frightening rooms on the way to the fortune tellers secret closet.

I'm not saying these examples are any good EXCEPT to illustrate how Story Requirements of How Things Are Changing might be illustrated.

Have fun with your story. Cheers,