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For Better Narrative and Fictional Ideas
Author
For Better Narrative and Fictional Ideas
Apart from being a linguist and screenplay consultant, I''ve always been interested in Action and Adventure Games.
I''ve been perusing games/mods all the time since early Doom days and woefully failed to see originality in terms of narration and script writing. After watching Doom3 trailer and admiring the special effects but disappointed to witness that nothing original has been implemented in terms of ai and narration, I wanted to express some views.
To be honest, I''m sick of the notion that most games/mod concepts drive from two motion pictures in the last decade: Alien series for Science Fictions setting and plots and Saving
Private Ryan for WW2 Shooters.
1) Please don’t start your science fiction concept with the line “it’s the year 2034,2046,2078,2019 etc.etc”...Stanley Kubrick (Or shall I say Arthur Clarke), one of the most respected filmmakers in the history of cinema anticipated that we’d travel to Jupiter by the year 2001, but for the last 2 year, I’ve not heard of such a thing. Design your future world first, then give it a date...
2) Please Please, no more “Something goes wrong in the lab...” premise. All the lab technicians are not stupid and they don’t have to always execute experiments resulting in the creation of evil monsters.
3) There has been thousands of war since the beginning of mankind other than World War 2.
4) Less is More. Your Npc’s should speak less; they don’t have to explain the whole story all at once.
When we are in trouble, we speak in exclamations, not in proper, grammatically correct sentences. Hence not “I need you go down sector B and open the door by entering the pass-code XXXX and please bring me the nodes” but instead “I need the God damn nodes now!”
5) Terrorists are cool to shoot at but enemies with solid, menacing and clever motivations are harder to neutralize therefore more rewarding. So please state briefly “why” they have to take hostages/bomb the place etc....
6) You need a hero with a motivation and you need an enemy with motivation. First work on that hard, the rest will follow. Reaching the “next level trigger” or getting the ultra-rocket is not a motivation; it’s a medium.
7) There are more creative blocks/obstacles than keys/passwords. The greatest, most common and yet working cinematic conflict is to choose between love and death. Emotional and mental blocks are more intriguing than “triggering a blocked door” no matter how complex your level design is, may it be full of dispatchers.
8) Reversal of Fortune: I, the player, have to change through the gameplay/narration experience. This is not intended for single player games only. Running to flag and returning back to base with the flag is a CHANGE. We all love CTF levels with alternate routes. Give us changes that is “Gradual” and “Full of Surprises.”
9) Nobody is alone, even Robinson Crusoe. We need mentors to help us in our quest. However, they don’t have to be human characters all the time. Vehicles, turrets help us in multi-player games. Why not super-ai computers?
10) And finally please read fiction; don’t just download pdf’s. Know that your idea is already written 50 years ago; don’t feel frustrated to discover that since there’s no new story under the sun. Just evolve!
Email: eastgate2@yahoo.com
quote: Original post by eastgate2
To be honest, I''m sick of the notion that most games/mod concepts drive from two motion pictures in the last decade: Alien series for Science Fictions setting and plots and Saving
Private Ryan for WW2 Shooters.
I, for one, think that the creative potential the Alien series has has yet to be fully tapped. It''s has a good story, granted some so-so parts, with a dynamic creature and a heroine (sp?) that''s the leading figure against them. Looking back, Alien was set in a ship on something that escapes me right now, Aliens was set in a space base, Alien 3 was set on that Double-X Chromosome prison, and Alien: Resurrection was set on another ship. (Forgive me if I get one of those wrong, I think I got it but it''s been a while.) All of these take place in space, where there''s not a whole lot of diversity in the ways of animals or people and in the end, one was almost completely assured a good ending because of the area''s seclusion. Now, take the dynamic Alien and put him in a city, not big, say northern midwest close to a field or woods. Take into account the fact that these creatures take a shape similar to any creature it infests/infects. This could lead to a ton of trouble, because if the creature would infect a forest full of creatures, you''d have a ton of creatures going after people with varying strengths and weaknesses.
