Well, just confirmed today I will be working with a new mod team for Dragon Age: Origins. Non-profit, purely a labor of love. Not sure what all I’ll be doing yet; I knew they had a couple writers so I posed my expertise in character development through sideplots and whatnot.
Quite excited to see the new toolset!
I read two articles recently. One was about the love/hate relationship we writers have with our craft, and the other was about how creativity – or to say that writing is a creative process – is a lie. I’ve come to realize that the two things go hand in hand.
It’s something only a writer can understand, really. One moment you start writing and lose yourself in your work. Everything you write flows like a damned golden waterfall; immaculate. You look up and hours have passed, thousands of words now written. The next moment, it’s a chore just to keep yourself planted in the chair. Everything else – even things you’d normally put off – seems to be a better, less painful alternative. You’re not feeling it, and the words that do come out are certain crap.
But then in a month you go back and read what you wrote under both of those times and the Immaculate Prose now seems trite and cliched. And the absolute drivel you penned while in a comatose state? Well. You must have been having an out-of-body experience, because it’s damn good, and you sure as hell can’t remember writing it.
Everyone says that if you want to be a writer, you need to write and write daily. But as artists and the most caustic of critics, we condemn ourselves if we are not feeling ‘creative’, convinced we can write nothing under such duress. But we have to write. Even when we don’t want to do it, we have to. It’s the writer’s affliction, and it has absolutely nothing to do with creativity.
So the next morning you get up and drag yourself to the computer before anyone else is awake, remember this as you stare in agony at a blank screen: If you wait for ‘creativity’ to take hold, you may find yourself still staring at that screen a week, a month, or even a year later.
It’s been a while since I last posted, so I apologize to anyone who has this on their RSS feed. This term and other… events, have kept me quite busy. However, in that time I’ve decided to generalize my portfolio into all forms of writing, as I have recently developed a fascination for an admiration of TV writing. I want to keep a couple of specs on hand just so I have them to show anyone who asks. I’m not sure what I would write though. Most of the shows I am extremely familiar with have been off the air for a few years at least and are in reruns now. Charmed, Angel, Firefly. (Can’t tell I’m a Whedon fan can you?) I even had some ideas for New Amsterdam, but now that’s been hacked too.
I was thinking perhaps Pushing Daisies, or if I’m feeling terribly ambitious and rather crazy, Battlestar Galactica, though that doesn’t have much time left. Love House, but not hip to medical jargon. Taking on a breakout hit like Heroes is just dangerous. Rome, again, favorite of mine but it’s canceled and there’s only so much you can do within the timeline of Roman history that was displayed. I admire the writing style on Gilmore Girls, but it’s a.) been off the air for a couple years and b.) difficult to pull off that snappy banter, though that’s the direction television seems to be taking. However, it allows the most leeway in terms of coming up with plot.
Does anyone know though, when you’re writing a spec should you be writing it for the current season, or an upcoming season? Or can you write it to slip into an earlier season? Because honestly, once Amy Sherman-Palladino left the show, it just wasn’t the same. At all.
Aside from the spec script, I’m planning on entering The People’s Pilot. Essentially it’s a high-profile contest to write a proposal for a new series. I’m in the process of formulating my Ties of Vengeance ideas into a one-hour drama series in the vein of Rome with several different character viewpoints all tied together by common and uncommon enemies. Quite a number of changes to be made of course, and I won’t be able to post it here, but anyone who has experience in this kind of thing and would be willing to read it, I’d be very grateful.
On a game-related note, I finally got my Xbox back after the disc drive kept scratching up my discs and making them unplayable. I ended up exchanging about 5 copies of Mass Effect alone, and then I just got a disc cleaner (which is nice, by the way – the MadCatz one – highly recommended) but the disc kept scratching up and erroring literally right before the final boss fight. I would clean it and put it back in, but the same thing happened. Fun stuff I tell ya! But they just gave me a whole new system and a month of free Xbox Live for my trouble. Of course now I need a bridge to actually play online, but that’s another matter.
In the wake of my console’s homecoming, I purchased Call of Duty 4. I had heard good things about the story, and so far I think it is quite interesting, though not as much as I was lead to believe. Still, for a true war-time FPS, the story is good, and the elements of storytelling are effective. I definitely love that you play as different soldiers and get different viewpoints. Right now I’m on Price’s flashback mission. Last time I tried it I got my throat ripped out by a dog. 
Romance in games. I’m very vocal about it. So this week I wanted to draw your attention to an article I very much enjoyed:
I Wanna Kill Zombies and Aliens Together, by Girls Don’t Game author Monique.
