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3 comments, last by pothb 15 years, 8 months ago
[deleted] [Edited by - XisZ on January 14, 2009 1:23:45 AM]
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It depends on what its going to be used for...a cutscene? opening text? RPG dialog?

Is it story notes for yourself? For shareing with your teammates? Final text that is going into the game? For the game instruction manual?

For stuff like cutscenes, following the general film script outline might be ideal. something like:

Exterior.Day - Small town street Like a Norman Rockwell painting, an assortment of rustic shops are compressed along the lazy street.Exterior.Day - Jim's Grocerys and General Proucts Elbowed in by its neighbours. This small town grocery store hasn't changed in over 50 years. The once bright paint is now faded, but there is still charm a plenty in the details.  Johnathan - young, hip, earnest. The kinda fellow mom wants your sister to marry.   Johnathan (whistles) as he walks down the street. suddenly he nearly trips, the sidewalk sparkles where he lost his balance.    Johnathan (suprised) : "Whoa! What's that?"    He reaches down to grab the sparkle, we now see him eyeing the coin.    Johnathan : "Cool, a shiney new penny."



Short and simple. To the point, but with enough description to fire up the imagination. Basicly just describe what the player should see and the impression you want them to have of the scene. Stage direction = yes...inside the character head stuff like in a novel = no.

From here a storyboard artist should be able to block out the scene, where the camera is, whats in/out of the frame, etc. So then your animators can get to work on it with a pretty clear understanding of what needs to be done.
I'd suggest writing it as a script, as if it were a film. Unless of course if it's just going to be back-story designed to be read (e.g. in the game manual or web-site) in which case it should just be standard narrative.
A screenplay would probably be the simplest method for conversion into a game.

But sometimes it's the imagery and words that make a story appealing.

I guess it depends on what the circumstances are.

Are you converting the story straight from your head into the game, or are you writing the story and hoping to turn it into a game after you're finished?
I would personally do bullets, then elaborate after I get the ideas all down and sorted. From there, you can take each bullet and expand it into a screenplay or a couple of paragraphs, maybe even a chapter.

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