Then, let''s go with something that''s been done and put the creature in a science lab in orbit. Depending on the nature of the science lab, it could get into a mess of chemicals. If it was a genetics lab, it could infect creatures that are genetically altered to be more powerful or faster. This could cause changes in the alien that infecting regular creatures could not.
While I''m here, I figure I might as well play with this. In biology, I learned that when the DNA of one creature is put into the cells of another, that DNA will continue to be present, even through the other creature''s progeny. In order to really form a body, the alien has to assimilate some of the DNA of the creature with it''s own DNA, which is how it gets similar attributes. What if the DNA of a queen beetle and a bee was put into the cells of a dog that an alien affected? The creature may be capable of reproducing more like it, with the ability to fly and to reproduce en mass.
I''ll stop now. I think you get the picture.
I''m thoroughly disappointed someone didn''t want to dispute with my last post. I figured someone would have an opposing opinion.
quote: Original post by orionx103quote: Original post by eastgate2
To be honest, I''m sick of the notion that most games/mod concepts drive from two motion pictures in the last decade: Alien series for Science Fictions setting and plots and Saving
Private Ryan for WW2 Shooters.
I, for one, think that the creative potential the Alien series has has yet to be fully tapped.
Then dispute it I will. Whilst I agree with you on the above statement, there is a problem. Which is that the alien(s) work best as bogeymen. Ie. scary / horrific killing machines. They were made unique by their design. I think that the more Alien films are made, the more the impact is lost and the alien just functions as another deadly alien creature. And the more that it is crossbred with other creatures - it might as well be any other sci-fi B-movie like Starship Troopers etc. The alien has little depth to it (in terms of the issues it raises other than corporate greed - which has already been overplayed, and of fear of death. Maybe it is better to leave the alien legacy with the first quite "artistic" film Alien and the war movie-like Aliens.
Thanks.
I never thought of it in the "boogeyman aspect," which is interesting because it shows me, in a way, that overusing things like that makes it become dull. You learn something new every day.
I never thought of it in the "boogeyman aspect," which is interesting because it shows me, in a way, that overusing things like that makes it become dull. You learn something new every day.
quote: Original post by Anonymous PosterOnly because you have chosen to see things that way, which is unfortunate, because there's a thousand other ways to see it, and thus a thousand other forms to present.
Which is that the alien(s) work best as bogeymen.
[edited by - bishop_pass on January 2, 2004 11:35:16 PM]
A lot of what has been said here is good advice. When you begin your creative process however, don't hesitate to tell the story you want to tell, and design the game you want to design, even if it doesn't meet the criteria of somebody else's perspective of what should be extant.
Even if your plot bears simile to something that has been done before, it is your conception, and is your baby, and you're going to have to stick with it all the way through development. It is not the same amount of work as writing a feature script. I wish it were sometimes.
You shouldn't have to distance yourself from your passionate focus, risking demotivating yourself and potentially hampering productivity in an already challenging enough process though something as inspecific an as approach by avoidance.
Hollywood itself is the king of 'regurgitology', as any audience goer will lament, so the 'be original' argument is not as important as the 'be good' argument in the early stages of your career.
Good dramaturlogical skill development is more important initially, no matter the degree of familiarity in the story you are telling. The addition of interactivity to the plot construct will permit lots of variations upon the theme even if your premise sounds trite and hackneyed, giving it clear distinguishment from initially premature judgements, and as you will see, eventually has opportunity to dissipate altogether like the critic's whining yesterday wraps your fish today.
In filmic storytelling, that is the equivalent to saying, "You really can't say how it's going to turn out until you get to the last page."
Eveyone knows in the game development business, as a separate and distinct area from the feature film writing business, you are likely to burn your first game anyway for the experience factor, whereas the same in not true in screenwriting, where you can get your first screenplay produced, as I did.
