Slay the Dragon: Writing Great Video Games

“A veritable treasure trove of information. A compelling look at the development and evolution of interactive narrative and an invaluable tool for anyone who loves games!”

—Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer, Mass Effect; author, the Chaos Born trilogy

 

“Practical and original advice on narrative writing for video games that treats the world of gaming for what it is: an emerging art form.”

—Aaron Bleyaert, producer, “Clueless Gamer with Conan O’Brien” on TBS’s Conan

 

“If you’re learning how to write for games or a developer burning to create games with better stories, I can’t think of a better place to start.”

—Haris Orkin, game writer/narrative designer, Dying Light

 

“In my years of working in the industry this is the closest thing to a bible of creative video game story creation as I have ever seen.”

—Larry Hryb, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson

 

“Bridges the gap between traditional narrative and non-linear storytelling and makes it simple. A required tool in the working writer's toolbox.”

—Philip Eisner, screenwriter, Event Horizon; consulting writer for Telltale Games’ Tales from the Borderlands

 

“A comprehensive but accessible guide for those striving to relate to the medium of video games from another entertainment medium. If you’re a writer from film or TV and want to understand more about games, this book should get you comfortable quickly.”

—Dan Boutros, executive producer, The Walking Dead Assault; co-founder, Soul Arcade

 

The video-game business dwarves movies and television in revenues and is now beginning to catch up as a storytelling medium. Slay the Dragon will help you understand the challenges and offer crea-tive solutions to writing for a medium where the audience demands not only to watch the story but to be part of it. Bryant and Giglio step you through such topics as: the "no-act" structure of video games; writing great game characters; making gameplay emotionally meaningful; and bringing you a game world that is alive, whether that world is in Bejeweled, Bastion, or BioShock

Writing for the multibillion-dollar video-game industry is unlike writing for any other medium. Slay the Dragon will help you understand the challenges and offer creative solutions to writing for a medium where the audience not only demands a great story, but to be a driving force within it. Aimed at traditional writers who want to learn interactive narrative as well as game creators who want to tell better, more emotionally involving stories, the book is written by two creative veterans of both Hollywood and "Nerdyhood." Through lively discussions and self-paced-exercises, Bryant and Giglio step you such topics as: the "no-act" structure of video games; writing great game characters; making gameplay emotionally meaningful; and bringing your game world alive.

Robert Denton Bryant has worked in Hollywood in both marketing and production, and in video games as both a publisher and a developer. He has been executive producer on dozens of games on platforms ranging from CD-ROMs to the iPad, including the bestselling World Championship Poker and Pinball Hall of Fame console game franchises. He is the coauthor (with Charles P. Schultz) of Game Testing All In One. He has lectured in the U.S. and Europe on game writing, and currently teaches at The University of California, Los Angeles and at Woodbury University.Keith Giglio has worked as a screenwriter and producer on such feature and television movies as Joshua, Noah, Return to Halloweentown, Walt Disney's Tarzan, Pizza My Heart, A Cinderella Story, and Another Cinderella Story. He has written for Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Walden Media, Tokyopop, and Platinum Studios. His book Writing the Comedy Blockbuster was published in 2012. He currently teaches both screenwriting and game writing at Syracuse University.

Foreword by Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, Director of Programming, Xbox Live Chapter 00 -- Loading Chapter 01 -- What's in a Game? Chapter 02 -- Do Games Need Stories? Chapter 03 -- Aristotle vs. Mario: The Challenge of Video-Game Writing Chapter 04 -- How to Slay the Dragon: The No-Act-Fits-All Structure of Video Games Chapter 05 -- The Player / Protagonist: Writing a Great Game Character Chapter 06 -- Balancing Story and Gameplay Chapter 07 -- The Hero of a Thousand Levels: Quests, Missions, Levels, and Campaigns Chapter 08 -- World Building: The Narrative-Design Toolbox Chapter 09 -- We Can't All Be Batman: Crafting MMOs and Virtual Worlds Chapter 10 -- The Future of Gaming Is Mario and Aristotle and You Bibliography Index