Navigating the Stormy Waters of Interactive Narrative Development in VR

Developing a VR experience has always been daunting for many reasons, be it the pressure of crafting a novel concept or narrative or developing a ground-breaking but intuitive mechanic that elevates user experience and playability to the next level. With the increased interest in interactive storytelling experiences over the years, creative practitioners have begun experimenting with immersive storytelling techniques in VR, giving their audience a certain amount of agency to influence or participate in the narrative rather than remain an invisible spectator.

WHAT MAKES INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING IN VR SO CHALLENGING?

Freedom. While VR offers the user the leniency to look around, navigate, explore and interact with a virtual environment, this leniency contradicts the storyteller's goal of driving the audience's focus towards what they want them to see.

Unlike a film, the audience (or participant) is not limited to the vista projected onto a silver screen or a black mirror, implying that keeping their attention on specific artefacts crucial to the narrative is even more challenging. Often, the audience will see what they want to see and interact with what they want to interact with, and the more detailed a world becomes in VR, the more there is to explore and the more there is to be distracted by.

Similar to the freedom of exploring space, incorrectly pacing a narrative experience in VR can always lead to inconsistencies among audiences. Cues that are obvious to some might take longer to notice for others, leading to uncomfortable periods of inactivity where the individual is stuck looking for a way out, thus losing narrative momentum.

Another obstacle in seamless, immersive storytelling is the balance between narration and interactivity. When I was developing At the Threshold of the Afterlife, a narrative experience in which the audience embodies a departed soul trapped in limbo, the audience's responses were either where they were engaged with the story or were too busy being immersed in the interactivity of the space.

Personally, the question has always been how much of the narrative a person must be allowed to affect without sacrificing the narrative for playability.

PLANNING YOUR NARRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Pre-production is crucial to avoid any errors in production design and development of the experience. The success of an interactive experience depends on how well-planned each aspect of the simulation is. Pre-production consists of the following steps:

NARRATIVE DEVELOPMENT

It all begins with a story. As a creative, I usually start narrative development with an emotion or a theme which is generally the seed that breathes life into the narrative. Once established, the word serves as a guide in a story's development. I write a short story or a free verse poem inspired by that word, focusing primarily on the narrative and less on its feasibility as an interactive experience. The objective is to flesh out a compelling and engaging narrative.

EXPERIENCE DESIGN

With a rough narrative developed, the next step would involve creating a preliminary design of an interactive and engaging experience that facilitates the narrative. This design should decide the story's sequence in an interactive setting. Does the narrative progress linearly, or do the various choices that the audience makes drive them along different paths?

Like any traditional story, interactive narrative experiences require perspectives to be established within the story's world. As an author, you must establish from what perspective the story is being told. Will it be experienced from the point of view of a character in the story or are the events narrated from the perspective of an outsider - somebody with no stake in the story? In addition to establishing perspectives in storytelling, the author must also think about how interactions between the audience and the story will be. Be wary that the design of a narrative has the potential to change at any given time, with its components questioned at any point. The goal is to develop an interactive narrative that is concrete and stable. Ultimately, a simulation in VR thrives when it perfectly imitates real life.

While it is important to pace a narrative experience in VR well enough for the audience to breathe in the story, it is important to have a UX design that is straightforward and intuitive. Interactive elements in the story must have clear signifiers and the feedback must be instantaneous. Delays between input and feedback can result in the audience losing focus and drifting away from the narrative.

The best way to present the product of a narrative and experience design is through a storyboard. Much like in filmmaking and animation, a storyboard depicts a series of frames that visualize crucial events, demonstrating how the narrative will manifest into a finished product.

Above: The above video depicts an audio-visual storyboard for At the Threshold of the Afterlife. Unlike most storyboards, it features an audio component. The decision was made to give as much clarity on the narrative as the sound was a crucial part of the experience.

MOOD BOARD

This can be a collage of different references that paint a picture of the aesthetic and design of various aspects of an interactive experience i.e., a mood board can comprise references concerning the experience's visual atmosphere, colour palettes, stylization and sound design. While the storyboard serves as a foundation for the narrative, the mood board serves as a visual guide to develop aesthetics and a finished product.

Above: A mood board depicting references for the aesthetics of a forest environment.

Both the storyboard and the mood board serve as a bible for developing interactive experiences, ensuring that the narrative and aesthetic follow through during production and development.

INTERACTION DESIGN

This step follows establishing a general outline of the experience's design. As stated earlier, the main challenge in this area of pre-production is balancing engaging storytelling with interactivity. In my opinion (and experience), a story should precede everything else in a narrative experience.

