Poll: New Systems

I know this is a writing site, but I'm just curious to how you all feel about the new interactive consoles.

If you've ever met me, you'll know I don't like them. I don't even really like the Wii still. I don't feel like waving my arms around to play a game. I want to lay back with a huge bag of M'Ms. Vitual reality is what arcades are for.

My problem with Kinect and Move is that they are 1, not new ideas; and 2, not targeted at their main demographic. How about instead of copying Nintendo's ideas you come up with something fun and exciting for the proper demographic?

PS3 and XBox are mainly for hardcore gamers. There are a few casual gamers within the mix, but ultimately casual gamers (to which motion sensor junk appeals) aren't going to spend that extra cash on something the Wii can do. And from what I hear, what the Wii can do BETTER.

And with as tacky as game writing is on the Wii, I fear for the writing about to reveal itself. Not that I don't mind some fun casual writing (I mean, check out my reviews. I'm not as hardcore as I think I am.) but at the same time, I think the writing element is just going to get lazy.

What do you guys think? Besides your view on the console themselves, how do you think the writing will be affected?

Who Wants to Go to the Library?

That question barely receives a “yes” in the real world, so I find myself stumped at why game creators think it's a good idea to put libraries in games.

Libraries are an attempt to give a player more information about a game world, in hopes that it'll make it more immersive. Most RPG libraries consist of history, news, and the creator's own version of fan fiction. I barely read history in reality. What makes game creators think I'll read it in a fantasy world where my only goal is to get enough cash to buy that super cool weapon that'll cut through a bus?

Let's take a look at different types of libraries in games.

Examples of Good Libraries:

Sims
These are there for two reasons: skills and entertainment. In the Sims 3, this comes in handy because you save a ton of money on buying books for skills. Also, these libraries have computers to perform extra tasks.

Harvest Moon
Great reference tool. Harvest Moon's library is for what plants grow when. It tells you how to play mini games, how to plant crops, and you can actually meet people in there.

Tomb Raider
Each book in Lara's Mansion in Tomb Raider: Anniversary has a clue to solving the next puzzle. Without the books, it makes it harder to play the game. The books actually have purpose and are necessary.


Examples of Bad Libararies:

Legend of Legaia
I'm in the middle of a mist-ridden society, trying to find an exit; I'm not going to read your stupid diary. Legend of Legaia's libraries are of little use. They are mainly people's diaries about the mist, or just useless information that I can't do anything with. The only positive point to these libraries is sometimes you find new battle combinations. That's really about it.

Legend of Dragoon
The main library in the game is full of information. Information I care nothing about. I've all ready sat through some elder giving me a “in the beginning” speech, and I don't feel like sitting through more of it. Long narrative CGs + giant libraries = zzzzzzz

Oregon Trail Version 745 (Or however many they have now)
This is a menu option in the game, where you can study different diseases and treatments according to the time period. As informative as this is, HOLY CRAP there's a lot to look at. None of this information, however, is incredibly critical to the game. You still get bitten by a snake and die.

My problem isn't with RPGs trying to get across more information. My problem is how loquacious game creators feel like being when they make libraries. The point of a game is to play. If you want to write fan fiction, put it on the internet like everyone else.

Ways to Get Across Information:
There are different ways to get across game world history in a game without resorting to long winded libraries:

Dialogue
If the information is critical to the story, slip it into the dialogue. Not with a “in the beginning” CG, but with a simple, “Remember how...” or “We haven't had a famine this bad since [this event in history].”

Townsfolk
Townsfolk are notorious for useless information. Short bouts of useless information. If you're going to give out non-essential information, the best thing to do it to keep it short and coming out of crazy, useless people.

Letters
Instead of having characters find diaries or go to libraries, have them find single sheets of paper in offices and houses that explain things. This increases the entertainment value and still gets the point across.


If you want libraries in your game, I have nothing against you. Just know that I probably won't be stopping by.

Libraries in games should be more for reference then anything. References like synthesizing and alchemy, battle strategy, and simple gameplay are easy to put in libraries without boring the player to death.

Save libraries. Keep them useful.

Prompt: Rewrite the Opening

Just a fun little exercise to work the mind a bit.

