Quote: Original post by Alpha_ProgDes
I didn't realize that writing the game story would be the same as writing a short novel.

Narrative is narrative. If you don't write something people will want to read, there's little point writing it.

But don't forget that the game's background doesn't have to be described with a narrative. If it's a problem for you, you may be able to achieve the same goal -- giving the player a grounding in the game's world -- by writing in an encyclopedic style. You wouldn't be in bad company: D&D campaign setting source books are mainly written in this style.

On the other hand, if you press forward with the narrative approach, you'd have company there, too. Offhand, Elite and Outpost 2 came with complete stories set in the universe of the game. In these cases, though, they were written by experienced science-fiction writers and not the game developers.

Quote: Original post by Nathan Baum

Quote: Original post by Alpha_ProgDes
I didn't realize that writing the game story would be the same as writing a short novel.

Narrative is narrative. If you don't write something people will want to read, there's little point writing it.

But don't forget that the game's background doesn't have to be described with a narrative. If it's a problem for you, you may be able to achieve the same goal -- giving the player a grounding in the game's world -- by writing in an encyclopedic style. You wouldn't be in bad company: D&D campaign setting source books are mainly written in this style.

On the other hand, if you press forward with the narrative approach, you'd have company there, too. Offhand, Elite and Outpost 2 came with complete stories set in the universe of the game. In these cases, though, they were written by experienced science-fiction writers and not the game developers.

I'd go further than Nathan and point out that games are software designed to enable players to tell their own stories. Playing a game is, like playing cops'n'robbers as a kid, inherently a role-playing experience, regardless of the genre. It doesn't have to be labelled an "RPG" for this. Doom, Tomb Raider, Jet Set Willy and even Asteroids and Defender all place the player into an adventure. It's up to the player how he plays his role using his avatar and the game's environment.

ALL the rules of fiction therefore apply to games too. They're just applied in different ways because of how games work. I.e. your job is to ensure the game has all the story elements necessary to allow players to tell entertaining stories. This might be through traditional literary means, such as scripting cut-scenes and writing character dialogue, or using much more subtle means as would be the case in a puzzle game. (For example, "The Incredible Machine" and "The Secret of Monkey Island" are fundamentally the same type of game. The difference is in the user interface, not the core game mechanics as both are based around solving logic puzzles. The latter uses narrative as a reward for the player. The former uses the successful running of the machine as its reward mechanism.)

Decide first what kind of game you want to create and how you intend to present it to the player(s). Only then will you know how best to provide those storytelling tools. You may find a scripted cut-scene works better than, say, a narrated voice-over. Some writers prefer scripting over prose as each requires very different styles of writing.

wow lots of experienced writers on this board! Excellent critiques. Alpha I can't deny that your writing was drawn out and lacking a cohesive rhythm, but I also can't say that it's terrible. It seems like it is merely a rough draft. Why not rewrite it? Now that your thoughts are down on paper, you know exactly how you want the flow of your story to be related to the reader. It helps to know exactly where you are going when describing the way there.

Quote: Original post by Alpha_ProgDes

Quote: You need to give me a reason to care about all the crap you're trying to tell me. Drop me into the meat of the story, and let the setting fill itself out later.

I see you like action flicks [grin]

Actually, this is a general guideline for most of all writing. If a person walks into a bookstore, they aren't going to read the first half of each book to select one. They are going to read the first sentence, maybe page if you are lucky. So maybe you have the best concept ever, but its start is hidden off on page 22, too bad, no one is going to get there. It is a standard technique to hook the reader, and then once they are engaged to fill out the meat. Or as Pete says, it can just be filled in along the way, it is a mistake made by many new writers to think it is necessary to expend paragraphs on mere detail on setting and characters. Also some good advice is "show, don't tell" Don't tell me woman are struck by fear, have them scream and drop their baskets. Don't tell me the main character dislikes his foe, have him glare at his foe icily and grip his sword hilt. The reader wants to experience your world firsthand, not have it described to him as if he is a child too small to understand things himself. ;) Now you do in fact do a decent bit of showing, but there is a lot of telling that ought to be replaced ;). As far as material its not bad, definitely some potential there. Just shape up the writing a bit. And game writing doesn't have to be like novel writing, only if you intend on having the player read it ;). If its more for you and won't directly be seen by the player you just have to make sure the plot is good, even if the writing isn't so tasteful.