How to avoid making stories seem cheesy.
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Are there some good guidelines to keep game storylines from seeming cheesy and rediculous? I know the developers of Ninja Blade for XBox360 were TRYING for something epic, but they failed. What could prevent a game from making a mistake like that? Where you start out with an epic storyline and it just branches off into the realm of rediculous game stories?
Cheesiness is somewhat subjective. I doubt there's anything really close to a formula you can follow to prevent cheesiness, and there will always be some people who like a story and appreciate what "epicness" it has, and others who just think it's cheesy. The best you can do is just continually, honestly, critically evaluate your story, and backtrack at the first sign of divergence into cheesiness. Oh, and be unique.
There are lists of cliches around, as well as the Mary Sue litmus test, but basically any large game project should have two or more writers on staff, as well as the designer and/or producer glancing over the writing. If one of them thinks a piece of writing is bad in some way, that's like a bug they're supposed to report. If they all like it, then if you still think it's cheesy you're probably not in the target audience. (For example, some people think all romance novels are cheesy. If you are writing or producing a romance novel, these people are not in your target audience, and because they are not in the target audience their opinion is not valid or relevant.)
Quote:Cheesiness is somewhat subjective. The best you can do is just continually, honestly, critically evaluate your story, and backtrack at the first sign of divergence into cheesiness. Oh, and be unique.
Well, everything is subjective, including what is "unique" and "honest". It would help to toss out what seems cheesy to each of us to try and disambiguate the topic a little. (Although sunandshadow hit the nail on the head in regards to target audience)
There are a lot of things that make a game cheesy to me, but I'll name 2.
1. When the developers try to cram too much in an element. In Devil May Cry 4, a main character names Dante was chock full of equipment that gave him a completely different control style in one button push. What's sad was they they were just to change style and weapons. I had to switch to the even worse keyboard controls when I found my Logitec controller didn't have enough buttons for this guy. The previous guy did, but I couldn't play as him for a while! What a gyp, he had more fluent control! Dante was also sickeningly macho for each piece of equipment (rose in mouth to boot), had 3 different super forms and endless other moves that look cool but you will never remember. Give me a break! This guy could be split to 5 different characters! What this ordeal tells me is that the developers have a relationship so close to the character that they will toss the next thing off the top of their heads that seems cool for him/her without even trying to make a character that better fits or trying to compartmentalize anything. An unfortunate victim of this behavior is Sonic the Hedgehog. I used to be a fan, but now I can't look at another cover to a Sonic game without becoming nauseated.
2. When a game follows a genre so well that there is not a thing unique about it. Games that are packaged in a 3-in-1 deals that are NOT arcade games seem to be common culprits.
I don't know anything about writing, but I've read good stories that are constructed from derivative fantasies and plot devices that are, on the surface, illogical.
The story has to be evocative enough to make those things irrelevant. Instead of trying to avoid writing a cheesy story, maybe you should be concerned with trying to write a captivating one.
The story has to be evocative enough to make those things irrelevant. Instead of trying to avoid writing a cheesy story, maybe you should be concerned with trying to write a captivating one.
As discussed by Zyrolasting, don't overpower your favorite characters. One of my strategies when coming up with a character is to use someone I find really annoying as a base, and creatively try to redeem them. This reduces the chances of a Sue from the start.
I'll have to disagree with Zyro's second point: sometimes I like stories that simply distill the essence of a particular genre. For example, Psi-Ops was rife with conspiracy theory cliches and stock characters, but it was fun because I hadn't played a game with such a generic story (on the other hand, the story might have been less appealing if I had played Metal Gear Solid beforehand).
As has been stressed by others, cheesy is highly subjective. Some people like HP Lovecraft, others hate his thinly veiled racism and histrionics.
For more concrete advice, I suggest the Bradbury Method: find a noun, maybe an adjective, and write the story around that. Try not to make the noun a weapon, though, since that's obvious enough in a game.
I'll have to disagree with Zyro's second point: sometimes I like stories that simply distill the essence of a particular genre. For example, Psi-Ops was rife with conspiracy theory cliches and stock characters, but it was fun because I hadn't played a game with such a generic story (on the other hand, the story might have been less appealing if I had played Metal Gear Solid beforehand).
As has been stressed by others, cheesy is highly subjective. Some people like HP Lovecraft, others hate his thinly veiled racism and histrionics.
For more concrete advice, I suggest the Bradbury Method: find a noun, maybe an adjective, and write the story around that. Try not to make the noun a weapon, though, since that's obvious enough in a game.
Quote:I don't know anything about writing, but I've read good stories that are constructed from derivative fantasies and plot devices that are, on the surface, illogical.I don't know if I feel this was because I just got out of a very long thread involving something like this, but it does seem you have to be mighty careful about how you can run with an illogical idea. A long time ago I painted myself in a corner when I tried to make a race that had no war, was brilliant and totally equal... Working communism. I had nothing to stand up to the Bystander Effect or coercion. I actually threw in a military despite their pacifism. Boy, am I glad those days are over. Just something to keep in mind, since it seems the more difficult the concept in the real world, the more facts you have to account for when trying to solidify it in a story.
Quote:I'll have to disagree with Zyro's second point: sometimes I like stories that simply distill the essence of a particular genre. For example, Psi-Ops was rife with conspiracy theory cliches and stock characters, but it was fun because I hadn't played a game with such a generic story (on the other hand, the story might have been less appealing if I had played Metal Gear Solid beforehand).
Well, I forgive generic plots if I can still be immersed in the world in other fashions. [smile] Ultimately, if I can't "get into the game", I can't enjoy it. Even though I despised playing Dante in DMC4, I finished the game because of the absolutely gorgeous art style, the good use of shaders and the God of War like gameplay.
Quote:Try not to make the noun a weapon, though, since that's obvious enough in a game.
I like that... Well put.
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