This article was taken from the January 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Weak storyline can ruin great gameplay, but a ripping yarn can pull you in. Californian game designer Austin Grossman, 44, draws on 20 years of game-writing experience on titles such as Tomb Raider: Legend to share his tips for developing your video-game story.
Fit the player into the story
The player should feel like they're playing a role in the character's world, not just controlling them. Try leaving some of the details about the character's personalities to be filled in by the player's imagination. "It's not like a film or a novel, where a character has a defined psychology and motivation," says Grossman. "In a game, those are the player's, and we can't impose on them."
Work the story into the game
"Nobody enjoys sitting through canned, non-interactive sequences," says Grossman. Players will often skip past cut-scenes, so make the story part of the experience by revealing it as they explore the environment. "In System Shock, we let players explore a ruined space station, and the backstory was implied - they saw the dead bodies and burnt equipment."
write lots of non-character dialogue
A lot of writing will go into dialogue, but even if your character is silent, you can forge an immersive background to the world with "barks" - non-character dialogue. "I have had to write hundreds of disposable guards," says Grossman. Writing letters, books and diaries that players have to search for lets them choose how involved to get in the story.
Give the player plenty of agency
"If we're not offering players choice, the chance to own a unique experience, then they may as well be watching a long, expensive movie," Grossman says. Let players create their own story. Give them lots of freedom between plot points, make the story dependent on the decisions they make, or let them create their own, unique world.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
