August 2008 Archives

This is an ongoing NDE series featuring interviews with Masters of Narrative Design™. While a seemingly new term, the design of story experiences is nothing new. As game developers are increasingly looking to create meaningful virtual narrative experiences, looking at the lessons learned by these masters becomes increasingly valuable. Today's master is engineer, game creator and producer Scott Miller. As an early innovator in game development and marketing methodologies, Scott now has his focus on pioneering the future of games, storytelling, and cross-media entertainment experiences. I'm hoping to see what we can learn from his wealth of experience.

Stephen Erin Dinehart:  Scott, thank you for taking the time to interview with the NDE. Your approach to game development and marketing seems to be a symbiotic approach whereby the gameplay, system design, and story are interwoven to create a more rich experience for the player.  What drives you to create such concinnity within these game elements?

Scott Miller: The key is that I want to be involved with games that embrace good storytelling methods, as well as deliver a unique, fulfilling gameplay experience.  And of course I'm not referring to puzzle or arcade oriented games, but games like Max Payne, Bioshock, Half-Life 2, Assassins Creed, GTA4 and Call of Duty 4, that all represent a higher bar in terms of narrative delivery and impact.  These are the games pointing the way to our industry's future.  And they all deliver both on the story and gameplay fronts.

SED: Your most recent venture is with The Radar Group, can you explain what you do there?

SM: Radar Group is a new model for the industry, focused on original properties designed to be successful in both the game industry and linear entertainment, such as the film industry. Max Payne is our first film [See video clip to right], due out Oct. 17th, plus we have several games in progress.

SED:  Why is original IP important to video games?

SM: Several reasons.  Including these two:  It builds much more value within the game industry, and especially for independent studios (assuming they are owners or co-owners).  This value can be leveraged to create even more entirely original games.  For example, 3D Realms co-created Max Payne with a start-up indie studio, Remedy Entertainment.  This net result is that Remedy because a successful financially independent studio capable of created more original games, such as their current game-in-progress, Alan Wake.

The second reason is that licensed properties, in most cases, lack elements that make for compelling gameplay.  This is why, of the 10's of 1000's of films, novels and TV shows, less than a dozen have made a meaningful impact in the game industry.  The rare few that have been successful all have elements that translate into unique gameplay, such as Spider-Man (web-slinging), Star Wars (force powers, light saber dueling), and James Bond (gadgets).  Star Trek, by comparison, doesn't appear to have elements that translate into unique and compelling gameplay.  This is why most Star Trek games are doomed--they simply have nothing to offer, gameplay-wise, that we can't get from other games set in space.  I recently presented this view to a former executive of Activision, one of the guys who was originally involved with Activision's long-term signing of the Star Trek brand.  He fully agreed that, in hindsight, Star Trek doesn't have the unique ingredients to make great games.

As elected co-leads of the IGDA WSIG Tools Initiative Ron Toland and I are happy to announce the forging of a partnership between our special interest group and open-source writing toolmaker Celtx. Celtx was first point out by Tools Initiative facilitator Corvus Elrod and he was right, Celtx is exactly the partner we need to create this potentially wall shattering tool. As AAA titles grow in magnitude having standardization in the tools used for our industry is of dire importance. Game writing increasingly affects all parts of game design, from help text to NPC dialog and beyond. Game writing tools and systems tend to remain proprietary, and subsequently leads designer and writer alike to reinvent the wheel for every title. Seeing this as a barrier to entry for talent, developers, and publishers alike, the International Game Developers Associations Writers Special Interest Group has created the Tools Initiative to forge the creation of an Universal Open-Source Game Writing Tool. Based on the free open-source writing tool Celtx, the tool will be free and modular.

The play is a literary form that comes down to us from Ancient Greece intended for performance. Used as a production tool to create a perceived story space on stage, it consists of characters, dialog, action, and setting. It is a form that was adapted for motion pictures then called the "screenplay". While not particularly different than its stage play ancestor, the screenplay is intended for use on linear theatrical productions such as film and television. I chose to adapt it to games for purposes of strengthening game story. While games have their design documentation, often a 'bible' of information or a presentation intended to communicate a cohesive vision, the screenplay acts as a method to create a common story vision among widely disparate development pipelines within game development, with the aim of creating a better user experience. While not a concept I claim to originate. It is a form that I have forged wholly on my own, with attention to what makes a game screenplay unique.

Part 1: Cinematics

Linear cinematic segments, while potentially altered by the player, or selected in a meaningful non-linear fashion via gameplay, are no different than traditional screenplays. As the first screenplays did not veer too far from stage plays, with minimal sets, and high caliber, sometimes over-the-top, characters. So to the game screenplay is still akin to the screenplays of film. Example 1 (below) is from my first game screenplay for "Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts".

Example 1: Game Screenplay Cinematic Sequences

This is the third part in an ongoing NDE series featuring interviews with Masters of Narrative Design™. While a seemingly new term, the design of story experiences is nothing new. As game developers are increasingly looking to create meaningful virtual narrative experiences, looking back at the lessons learned by these masters becomes increasingly valuable. Today's master is David Sosna, director, writer, producer, actor, and engineer, in his seasoned career he has worked on Tv dramas, music videos, feature films, video games, live performance and more. He gets the job done, on budget, on time, and focuses on giving his audiences the most entertaining experiences possible. Today I'm hoping to see what we can learn from his wealth of experience in popular media.

Stephen Erin Dinehart:  David, thank you for taking the time to interview with the NDE. How do you feel your previous work in entertainment relates to your current position?

David Sosna: I spent my motion picture career as a First Assistant Director on feature films. That work focused on deconstructing a script, extracting its requirements, providing an unambiguous schedule of what to shoot when, with what assets present. Then, during shooting, running the set, making ad hoc decisions, keeping the train moving. Now that I've switched to Associate Producer, my previous work experience is much more applicable.

SED: As a person who has worked on high profile projects for film, Tv, the stage, and video games, how does well-crafted narrative affect your work?

DS: When working on content, especially narrative design, story is everything. Story and dialog, actually. For me, the old saw, "If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage" still works. I just saw Batman last night. The world thinks it's a great movie. I think the last half of the picture is incomprehensible, lacks credulity and is too frenetic and opaque to be understood. That's not good story telling, in my view, in spite of earth-shattering grosses.

SED: When mentoring me at Relic you provided the best notes I've seen. In that, what are your top five rules for creating quality game screenplays?

DS: 1) Write believable, interesting characters that the audience cares about. 2) Keep it moving. 3) Excise excess. 4) Be unambiguous and easily understood at all times. 5) Make every word count, be required and believable; especially dialog.