What kind of NPCs do you want?

You turn the corner, rifle at the ready, and sneak down the hall.  Just as you’re about to shoot, an NPC comes out with his hands up.  What do you want him to say?  When it comes to game writers, arguably we influence the game the most with how we write NPC dialog.  And yet, when we attended a meeting at a major game publisher, we had one executive lamenting the state of games: “There’s no excuse for NPCs with no character.”

I happen to agree.  All characters should have a character arc and as much personality as possible.  Great examples might be from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.  Anyone played GTA IV yet?  However, some people hold that sometimes a guard is just a guard.  NPCs with personality or arc could be distracting or just unrealistic.  If you’re not around an NPC long enough, how could he or she go through a full character arc? 

The obvious answer involves reaching some kind of balance, but I’m still of the mindset that everyone should have an arc, unless they literally have one line.  Where do you stand?  What kind of NPCs do you want?  The quirky kind who learn to love again, or the earnest sort who just gets the job done?

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Asking Questions, Receiving Answers

Being open to questions doesn’t begin and end with the game writer-developer relationship. When I go to game expos, I like to ask questions. Sure, I like to see the previews and sometimes, I’ll hop on and play a classic game like GALAGA. But usually, I go look at the new games being demo’ed and if there’s somebody nearby to bother, I’ll ask specific design questions, e.g. Why did they decide on this aspect of the design? Did they know about this factor? Asking questions is something that filters in and out of work, life, and play.

At conferences, as previously mentioned, we have a good time at parties and sessions. We always seem to find people willing to engage in scholarly discussions, whether at the AI dinner or at the hotel lobby. Industry parties are also a gold mine of shop talk. At the last event I attended, I asked an audio engineer about voice-over set-ups for an ensemble cast. I talked to a programmer about localization issues. He told me that at his studio, they design the interface for German as a default since it tends to have the longest words. As a rare treat, I met a game writer from a French game company. He told me that the sex quest with the dryad in the game, THE WITCHER, was tasteful and thought more games should incorporate mature themes.

While working, we ask questions, but we also like to receive questions from developers, especially ones of the clarifying sort. It’s part of the back and forth of production. Since changes to quests, back story, or other content may occur during production, we need the channels of communication to be open.

What’s the best answer to a game design question you’ve ever come across? What’s the best question?

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April Fools fun — MMO content and design

Last week we asked for good and bad examples of story in MMOs, and Courtney brought up GM events in Everquest that got the players riled up.  As luck would have it, April Fools saw both real and fake in-game fun.  Adding content in-game isn’t easy, so kudos to those who actually put a little fooling in-game. 

Here are just a few examples of April Fools fun: 

EQII - An in-game companion box

Puzzle Pirates - You can purchase noses at the palace shoppe

A ton of other games issued April Fools press releases, which included full-on concept art.  While most of them made an attempt at much-needed humor, they missed an opportunity to tie it to their game story.  Games do take advantage of the publicity opportunities seasonal events like April Fools provide, but they don’t use that publicity to attract players to the story.  EQII even tied it into another game’s story!

Although as far as I know they didn’t actually put anything in-game, I’d say the winner this time out was CoX.  They announced that the sound effects would be replaced with visual sound effects like “Pow!”  They’re very much in character for the game world and simple and easy for non-players to understand. 

Did you like any of the other announcements better?  What was a must-see?

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Game story motivates in casual console games

Who says game story is just for RPGs?  At the SxSW talk on passionate games, we discussed how few casual games incorporate story.  I’d like to offer up a highly scientific comparison study of two casual (ish) console games: Guitar Hero III and Dance Dance Revolution.  Distinctive controllers and music made them famous.  So why do I want to play one more than the other?  The answer: game story.

Story in the design 
GHIII: Players may choose an avatar to play, and then dress him/her in new clothes and new guitars.  I’ll be frank with you, boys and girls, I actually don’t care about that stuff.  I’ve had many a debate on whether this helps develop player story or not — I think it’s purely cosmetic and gives the illusion of choice, but still, some people enjoy it, and more power to them. 

