principles, processes, and genteel truculence. ken rolston ◦ designer: paranoia, runequest,...
TRANSCRIPT
Collaborative Writing and Vast Narratives
Principles, Processes, and Genteel Truculence
Ken Rolston◦ Designer: Paranoia, RuneQuest, AD&D, WFRP,
Tales of the Arabian Nights◦ Lead Designer: Morrowind, Oblivion, Big Huge RPG
Mark Nelson◦ Lead Designer: Shivering Isles◦ Lead Narrative Designer: Big Huge RPG
Who Are We?
We Create Vast Narratives.
We Disagree About What Makes Vast Narratives
Work……and we’re both right.
Setting◦ Exploration, Pilgrims, and Tourists
Theme◦ Faction, Loose Narrative Threads
What Ken Believes In:
Story◦ Plot, Pacing, and Revelation
Character◦ Dialogue and Voice
What Mark Believes In:
Coherence Ownership Immersion IP
Setting and Theme Are Incredibly Important…
High Overhead Static Less Memorable
…Except For the Horrible Problems
Bioshock Fallout Myth
Setting and Theme Done Right
Morrowind◦ Detailed Faction
Gameplay◦ Early Focus on
Consistency of Theme
Setting and Theme Done Right
Oblivion◦ Too Massive◦ Too Generic
Cautionary Tale: ◦ Of Ashurnibibi and
Nchuleftingth
Setting and Theme Done (Not So) Right
Setting and Theme must be the Designer’s primary focus, as they are the building blocks of vast narratives; without them, players are left without any narrative touchstones.
VERY IMPORTANT RULE
Dynamic Elements Player Attachment Low Overhead IP Retention
Story and Character Are Incredibly Important…
Difficult to Maintain Consistent Voice Story Demands Exposition Games Rarely Do Story Well
…Except For the Horrible Problems
Chronicles of Riddick
Half Life 2 Eternal Darkness
Story and Character Done Right
Shivering Isles◦ Focus on Individual
Characters◦ Simple, Fast-Paced
Story
Story and Character Done Right
Oblivion◦ Again, Too Massive◦ Too Many Cooks
Cautionary Tale:◦ Of Jack Bauer and
the Search for the Da Vinci Code
Story and Character Done (Not So) Right
Story and Character must be the Designer’s primary focus, as they are the engines by which we drive players to continue to play our games.
VERY IMPORTANT RULE
Focus on Story? Focus on Setting? Focus on Both? Yes …and No.
So…What’s a Designer to Do?
Create Simple Themes◦ Ex., “East vs. West”
Make a Map◦ Major Geographical Features, Unique Topography
Establish Factions◦ Built-In Motivations and Conflicts
Early Design—Focus on Setting and Themes
Create Keystone Characters◦ Listen to the Voices in Your Head
Imagine Big Events◦ Discover the Scenes You Really Want to Write
…and When Ken Isn’t Looking
Early focus on Setting and Theme is imperative, as all good stories and characters are derived from their associated environments.
VERY IMPORTANT RULE
Write Character Bios◦ Backstory, Common Archetypes, Reference
Images, Sample Dialogue Draft Your Plot
◦ Act Structure, Key Moments, Narrative Reversals
Late Design—Focus on Story and Character
Integrate Faction Conflict◦ Find Places Where Theme Has Accidentally
Appeared, and Expand on It Look for Unexploited Hooks
◦ Tug On Loose Narrative Threads
…and When Mark Isn’t Looking
Later focus on Story and Character is necessary, as settings devoid of conflict and resolution are unable to sustain player interest.
VERY IMPORTANT RULE
The Black Box The Evil Overlord The Combo Platter
Approaches We’ve Taken to Manage The Process
Individual Designers on Individual Storylines+Internal Consistency+Scalable−No Interaction−Insular
The Black Box
Shared Design With One Vision-Holder+Consistency of Voice+Variety of Style−Bottlenecking−Seagulling
The Evil Overlord
Early Overlord/Late Black Box◦ Tone Established
Early◦ Increased Individual
Ownership◦ Greater
Accountability
The Combo Platter
Large teams are necessary to create vast narratives—managing these large teams requires strict oversight.
VERY IMPORTANT RULE
There are many VERY IMPORTANT RULES for designing vast narratives.
These rules must never be broken.
So…What Have We Learned?
WRONG!
These VERY IMPORTANT RULES should be understood.
These rules should be broken whenever necessary, convenient, or perversely enjoyable.