Environmental Storytelling in Video Games Through the Lens of Film Noir

My project is an interactable video game experience showcased through the lens of film noir, that focuses on the capabilities and benefits of environmental storytelling in video games. With a heavy focus on immersion, my project forces the player to explore a murder scene and encourages them to formulate their own narrative about what has transpired. My project fuels the player’s ability for self-reflection and self-acceptance through the player’s personalized and unique interpretations experienced while exploring the scene I have created. In my paper, I discuss the aspects of environmental storytelling and immersion in video games and how they have affected me on a personal level. Additionally, I discuss how the key facets of film noir, including lighting, characterization through archetypes, censorship, and aesthetics help shape my vision for my project. I also explain my production process and influences involved in modeling my scene from scratch in Autodesk Maya and implementing it in Unreal Engine.