An opening CG scene is tricky. It needs to tempt the player to play the game, it needs to set up the mood for the entire game, and it needs to give an insight into what the game is about.

Your prompt: Rewrite the opening to this FMV from God of War:

Couple Spotlight: The Prince and Farah

Couple Chemistry Spotlight
Farah and the Prince of Persia
Games: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Prince of Persia: Two Thrones

Nothing like two enemies brought together because everyone else has turned into sand-zombies.

The Prince (who has no name, despite the movie coming out this summer) is a glory-seeker who steals Farah's father's enchanted dagger. Not knowing the power of the dagger, The Prince unleashes a powerful spell, turning everyone into sand monsters.

Farah is the warrior-like (even while slightly anorexic) daughter of the Maharajah, trying to undo the damage The Prince has done. She is just as bold and verbal as The Prince, making her a challenging yet valuable companion.

What Works:
The tension between these two is incredible. Two rivals with the same goal, with neither really trusting the other. However, due to the circumstances, they are forced to rely upon one another, and fight constantly with their attraction to each other. This makes for an interesting back and forth.




Their personalities make for quite the comedy as well. The Prince is wildly sarcastic and impatient, while Farah is bossy and independent. She is prone to showing her delicate, poetic side, which frustrates The Prince in the current situation. This really brings out their personalities in the game, making them more alive to the player.



What Doesn't Work:
Two things stand out in this game that bother me. I would like to say that one of them is the small amount of time it takes for Farah and The Prince to fall in love, but I can't really say that considering Hollywood can have people in love and married in an hour and a half. My problem with the speed of the romance is not so much in the timing of the game itself, but more or less in the reasons why they fall for each other so fast.




It doesn't take Farah long to call The Prince “my love.” For what reasons, I have no idea. This is what bothers me. Sure, they have chemistry, but if some guy took me captive, stole my father's property, and turned the world into an I Am Legend nightmare, there is no way I'd call him “my love” because he's got a pretty face.

Secondly, when The Prince first meets Farah, he says he trusts no one, then tells her to wait for him. Considering Farah is after the dagger, you would think he would more or less ditch her then tell her to wait for him.

Lesson:
Farah and The Prince work fantastically together because of two major things: their individual personalities and the tension of the plot. Their individual personalities bring about drama and comedy, while the plot makes their situation more suspenseful.




Other Notes: I have to say, Sands of Time has one of the best endings. Dramatic, comedic, and sets up nicely for the sequel. I'm slightly disappointed that Two Thrones didn't have as awesome of an ending as Sands of Time.

Special thanks to dks71 for his awesome walkthrough!

Also, who else is totally excited about the movie coming out?
(Turn down the sound before watching!)

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Prompt: Speech Patterns

People have tons of different speech patterns. They're really hard to think of them off the top of your head for new characters though.

Ever notice that one public speaker that can't stop saying "um?" Or the little cousin you have that says, "like" every other word? And all of us know-- or are-- that person who can use the F-Bomb as a verb, interjection, and adjective in every sentence.

Your assignment: Make a list of different speech patterns you hear around you.

Talk to your family. Talk to the friends you pretend to like. Evesdrop on people. (Evesdropping is a great tool for writers, just FYI.)

I used to have a teacher that said "Curious" whenever something didn't make sense. I have a friend that says "Frack." Some people add plurals to things that aren't plural.

Speech patterns aren't narrowed down to just phrases or single words used in a sentence. Yoda had that whole word dyslexia thing going on. I tend to use improper grammar and verb tenses on purpose. (If you've met me, you've probably heard me say, "There you is!")

Speech patterns are a great way to make your characters come alive. Make a list and then use it!

Script Frenzy in April!

Script Frenzy is coming up this April! So it's time to start planning NOW.

For those of you who have never heard of it, Script Frenzy is a free organization that is more or less an incentive to sit on your butt and get some writing done!

The challenge is to write a 100 page script/comic book in 30 days. Even if you can't do it in 30 days, there is still a great community of writers to chat it up with.

I'm hoping to get some articles done this month about writing game scripts, since they do have slightly different details then movie scripts.

Check out http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/ for more details. See ya there! (My username is Deidrea if you want to look me up.)

