Writing for New IP - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 145

TV series ( Little Britain: The Game ), comic ( The Darkness , Rogue Trooper ), or old
game licence revamped ( World of Warcraft , Half-Life 2 , Doom 3 ).
Standalone IPs
A new, standalone IP isn't any cast-iron guarantee of gameplay innovation, although
this is the place you're most likely to find it. From a writer's point of view, much of
the project will be geared towards delivering on the gameplay experience, as should be
the case. The story and narrative can sometimes take a back seat until the gameplay
is considered a solid and enjoyable experience.
Whilst this can be frustrating for a writer at first, it's ultimately for the best.
You're unlikely to be able to cram a great story into a title with poor gameplay and
stop the game from the inevitable press pounding, but solid gameplay gives the writer
a great basis from which to build an immersive narrative world and avoid the afore-
mentioned narrative custard effect. For the most part, we are writing for games;
games aren't gameplaying our stories. Needs of the gameplay do need to come first,
especially if a new, standalone IP is to have longevity in the marketplace.
But it's certainly not doom and gloom here. Creating new worlds and compelling
characters (covered in more depth later) are incredibly important with standalone
IPs precisely because they do help bolster a single game into a burgeoning franchise.
If you are given free, or at least freer, rein to create your own characters and world
structure then pretty much every narrative and character creation technique is at your
disposal, as long as it conforms with those old game-narrative bugbears of pacing,
gameplay, and memory requirements. Whatever you create, keep one eye firmly on
the extension of your world (the sequel, the downloadable content, the ports, the
comics, the animation, even the movie) because you can be damn sure that your
publisher will have. And being a few creative steps ahead always helps come contract
renewal time.
Existing Franchise IPs
New game IPs attached to another franchise really aren't the kiss of death that they
used to be. As the rest of the entertainment world becomes a little more savvy about
games and game development, there's thankfully less pressure to turn out a fourth-
rate game and hope the name alone will sell it.
From a writer's perspective, franchise IP can often come with its own restrictions
piled on top of the existing game-related ones. This is especially true if the game is
tied to an upcoming movie, which may well dictate not only the content but also
the release date. It is also likely that any script or story work will have to be passed
through the franchise holder for signing off (such as J. K. Rowling, in the case of the
Harry Potter games).
There's also the added benefit (or curse, depending on your viewpoint) that as far
as characters and world go, a lot of the work has already been done for you. Of course,
that doesn't mean the end of creativity for the writer/story designer. Even realizing the
same story in an interactive world is a whole different ball game. However, allowing