As the videogame industry has grown up, the need for better stories and characters has dramatically increased, yet traditional screenwriting techniques alone cannot equip writers for the unique challenges of writing stories where the actions and decisions of a diverse range of players are at the centre of every narrative experience. Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames was the first book to demystify the emerging field of game writing by identifying and explaining the skills required for creating videogame narrative. Through the insights and experiences of professional game writers, this revised edition captures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today's game industry and presents them as practical articles accompanied by exercises for developing the skills discussed. The book carefully explains the foundations of the craft of game writing, detailing all aspects of the process from the basics of narrative to guiding the player and the challenges of nonlinear storytelling. Throughout the book there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers expect game writers to know. This second edition brings the material up to date and adds four new chapters covering MMOs, script formats, narrative design for urban games, and new ways to think about videogame narrative as an art form. Suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, Game Writing is the essential guide to all the techniques of game writing. There's no better starting point for someone wishing to get into this exciting field, whether they are new game writers wishing to hone their skills, or screenwriters hoping to transfer their skills to the games industry.
Show moreAs the videogame industry has grown up, the need for better stories and characters has dramatically increased, yet traditional screenwriting techniques alone cannot equip writers for the unique challenges of writing stories where the actions and decisions of a diverse range of players are at the centre of every narrative experience. Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames was the first book to demystify the emerging field of game writing by identifying and explaining the skills required for creating videogame narrative. Through the insights and experiences of professional game writers, this revised edition captures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today's game industry and presents them as practical articles accompanied by exercises for developing the skills discussed. The book carefully explains the foundations of the craft of game writing, detailing all aspects of the process from the basics of narrative to guiding the player and the challenges of nonlinear storytelling. Throughout the book there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers expect game writers to know. This second edition brings the material up to date and adds four new chapters covering MMOs, script formats, narrative design for urban games, and new ways to think about videogame narrative as an art form. Suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, Game Writing is the essential guide to all the techniques of game writing. There's no better starting point for someone wishing to get into this exciting field, whether they are new game writers wishing to hone their skills, or screenwriters hoping to transfer their skills to the games industry.
Show moreAbout the Authors
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction to Game Narrative
Richard Dansky
2. The Basics of Narrative
Stephen Jacobs
3. Writing for Games
Richard Boon
4. Nonlinear Game Narrative
Mary DeMarle
5. Keeping the Player on Track
Chris Bateman
6. Game Characters
Andrew S. Walsh
7. Cut Scenes and Scripted Events
Richard Dansky
8. Writing Comedy for Videogames
Ed Kuehnel and Matt Entin
9. Writing for Licenses
James Swallow
10. The Needs of the Audience
Rhianna Pratchett
11. Beware of the Localization
Tim Langdell
12. Adding Magic: The Voice Actors
Coray Seifert
13. Interchangeable Dialogue Content
Dr. Ernest Adams
14. Dialogue Engines
Chris Bateman
15. Massively Multiplayer Storytelling
Dr. Richard A. Bartle
16. The Tales Cities Tell
Dr. Konstantinos Dimopoulos
17. Interactive Script Formats
Wendy Despain
18. The Avatar and the Player’s Mask
Chris Bateman
Glossary
References
Index
Professional game writers share their tricks, tips, and methods for developing narratives for videogames in this second edition.
Chris Bateman is an award-winning narrative designer who has worked on more than sixty game projects as writer and game designer. He won the IGDA's MVP Award for his work founding and running their highly-successful Game Writers Special Interest Group, and was the first person in the world to receive a doctorate in the aesthetics of play and games.
Bateman’s latest iteration of Game Writing is a worthy contribution
to the research and scholarship on writing narratives for video
games. A dream team of highly successful writers guide students
through the particulars of crafting stories for the most popular
and lucrative form of entertainment on the planet. Theory and
practice come together in this must-have collection for those
interested in games and interactive storytelling. I'll be assigning
this text in my game writing classes for years to come.
*Peter Telep, Senior Instructor, English Department, University of
Central Florida, USA*
This new edition features top-notch contributors with wide-ranging
industry experience, specific and actionable information and
advice, and comprehensive coverage of the entire topic of writing
for games. Other books on this subject have been published since
the first edition came out, but in my opinion none have surpassed
it.
*Evan Skolnick, Professor of Practice, Game Writing, Cogswell
University of Silicon Valley, USA*
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