Recently in Masters of Narrative Design™ Category

This is an ongoing NDE series featuring interviews with Masters of Narrative Design™.  While 'narrative design' is not a term in common usage, 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 writer and author, Flint Dille.  As a storyteller whose works have spanned from Dungeons and Dragons campaign modules to Pic-a-path novels, films and videogames and the book The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design, Flint brings an acute narrative sensibility from his vast experience in interactive narrative design. I'm hoping to see what we can learn from his wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

Stephen E. Dinehart: You have been writing for years under the label GZP, can you explain what that is and how it came about?

Flinte Dille: GZP is Ground Zero Productions. That's my company formed in 1991, before the term Ground Zero took on a whole different meaning. I now refer to it mostly as GZP for obvious reasons.  It was formed as a holding company for my work and for some copywrites and trademarks.  At various times it has served as a film production company, a videogame production company and worked in both the private and public sectors.  When I came up with the name, it was both the sense of starting at Ground Zero (the beginning) and the idea that ground zero was the focal point of an explosion.  Its served me well because I always feel like I'm just starting out. I had no idea what ghastly implications it would take on. Ironically, Ground Zero Productions has done a lot of work in counter-terrorism efforts with various government agencies.

SED: Is that the same as the Bureau of Film and Games?

FD:  No.  Bureau of Film and Games is a company I own with John Zuur Platten. I've always liked the name. Rich Liebowitz came up with it. We ran with it. It is mostly a holding company.

SED:  When did you first know you wanted to be in the business of stories?

FD:  I tried to write my first novel when I was in 7th Grade and wrote a fraternity House murder mystery when I was in college (which has mercifully escaped publication).  Went to USC for a masters degree in writing (cinema) and have been doing it pretty much ever since. I'd always known I wanted to do games, but I had no idea how to get into that business. That happened, mostly by chance, a couple of years later.
 
SED: You have written fiction within high profile franchises like 300, Batman, Dungeons and Dragons, G.I. Joe, James Bond, Superman, and Transformers; just to name a few, how do you approach authoring for pre-established franchises?

FD:  I really enjoy translating a franchise from one medium to another.  I grew up loving James Bond movies, so it was great to be able to do a James Bond game and live in that universe for a couple years.  Same thing with Batman and Superman.  With Transformers, it was a little different, we were kind of making up the franchise as we were going along (other people had done the spade work, but we were figuring out the rules and the mythologies, etc.).  In some cases, you get to put parts of yourself into them (Flint). 

The approach, technically, is first to break down the franchise into Franchise Elements. If you're doing Scooby-Doo, you have to know about Scooby snacks and 'Jinkys' and all of the little things that make a franchise a franchise.  With Bond, we isolated 135 things that are part of the franchise, ranging from 'Shaken, not stirred' to "Bond, James Bond' to the mandatory presence of an Aston Martin.  You can't fit all of them in, and in some ways the definitive thing about a particular expression of a franchise is what you leave out. Look at what's missing from the new James Bond movies, for instance.

That word, 'expression' is very important.

Every franchise that's been around for a while has had different 'Expressions.'  For instance, the Dark Knight is wildly different than the '60's Adam West Batman.  Still, they are both Batman, they both have an Alfred and  Joker and a Batmobile.  But there are franchise elements missing. The Adam West version stays away from Crime Alley. Its not about that. It is the fun, camp Batman.  Brutal parental murders aren't a lot of fun.  Likewise, you don't see Zap and Pow in the Dark Knight.  Different expressions.  Frank Miller said something very insightful about Batman.  "There are 50 ways to do it, and all of them work."

This is an ongoing NDE series featuring interviews with Masters of Narrative Design™.  While 'narrative design' is not a term in common usage, 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 game author, developer and designer Ken Rolston.  As an early innovator in 'pen-and-paper' role-playing games he brings to video games a unique sensibility from 20+ years of experience in interactive narrative design. I'm hoping to see what we can learn from his wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

Stephen Erin Dinehart:  Ken thank you for taking the time to interview with the NDE.  You are currently Lead Designer on a computer role-playing game (CRPG) at the Toy Headquarters (THQ) studio Big Huge Games?

Ken Rolston: Yes.

SED: You have created both 'pen-and-paper' RPGs and CRPGs how are these experiences different for you?

KR: 'Pen-and-paper' RPGs can be authored by a single person [though they aren't so much anymore], and produced and distributed using mature technology... paper printing and publishing.

CRPGs are far from a mature medium. You make everything up, nearly from scratch, each time.  CRPGs are also vast production challenges, involving many people, many disciplines, and huge budgets, and they represent far greater risks of time and capital.  And they are far harder to test and iterate rapidly.

Finally, as Sandy Petersen says, the worst tabletop RPG session I ever played is far better than the best CRPG [computer role-playing game] I ever played... because of the dynamic relationship between the players and the GM [game master] in tabletop RPGs, and because of the more satisfying relationships among players and their avatars.

I've also had the pleasure of watching people play my paper games like PARANOIA, and it's like watching productions of a play you've written... exceedingly gratifying.

CRPGs are just way-too-much work, take way-too-long to produce, and cost way-too-much-money to produce as a medium of personal self-expression.  And they don't evolve in the hands of your users as much as paper RPGs do.

But... I've recently been replaying OBLIVION, and it was pure delight.  So perhaps the gratification for the labor is somewhat delayed... but profound.

SED: Do you have a paper prototyping testing phase for your CRPG?

KR: We make real working prototypes as fast as possible to explore systems, interfaces, and graphic presentation.  We often make small brute-force paper prototypes of system elements, more for communication than testing... using cards or markers or Lego's.

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.

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.