Interactivity should merely drive audience engagement and pull down the invisible wall between them and the story. An interaction should feel simple, straightforward and intuitive, allowing audiences of varying levels of experience with VR to comfortably familiarize themselves with the controls and mechanics of the experience while keeping them focused on the narrative.

Above: Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness effectively demonstrates the spatial quality of immersive audio in VR, giving audiences the feeling of being truly present.

Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness is an interactive narrative in VR built from the audio-cassette recordings made by Prof. John M. Hull where he documents his experiences as a blind man. The simulation creates empathy in the audience, allowing them to walk in his shoes and see the world through his eyes. The simulation's interaction design is kept simple, employing only gaze-tracking technology to interact with the virtual environment and progress through the narrative. This ensures that the audience can focus on the narrative and not be distracted by the efforts made to familiarize themselves with the game mechanics.

Efficient interaction design is achievable through a combination of sufficient research and prototyping. The effectiveness of a VR design can be validated only through hands-on testing and experimentation.

DESIGN FOR PERFORMANCE AND OPTIMIZATION

Despite how VR can extend reality, nothing built is without cost. While optimization happens during production, it is crucial to consider the cost of implementing the respective mechanics and aesthetics in the experience during pre-production.

Accounting for simulation performance in pre-production involves deciding on what configuration the experience will run on in terms of hardware and software. When developing an experience, the author must establish whether it will be a tethered VR experience (PCVR) or a standalone one (Mobile). Concerning software specifications, they must decide on the development software as the game engine and the various 2D and 3D software necessary to build the narrative in an interactive setting while being mindful of the merits and risks involved.

IMPLEMENTING YOUR NARRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Once you have a detailed plan of your simulation's narrative and design, the next step involves implementing an interactive prototype based on the research and tests done during pre-production. The following guidelines outline the best practices when developing the simulation. Note that these are merely suggestions based on prior experience. Ultimately, it is left to the author/developer to decide what method works for them.

DEVELOPING THE FIRST ITERATION

The first iteration should focus on successfully implementing the UX design and interactivity. High-quality visuals cannot mask broken and inefficient design. The first iteration would feature the proper implementation of the interaction mechanics and demonstrate a clear user flow. While the entire narrative does not need to be featured in the prototype, it helps to feature enough of the story for users to witness the narrative and provide sufficient feedback on their experience.

The above video demonstrates a low-fidelity prototype developed to validate choosing the Grab Mechanic in Unreal Engine as the core interaction mechanic for At the Threshold of the Afterlife. Priority was given to implementing the mechanic with Grey-boxing used to represent the virtual space.

ASSET DEVELOPMENT

While priority is usually given to developing a low-fidelity prototype that demonstrates the user flow and interaction mechanics, a smaller percentage of one's development time can be dedicated to building the various 2D and 3D assets that will eventually replace the placeholder assets used in the interactive prototype. Based on user feedback and other tests, these assets can undergo significant changes during development.

REFINING THE PROTOTYPE

Once complete, the high-fidelity 2D and 3D assets can be integrated with the interactive prototype, replacing existing placeholder assets. Note that the finished assets must be optimized based on the hardware and device used to play the simulation. Once integrated, a sufficient number of tests must be done to ensure the simulation is performant before presenting the finished product.

SUBSEQUENT IMPROVEMENTS

Note that the development process is seldom straightforward with the possibility of modifications in the narrative's design, the interactive elements and the visuals based on the audience's feedback. Improvements can and will be made at different stages of the prototype's development.

CLOSING REMARKS

Before presenting your project to your audience, they must be aware of the themes explored in the narrative and have at the very least, a basic understanding of how VR works and its potential risks. Narratives often feature sensitive content and audiences must be comfortable participating in the experience.

Many moving parts make an interactive narrative VR experience. While creating an experience that promises audience engagement and immersion takes effort, sticking to a process, at the very least, ensures that a strong foundation is laid. Designs and aesthetics can be altered, but where there is no process, there is nothing to experience.

REFERENCES

Panikker, P. (2023) At the threshold of the Afterlife [PCVR experience]. Available at: [https://youtu.be/-rsihAe42b8] [Accessed: 10 March 2025].
Nicolae, D.F. (2018) 'Spectator Perspectives in Virtual Reality Cinematography.
The Witness, the Hero and the Impersonator', Ekphrasis, 2018(2), pp. 168-180. doi: 10.24193/ekphrasis.20.10. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330362189_Spectator_Perspectives_in_Virtual_Reality_Cinematography_The_Witness_the_Hero_and_the_Impersonator [Accessed: 10 March 2025].
Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness (2016). Oculus Quest [Game]. Ex Nihilo, ARTE France & Archer’s Mark: France.