Need tips on environmental storytelling

I'm making a story-driven game, I can't afford voice actors, so I decided to give the story via documents/notes scattered across the game and a bit of actual clues in environment. The only issue is that when it comes to level design and art stuff, I'm completely helpless. I can somehow design a level itself, but I struggle with story things (important note: I have actual story, I'm just not sure how give it to the player)
So, does anyone have any tips (or possibly guides) about this kind environmental storytelling, especially about scattering documents the right way?

 

I'd imagine there's a GDC talk or two about that. You might check.

One general warning - make sure that your story fits the "environmental storytelling" format. That format tends to be used for side content, or to explain things that happened in the past, rather than detail an currently-unfolding narrative.

 

I'd say "don't put series of written documents the player has to pick up and read"
Whatever you can put in there graphicaly, do it. Be it posters or ads or photographs, after-effects (burned or broken furnitures, dead bodies, etc...), or architecture if you want to put some lore, age your assets, put vegetation or wild life, or dust and dirt if everything is dead for long.
If you can animate, put ghosts or simulations, if you can draw, put flashes of the past, and find an organic excuse to put it this way.
And be sure to put in in order for the player the best you can, if you have to, make corridors where the player discovers what happened as he progresses. Or even backwards. Or shuffle it if you want some twists in your storytelling.
Put as much "Oh, so this happened" moments as possible in your bits, so the player stays entertained.
I don't know what your story is, so I can't say if you have to make the player feel for characters or what.
That's how I'd do it, I hope it helps.

 

http://thewritersaurus.com/2015/09/25/motivation-reaction-units/#:~:text=What is a Motivation-Reaction Unit? The completely horrendous,the reaction – to happen. Cause and effect.

I think writer in any medium benefit from understaind MRU's described in link above.
Once you know that, you realize it is almost everywhere in all movies, TV shows, books.

One thing I think is important is that however you are delivering the storytelling, it needs to be done so proactively. What player learns should thrust story forward, not explain something that already happened. That's boring. Only the boredest gamers get anything from reading explanations of something that already happened. Doesn't matter how complex and fascinating the plot is.

This is one area I think games can improve upon a lot. The first dead space does a good job IMO. There isn't very much downtime were we are being bored with exposition or lengthy setup. Something bad happens, the stakes are obvious and dire, we know what we got to do. Get off the ship. But there is an emergency lockdown. Find the override panel. But a fire is blocking the path. Fix the emergency flood system. It needs power though. Get to engine block 9. etc etc. Always very simple to understand and it always moves you one step closer towards the overarching goal.

Then you just let the environment inform player of what the new problems are as they arise. A fire blocks the path. A pile of dead bodies lets you know something ominous is in the area, etc.

SO i think if you design an action oriented story based on the MRU system, filling in the rest becomes much easier.

It will help also to block in your levels, even if you dont have a clue what you want to do with them storywise. Just getting some paint on the canvas can help creativity a lot. Start dropping props in, play around. You might find a composition that looks really cool, then you are able to imagine a story playing out in that space.

 

What kind of story game is it?
Adventure or a scary story game etc?

 

It's closer to scary story game, something like Outlast

 

Okay cool.

Sound can be a big tool, in making scary environmental storytelling games.
For scary moments in the game, use scary sounding music or sounds, to invoke a scary feeling.

As the main character is in an enviroment, that has clues or letters in it, a scary sounding track should play.

And for moments when your character picks up a letter, that has startling details and info written in it, let a short scary sounding music track, or a short scary sound play, during the time the player is reading the letter.

The music and sounds, don't have to be too fancy sounding though.

 

Ever played Myst? Probably a master class in what you're looking for.

 

Besides sound, the way you light a scene, can also help tell a story. Sometimes the colours used on objects or lights in the scene, can help with telling a story too.