DDR: Nil 

Game story
GHIII does a great of creating context and a story arc.  It also, amazingly, creates dramatic tension.  At the end of my first 3-set concert, I had the option to do an encore.  I thought, “Why wouldn’t I want to do an encore?”  As soon as I agreed to the encore, a helicopter arrived and so did the police!  I thought, “Oh, no… I’m going to lose all my money or something!”  Instead, the police just came to jam to my fab music.  Relief. 

Before each 3-set, there’s an opening animated scene. Notably, there’s not one line of dialog, but many scenes are humorous and all are short. This fact is just another little reminder that writing is not just about dialog. The scenes create the tone for being a rockstar as well as give you a sense of your progress in your arc from garage band to superstar.

DDR gives you no sense of context or story arc. You “clear” stages, but to no particular end. My personal pet peeve, the dialog occasionally will say, “You’re no ordinary fellah!” which makes me mentally respond, “Yeah, maybe cuz I’m not a fellah!”

Before my brand new XBox 360 ate (yes, ate!!!) my GHIII disc, I had gotten to the point where I was doing a music video shoot.  I want to learn what comes next!  Would I want to play GHIII regardless?  Sure, playing guitar is fun, but so is dancing on a dancepad.  The evidence is in the fact that I would rather play GHIII right now than DDR. 

What does this mean for story and game design?  Well, you could argue that I, as a game writer, am biased because I want to see story in games.  The truth is, I’m a certain player type: an achiever combined with what could be called an explorer or completionist.  I want to do well and get rewards, which includes all the content you can give me.  As we know in game design, the best designs work for different player types at the same time.  Therefore, adding game story to a casual game services player types that might otherwise feel left out in the cold by certain casual games.

We had some recommendations for good casual games during our talk at SxSW.  Can you recommend any others?  Especially since my X-Box is evil and eats things, maybe something PC-based would be ideal!   

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SxSW postview - Every game tool tells the story

We came, we spoke, we won an X-Box 360, we went back home. Thus we conquered South by Southwest in Austin this past weekend. Our core conversation, “Creating Passionate Games: A Multidisciplinary Approach,” drew game developers and enthusiasts from multiple disciplines, which made for lively discussion. We discussed cinematics, music, sound, gameplay, linear vs. sandbox storytelling, voice acting, user interface, casual vs. hardcore, and the social aspects of gaming.

Cinematics and Editing
Taking advantage of good camera angles and editing, either in cut scenes or through other means, helps engage the player. Example: Silent Hill

Interactive Music
Attendees enjoyed music that helped set the mood, that might chance when you went into new locations, like underground. One attendee enjoyed music that let you know when the rebels were coming, like in Star Wars, and also made you feel victorious when the battle was won. Repitition of catchy musical themes also tied the player to the emotion or theme. Examples: Zelda, Morrowind

Sound/Voice Over
Sounds from off-screen stuck in players memory — like the off-screen sounds in Bioshock, which suggested that activities were going on beyond what the player could see. Good, well-acted voice over also encouraged players to actually listen to the game and music. Logically, developers can discourage players from turning off the sound to listen to personal soundtracks by putting in voice over.

Gameplay/Linear vs. sandbox stories
The gameplay in Portal added to the mad science universe of Portal. The story in this case served as motivation. In the case of a user-generated character, many attendees preferred freedom to solve problems their own way, thus preferring sandbox games to more linear games. A combination of both story and sandbox: Ultima

User Interface/Tutorial
Some players were taken out of the story during the tutorial, when the voice over actor might say “Press X to continue.” Many agreed that changes in gameplay or tutorials were best communicated visually. Ideally the User Interface would make sense within the story or context.

Casual vs. Hardcore games
Some hardcore games, like FPS, would explain the story or context of the game at the beginning, and then you’d never hear about the story again. Casual games tend to have less story, but there are exceptions, such as Chocolatier. Some attendees were frustrated having to kill difficult big bosses in hardcore games, which is less common in Japanese games, which tend to be a bit easier.

