Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Who Am I, Anyway? 3
Who Is This Book Aimed At? 4
Theory, Practice, and Implementation 5
Focusing on Indie Productions 5
How Is the Videogames Industry Structured? 6
Why Not Write About Writing for AAA? 8
Focusing on Writing 10
Games Are Not Special 11
Therefore, the Intention of the Book 13
How to Read My Perspective 13
Part I Theory
Chapter 1 Craft 19
What Do You Mean, 'Storytelling Is a Craft? 19
Educated Fan, Amateur, or Professional 21
The Material Context of Games 22
Narrative Design Is Not Writing and Vice Versa 23
The Different Layers of Writing in a Game 24
Why Is Vocabulary Important? 25
Chapter 2 Vocabulary: Games 27
A Beginner Vocabulary for Game Development 27
Creative Director 28
Tech Lead 28
Art Roles 29
Narrative Lead 30
Programming Roles 31
Design Roles 31
Audio Programmer, SFX Artist, Composer 32
Producer, Project Manager 32
QA, Localisation, Community Manager, PR, Etc 33
Process Vocabulary 34
Funding and Milestones 34
Vertical Slice, Horizontal Slice, Demo, Playable Prototype, Early Access 35
NDAs, Rights Assignment, and Revenue Shares 35
Design Processes 36
Story Tools 37
Project Management and Collaboration 38
Defining Your Process 38
Chapter 3 Vocabulary: Story Structure 41
The Tyranny of Film 42
Structure 43
Acts 43
Aristotle and Horace 44
Freytag's Pyramid 45
The Monomyth and the Hero's Journey 45
Christopher Booker's Seven Basic Plots 46
The Problem with All of This 47
Where Else Might We Turn? 49
Promenade, Panorama, Pass It On 49
Ibsen Crumbles the Walls of A Doll's House 50
Dada and Meaning-Making in a World of Meaningless Horror 51
Brecht 52
Boal 53
Television 54
So … I Have to Do a PhD in Literary Theory throughout History? 55
Chapter 4 Vocabulary: Story Components 61
Story 62
Story-World 62
Plot 63
Subplots 64
Narrative 66
Writing 67
Genre 68
Form 69
Setting 70
Literary Devices 71
Deus ex Machina 71
Red Herrings 71
Dramatic Irony 72
MacGuffins 72
Cliffhangers 72
Foreshadowing 72
Set-Ups and Pay-Offs 73
Reversals 74
Allegory 74
Imagery, Motifs, Symbolism 77
Narrator(s) 77
Format 79
Enough Vocabulary 80
Chapter 15 Games Writing As a Discipline 81
Writing for Games 82
Writing for Speaking vs. Writing for Reading: Examples 83
Some Affordances of Writing for Games 85
What Is the Writing in the Game Supposed to Do? What is Its Verb? 89
Writing for a Player Character 91
Choice Voice, Type, and Modality 95
When Is Writing Not It? 98
Building a Palette for Showing Not Telling 98
Game-Specific Formats of Writing 100
Barks 100
Found Objects 101
Item Descriptions 101
Lore 101
Tutorial Text, Clues, Hints, To-Do Lists 102
Menu and UI Text 102
Loc, VO, Accessibility, Style Guides, Proofreading 103
Documentation, Proposals, and Design Meetings 105
Scope 107
Project-Specific Vocabulary 107
What If the Writing Can't Solve the Problem? 108
Chapter 6 Form-Led Design 111
What Is Form-Led Design? 111
Form-Led Thinking in Games 114
Form and Craft: What Game Stones Can Learn from Other Storytelling Disciplines 114
Dance 115
Poetry 115
Ceramics 117
Live Art 117
Radio Drama 119
Other Forms 121
Conclusions 122
Chapter 7 A Note on Writing Comedy 123
Chapter 8 Further Reading 129
Straight-Up Technique 129
Workbooks 131
Understanding Format 133
Journeys in Writing Practices 133
Chapter 9 A Note on Ethics 137
Part II Case Studies
Chapter 10 Introduction to the Case Studies 143
Chapter 11 Character and Dialogue in Life is Strange 2 145
Key Takeaways 151
Further Reading 152
Chapter 12 Ethics and Adaptation in 80 Days 153
Key Takeaways 157
Further Reading 157
Chapter 13 Format and the Heist in LAST STOP 159
A General Note on Format in Last Stop 160
The Heist 162
Key Takeaways 171
Further Reading 171
Part III A Practical Workbook
Chapter 14 Introduction to the Workbook 175
Know Thyself 176
How Do You Learn? 176
How Do You Work? 176
How Do You Reflect? 177
Pathfinding 178
Practice Is Not Career 179
Tools 181
Chapter 15 Tools for Starting 183
Seeds 184
Form-Driven Design 186
Form-Driven Design Sheet 188
Character Sheets 189
Character Design Sheet 190
Other Character-Creation Techniques 192
World Sheets 194
Place Design Sheets 195
Applied Use of Sheets: Story-Driven Puzzle Design 197
Puzzle Design Form 201
Brief Setting 205
Chapter 16 Tools for Developing 209
Critical Response Theory 210
Roles 211
The Artist 211
The Responder(s) 212
The Facilitator 212
The Four Stages of Feedback 212
A Note on Playtesting 214
Prototyping 216
Developing Character: Dialogue 217
Writing Begins with Listening 217
Developing Story: Structure 222
Learning to Edit 229
Diagnosing What's Wrong 232
Advocacy, Diversity, and Representation 234
Tools for Collaboration: Design Documentation 236
Case Study: Gardens or Story? 236
Location_Name 241
What Happens When You Don't Get What You Need? 245
Writing Is Cheap 246
Developing Your Practice 247
Chapter 17 Tools for Finishing 249
After Content Lock 250
Quality Assurance 251
Loc and VO 252
Certification, Marketing, and PR 261
Reviews 262
Reflecting 263
Portfolio 265
Practice 266
Conclusion 273
Select Glossary of Games Industry Terms 275
Bibliography 279
Index 285