Whether they’re willing to admit it, I believe romance is a memorable element that everyone can appreciate in games – when it’s appropriate. It makes a story more compelling. No one is altruistic enough to want to save the world. But they will go to the ends of the earth (or the galaxy) to save the one they love.
That said, I’m not very happy with romance in games, in its current state. Open-ended games like Mass Effect don’t delve deep enough to scratch the surface of what makes love so dynamic and so magnetic to us, and linear games take love out of our hands and make it, in many cases, far more epic than most of us appreciate.
Tomorrow I will be having a meeting to discuss the plot and companions of a NWN2 project I am currently working on, which is yet to be announced. One of the topics on the agenda is the depth of companion romances, so I will likely be posting my thoughts here as well.
On that same topic, I also found an interview with Ray Muzyka about the future of romance and sex in Bioware games. Despite the whole Blair Witch shaky camera stuff, it’s an interesting mini-interview: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/03/10/bioware-talks-video-game-romance-in-the-post-sexbox-era/
Classes have started again, and the first assignment in my Game Design Process class was to create three game concepts that we might like to build in Unreal. I wanted to share my three. The one I’ve chosen to continue is Unreliable, but I’d love feedback on all of them.
Quantum Crisis
Genre: FPS/RPG
Theme: At what point does duty cross into complete lack of choice and individualism?
Story: You play as Adrian Trudeau, a young Captain of the Fleet sent to a remote island with a squadron of four soldiers under your command. Your orders:
1.) Find and secure the research specimens
2.) Retrieve any documentation
3.) Destroy the facility
Things do not go according to plan, however. You are forced to kill to complete your mission; merely an extension of your duty. And yet as you reach the research facility, you begin to realize that you have followed your orders directly into the pit of what promises to be eternal guilt.
Setting: Island jungle research facility. Assets include tunnel, huts, research bunker, supplies, ATV, helicopter, various furnishings and area items, foliage.
Characters: PC, four soldiers; marine class (allies), two soldiers (enemies), four researchers (enemies), six civilians (enemies).
Gameplay: First-person ‘slaughter’ shooting mixed with squad tactics. Single-player CTF mechanics: NPCs can alter your gameplay experience by claiming resources first. Story Integration: Playable ‘flashbacks’, narrative techniques woven into gameplay. ‘Leap’ mechanic: Relics from the facility will trigger intense bouts of emotion for the player that leap them into the lives of others.
Fallacy
Genre: Non-violent FPS
Theme: Propaganda and fear-mongering are dangerous tools in even the most well-intentioned hands.
Story: Paranoia has broken out in your small colony. Your people have been subjected to martial law after sabotage propagated against the civilian-based government. Such actions are threatening your way of life – the utopia you as a people have strived to achieve – and you, a reporter who has always maintained rather strong opinions, now find yourself a chief suspect. Now you must use the only tool in your arsenal – your camera – to get yourself off the hook and the subsequent chopping block. Will you search for the truth, or just make a convincing argument to put someone else in hot water?
Setting: Block of a rundown city, much like the Cylon-occupied Caprica in Battlestar Galactica. Assets include various buildings (no entry), vehicles, area items for flavor, propaganda materials.
Characters: PC, colony president, colony advisor, three prominent townsfolk, eight civilians, four soldiers.
Gameplay: First-person camera shooting to record certain actions. Choice-based mechanics: Player can search only for the true culprit, catch incriminating shots of innocent people, or go so far as to alter subjects and photos.
Unreliable
Genre: FPS
Theme: Sometimes the person you must trust the least is yourself.
Story: As one of the last remaining ‘pureblood’ humans, you were snatched up from a young age and brainwashed for use by the Galactic Civil Alliance as part of a project to create an unquestionable board of officials meant to represent all of humanity. But during the Rebellion you were freed from your prison, only to enter one that is far worse by comparison. Without the drugs to which your body has become acclimated, you are beginning to hallucinate. Not only can you not recognize friend from foe, but you’re not entirely sure what humanity really looks like anymore…
Setting: Interior of the experimental facility, now under siege by the Rebel Strike Force. Assets include animated lights, animated doors, animated lift, cameras, alarm systems, various area items for flavor.
Characters: PC, experiment facilitator, Rebel Strike Force Captain, five Rebels, five GCA soldiers, two security bots, one medic bot.
Gameplay: Standard ‘slaughter’ shooting when applicable. Literary technique: Unreliable Narrator. This technique greatly affects gameplay as the player can never be sure if what they’re seeing is reality or a hallucination from withdrawal. This encompasses not only enemies and setting, but also weapons.
