Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
tential very quickly, proactively avoiding paths that lead to narrative dead
ends while simultaneously identifying scenarios that might work well.
These instinctive reactions, born from a career of solving story problems
both large and small, allow an experienced writer to determine whether
something will likely work long before a lot of time and energy has been
expended on exploring the idea further. Think of it as a writer's “spider
sense.”
So, if the writer feels strongly that a narrative beat “has legs” but there
are many doubts from the team, it could be an example of the writer using
this special vision. Similarly, if the writer is warning that a story beat prob-
ably can't be made to work, it's not just an opinion to be thrown onto the
pile with everyone else's. It should carry much more weight. Ignoring your
writer's instincts or allowing her to be repeatedly overruled on narrative
matters undercuts the very point of hiring her in the first place.
At the Game Narrative Summit at GDC Online 2011, I asked Mary
DeMarle, lead writer and lead narrative designer on the highly rated
Deus
Ex: Human Revolution
, whether she ran into any story-related conflicts
with the rest of the team on that project, and how those conflicts were
handled. She replied:
I remember in one of the early meetings, we were debating about
the Zeke Sandoval character, how he might come back if you
don't kill him. The writers in the room knew we had created a
character that makes total sense—he's a man of honor, and if you
let him go he's not going to like it but he's going to help you at
some point. And everyone else in the room was arguing with this,
saying, “I don't buy it. I just don't buy that he would do that, it just
doesn't work.”
And they're arguing and arguing for like fifteen minutes, and I'm
arguing with them, and finally I got so frustrated I just said, “Guys,
if you would trust me to do my job the way I trust you to do yours,
we would have no problem here.”
And when I said it, there was a moment of silence. And then the
game designer looked at me and said, “Okay, you think you can
make it work?”
I said, “I know we can.”
