Tips for a future video game industry worker?

MRN

Ok, so I want to begin writing a script for a video game and I would like some tips as in how to start doing it. I don't mean help story-wise, but help in the format of writing, as in how to make a professional looking script.

I decided to post this on this forum because it has a nice community and I know there are Telltale workers browsing the forums on a daily basis, so if any of you could give me any tips I'd be forever thankfull.

Thanks in advance :cool:

RetroVortex

That... is an incredibly difficult question, that even I am struggling to come up with any answer at all.

I'd guess the writing wouldn't be all that different to a film, or animation.

Maybe write the script, like a theatre script, with ideas for prompts for things to happen, and ideas for the artists to draw.
Maybe a storyboard or something to show something that might be hard to communicate in words.

I guess though, that most of these things would be more of a dynamic process.

A general idea. A pitch of an idea/ideas as it were.
Maybe write a short story depicting a scene, or a theme, or a character introduction.

Stuff like this, being collaborative in nature, would have a lot of backward and forwarding going on between several parties, and stuff would get tweaked and changed a lot.

To be honest though, I don't have any experience in these matters therefore I realistically have no clue myself.

Would be interesting to get some response from a Telltale Dev though.
(We'd all learn something interesting thats for certain! )

EDIT: (Maybe just keeping it simple is the best way. Accessible and readable, and quick to reference. I wonder if there is some sort of script software out there that one can like make bookmarks, and highlight stuff and that. That would be cool!)

Alcoremortis

I'd say write it like a script style "pick your path" story (ex. "For choice 1 turn to page 79). But then again, I know little or nothing about writing for video games. It really depends on if this is going to be a linear type of story or if player interactions change how the ending works out.

MRN

From what I've seen around the web it's a really hard creative procedure and it's hard to find definite answers, that's why i came to the pros x)

@RetroVortex I wanted to make it all text like I assume the real scripts are made, but I've also seen stuff about a flow chart and what not, so I'm confused.

@Alcoremortis Thats something thats also bothered me was what if the game has alternative paths, how am I supposed to write that down? I got scared when I saw that the Heavy Rain script was over 2000 pages long xD

DAISHI

By and large you can write it like a traditional script. A flow chart is only necessary when you have a variable that changes the nature of a conversation.

Ribs

Don't do drugs!

MRN

@DAISHI I understand that now, the thing is, I have no idea what a "traditional script" for a video game is supposed to be like x)

@Ribs Thanks.

Secret Fawful

MRN wrote: »

Ok, so I want to begin writing a script for a video game and I would like some tips as in how to start doing it. I don't mean help story-wise, but help in the format of writing, as in how to make a professional looking script.

I decided to post this on this forum because it has a nice community and I know there are Telltale workers browsing the forums on a daily basis, so if any of you could give me any tips I'd be forever thankfull.

Thanks in advance :cool:

If you want a good idea of how to write a design doc for an adventure game, look up the Grim Fandango design document online. It's out there.

For any other genre...really all I could offer is that you should script the story segments as story segments at the end of each design for each gameplay section. But a more professional designer would know more than we would.

WarpSpeed

Whom are you writing this script for?

If it's just for yourself, being a one-person video game developer, then it doesn't matter. Write it in Klingon if you want. As long as you know what it all means, that's all that's needed. You're not releasing the script, just the game.

If you have one other person on the project, you should get together and decide on a format. Again, whatever you both understand is OK.

If you're writing for teams, then you have to start getting formal. That means you need a different section for each scene/location, sometimes multiple sections if the scene/location appears more than once in the game but is different somehow in the different times you visit. It should include a description of the surroundings. Depending on the level of control you want to force on your artists, this can be very descriptive, or just some highlights with your artists filling in the details. Inventory items and characters initially present in the scene should be described. Interactions should be specified.

To make sure your character can't get trapped in a place where he/she needs an item but there's no way to get it (unless that's the kind of game you want to create), make sure the location is inaccessible unless the character already has the item.

MRN

@Secret Fawful Thanks, Ill definitely check that out.

@WarpSpeed I'm not doing this for any project actually, but who knows if I can use it in the future? I'd just like to make it professional so I could actually show it to companies or developers or something.

WarpSpeed

OK, in that case, don't worry about the format so much. Just make it clear and understandable. When you get a job at a game developer, they are going to make you use their format and templates for everything, so it doesn't matter what you came up with. They just want to see if it looks like you know enough to be able to adapt to their own processes.

Friar

I would suggest creating a flowchart. That way when you write a section, you could say "This connects with the flow chart here" which would be beneficial if you allow the user to make choices in the game, or do stuff in any order (say if you need three things to progress).