Writing a video game script offers a challenge that goes far beyond the normal realm of writing. But it’s also something that can be tremendously rewarding in the realm of your creativity. Here are some guidelines and tips for writing a video game script.
Video games today are built on complex worlds and tell stories. A player no longer simply progresses through repetitive screens slaying goblins and demons on a quest to the goal. A player now looks forward to progressing through a world where there is a rich story and a plethora of decisions to be made. This adds to the complexity of writing a video game script and also to the wealth of creativity involved.
The first thing you have to think about is that writing a video game script is not the same as writing a movie script. The two processes are similar and you write a movie-like script for your video game, but that’s only part of the process. There are a lot of supplementary materials that you need to write for your game script. Here is an overview of what you need to write and why.
Write an executive overview of the story in prose.
This is the most important part of your game script and this is what will sink or float your script. This overview has to tell a compelling and unique story and should tell the whole story from the opening scene of the game through the main steps to the completion of the game. An overview like this can be almost any size and could easily be ten pages written or more. Remember that today’s video games are very complex and the stories can be very complex. This overview is also the most important part of the script. You would buy this from game developers to see if they are interested in turning it into a game.
Write a history and background of the world.
Video games are whole worlds and game designers need to know what the world is like and what kind of story it has. This will help designers visualize what the world will look like.
Create a flowchart for the entire game
His game is going to be very complex and there will be a lot of decisions that the player will have to make and each decision opens up a whole new path for the player to take. Creating a flowchart is the best way to keep track of all possible paths through the game.
Create side quests and write a prose overview of each quest.
The side quests can be simple or complex, but each one is a story in itself and you have to tell these stories.
Create character descriptions and biographies for all the main characters in the game.
Game designers need a complete picture of the characters in the game. Many of the non-player characters you create will appear over and over again. And their story is deeply woven into the fabric of their world. You must describe this relationship in detail to the game designers.
Writing interactions with non-player characters
Your game will likely involve interaction with non-player characters (NPCs). You must write the dialogue and flowchart the choices the player can make. These interactions are often critical to the story and can lead the player down very different paths towards the game’s conclusion.
Write cut scenes
Cut scenes are short animations or movies that appear before or after the main plot points of the story. A cut scene should always be written to enhance or describe the story. A cut scene is also a reward given to the player for achieving a major milestone in the game.
Writing the actual storyboard script
This is the final step in the entire game script writing process and it is the most detailed. Do this step last because you need all the supporting materials to understand and describe this correctly. This part is very similar to a movie script. You advance through each scene of your story and detail all the necessary information. Here’s an example:
Level 1:
Rent: A dark cathedral with stained glass windows. An NPC is kneeling before a stone coffin in the center of the main room.
Music: Background music from an organ playing introduces the scene but subsidizes
Characters: Main player, NPC named Thomas, seven were creatures
Player Objective: Discover the location of the underground air
Stock: The player must initiate the discussion with Thomas, in the first contact we activate the cut scene (1) where Thomas transforms into a man-creature and summons his men-minions. The main character must fight the lycanthropes, and then restart the discussion with Thomas.
Flowchart: No decisions are made at this point: if the battle is completed, Thomas reveals the entrance to the underground lair and the player advances to that level. If the player is defeated in battle, go back to the death cutscene (11) and move to the try again screen.
Grades: The player is locked in the cathedral and there is no way out. The only viable way out is to initiate contact with Thomas. Random creatures can be activated if the player explores the cathedral before talking to the NPC.
end of scene
When writing a video game script, you have to remember that your primary audience is not the player but the game developer and what the developer needs is a complete picture of what their game is about. This means that you are not just writing a story, but creating a world complete with tone, sounds, characters, story, plot, and subplots. To successfully communicate this to the developer, you must use a full set of creative tools, and this is where game scripts depart from regular scripts and open up a whole field of creative possibilities.
