How to build Tertiary Motion into Gameplay?

In this new article I will share some of my thoughts on how to achieve a level of visual narration in video games that comes close to that of film. This is of interest to game writers with a background in film and literature especially, because most of them have difficulties in adapting to the differences of the video game medium.


Video Games: Not Suited for Tertiary Motion?

Film is often hailed as the art of montage or editing, which is the re-arrangement of recorded events. Montage or editing creates the type of motion that we call tertiary motion (or sequence motion). In other words, tertiary morion is the visual development of a screen event based on shot variation, especially through the use of cuts. Here, so it seems, lies one of the bigger differences between films and video games. While in most films, tertiary motion lies at the heart of the aesthetic experience, in games we rarely see tertiary motion during gameplay, because it makes control difficult. Todays games are heavily based on a combination of secondary motion (camera moves) and primary motion (moving objects). This is also the main reason why game-trailers shouldn't be seen as promises regarding gameplay. A trailer is something to watch, not to control; usually it is built on an amount of tertiary motion that the game would not be able to support during gameplay for reasons of player control.


A Brief Overview of Tertiary Motion in Video Game History

Despite the huge technical developments in the history of video games, it is interesting to see that tertiary motion could not really break through. As I said, propably the reason for this is the different positioning of the participating player in games, requiring control over movement and decisions, which is seemingly not getting along well with tertiary motion types (because basically they appear to be the result of someone elses decision).


Primary Motion Games

The typical action-arcade game of the 70s would be a game based on primary motion (object motion), like theatre so to say, where we have a static frame or a 'stage' and objects move within it, or in and out of it: Pong. Space Invaders, Centipede etc... Secondary motion (camera movement) was not part of the gameplay yet. It was more often used during level transitions, for example when our spaceship advanced to a new level in a space-shooter and seemed to move forward until a new group of enemy ships cut our way. Tertiary motion (or sequence motion) usually would be only observable at the beginning of the game, during transitions between levels, and at the end of the game. For example, the game would cut or fade to another static screen, like the Highscores screen. A few game that broke this rule come in mind, but they rather seem to be rare: Asteriods used cuts (tertiary motion) during gameplay, which functioned as a jump to another 'slide' when your spaceship travelled out of the previous one. Joust worked the same way. A genre that seemed more suitable for this kind of Tertiary motion was the adventure game, because of it's sequential progress of puzzles and the progress from "room to room" of which each one was a different slide.


Secondary Motion Games

With the introduction of side-scrollers, secondary motion (a moving camera during gameplay) became an essential part of video games. Now not only objects moved, but also the camera. However, tertiary motion again, could not be found much during gameplay, but rather at the beginning and ends, or inbetween levels. Secondary motion was usually limited along the x and y-axis. The game scrolled to the left or the right, or up and down. In some games you could also zoom into events, but this was not yet continuous motion along the z-axis.


Advanced Secondary Motion: 3D Games

When 3D graphics arrived, we were now able to move the virtual camera continously along the z-axis, and into whatever other direction we want; which gave incredible depth to the games, but actually still none of these games were based on tertiary motion. Again video games were based on primary and secondary motion. Usually at the beginning of an FPS, we were "discovered" by an NPC, who spoke while directly looking into the camera, thereby establishing the "subjective camera" that represents us, and after that, we moved this "subjective" camera (secondary motion) around and engaged with enemies that moved within our range-of-view (enemy moves being primary motion).


Is it the Turn of Tertiary Motion?

It can be said that still today, sceen events in most of the video games genres are articulated differently from those in film, things becoming more problematic when tertiary motion is involved. In most games, events are placed along the pathway of one long uncut shot, seen through a single camera that continously travels through the virtual environment. An important part of storytelling and dramatization is done with the help of graphication devices such as HUD-displays and other visual elements that blend in during gameplay.. and sound of course.

These differences require filmic writing approaches to be reviewed. Not necessarily in terms of the basic principles of drama and narration, but in regard to the qualities of the medium. While writing, the writer maybe needs to be aware that the video game "director" cannot make as heavy use of tertiary motion as the film director can. The writer must understand that writing for games requires player control to be considered while we write how the scene unfolds.


Was this article useful? Do you remember any games in which tertiary motion played an essential role in gameplay and narration? How do you see the future of tertiary motion in video games? Leave a comment and share with us!
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