Valentine's Day Prompt

In honor of Valentine's Day (or Single Awareness Day-- However you want to look at it) I have a romantic prompt for you all.

Write a romantic meeting between two people, that seem highly unlikely to end up together.

For example:

A technical nerd and a princess

A spy and the person they're assigned to

A Yankees fan and a Dodgers fan

OR

Write a comedic scene of a lovestruck, hopeless-romantic type character trying to impress their love interest.

Whichever you decide to do, have fun! And Happy Valentine's Day.

Rhapsody

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
System: Nintendo DS (with an earlier PS1 release)
Release: 2008
Company: NIS America
Rating: E

It occurs to me that even though this is a writing blog, long posts might be slightly intimidating. Even as a writer and an avid reader, I too skip internet articles that are more then 2 pages long. So I'm going to try something a little different: I'm going to split my reviews up into sections. That way I can give a fuller analysis and you guys won't have to scroll down and drop your jaws at the length of my rambling. I would love feedback from you guys!






Kudos to NIS America for making a rare type of a game: a musical. How many games do you know that burst into song? Grant you, Rhapsody is a cheesy, light game, which makes the idea of a musical more appealing. But, hey, you know what? Let's make every game a musical. I'd love to watch Roman from GTA4 break into song about how great Liberty City is.


Plot 3/5
It was a little hard to give this game a rating, due to the fact that even though this plot isn't exceptionally deep and the characters aren't highly complex, it IS meant to be a light-hearted game. I would like to judge the game fairly based on what it is: a musical with puppets. You can't really judge that harshly, can you?

The premise of the game is that you are Cornet, your usual tomboy protagonist who talks to puppets. After being saved by the prince (the only prince in this game, despite the huge world. And no, the frog kingdom DOESN'T count.) Cornet enters a contest to become the prince's bride. And she wins. Ooo. Shocker there.

And as the two love birds are getting to know each other (and by "know each other" I mean have short, awkward conversations that lead absolutely no where), a mysterious sorceress bursts in, falls in love with the prince, and accidently turns him to stone.

So the rest of the game, you are trying to collect 5 elemental stones that will save the prince. Maybe. Kinda.

The purpose of the 5 stones eludes me. At first, they are mentioned as if they are needed to turn the prince back to human form. All right, I can go with that; magic to undo magic. That would explain why the antagonist wants them as badly as I do.

But in the end, they are used to open a portal to the antagonist's castle. My antagonist doesn't need a portal, so why does she need the stones.

And during this, there is another antagonist working in the background, that makes no real dent on the story other then the fact that he brings out the final boss.

Really? Aren't we tired of this whole boss-who's-not-REALLY-the-last-boss bit in RPG video games? (I'm talking to YOU, Final Fantasy.)

Overall, the story is entertaining, but I suppose I have to give the characters credit for that, not the actual plot. The plot has moments that make absolutely no sense,

Strengths:
--> Solid, basic plot. Nothing terribly complex, but it's consistent and has plenty of classic RPG elements.
--> Comedy. The game makes fun of itself at times, making it hard to hold a grudge against it for being so cheesy.
--> Musical numbers. Even though 1/3 of the songs is the same song rewritten, the idea of musical numbers within a video game is quite original.

Weaknesses:
--> Character development. I was entertained with Kokuru until I found out it was, in fact, Cornet's mother's spirit in a puppet. It completely confused me on why Cornet's mother's personality shifted so drastically while inside of a doll.
--> Antagonist Confustion. If Golonzo's creation is the final boss, why doesn't he appear more throughout the game? He hits on me and then runs away. (Just like in real life.)
--> Romance. The romance between the prince and Cornet. It's a little cliche and happens too fast. The prince saves Cornet, turns to stone, then declares his love for her for eternity. I think Cornet put it best when she said, "But we've barely talked for five minutes!"



Part 2: Characters
Coming Soon

Image (C) NIS America

Cliches: When To Use Them

So, I believe I've mentioned that I hate cliches. I don't believe I've mentioned what I think a cliche really is.


Here is the standard public definition to a cliche: "Plot element that has been drastically overused."


Here's my definition of a cliche: "A well known plot element that has been used often and BADLY."