One thing not mentioned in the original post is through the process of rewriting, the story will change, character will change, technique will change, a lot of things will change. Eventually the manuscript will take on it's own originality and uniqueness, so you can start with something looking like it was plagiarized from somebody else, and through refinement and rewriting, end up with something truly original resembling nothing except your unique representational art.
This frankly only occurs after a longer and more thorough process than most writers consider as sufficient development engagement, which is why the original poster's points about plot problems primarily exist.
So, you can work with a don't do this and don't do that approach to development if negative reinforcement is your chosen method of learning. I suggest for your consideration that more thorough design and rewriting based on optimism in the power of the process to evolve originality will ensure your final product turns out nothing like anything else already done, rather than having avoiding cliches as a reliable standard of production guideline.
And, it is patently untrue everything has already been written 50 years ago, that is the kind of myth creative arts simply don't benefit from, does nothing to advance the arts, and is often used by producers, directors and acquisition editors as a negotiation tool to substantiate intimidating expertice where none may in fact exist.
If this were the case, things like Neuromancer and The Andromeda Strain and Dragonriders of Pern wouldn't exist. What I think the original poster might have been pointing out is what survived of the original forms of drama (comedy and tragedy) from the Greeks (of which scholars estimate comprises only 6% of forms totally existing ) overwhelmingly tend to be the forms executed primarily today and in recent history.
The fact things seem to keep reoccuring dramatically in narrative and interactive fiction is bourne as much by proven profitability and segment penetration reliance as by insufficient development by the original composers and reliance on the tried and true catharsis evocators.
Take a thought from database developers and realize before you even begin to write tables, think about your data. The same is true for narrative development, and, the scope, degree and extent to which you think about your story reflects in the final manuscript in terms of originality and unique and fresh perspective. I thought about and researched my latest feature script for almost seven years before I wrote the first draft last summer, and I guarantee you nothing like it existed previously, and you nor anyone else has ever heard anything like it. I did that by design, intent, and copious quantities of work.
It's just another order altogether of work, which when unattained, produces the semblance that the work identifies with works already produced or published. But it is only a semblece, and the result of not going the distance. The vast majority of writers never go this far, which is why the myths exists.
Adventuredesign
[edited by - adventuredesign on January 3, 2004 11:56:48 PM]
[edited by - adventuredesign on January 4, 2004 1:19:45 AM]
Even if your plot bears simile to something that has been done before, it is your conception, and is your baby, and you're going to have to stick with it all the way through development. It is not the same amount of work as writing a feature script. I wish it were sometimes.
You shouldn't have to distance yourself from your passionate focus, risking demotivating yourself and potentially hampering productivity in an already challenging enough process though something as inspecific an as approach by avoidance.
Hollywood itself is the king of 'regurgitology', as any audience goer will lament, so the 'be original' argument is not as important as the 'be good' argument in the early stages of your career.
Good dramaturlogical skill development is more important initially, no matter the degree of familiarity in the story you are telling. The addition of interactivity to the plot construct will permit lots of variations upon the theme even if your premise sounds trite and hackneyed, giving it clear distinguishment from initially premature judgements, and as you will see, eventually has opportunity to dissipate altogether like the critic's whining yesterday wraps your fish today.
In filmic storytelling, that is the equivalent to saying, "You really can't say how it's going to turn out until you get to the last page."
Eveyone knows in the game development business, as a separate and distinct area from the feature film writing business, you are likely to burn your first game anyway for the experience factor, whereas the same in not true in screenwriting, where you can get your first screenplay produced, as I did.
One thing not mentioned in the original post is through the process of rewriting, the story will change, character will change, technique will change, a lot of things will change. Eventually the manuscript will take on it's own originality and uniqueness, so you can start with something looking like it was plagiarized from somebody else, and through refinement and rewriting, end up with something truly original resembling nothing except your unique representational art.
