The Writers’ Bloc: Narrative in Games

By Lewis Denby

Maybe writing for games is some sort of elite club.

Firstly, no one can find the venue.  We’ve been invited to a panel discussion, and a collection of revered writers are supposed to be talking about the process of delivering narrative in videogames at 3, Albion Place in Leeds.  Which doesn’t seem to exist.  None of the buildings on Albion Place have numbers on them, and the only place that looks remotely like a conference venue is called The Leeds Club.  We file nervously into an inconceivably posh foyer.  It’s the right place.  We’re ushered upstairs.

The talk’s supposed to start at six.  It very much does not.  It gets to twenty past, and a few recognisable faces are loitering.  No one’s told us anything.  Half past, still nothing.  We’ve been promised a free drink in the bar afterwards.  The bar closes at nine!  We’re going to miss out on valuable drinking time!

Eventually, at 25 to seven, it begins.  Charles Cecil of Revolution Software, John Dennis from Team 17, The Mustard Corproration’s Marek Walton and freelance writer Andy Walsh emerge with pints of beer.  That’s why they’re late!  They’ve been given their free drinks already!  The cheek!  Chairing the panel is Game Republic Sector Manager and former PC Zone editor Jamie Sefton.  He is drinking a coke.

The night’s a part of Screen Yorkshire’s collaboration with Game Republic, with a remit to communicate and discuss videogame-related ideas with the Yorkshire development scene and budding game development students.  Over the next couple of months, a collection of events are scheduled, culminating in October’s Eurogamer Expo, from which we will be furiously reporting.  Expect plenty of hands-on previewing.  And expect hangovers.

//What’s a game, anyway?
Sefton begins by asking the panel about the differences between writing for games and writing for other media.  The evening’s catered primarily towards writers who are looking to make the move from their current field into the fast-growing and increasingly wealthy videogames industry.

“When you write for TV or film, you’re trying to create a sense of empathy between the audience and the character,” offers Charles Cecil, whose credits include Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series.  “In a game, you’re not actually creating that sort of bond at all.  You want to motivate the player, and give them interesting things to do.  The story is a vehicle [for that].”

“A game is inherently a series of repetitive actions,” adds Marek Walton, one of the directors of The Mustard Corporation, a collective of videogame writers and writing consultants.  “Writing lends logic to these.”

But the panel is clear that writing for games is no straightforward process.  Andy Walsh – a freelance writer with credits ranging from Medieval II: Total War to Heavenly Sword, Halo 3 to Prince of Persia, and even TV soaps Emmerdale and Byker Grove – points out the vast spectrum of what we understand to be videogames, and how this means each writing project can vastly differ.  “There’s no such thing as ‘a game’,” he claims, citing the difference between writing a collection of cut-scenes in which the entire story is explained, and writing a 60-hour adventure game in which control is never taken away from the player.

But “the principles of writing are universal,” says Walton – and the panel agrees.  Although writing for games is a specific craft, many skills, they say, are transferrable across a range of media.

//Breaking through
“The industry’s incredibly competitive,” says John Dennis of Team 17, developers of the legendary series of Worms games. “There are many people looking to get into the industry, as games have become mass market rather than a geeky subculture.  There was some TIGA research that said there were 75 games-related courses in the UK, so to fit all these people into the industry is very hard.  That said, here’s a panel of people who all work in the games industry.  If you want to do it… [and] if you’re talented, then do it.  I mean, I’m in the industry.

“Don’t give up.  That’s the difference between people who are in the industry, and people who aren’t in the industry.  It is hard; it seems very cliquey…”

Walton cuts him off.  “You’re actually making me want to leave the industry,” he says.

The panel are talking about the ease with which new writers can break through into the industry.  Writing for games is often seen as a dark area, one that’s filled primarily by developers taking on extra roles, rather than writers specifically focusing on that are of the creation process.  It’s often true, but the panel acknowledge that there are these jobs available, for those who truly understand their craft.

[Continues...]

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