Writing for New IP - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 156

Overall, the sisters made a nice pairing, and their scenes together were a lot of
fun. Given more time, we would have definitely involved the Mistresses more in
the general gameplay. However, in the creation of Rose and Velvet, I in-build a few
narrative hooks that will ideally spin them into future incarnations. In fact, at the
end of Overlord: Raising Hell , it's strongly suggested that your chosen Mistress will
have a very literal role in spawning future evil!

Rose and Velvet Narrative Character Hooks
•

They had distinct personalities, voices, and ways of looking at the world, as
well as very different visual looks. There's certainly no mixing Velvet and Rose
up!

• Both had conflict with each other, the player (depending on who the player

spurned), and other characters in the game.

•

The chosen Mistress has a special bond with the player, which remains unbro-
ken at the end of the game.

•

They are both alive at the end of the game. Death, especially in video games,
isn'talwaystheend,butit'snottooeasytogetbackfrom!

• They both have a strong insight into and about the gameplay—namely being

evil. And there's certainly the indication that if they managed to get along and
team up, they'd be a formidable force.

14.7 Conclusion

I've been very lucky that the majority of my game writing and story design work have
been for new IPs, and so far they've not been consigned to Mr. Allison's 93% failure
graveyard. New IPs may be the greatest risks, but creatively they can be the biggest
wins as well. This is really where the metal meets the meat, and it's a fertile area for
writers to get involved and do some good. There are worlds out there for you to
create and populate and stories to be spun. Go forth, good writers, and be narrative
gods!

14.8 Exercises

1. Take a game you've enjoyed and create (in document form, unless you're feel-
ing really creative) a new area of the gameworld that has a particular emphasis
on narrative and storytelling. This could be to create more interest in a par-
ticular character or event, or even to cover what you see as a plot hole in
the original game. Keep it small and think about narrative features such as
cutscenes, interactive dialog, and combat dialog within that area.