Letting Go: The Designer’s Dilemma

[originally posted to my LinkedIn profile]

Creative people are trying to solve problems. Problems we haven’t realized we have, problems we forgot about, or problems of which we’re all too aware.

Having worked as both a game designer and writer, I’ve realized that they face similar obstacles. They both need to make something out of nothing. They both want to create feelings, to fill our hearts and minds with new experiences. They both want to challenge and reward us. And they both get their work questioned, prodded, scrutinized, misunderstood, and canned. Every day, all the time.
Continue reading

Interview on Game Story with Wired Magazine

I was delighted to be asked about writing in games last week for a Wired Magazine piece by David Cornish. You can see the finished piece featuring some of my comments, which is well worth a read, here: Press X to skip: the challenge of storytelling in computer games.

Answering his questions gave me an opportunity to refine some of my own theories, so I decided to post my full responses here. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Continue reading

How to do Internal Monologue in Videogames; plus, I’m in a book!

An interesting question came up on the IGDA Writer’s Special Interest Group‘s mailing list, from Anne Toole:

When you’ve got players playing a PC [Player Character] that you want them all to strongly identify with, such that they are the PC, and you’ve got a mechanic where the PC only speaks through internal dialog, what do you believe is the best approach, first or second person? That is, “I think I should pick up the gun on the floor.” vs. “You think you should pick up the gun on the floor.” Continue reading

My Piece on Brevity in the IGDA Perspectives Newsletter

Just a quick update to say that an article I wrote for the IGDA about brevity in games writing is now live in their “Perspectives” newsletter:

For Games Writers, Brevity is the Soul of … What Was it Again?

What with being brief and all, that’s enough from me here. Go read it!

How Game Writing Is The Same As, But Totally Different From, All Other Disciplines

Today I am going to blow your mind with a discipline-by-discipline comparison showing how writing fits into game development. By asking a couple of simple questions, then following up with a few nifty diagrams, this article will change your world for ever.
Continue reading

Zombie Jigsaw: piecing together Left 4 Dead 2

This is the sequel to the sleuthing for the truth article about Brink. First, I should say that it’s a little unfair to compare Brink to Left 4 Dead 2. Brink is essentially a competitive game, whereas Left 4 Dead 2 is co-operative – even in Versus mode. Co-op games offer more time and space for in-game storytelling than competitive ones, because competitive shooters like Team Fortress 2, Counterstrike, or Brink tend to lead to manic, twitch gaming. The best you can hope for with such limited time and attention is some well-placed one-liners. In a co-op game, the experience is more managed, with lows, highs, and potential story moments – similar to single-player.

Continue reading

Sleuthing for the truth: does story matter in a multiplayer game?

I’m a pretty story-aware gamer, for obvious reasons. I have a pathological need to complete every dialogue tree, a determination to hear every variation on a bark, and I even take a perverse delight in spamming all the voice commands in TF2 and Left 4 Dead to any teammate who will listen – “Who’s gonna help me capture this bloody POINT?” – imagine hearing that again and again in the loud Scottish Demoman voice (and please don’t hate me).

You might note that both TF2 and Left 4 Dead (1 & 2) are multiplayer games. You would be correct. TF2 doesn’t have much story, beyond the Class videos, the emerging Announcer / Saxton Hale comics canon, and the fact that each level is effectively a mini-scenario where two groups are fighting for control – a scenario communicated through the level design and art itself. OK, when you write it all down, that does sound like quite a lot of story.

But what I’m thinking of is the more traditional, plot-based story where things happen to characters, who evolve, resulting in new things happening – all within the game. And for this, I want to look at Brink and Left 4 Dead 2.
Continue reading

Failure’s memorable – make it interesting, too

This is my first post on this blog, and it’s turned into a bit of an essay. But this idea’s been knocking about in my head for a while – so, rest assured, I probably won’t have quite this much to say all the time…

The most memorable moment in the long-running saga of me “finishing” Mass Effect 2 was when I knew I wouldn’t have a fully loyal team before The Big Showdown.

Part of the reason that this was memorable was the undeniably solid build-up to this episode. Tali, a crew-member, needed to go protect her reputation and that of her father on her homeworld. Okay, so that’s her story motivation. Big whoop, right?

But then the game invested me in the outcome, by teaching me that how I dealt with my crew’s personal problems would determine their loyalty to me – a measurable outcome affecting the gameplay, my game abilities and potentially the ending of the game (I don’t know about that yet – I did say me “finishing” the game was a long-running saga).
Continue reading