Manuals, In-Game Text, and Credits - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 43

Fluff. If you have the extra space, you might want to put in extra fiction. Maybe a
longer introduction, a description of the setting the player finds himself in, a short
history of the cultures in the game and their relationship, character descriptions of
NPCs, or lists of available weapon and armor types.
Awards. You may be directed to use the extra space to list different awards, good
press quotes, and review scores the game has been gathering. For instance, if you are
rewriting the manual for the Platinum version of the game, the game team might
want to mention that the game was awarded the “Best Game of the Year� award from
Official Xbox Magazine .
Advertisements. This probably won't be up to you. The marketing guys may slip
an advertisement into this manual for upcoming games or already-released games
made by the same developer or sold by the same publisher.
Credits
Who gets credit for what is a highly sensitive subject for most game studios. Nor-
mally, as the manual writer, you won't have to actually generate this list. However,
if you do find yourself in the position of having to collect the credits, I've included
some tips about this process in Section 5.5.
Legal Stuff
The end-user license agreement usually takes up a couple pages of the manual in a
desperate attempt to absolve the game company of responsibility in case the game
causes someone harm or discomfort, as well as scare the living heck out of wannabe
pirates who might want to copy the game for their own profit (yar, matey!). You
won't have to write this part: the legal team for the publisher will probably give you
the text to include, if you touch the thing at all. Usually, it just magically appears in
the manual, like little lawyer elves snuck in at the printers at night and filled up two
pages with undecipherable legalese.
5.3 The Long Manual—Adding Content to the Basics
There are some types of games that demand a longer manual. Flight simulators, real-
time strategy games, and massively multiplayer role-playing games come to mind.
These games are so full of hidden commands, hard-to-understand mechanics, and
distinct units and items that their manuals swell to near biblical proportions. A long
manual takes a good chunk of time to write, so make sure you start early. You'll also
need to find out just how much information the team wants to include about each
separate item, unit, or spell.
Long manuals need to have the same information as short manuals: descriptions
of the interface, how to control units or characters, what the game is about, and so
on. Further, just because the manual is longer doesn't mean that the reader has any
more patience. Keep your writing concise and easy to find.