Dan Trachtenberg directed an original short film based on the video game Portal. It went viral, logging more than fifteen million views.10 He is now attached to direct the movie version of the comic book Y: The Last Man written by Brian K. Vaughn, a comic book writer and producer on Lost.
Warner Bros. scored a huge hit with The Lego Movie. Audiences have been playing with Lego for years. But in all the reviews (which were glowing) and discussions of the film’s success, we noticed a complete lack of love for the Lego games. For years, people have been living in Lego worlds, not just with the toy bricks, but with the funny animated adventures that go along with playing any of the Lego games, including Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Star Wars, and Lego Batman. It’s the Lego games of the last 10 years, made by English developer Traveller’s Tales, which inspired The Lego Movie’s comic sensibility. The Lego movie only broke new ground in movie theaters. There was an audience of millions already familiar with that world. We were disappointed that film reviewers didn’t acknowledge this.
Seizing on the success of the Lego movie, it’s no wonder Warner Bros. has put Minecraft into accelerated development as a feature film franchise. To millions of people around the world it’s already a franchise! A movie would be icing on a very big cake that has already been baked. (BTW, the creator of Minecraft was able to purchase a $70 million home in Los Angeles. We guess you need a pretty big kitchen for that pretty big cake.)
Remember those story pitches that started this chapter? As we write this, they are all in development as motion pictures. Michael “Magneto” Fassbender is attached to star in Assassin’s Creed. Ridley Scott’s company is developing the Halo feature film. Although, as of this writing, it’s stuck in “development hell,” we fully expect to be on line the first day for the BioShock movie.
Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft has been compared to the next Marvel for raising money to develop its own properties for the big screen, including two games based on Tom Clancy novels-turned-game franchises: Splinter Cell (with Tom Hardy attached) and Ghost Recon.11
Games are not just about games anymore. The worlds are colliding. Swirling around you. It can be very confusing. We’re here to clear up the differences, to bridge the similarities, and to get you thinking about that alchemy!
We hope you find the ideas and exercises within to be a worthy quest. We wrote this book for you, if you are:
• a writer who wants to explore interactive storytelling,
• a writer who wants to understand the role of story in the game development process,
• a game writer (or gameplay designer) who wants to make your work more integrated and emotionally resonant with gameplay (and vice versa); or
• a passionate fan of story-driven video games.
At the end of each chapter are some Dragon Exercises. We encourage you to do them. Let us be your quest givers here to take you through world-building, character creation, branching narratives, and game mechanics (among many other topics).
It’s time to begin your journey.
It’s time to slay the dragon!
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK (PRESS X TO SKIP)
Movies (and television) and video games; video games and movies. This book is a bridge between those two types of media. Let’s call them linear narrative and interactive narrative.
You may be very familiar with the material on linear narrative: character, conflicts, and all the other tenets of drama. But you might not know anything about game mechanics and gameplay. Or, you may be an avid game player—or game creator—who is familiar with gameplay but might not know about story structure. With that in mind, we have laid out some “choose-your-own-adventure” options to help guide you through the book. As much as we hate to skip over cut scenes, sometimes it happens. So we are providing you with a SKIP button here.
If You Are a Writer and Know a Little about Games
Most of this book is going to be new to you. Sure, you will be tempted to skip over story and jump right to gameplay. But you want to make sure you read the story material also, for it is wildly different in interactive narrative.
Must-read chapters: all of them!
If You Are a Game Developer and Know a Little about Story
For a game dev, a chapter like “What’s in a Game?” may seem like a boot camp tutorial. So skip it. And you can probably skip over game mechanics. But don’t pass up story, or characters. Even level design has something to offer on how it applies to what keeps viewers in their seats—engaging content.
Must-read chapters:
2. Do Games Need Stories?
3. Aristotle vs. Mario
4. The No-Act-Fits-All Structure of Video Games
5. Writing a Great Playable Character
6. Who Am I When I Play? Gameplay as Method Acting
8. The Hero of a Thousand Levels
9. Building Your World with the Narrative Design Toolbox
12. What Happens Next?
If You Are a Film Producer or Creative Exec Looking for the Next Big Crossover IP
Everyone wants to be that genius at the studio who makes the video game movie (or TV show) work. So far it hasn’t. Why is that? We think you should read through the entire book to make your job easier. Bridge the two worlds together. You are not looking to break into the video game business, so you will probably skip most of the exercises as well.
Must-read chapters:
1. What’s in a Game?
2. Do Games Need Stories?
3. Aristotle vs. Mario
4. The No-Act-Fits-All Structure of Video Games
5. Writing a Great Playable Character
6. Who Am I When I Play? Gameplay as Method Acting
7. Game Design Basics for Writers
8. The Hero of a Thousand Levels
12. What Happens Next?
If You Teach and Use this as a Textbook
Everything in this book has been beta-tested in our classrooms. We have structured the book so you can use it to map out your semester. Each chapter contains exercises and projects that we have workshopped with our own students with great success. Our students have gone on to work in the video game field as writers, producers, testers, and even journalists.
Must-read chapters: all of them!
If You Are a Hobbyist and Want to Make Your Own Game
Read it all the way through from beginning to the end. (And don’t forget the exercises!)
DRAGON EXERCISES 00
Playing to Learn
AT THE END of each chapter we’ve suggested some exercises for you to do. This is not homework. This is fun. This is brainstorming, or getting your brain ready to be stormed with your great game idea(s).
1 START YOUR GAME JOURNAL
Games are meant to be played.