Thoughts on Quest Writing (Full Version)

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Eukara Vox -> Thoughts on Quest Writing (1/26/2011 22:00:01)

What is quest writing? Is it some lesser form of playwriting, or is it, by its very nature, and entity unto itself? You can't always dictate where exactly the character in a game will move or walk, as that is determined by the artists and the limitations of the game itself. It is hard to determine emotion and action that you can easily write into a narrative when writing a script for a quest.

So, knowing that you cannot portray as much feeling and action in a quest script, how do you go about creating one? Surely, the lack of such detail hinders the creation of a game quest. Yet, it doesn't. There are ways you can make up for this. One must keep in mind, though, that quest writing is a monster unto itself and must be treated thusly.

One of the things that I have learned in quest writing is that often, the only way you can convey emotion is through the words you choose for each character to say. Know that every word in the dialogue has to be as meaningful as possible. You only have so long to convey everything happening.

I tend to write my dialogue as if I was actually talking to the person. I will read my lines out loud, or if I can persuade one of my sons, have them read it with me. That way, I can tell if it is more natural. Mechanical/monotone dialogue will kill a quest no matter how good the story may be.

Opening up a quest is much like setting the tone of a narrative. You have to spark an interest in the reader, or in our case, a player. What will make the player look at the screen with more than a "here we go again"? Sometimes it is a pan across a scene with a detail that catches the eye. Or perhaps a narrative that scrolls up the screen with an interesting background. Either way, you have to catch the eye of the player. And this is something you need to write in. How else is the artist supposed to know how you want your opening to look.

One of the things I do is try to plunge into the scene right away. You have to remember that your audience has a need for speed. Speed as in "OMG, I need to slay something" speed. You must find a way to balance storytelling with comedy with speed. Even the most serious quests still have a couple of places with a few chuckles. So the beginning needs to start with something that draws attention and makes our trigger happy players pay attention. Sometimes a joke, sometimes a mysterious tidbit will do it. But don't make it too heavy. That could be a turn off.

Your dialogue should flow like a normal conversation. Make it realistic. Realism is funny stuff, whether you realise it or not. You can have realistic conversation in the midst of high fantasy writing. The conversation should flow well. And don't be afraid to have the scene change while there is talking. We don't stay still when talking, why should your characters? The exchanges should be fast, but meaningful. Remember the point about conveying much in all your word choices? Definitely need to pay attention to that. Make your words count.

Find places in your dialogue where a naturally occuring pause happens (aka fight!). This way, you can have a good story, good action and no one gets bored or tired of all the talking. I do understand both sides of this argument. Too much talking makes it feel like you will never get to fight, too little dialogue leaves the player unfulfilled. We do not want unfulfilled players. Switching between a good amount of time talking with good fights keeps the quest lively and hopefully, keeps the players happy with the balance.

Players, above all, want to be entertained. My philosophy is, if I giggle or smile, then I am having fun. If I am having fun, then so should the players. It's my motto when I write stories, write quests or teach in a classroom.

OK, now that I have rambled and not even sure if this is helpful ( XD ) here is the format I generally use:

Conceptual notes: What do I envision with this quest? What is my aim?

Quest 1 - <title>

Scene opening:

Opening scene dialogue

Scene change: Movement to new background/place, possibly a monster confrontation.

Second scene dialogue. May have random battles inserted to mix things up.

Scene change: Movement to new background/place, possibly a monster confrontation.

Third scene dialogue. May have random battles inserted to mix things up.

If you have more scenes, you continue the pattern until done.



This is the actual format of one of my already released quests.

End quest

Rewards: Detail, detail, detail! This is where you describe your rewards, give their descriptions, element, abilities, etc.



Artwork Requirements: Anything new needs to be created, here is where you put it in DETAIL!



Notes: This section is for you to think out things, ponder your quest, etc





Lord Barrius -> RE: Thoughts on Quest Writing (1/27/2011 0:28:17)

Eukara's offered you a lot of valuable advice about quest writing. I'd like to offer some technical advice, to help with quest execution.

One important thing to keep track of is any art requirements that your quest will have. This is usually best in a separate section. Does your quest have a new NPC? That's an art requirement. Rewards? Those require art too. Once you've listed all of your art requirements together, take a look at your list. How long is it? If you've got more than three or four items, you're probably making a pretty big demand. Keep in mind that our artists need time to make each individual piece, and that's a lot of work just to make one thing at a time. Four or more items is a lot more than is probably fair to expect of our artists in a single week.

Another important thing to note: the way your quest is presented is just as important as how well it is written. Make certain that you use a clean, easily-read format. Try to avoid a essay/novel format when you finish your script. If we can't tell precisely what you wanted, it's hard for us to envision the quest and we're not going to be able to follow it as well.

Also, while it may be tempting to offer monster stats at the instant a monster appears, or the rewards of the quest, but it's actually a better idea to separate them from the quest script. Put them in a separate section. It makes the script easier to read, and we'll know to look in the other section for details about the monster or rewards.

Organization is a key to presenting your quest. Take strides to make sure it is easy to read and that everything is organized neatly. An organized quest will look much better than one which doesn't have any sort of script structure. It's better to be overly detailed and organized than to lack in detail or be disorganized. Such things can make a quest much harder to read and enjoy.

Other things to avoid:

1) Copyright: Please don't make quests that literally duplicate copyrighted material. If it can be recognized from some copyrighted location, your entry can't be used because we would be risking a lawsuit from the company that owns that material.

2) Location: Make certain that the location of your quest makes sense. The setting should be influential. WHERE something happens is as important as WHAT is happening. If your setting feels as though it could have taken place anywhere, then you didn't incorporate your environment very well. In addition to this, if you find that your quest jumps around a lot to a variety of locations, it may be that your settings aren't as meaningful as they could be.

3) Innovation: This is a big one. Don't make a quest that purely recycles old concepts. Innovate. Be creative. Don't be afraid to gamble a little bit (just a little!) in your quest, and try something a little different that you haven't seen before. If you're willing to make something that is unique and interesting, your quest will draw much more attention. The best quests continue to evolve the gameplay in such a way that you don't feel like you've "been there before".




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