Nintendo is running a new ad campaign called I Play For Me, showing America Ferrera, Liv Tyler, and Carrie Underwood playing their favorite games on the Nintendo DS. Personally I think it’s a great idea. I admire these three women and think it will be a great way to get girls interested in the DS. I’m sure many young girls idolize these women, and seeing them playing a DS will inspire them to pick one up.
However! I really quite loathe the execution. Maybe I’m just abnormal – I was raised around guys, my best friends are guys, and I’ve always been a huge tomboy – but how many of you play games like that? Liv Tyler’s long and girly sigh, Carrie’s cooing. Perhaps that’s a good image for younger girls to respond to – something very feminine. But for those of us who know that girls do play games, it doesn’t do much to dispel the myth that girls only play casual games, and in a very… girly way.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. I applaud Nintendo’s strides, but I would have loved to have seen some different direction on these commercials.
I’ve only ever taken one fiction writing workshop in my life. Everything I’ve learned about writing has been through reading and experimenting. And though my reading has turned a bit non-traditional (from books to games and online fiction), I still consume at least 10 articles every week. This is in large part why I decided to start the ND Roundup posts on Wednesdays.
Yesterday I mentioned that many writers find difficulty in writing dialogue. If you aspire to be a narrative designer, it’s a hurdle you need to not only overcome, but conquer. Here are a few good tips to bolster your toolset and help you practice better dialogue. There’s only one link this week, but I think you’ll get your time’s worth out of it.
Since all of the paperwork has been processed and my accounts are all set up I thought I would share that I have been hired on to work as a writer for Nemesis Studios, an independent development studio currently working on a browser-based game entitled Goon World: Shadows of the Depression. This game will be a prelude to their larger, ongoing project, an MMO with 1930’s mafia flair.
It’s certainly a different genre for me, so I’m hoping my participation will provide valuable experience. Regardless, I’m excited about contributing to the Goon World project.
I will also be tutoring for Westwood this next term, offering assistance to the Game Art and Design students. I’m excited about this as well, as I quite enjoy helping people, but I just hope I’ll be able to offer enough guidance to help students through their snags.
I haven’t played GTA IV yet. I want to, but I’m generally one of those people who waits before buying a new game, unless it’s something I’ve followed closely for months, or from a franchise I like. (Thusly why I was standing at EB waiting for their 10:30am truck shipment so I could snag Sly 3 on release day…)
Actually, I haven’t played any of the GTA games with the exception of the first one, and that was some time ago. So yesterday I decided to rectify that travesty. Also, I just felt like stealing cars and mowing down pedestrians. Ah the days of Road Rage 3D. But my main reason for playing was not a stress release, though admittedly it was much needed. Rather, I had read on countless blogs and review sites that the writing in the more story-centric GTAs was fantastic and an example of what good writing can and should be in a sandbox title.
Taking a note from the pages of Write the Game’s Keira Peney I have decided to start a weekly post dedicated to sharing articles, blog posts, and anything else I’ve found useful for the aspiring or current narrative designer. Lacking in originality, I’m calling it ‘ND Roundup’, and today I’d like to give a nod to the narrative designers on my blogroll. In case you haven’t looked recently, I’ve re-categorized and added several new links. Here are some of my favorite posts from the aforementioned blogs:
Stephen Dinehart is a vocal advocate for the use of the term ‘narrative designer’ to describe the ‘total package’ writer who works on the project from start to finish and has a full understanding of the development pipeline as well as their role therein.
Writing a Kick-Ass Game Script 1 2 3
I wish I had found Keira Peney’s blog sooner – it is full of entertaining and educational posts of great benefit to the narrative designer, not the least of which is this three part series on writing a game script that interweaves writing and gameplay in a seamless manner.
Good Writers Make Better Game Designers
Most every narrative designer – aspiring, current, or otherwise – has read Adam Maxwell’s opinion piece on, let’s say euphemistically, the merits of hiring a game designer over a writer. Sande Chen and Anne Toole, collectively known as the Writer’s Cabal, posted a thought-provoking rebuttal in the comments section which they then added to their blog.
Spencer Carroll and I have become good friends over our email chats regarding his blog and he now works with me for Rogue Dao Studios. Like myself, he is an aspiring narrative designer. In this post he has shared some great portfolio tips provided to him by an industry writer.
Video Games are Bad for You? Working up to Zero
Brenda Brathwaite has long been an idol of mine and with good reason. I spent literally an hour trying to choose a post to highlight here because each and every one of them contains a wealth of information. Though not specifically geared toward game writing, a narrative designer should be, in my opinion, quite intimately familiar with game design and game theory: this is how great integration of gameplay and story happens. So in short, read all the posts on her blog. To illustrate this point, I ended up choosing a passionate post that is relevant not to game or narrative designers, but to everyone who loves games.