Social aspects
Part of what makes games sticky is their social aspects, whether they be single player or multiplayer. Games with stories naturally build social networks. Especially in cases when players develop the story, Jennifer Bullard of Aspyr said “stories build communities.” If you are able to do something different in a game, you earn bragging rights that you can bring to the community.

Overall, attendees offered a number of must-haves for a passionate game. One attendee suggested that the best games emphasize the psychology of the game context more than the design. Another preferred games with high replayability. Other suggestions included games that offer adequate rewards, fulfillment and achievement, openness and freedom, fantasy elements, and allow the player to know how the story ends with a satisfying finale.

Tall order? I’m game if you are! Did any part of the discussion spark an idea? Let us know if there’s anything you’d like to add to this dicussion.

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Witcher nominated for Writers Guild Award!

It’s official!  THE WITCHER, the first joint project of the Writers Cabal, was nominated for a Writers Guild Award!

While THE WITCHER has already earned accolades from IGN and GameSpy, among others, the WGA nomination has special meaning for us, because it specifically recognizes the story and writing.  This nomination puts us game writers beside the likes of Damon Lindelof & Drew Goddard, writers of LOST; Bryan Fuller, writer and creator of PUSHING DAISIES; and Diablo Cody, writer of JUNO. We have long believed that good storytelling was not the exclusive territory of linear narrative.  This nomination proves it. 

We are terribly grateful to our co-nominees at CDProjekt — Artur Ganszyniec, Sebastien Stepien, and Marcin Blacha – for introducing us to the world of The Witcher.  We lift a virtual mug in your direction!  

Other nominees in the Videogame Writing category include the writers behind Sierra’s CRASH OF THE TITANS, D3 Publisher’s DEAD HEAD FRED, EA’s THE SIMPSONS GAME,  and Sierra’s WORLD IN CONFLICT.  Congratulations to everyone!

Last week’s game line came from Anne’s recent session playing DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION SUPERNOVA. Did you guess it right? More Guess that Game Dialog to come this week!

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2008 - The Year to Redefine Game Writing

A writer’s job is to convey story, character and emotion — and 2007 has proven gamers are ready to take their story just about any way you can ship it. While more and more games are being complimented on strong story, few have pointed out how game writing itself is evolving. The term narrative design has been somewhat maligned, but clearly story, character and emotion can no longer solely rely on dialog. In 2008 we predict we’ll see not only a greater respect for game story, but more interesting and innovative ways to convey it.

Here are some 2007 games that pushed the envelope on narrative design:

Portal - Known for creating an endearing character out of an inanimate object

The Witcher - Players agonized over moral decisions with no clear answers.  Many clamored for more dialog rather than less.  Others tried repeatedly to safeguard a dog that followed the main character around for hours.

Sam & Max: Season One - Combined humor with a strong theme to keep players coming back for the next episode

Bioshock - Used art and the environment to tell the story

And of course, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) will premiere its first game writing award in 2008.  That, and the WGA strike is driving story-loving viewers right into the game industry’s arms.

These trends will put story in games front and center in 2008, so be ready!  Do you have good story and writing embedded in your game design? If not, what’s holding you back?

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Witcher (UK) - Prize Winner Announced!

Happy Game Blogs Giveaway!  For the past week we ran a competition here at the Writers Cabal Blog where every comment that you left on the blog put you into the draw to win a copy of THE WITCHER (UK), co-written by yours truly.  

We conspired with a select group of other game bloggers to give away other games.  Check out their sites to see who won!  

From our pool of eligible posts, we selected our winner by a very appropriate role of the dice.  And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for, the winner of THE WITCHER is…

Martha from Hoboken, NJ!  

Congratulations, and Martha will be getting her very own copy in the mail soon.  In addition, we’ll be answering her comment in a post all its own. 

Thanks to everyone else for your participation in both the competition and community on the Writers Cabal Blog. If you didn’t win, you can always pick up a copy of THE WITCHER via download or order on-line.   

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