This frankly only occurs after a longer and more thorough process than most writers consider as sufficient development engagement, which is why the original poster's points about plot problems primarily exist.
So, you can work with a don't do this and don't do that approach to development if negative reinforcement is your chosen method of learning. I suggest for your consideration that more thorough design and rewriting based on optimism in the power of the process to evolve originality will ensure your final product turns out nothing like anything else already done, rather than having avoiding cliches as a reliable standard of production guideline.
And, it is patently untrue everything has already been written 50 years ago, that is the kind of myth creative arts simply don't benefit from, does nothing to advance the arts, and is often used by producers, directors and acquisition editors as a negotiation tool to substantiate intimidating expertice where none may in fact exist.
If this were the case, things like Neuromancer and The Andromeda Strain and Dragonriders of Pern wouldn't exist. What I think the original poster might have been pointing out is what survived of the original forms of drama (comedy and tragedy) from the Greeks (of which scholars estimate comprises only 6% of forms totally existing ) overwhelmingly tend to be the forms executed primarily today and in recent history.
The fact things seem to keep reoccuring dramatically in narrative and interactive fiction is bourne as much by proven profitability and segment penetration reliance as by insufficient development by the original composers and reliance on the tried and true catharsis evocators.
Take a thought from database developers and realize before you even begin to write tables, think about your data. The same is true for narrative development, and, the scope, degree and extent to which you think about your story reflects in the final manuscript in terms of originality and unique and fresh perspective. I thought about and researched my latest feature script for almost seven years before I wrote the first draft last summer, and I guarantee you nothing like it existed previously, and you nor anyone else has ever heard anything like it. I did that by design, intent, and copious quantities of work.
It's just another order altogether of work, which when unattained, produces the semblance that the work identifies with works already produced or published. But it is only a semblece, and the result of not going the distance. The vast majority of writers never go this far, which is why the myths exists.
Adventuredesign
[edited by - adventuredesign on January 3, 2004 11:56:48 PM]
[edited by - adventuredesign on January 4, 2004 1:19:45 AM]
Bishop_pass, you must be slowing down. You just pointed out that there are a thousand other ways to see it, rather than actually listing them. 
I agree with you, but I think that there''s a larger issue: Why the heck does it have to be Gieger''s (sp?) Alien? Silent Hill had perverted creatures attacking you, and they all somewhat resembled actual beasts, birds and men. I''m sure dozens of other such ideas have been used. If you like the idea that aliens sort of reproduce by combining the larva of the alien with the form of the host, just make something that works a little bit like that. Heck, the Aliens are a pain in the butt, because you need a whole hive before you can produce any. A Queen, some hosts, some eggs, and a lot of time.
Instead, make it a virus, like in Resident Evil, or some kind of space ray, or a curse, or some bizarre new fungus that dogs love to eat. There is the Bogeyman end of the Alien, no doubt, but one of the thousands of other facets of the creature that bishop_pass alluded to is its capability to be a pestilence. OrionX, that side of it seems to appeal to you. The fact that these things find a space colony and turn a few hundred human beings into a few hundred horrifying monsters just waiting for a few more hosts to show up is a terrifying thought. There are other forms of pestilence, though.
Halo''s Flood was a neat one. That game stole a lot, including at least one character, from the movie "Aliens", and it went with the pestilence side of the beast. Once the flood are loose, the entire population of the Halo is swiftly converted into Flood. In the beginning, you are fighting with Marines to kill Covenant, but by the end it''s just you and the Flood. That''s good work. What''s nice is that the Flood, despite being parasitic little squishy things that stick you people, are very intelligent, and can coordinate large groups of hosts to achieve complex goals. That''s good work.
