Writing For The Computer Games Industry

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Writing For The Computer Games Industry

• Leanne Taylor

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What's in a story?

• That which we call a story, by any other name,
  would read as well wouldn't it?
• What have you been up to?
• How are you today?
• What happened?
• All of these are requests for stories
• Stories are human interaction (and don't you
  forget it!)

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And what's even more fun...

• If something doesn't make sense, we make up a
  story to explain it
• Even if it makes sense, we still like
  backstories!

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So, on with the show!

• You should have in front of youMy hero is a
  .The antagonist is a
  .The story starts/takes place
  in a .The hero uses a magical
  to defeat his enemy.
• Of course, this is all generic, make what you've
  got make sense

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The Role of a Writer

• The newest form of recognised professional
  writing
• Not a lot of time with any one team
• Mainly a solitary position
• Ideas are what youre there for, so you have to
  believe in them
• Still a new concept in the gaming industry,
  relatively speaking

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You want me to write WHAT?

• Novels dialogue can be convoluted and rely on
  the readers memory, explaining things only once
• Movies dialogue must be short and reiterate
  things the audience may have forgotten, although
  explanations can be longer
• Computer games dialogue must have everything and
  the kitchen sink in a line four words long

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Cant sleep, clownll eat me

• Characters need to explain their situation AND
  how they feel AND their sense of humour AND their
  personality with every line they say
• Assume your audience has the attention span of a
  gnat (and save the fun stuff for side missions)
• People you didnt know existed will come and make
  demands of you
• Everything must be for the good of the game

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Tip for Getting into Character

• You enter a dark forest. A groaning comes from
  behind a nearby tree and a zombie starts
  shambling toward you. What do you do?
• Character A Scream and run!
• Character B Backhand it into the nearest tree.
  Zombie? Who cares?
• Character C Stare at it until it disappears!
  Such a thing cannot exist!
• Character D Unleash it upon the world!

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The Voices Are Your Friends

• Give any character at least three scenes to prove
  themselves
• Write a character bio age, height, weight,
  appearance, mother, father, pets, morals
• If all else fails, write what you know and never
  tell the person youre using as a template (it
  isnt pretty)
• Watch people, but dont get arrested

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Dont just stand there, DO something!

• Actions speak louder than words dont have your
  character say something they can show
• Character is more important than story
  excellent plot boring character boring
• Any plot can have any character, but only your
  character can make it unique

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But, alas, like all things...

• It mainly comes down to hard work
• Luck may play a part, but once you have the job
  it's what you do with it that counts!
• If it's really what you want, keep trying, but
  you have to be passionate
• Good luck!