Research
Research Proposal:
17/01/2021
Research Sources:
15/01/2021
We have been tasked with selecting different sources that can be used for the research aspects of this project.
Interview with Diana Pinguicha (2016):
During the course of this interview, The writer Diana Pinguicha was asked by Belinda Crawford about her experience in the art of Worldbuilding and Game Design.
Diana talks about how she would usually begin projects during the course of her master's degree. She would usually start her projects with the writing and world design aspects since they were easier for her and it would help her shape the game as she progressed through the project. Furthermore, Diana discusses her belief in the amount of text that should be in a videogame. Regaling the interviewer on how she hated one of her master's projects which was called 'Sightless', saying that she had put way too much text in the script making it drawn-out and boring for the player.
The Art Of Videogame Writing (The Conversation, 2016):
In this article, Brooke Maggs discusses her experiences with writing videogames as well as what she believes are some of the core concepts of being a good videogame writer.
Some of the skills that Maggs lists involves the writer being able to problem solve, improves and being able to collaborate with other writers. She also gives an example of how these skills can be extremely useful; this is shown with a game she wrote for called The Garden Between, an adventure puzzle game that has no text or dialogue. Maggs was able to communicate the story of the character to the player via the artist and visual designers, giving the artists a description and backstory of the character so that they could be created to help reflect those distinctions. The technique is known as 'Show don't tell' which is commonly used in writing to help create a clearer image for the reader.
Interview with Joe Abercrombie (2020):
In an interview with Daniel Geerne interviews Abercrombie talking about his opinions of the fantasy genre as well as writing in the modern age.
Abercrombie talks about how he always looks to approach each story from a different angle, helping to keep the world that the events are set in fresh as well as preventing the writing from being burnt out. He also talks about how he had been inspired by films when creating his books; Point Blank (1967), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and, Unforgivern (1992). Using these three films, Abercrombie would go on to write books that shared the same themes as them but within the world that he had created for the books.
Interview with Rhianna Pratchett (2007):
Ben Kuchera sat down with Pratchett to discuss the near release of the game Overlord (Triumph Studios, 2007) as well as her role within the project.
Pratchett describes the way in which the team created morality in the game, which could be summed up with the mistresses that are in the game with Rose being the practical side of evil "Right down to checking the temperature of the lava pool", whereas, Velvet represents the visual style of evil being less reliable but even more devious. She also discusses the importance of a game's demo "The demo was always important to the team. There's really no substitute for hands-on experience with a game."
Examples of worldbuilding in-game from Smite (Hi-Rez, 2014):
Smite is a third-person MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) where gods from different mythologies battle each other for supremacy. Whilst the game does not have a narrative, Smite is able to tell the story of each god effectively through the use of voice lines, the naming of abilities as well as their appearance.
Neith, The Weaver of Fate:
The design of Neith is an excellent example of visual storytelling from having her wear strips of linen as she was considered to be a goddess of weaving. She also is considered a goddess of the hunt lending to her signature bow which can also be seen as a weaving loom. The inspiration also spills into her gameplay, using weaves to lock opponents in place as well as being designated as a 'Hunter'.
Cthulhu, The Great Dreamer:
Cthulhu abilities and gameplay reflects his literary counterpart with a lot of his mechanics revolving around Lovecraftian themes, notably his passive ability called 'Prey on Fear' which causes him to grow stronger the more enemies around him that are terrified. This idea draws influence from a lot of Lovecraft books which always reflected the author's fears.
Primary Research Sources (Email):
Jason Vandenberghe (Power, 2021:18 January):
Todd Howard (Power, 2021:18 January):
Martyn Hinson (Power, 2021:18 January):
The following interview with Martyn Hinson, has been recorded but some of the audio has become corrupted so a transcript has been provided:
Would you please introduce yourself?
21/01/2021
What is your role at Nysko and what do you hope to achieve?
What sort of skills do you find essential in the industry?
Are there any skills that you wish you'd learnt?
Do you think that Business play a big part in game development?
Do you think that disagreements can be an issue?
Finally, Who or what was your biggest inspiration to join the industry?