So go ahead and rip off of other people''s ideas. Just steal smaller bites. Take a little bit from a score of sources, add in some original stuff, and see where it takes you.
eastgate2, I''m sure you''re an excellent writer, but a little bit of cliche isn''t the end of the world. WW2 wasn''t the only war, but it might have been the most important, at least in the modern age. And as to establishing characters and motivations and settings and backstories and blah, blah, blah, I hate cutscenes. I skip them when I can. Okay, great, this guy killed some guy and now I have to do what? Kill him? Super. Where''s my axe? In some RPGs the story is worth watching, but in most, it''s just pretty cutscenes that I have to endure in order to get to the next chopping scene. The last thing I need is a ten-minute movie before and after every level that explains the motivations and human aspect of the guy I''m trying to grenade.
Games are easy to overwrite. If you can''t tell the story while the player is doing something, you''re probably better off either making it supplemental or simplifying it. I''ll read up on the backstory of Halo, I''ll read The Fall of Reach, I''ll even go to the website to find out what kind of critters I''m smoking, but I love the fact that thst game starts out at the tail end of a long story, and doesn''t try to fill me in. Okay, we''re abandoning ship... I''m super-tough... There''s a gun... This button does a melee attack... Holy crap! That''s a lot of alien! Now that''s what I call game story.
I agree with you, but I think that there''s a larger issue: Why the heck does it have to be Gieger''s (sp?) Alien? Silent Hill had perverted creatures attacking you, and they all somewhat resembled actual beasts, birds and men. I''m sure dozens of other such ideas have been used. If you like the idea that aliens sort of reproduce by combining the larva of the alien with the form of the host, just make something that works a little bit like that. Heck, the Aliens are a pain in the butt, because you need a whole hive before you can produce any. A Queen, some hosts, some eggs, and a lot of time.
Instead, make it a virus, like in Resident Evil, or some kind of space ray, or a curse, or some bizarre new fungus that dogs love to eat. There is the Bogeyman end of the Alien, no doubt, but one of the thousands of other facets of the creature that bishop_pass alluded to is its capability to be a pestilence. OrionX, that side of it seems to appeal to you. The fact that these things find a space colony and turn a few hundred human beings into a few hundred horrifying monsters just waiting for a few more hosts to show up is a terrifying thought. There are other forms of pestilence, though.
Halo''s Flood was a neat one. That game stole a lot, including at least one character, from the movie "Aliens", and it went with the pestilence side of the beast. Once the flood are loose, the entire population of the Halo is swiftly converted into Flood. In the beginning, you are fighting with Marines to kill Covenant, but by the end it''s just you and the Flood. That''s good work. What''s nice is that the Flood, despite being parasitic little squishy things that stick you people, are very intelligent, and can coordinate large groups of hosts to achieve complex goals. That''s good work.
So go ahead and rip off of other people''s ideas. Just steal smaller bites. Take a little bit from a score of sources, add in some original stuff, and see where it takes you.
eastgate2, I''m sure you''re an excellent writer, but a little bit of cliche isn''t the end of the world. WW2 wasn''t the only war, but it might have been the most important, at least in the modern age. And as to establishing characters and motivations and settings and backstories and blah, blah, blah, I hate cutscenes. I skip them when I can. Okay, great, this guy killed some guy and now I have to do what? Kill him? Super. Where''s my axe? In some RPGs the story is worth watching, but in most, it''s just pretty cutscenes that I have to endure in order to get to the next chopping scene. The last thing I need is a ten-minute movie before and after every level that explains the motivations and human aspect of the guy I''m trying to grenade.
Games are easy to overwrite. If you can''t tell the story while the player is doing something, you''re probably better off either making it supplemental or simplifying it. I''ll read up on the backstory of Halo, I''ll read The Fall of Reach, I''ll even go to the website to find out what kind of critters I''m smoking, but I love the fact that thst game starts out at the tail end of a long story, and doesn''t try to fill me in. Okay, we''re abandoning ship... I''m super-tough... There''s a gun... This button does a melee attack... Holy crap! That''s a lot of alien! Now that''s what I call game story.
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