Do you have trouble coming up with story arcs, dialogues… naming variables?
A few months back I connected with a writer and author (Jen Finelli) of a novel called “Becoming Hero”, after chatting with her and starting a new game project I realized just how hard writing can be, my current game project is very heavy on story arc, we want it to be heartbreaking, funny and relatable but during the process me and my partner had… Well still do have a hard time developing the story so I was wondering if many others had this trouble? It seems art and writing are my weak points.
Does anything help you when you write backstories, dialogue, etc?
Also if you do have this trouble, something I found that can help is making “text adventure” or “make your own adventure” games as they are HEAVY on story but you can still do a lot of scripting to make advanced mechanics not just “go north”… “go south”…
Writing is almost universally a problem for games. Not too surprising, since the main component of a game is “gameplay,” which doesn’t require good writing at all.
Edit: and the interest (or lack thereof) in this thread might tell you something about how interested indies are in game story writing…though I wouldn’t assume too much.
I was a hobbyist writer before I was an indie “developer” (heck, I wouldn’t even call myself a “developer” really), so I’m not concerned too much about the quality of my writing. My limitation is building the game, not crafting a story.
As for learning how to write…the best way to do that is to…write. Really that simple. And read of course, lots and lots of reading (of both good things and bad things).
But of course, one must remember that a game is not a book (nor a movie). You can’t do things the same way. The biggest difference, and probably the area of greatest difficulty, is player agency. If you have a story that doesn’t incorporate player agency…well, okay, if it’s still a good story things will be alright. However, if you DO incorporate player agency (like with choices) you’re a cut above the “competition” because you’re acknowledging the player, rather than treating them as a hunk of meat pushing a character through the world.
You are right that gameplay is usually the main component (text adventures being the exception), I really think writing is something serious devs making long term games should consider improving, I don’t mean devs making casual mobile games (what’s the story behind building a city? Oh wait no ones cares… ) and like you said, player agency is huge but a lot of games neglect it or use it effectively, there is a difference between letting the player choose a response and making the player choose their own path which is why text adventures are so engaging to those who actually like reading…
You probably noticed I’m certainly not a writer, loads of spelling and grammar mistakes (which I’m sorry for!) but I’ve been trying!
One very hard thing for me is inventing names for something. Especially in case of fantasy names it is nigh impossible to pick up something that sounds the way you want, isn’t already used by some famous person (you never knew existing) and doesn’t have a weird or unintended meaning in another language.
In case of writing a script or a video game equivalent of a storyboard, I’d most likely have no problem coming with more material than I could realistically implement. Won’t be the nobel prize material of course, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to make up a universe from scratch, and work it up down to an individual level. It is just a time consuming process.
Now, if you’re writing something text- heavy that approaches level of a book (for example: Shadowrun: Dragonfall), and you want the text convey the feeling, or your characters are chatty, it’ll be more difficult, will require great deal of observation and research, and will be more like an actual book writing.
With that in mind I’d try to avoid a situation where a lot of dialogue or text is required, and would try to go for something where a lot of stuff isn’t told outright to the player. A good example of what I’d aim at woudl be “Another world” or “Brothers: Tale of Two Sons”. The idea is that when there’s no lengthy explanation or dialogue, it is impossible to mess up that explanation/dialogue.
^ McKee’s advice is great for static fiction, and it helps build a foundation for fiction in general. As a supplement, I recommend this excellent article by David Kuelz for interactive fiction: Narrative Design Tips I Wish I’d Known. There is a world of difference between writing static fiction and interactive fiction, which is why a lot of traditional fiction authors struggle in interactive media. They don’t always realize the importance of player agency, as EternalAmbiguity mentioned. To whet your whistle, these are the sections in the article, which are very different from the sections that you might find in a traditional static fiction advice article:
This is the single best piece I’ve ever read on the subject.
It is crazy spot on.
Especially this image:
I think a lot of people tend to seriously, seriously, underestimate this. This narrative =‘whole package’ thing is so friggin important.
This is so easy to underestimate but so deeply important to the experience a player has. I think the subject is deeply misunderstood by most people (myself included, although I’m learning). Also, I think it’s one of the main differences between more casual games and more core games, as you move from casual - the players will expect more and more of a complete ‘story’ to justify their time.
It’s sooo important, and it’s something that gets so little attention in realistic terms.
Very helpful! One thing I’ve been struggling with lately is how much text is too much text for dialogue, I mean at some point the player wants to carry on playing the game, not reading a book so I am really going to try keep dialogue small, especially for the “intro NPC” as we call him.
I added these to my reading list, “Writing Is A Form Of Feedback” that’s got to be interesting.
I just read Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design last night. One of the tips is basically “if you can tell the story without requiring any player agency, consider making a film instead of a game,” so you know it’s a good guide. It has a lot of advice for writing interactive stories, and it’s packed with good breakdowns of successful games, such as the multilayered player experience of Bioshock (from the basic survival horror layer, to the Art Deco artistic experience, to the character story, to the political commentary on Objectivism) that shows how the game can be enjoyed on multiple levels.
It’s also an excellent book for game design in general, not just for interactive narrative design. I came across it in a google search for game design patterns. There are plenty of books on programming design patterns, although why anyone would need anything beyond the classic Gang of Four is beyond me. I was curious if anyone had compiled a list of game design patterns, covering things like resource economies, skill progression, etc. Not only does Game Mechanics provide a list, they also propose a common language for describing game design patterns.
The type of game you’re making is an important consideration. You can have plenty of text in an RPG. You might have less for a hack n slash.
You can also present a minor amount, and then allow the player to probe deeper through [Investigate] options and such. If you’re making a dialog system, you may want to look into the fantastic Dialogue System for Unity.
For me it helps to start with your game world not the people in it. Characters don’t exist in isolation so adding history, myths, legends, wars, varying interpretations of events, details, religions, science… all of this adds depth to your storyline and if you do it enough your characters and story arcs will naturally start to come together as a logical outcome of the situations.
Also i personally find them easier to come up with as a starting point and then when you get to the hard part you’ve already got an environment to put characters into.
Some games cater to not having any kind of story at all. For instance ROBLOX is a great example of a game that stands out only because of its gameplay and functionality (which is to allow players to create and edit levels and everything else). The game modes in ROBLOX tend to lack story as well (although there are some) and most players don’t seem to mind this at all, because they are just interested in playing a bunch of silly mini games (a whollleee bunch) and not so much into reading (or perhaps they are too young to read at all!) and somehow ROBLOX makes lots of money, and attracts tons of players…
) and like you said, player agency is huge but a lot of games neglect it or use it effectively, there is a difference between letting the player choose a response and making the player choose their own path which is why text adventures are so engaging to those who actually like reading… 
