THROUGH LITERARY-TINTED GLASSES: WRITING FOR A GAME

Hey guys. I'm quite new here, but you may have seen me offering assistance for any budding developers in need of a writer for their project. Now, I've worked in the literature industry for nearly nine years. I've seen the in's and out's, what's good and what's not so good, the brilliant and the... eh.

Basically, I'm a writer, and I've recently decided to work on small indie projects with you guys. So here's a little article for you all. You may find it interesting, you may not, but for all readers, buckle up; this might take a while, and I've no screenshots.

So, writing for the games industry. Pretty neat, huh? Seems like an easy job at first, but it's not. There's a lot to it, and more writing than you'd expect, that goes into one game.

Let's take a look at where writing pops up:

1. The plot itself. Games, no matter what their genre, have some kind of plot or driving concept behind the whole thing. This is seemingly most prevalent in RPG's, where storytelling and narrative are key to the experience. Characters, too, get their fair share of writing behind them. To use an iconic example, take Dante, from the Devil May Cry series. Now, don't whine about the origin story that is DmC. I'm talking about the Dante from Devil May Cry 1 through to 4. He's cocky, assured of himself, strong, and able to take stabs to the heart in his stride. I don't know many people like that. Do you? But let's take a deeper look at his character. He's torn between his demonic side and his human side, tortured by the path his brother took but ultimately determined to fight his kine for a community that will never fully accept him. Now that is some deep stuff, right there.

2. Scripts. Not programming scripts, but the actual directions and dialogue behind the action. Gestures, speech, thoughts, even the surroundings may have some literary influence. Take a look at your standard cutscene. Seriously, go boot up a game and find one. Now. I'll wait for you.

...You done? Brilliant. Now list all the actions of one character, however small. Did they raise their hand? Wave? Shout for cover? Accept orders? Roll out a snappy one-liner? Get killed? That was all scripted. One single character is literally a microcosm of thoughts, feelings, and dialogue. All of these, especially if it's the character you're playing as, have to be portrayed creatively, and in such a way that makes them appealing to you, the player.

3. Menus and Items. I'll lump these in together because this is the other large chunk. Subtext, menu choices, flavour text on items, items names, quest lines, etc. All of these are written out in text or scripted in dialogue, or otherwise portrayed. Sure, the Buster Sword on its own, in text, doesn't look too cool. But when you couple that with the story behind that one weapon, you bring a whole new level to the narrative of Final Fantasy VII's franchise. The journey of the Buster Sword from Angeal, to Zack, to Cloud, is a story that permeates the entire series. If it was just a simple, military-grade long sword being passed down, it wouldn't carry much weight, now would it?

Similarly, the quest lines in World of Warcraft each portray a singular story. The Goldshire quests in Elwynn Forest picture a small town struggling due to short-staffed Stormwind Guards trying to keep this outlying town safe and well-stocked. Even the innkeeper needs things from you, and hey, he's got a roaring trade set up.

Writing adds flavour, and depth, to all aspects of a video game. When coupled with art style, play, and the overall product, it gives one new side to an already immersive experience.

However, and this is where it gets a little odd. Writing for a novel, and writing for a game, couldn't be more different. Porting the skillset of a successful writer into a video game is all well and good, but it won't get the job done. It certainly won't get the job done well, either.

Now, I've yet to start work on the projects I accepted when I put that thread up, but I can tell you this. After studying the writing behind games, from Grandia to Tekken 6, I can tell you that this won't be easy for me. There's a lot of things I have to work around, or work with, that may not sit right with me. Artistic vision of the developer will point me in one direction, where I may see another. But ultimately, their vision will be right. It's their product, their character, their game, their story, etc. When developing plots I have a lot more freedom, but I will still have to curb that to suit the needs of my client. Even when it comes to flavour text, I'll have to portray something that already suits the style and function of the pre-existing product.

There're some articles on RMN about creating immersive characters and plotlines, and I applaud them for their advice and their quality, but it isn't as simple as that. I should set up a bunker to shelter in, for when this ultimately attracts the attention of one of these article writers, who then decides to slate me for commenting on something I've no real practical experience in. Eh, I'll stand up and weather this storm. These articles are good for writing about a game, but they aren't all that good for creating them. A successful game does not have to lean on its writing, or graphics, or gameplay, to be good. In fact, this is never the case. A fantastically written plot will be let down by fourth-rate art styles and clunky gameplay, whilst fantastic gameplay will be let down by a poor art style and bad writing, and brilliant art styles will be let down by shoddy writing and lackluster gameplay.

We are not writing novels. We are not drawing or painting art. We are not creating films.

We are making games. A new, young, fresh platform able to combine all three of the above for a truly new experience, and a medium for creating experiences deeper than any book, film, or painting could ever portray. Writing for a game is not as simple as creating interesting characters and non-linear plots. It is about adding flavour to a world, just as art style and gameplay adds flavour. It is one shade of a multi-hued masterpiece, one side of a grand model, one cluster of pixels in a grand sequence of renderings. And whilst good characters, and a great plot are vital for a game's success, they are not the only factors that will make a good game.

By that token, e-mail me questions pertaining to writing for games to the address found on my profile, and I will address them in subsequent articles. This is a very vague article that will can branch off into a bunch of focussed topics, so over time, I will do so.

Ciao for now, and Merry Christmas to you all,

D. A. Darlington.