One of my friend is asking me to write a script for his video game. He says he wants to try out making a simplistic RPG, but he doesn't have a concept yet. I've never written anything like this, so my question is, how do you know what sounds right in a video game and what doesn't? Is it just the dialogue, or is it something to do with how the scenes are set up, or what? I'm basically completely lost on how you would go about writing a script.
How do you decide which is a good video game script and which is a bad one?
- Thread starter Person Man
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Have no experience as a writer, but coming at the angle of a gamer, here are some things that may help;
- Make the dialogue as good as you can. Too many games have standard, corny lines, and these games tend to get forgotten quite quickly.
- Make sure you have a great ending. Again, too many games fall flat here and slap on a throwaway ending that doesn't tie everything up. One of the most common complaints I see.
- Try to keep tight pacing. If its a simplistic RPG I'm guessing the side quests may be light? Thats fine, but try to make sure the main quest tells a great story, one that keeps ramping up the stakes and tension. That will help the experience if it isn't the biggest / longest game around.
- If the creator has any games in mind that have inspired him, play them, see why they worked. Don't copy, but you can then take the successful elements and transfer them to your writing.
Thats about all I can think of so far, but hope it helps!
- Make the dialogue as good as you can. Too many games have standard, corny lines, and these games tend to get forgotten quite quickly.
- Make sure you have a great ending. Again, too many games fall flat here and slap on a throwaway ending that doesn't tie everything up. One of the most common complaints I see.
- Try to keep tight pacing. If its a simplistic RPG I'm guessing the side quests may be light? Thats fine, but try to make sure the main quest tells a great story, one that keeps ramping up the stakes and tension. That will help the experience if it isn't the biggest / longest game around.
- If the creator has any games in mind that have inspired him, play them, see why they worked. Don't copy, but you can then take the successful elements and transfer them to your writing.
Thats about all I can think of so far, but hope it helps!
Well, a good script is one that touches people and stays with them. It's not so different from other kinds of storytelling. Have a good story to tell.
In RPGs, you often have the heroic quest type story. Your character has to go somewhere and do something and meets friends and foes along the way.
The difference is mainly in the medium and how the story is told. You can't have pages of exposition and details. Other parts of the game will do that - level design, character art etc.
A lot of it is interesting characters and dialogue. Like a minimalist play. I'd actually compare game writing with writing for the stage. Be very concise. Convey more with less. The stotytelling often has to stay out of the game's way. Start with characters and motives. Then decide together with the rest of the team how you can convey that in the game - via cinematics, or via interactive dialogue, or what? There have been many devices used in games to convey story snippets. The *shock series (System Shock, Bioshock) is often cited for storytelling. So are the Black Isle RPGs (Baldur's Gate etc). Or maybe your story can be conveyed nonverbally. Anything goes and there is no right or wrong or standardized way to do it. There is no equivalent to "Hollywood Standard" in games.
Keep in mind most of the game time is probably going to be spent fighting monsters, shopping, developing the main char, exploring... doing quests... fit your story in the cracks somewhere.
Or decide outright that the story is the main thing in your game, but beware, a lot of gamers expect to kill something sooner or later. Many people decried "Gone Home", for instance, as "not a real game". That's a risk you run.
In RPGs, you often have the heroic quest type story. Your character has to go somewhere and do something and meets friends and foes along the way.
The difference is mainly in the medium and how the story is told. You can't have pages of exposition and details. Other parts of the game will do that - level design, character art etc.
A lot of it is interesting characters and dialogue. Like a minimalist play. I'd actually compare game writing with writing for the stage. Be very concise. Convey more with less. The stotytelling often has to stay out of the game's way. Start with characters and motives. Then decide together with the rest of the team how you can convey that in the game - via cinematics, or via interactive dialogue, or what? There have been many devices used in games to convey story snippets. The *shock series (System Shock, Bioshock) is often cited for storytelling. So are the Black Isle RPGs (Baldur's Gate etc). Or maybe your story can be conveyed nonverbally. Anything goes and there is no right or wrong or standardized way to do it. There is no equivalent to "Hollywood Standard" in games.
Keep in mind most of the game time is probably going to be spent fighting monsters, shopping, developing the main char, exploring... doing quests... fit your story in the cracks somewhere.
Or decide outright that the story is the main thing in your game, but beware, a lot of gamers expect to kill something sooner or later. Many people decried "Gone Home", for instance, as "not a real game". That's a risk you run.
It's complicated. Different kind of people like different kind of scripts. Some people like the classic standard JRPG fanfare (Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger), some others the standard WRPG (Ultima), some others like big space operas (Mass Effect), so others like Dark Fantasy (Dragon Age 1 and 2. 3, not so much) and, heck, some other people even preffer dark, depressing scripts with very little hope (Dark Souls and Bloodborne).
My only advice -having no experience in the field of video game scripting, so I might be completely wrong- is that, first and foremost, you need to pick up what kind of GENRE you're going for, what is your target audience/genre fans. With that, all I can say is try to make cahracters to relate to said genre, and do them well. Play a lot of the said genre, see what you like and what other people liked, and use that to your advantage (as long as you don't outright copy). If you go by just "Generic RPG", that's way too vague of a term to start out anything.
My only advice -having no experience in the field of video game scripting, so I might be completely wrong- is that, first and foremost, you need to pick up what kind of GENRE you're going for, what is your target audience/genre fans. With that, all I can say is try to make cahracters to relate to said genre, and do them well. Play a lot of the said genre, see what you like and what other people liked, and use that to your advantage (as long as you don't outright copy). If you go by just "Generic RPG", that's way too vague of a term to start out anything.
I've only worked on one game script, in fact I am still involved in that project, so my insight may be a bit limited here. That said, There is no right and wrong way to draft a script. (in terms of content, obviously there are right ways to format). A large role playing game obviously requries a more fleshed-out script. An action platformer, not so much.
My mentor framed it to me like this: your script needs to flow at the same pace as the gameplay. This is hard to figure out, especially in open world and RPG titles as the game is still in development and it is hard to figure out pacing. One of the most common issues script writers seem to come upon these days is having a script that is TOO big. People play Skyrim or the Witcher and think thy have to draft out and entire intricate world. That's good but keep in mind Skyrim is the fifth main title in a decades-long series, the Witcher is a three part game based upon an expansive set of novels.
In other words, you need to know details about the game: How many characters? How long is the game expected to be? What is the setting (does it take place in one town or over an entire continent?) There is no set format, it all depends on the game.
My mentor framed it to me like this: your script needs to flow at the same pace as the gameplay. This is hard to figure out, especially in open world and RPG titles as the game is still in development and it is hard to figure out pacing. One of the most common issues script writers seem to come upon these days is having a script that is TOO big. People play Skyrim or the Witcher and think thy have to draft out and entire intricate world. That's good but keep in mind Skyrim is the fifth main title in a decades-long series, the Witcher is a three part game based upon an expansive set of novels.
In other words, you need to know details about the game: How many characters? How long is the game expected to be? What is the setting (does it take place in one town or over an entire continent?) There is no set format, it all depends on the game.
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