Story Design Conception to Launch [WfG 2011]

With Keaven Freeman

Descrip: “An in depth look at the game creation process from a writer’s point of view, attendees will get an industry veteran’s take on moving an idea from thought to implementation in a working game.  What role does writing play once the production process has begun, and what does a writer need to be prepared for?”

Phases of Game Development:

 

  • Green-light – producers give you a go
    • Taking your idea and giving it more form for an executive
    • Research
    • Who wants to play this game? Who do I not even know about who might want to play this game?
    • Start prototyping, including paper prototyping.
      • “Here is a snapshot of the experience of playing the game.”
    • Sometimes you may have to go back to concept if it doesn’t work. Iteration!
    • Pitching – “A very Caligula thumbs up/thumbs down moment.”
      • If it doesn’t pass, the exec might tell you to shelve the idea for now and start all over again.
      • If success then: funding!
  • Preproduction – bulk of writing.
    • Story Arc
      • “If you do nothing else for the writing of a video game, do the story arc … everything else branches off of that”
      • Story of the Game
      • Role of the Player
      • High-Level Chapter Breakout
        • Small incremental parts of the story that propel your character through the story arc
    • World Concepts
      • World Rules
        • Define your world, how does the world work and how does the PC function within that world.
        • How does my character identify and work?
        • What is my Identity?
      • Interpersonal Relationships
      • Character Identity
    • Small Team Chapter Focus
      • Break into smaller groups of writers to focus on groups of chapters to flesh out
      • Environmental Factors
        • Get some concept art from the artists
        • Start to assign quests, dialogue from NPCs
        • Also dictated by progression arc and XP curve
      • Chapter flow
      • NPCs, Quests, and Encounters
    • Milestones
      • Trackable Progress
      • Early Warning System
      • Executive Digestible
  • Production – implementers. Daily interaction with content teams. Revising documentation and creating new documents based on the needs and desires of content teams
    • “Then comes the downside, production. … Everything was creative vision before now … now you have to fit everything you’ve written into the game world designed by engineers.”
    • Implementation collaboration
      • Clarification
      • Addition
      • Revision
    • Sometimes new elements are developed and you must create content for them. Sometimes mechanics change and you must alter the game for them. Must fit everything in the story arc.
  • Post-launch – creation of expansion or sequel material, small scale feature development and pkeep of old material.
    • Live support (especially for MMOs).
    • Expansion/sequal
    • Maintenance
    • Brand New Shiny
      • More production phase!
        • Start all over again with production cycle


Game concept -> development -> live product.

Timeline – anywhere from 3 to 5 years for large title production.

Production process can change from studio to studio.

Engineers vs Story writers?

  • “Just within the last few years story has come back with a vengeance.”


The prototyping will be the narrative, a written narrative of the game.

What do you need to learn?

  • Technical writing


END OF SESSION – Watch my Twitter for link to the next session doc I’ll be writing. http://twitter.com/chronotope

Link to this doc: http://aramzs.me/wfg1

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*