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How much dialogue a day is good progress? A medium-length cut-scene? A book?
Luiishu535- 02/23/2016 08:31 PM
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CloseFrom my experience, a medium-length cutscene on one day is already pretty fast. I usually mull over my dialogue for multiple days or even weeks in my head before finally writing something down, and even then revising it later is almost unavoidable.
I guess it mostly depends on what sort of dialogue you want to write, though.
I guess it mostly depends on what sort of dialogue you want to write, though.
It all depends on how much time you have. I might write the first draft of a cutscene in a day, but then I'll go back later and think it over and try to refine it. It may even get more revision when I actually put it in the editor ^_^
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
For comparison's sake, professional writers like Stephen King and Jack London write about 1500-2000 words a day. Granted, there's a lot more than just dialogue in those words, but there you go.
I've got no real science to back this for RM games, but if you're just talking strict dialogue in a separate document, then I'd average about 500-600 words in a dedicated day would be a respectable sum. Though it would take about twice as long if you want to include lots of character movement and other stuff that goes in a cutscene in addition to dialogue.
I've got no real science to back this for RM games, but if you're just talking strict dialogue in a separate document, then I'd average about 500-600 words in a dedicated day would be a respectable sum. Though it would take about twice as long if you want to include lots of character movement and other stuff that goes in a cutscene in addition to dialogue.
Yeah, I suppose that writing, like everything else, depends on how focused you are/how much time you have. I feel like I sit and focus for a while and then poof; I'm in the groove and write a couple of lines. I will off course come back to the dialogue material and re-read and check if I need to fix, or improve something.
I just checked my document and I had written 1015 words (of course, some of these are also names). My biggest struggle is that English isn't my native language, which results in me usually having to look up a lot of stuff grammar-related. I'm kind of happy with the result though, mainly because I don't see writing as my biggest strength when it comes to proper grammar in game development. This wasn't a dedicated day as well, so I'm pretty sure that I could've gone above and beyond if it was.
Thanks for sharing your interesting thoughts on the subject. I find it important to have small goals and not to aim for a final version on the first try. I think a script should start off by covering the basic/fundamental aspects and then get improved upon by future revisions.
EDIT: A fun and useful thing I also did while writing today was to read the dialogue out loud (I even tried to voice act the characters a little). I think this helps especially if you have a tendency to write weird/jazzy dialogue that people wouldn't often say out loud. You could also just talk before you write, and then write down the dialogue with the guidance of your lips and the supreme power of sound.
I just checked my document and I had written 1015 words (of course, some of these are also names). My biggest struggle is that English isn't my native language, which results in me usually having to look up a lot of stuff grammar-related. I'm kind of happy with the result though, mainly because I don't see writing as my biggest strength when it comes to proper grammar in game development. This wasn't a dedicated day as well, so I'm pretty sure that I could've gone above and beyond if it was.
Thanks for sharing your interesting thoughts on the subject. I find it important to have small goals and not to aim for a final version on the first try. I think a script should start off by covering the basic/fundamental aspects and then get improved upon by future revisions.
EDIT: A fun and useful thing I also did while writing today was to read the dialogue out loud (I even tried to voice act the characters a little). I think this helps especially if you have a tendency to write weird/jazzy dialogue that people wouldn't often say out loud. You could also just talk before you write, and then write down the dialogue with the guidance of your lips and the supreme power of sound.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Good progress is when you make good dialog. The quantity matters less than how much suck you can remove.
I usually just mull it over without touching the engine, then if I like the dialogue bit, I write it into the game. This usually requires rewriting later, but getting general ideas in early can help you keep your focus of what you're trying to get across.
I RP over weekends, so if my dialogue doesn't feel natural in my games, I'll edit it so it 'flows' like regular speech. My cutscenes are about 5-8 minutes in length on average, but I try not to make them too verbose, nor are they 7 mins ( on average ) of pure dialogue with no pauses.
It helps a lot if you really 'get' your characters. If you understand their needs, desires, wants etc. and understand their dynamism with other characters, writing dialogue becomes far less of a chore as well.
It helps a lot if you really 'get' your characters. If you understand their needs, desires, wants etc. and understand their dynamism with other characters, writing dialogue becomes far less of a chore as well.
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