During the Thanksgiving break, I read the book Slay the Dragon: Writing great video games written by Robert Denton Bryant and Keith Giglio. It is a clear, concise and interesting guide for script writer, game developer, film producer and game lovers. It introduces game story writing from different aspects. It talked about the importance of story ideas, structure of video games, how to create a playable character, game design basics and method acting.

One of my favorite part is about the similarities and differences between video and game. Before reading the book, I thought almost all the books or movies can be adapted as a game, for that all of them have stories and we can just put the players into the story scene and let them play, not mentioning that there are a lot of successful precedents on movie and book adaption. But it seems I was totally wrong. I started to think about the videos I filmed, and tried to figure out if they can be adapted to a game. In the class, I had shot a horror video with my group. The idea is about a walking-dead trying to get out of the restroom. Though the idea itself is rough and simple, I thought it may have the potential to become a game. So, what if I want to make it a game? Firstly, a game need goals and obstacles. If I want to create a horror game, what my goal can be? Try to escape the restroom or try to survive? If my goal is escaping the room, the obstacles can be something that prevent me from escaping, such as closed door, broken lock… If my goal is to survive, the obstacles can be lack of weapons and lack of tools to keep myself save. Then a game needs characters. For the horror game, I want the player to immerse in the terrifying experience so I don’t need more characters to compete with the player. Thirdly, a game needs settings. The game maker should be able to provide dramatic context. The world. The setup. I would like to set my horror story in a reality-related background so it happens in a restroom in an old but normal university. Competition is also important in games. As I mentioned before, my game is expected to be a single-player game so that the player plays against the game system. He/she needs to solve all the puzzles and overcome all the obstacle to meet the goal. Finally, a game needs rules. Character must be motivated. Clues must be planted. Conflicts must be resolved...It means that my story idea cannot be as simple as the one used in shooting the horror movie- our group only aimed to scare people and didn’t think much about story before. In sum, though I have characters and setting, and I successfully filmed the horror 360 movie with my group, the story idea of the movie is not enough to be used in a game. Story ideas of games should be more developed, dramatic, and able to leave more space for players to interact and make their choice.

One more thing that surprised me is that the writers are never the prime creator of a game. As a simple idea from writers can have a huge impact on the schedule and budge of a game, they need to work closely with producers or programmers. They need to work together to see if time and money allow them to create a new model, a new scene, or implementing an existed function.

If you are interested in game script writing, creating or developing, you should be reading this book.