Let's take a brief look at some over-used plot elements:
--> Town is burnt to the ground (Legend of Dragoon)
--> Villain is the hero's father/uncle/brother/sister
--> Female protagonist finds out she either is or isn't a princess (Just about any Final Fantasy)
--> The main villain isn't really the head villain, but a pawn of the head villain (Again, any Final Fantasy)
--> The guy you OBVIOUSLY killed, is, in fact, alive
--> The main character is an orphan (practically every game/movie/book ever)
--> Your best friend betrays you (Bully)
--> You get shot at by 50 different guys, never eat a bullet, and end up taking out all 50 of them with a stick, a pack of bubble gum, and a photograph.


Let me point out that I'm not against any of these plot elements. I'm only against them if they're used badly. What do I mean by that? If you use any of these plot elements as filler, plot devices, or without any real reason, that's when it becomes a horrible cliche.

It's not whether or not your element has been used or not. It's how it's brought to life. It's how it fits into the story. It's how it's narrated. It's angles you put on it.

So let's take a look at when it's ok to use these plot elements.

When Cliches Are OK to Use
#1- When they're used sparingly
One or two of these elements is fine by itself. 5 or 6 of these elements say to me that you really didn't try to come up with a story at all. All of these elements say to me that you're either a n00b that wanted to make a game and feel special about yourself, or a big company that just needed extra funds to pay for extra pizza parties.

#2- When they're critical for the story to make sense
I would rather have a good, solid plot that has a few typical elements, then a weak one that I can blow a ton of holes in. If you avoid a cliche just to avoid a cliche, and do something that's totally out of character, I believe that stands out more then a overly-used plot element. It's more important that the plot is smooth.

If the villain is a pyro, it would make sense to have him burn down a city. If my best friend is mentally unstable, it makes sense that he would betray me. If you're going to use a well-known plot element, set it up well.


#3- When it's for a younger audience
Kids haven't been around long enough to criticize a cliche. If they do understand something that's been done before, they don't really care. Games meant for younger audiences aren't expected to have highly complex plots. Now, don't get me wrong. Just because younger audiences don't have complex storylines doesn't mean that they shouldn't have original ones. My point is, I'm not going to care as much about cliches if I'm playing a game by Nintendo that's rated "E" as opposed to a Sony game that's rated "M."


#4- When it's not really a "surprise"
Most of the cliches I mentioned above try to be "GASP" moments. This effect probably only works on half of the audience. If you want to do a plot element such as the guy you shot being alive or your best friend betrays you, a good way to do it is to let the audience know while your characters are in the dark.

A good example of this is Kingdom Hearts. We all could see that Riku was going to betray Sora, but we were interested in how he was going to betray him. The betrayal was obvious, but his plans weren't. It was definitely a good angle to take.



Other Notes

--> If your plot has many elements that have been used before, that doesn't make it a bad story. The only real downside to having a ton of cliches in a story is that you'll get tougher criticizm. Probably from me.

--> If you're going to use a cliche element, make sure that it completely makes sense. Foreshadow it. Work on character development to set it up. Work on backstories.

--> I have read totally original stories that-- I thought-- were complete crap. People try harder to be original then to make a good story. Don't do that.

--> If Legend of Zelda uses the same exact story for every single game, and each game does well. Meditate on that for a bit.

Creepy image of Link (C) Nintendo

Multiple Endings Poll

New Poll: Multiple Endings: Do you think they strengthen a game plot, or do you think it weakens it?

Personally, I love multiple endings due to the fact that I get to choose my own story. I think this makes it much more immersive and fun. Sometimes it makes the game better, because then I don't have to deal with the fact that Tidus ended up with Yuna, when he had better chemistry with Rikku. (No, I will NOT get over that, thank you!)






So, what do you guys think? How do you guys feel about multiple endings?

Describe Me

I think one of the things I love most about the old RPGs are the items you get while travelling. Staffs, swords, potions... Small items that give you a sense of reward.

Now that games are far more complex, there seems to be a massive amount of items a player can buy or find throughout a game. And two things determine how much of a reward these items are: what they do and how they're described.

For example, would you rather have:

Olympus Sword: A polished sword. Offense: +10

or

Olympus Sword: An elegant sword with a marble handle, made from the stones of Mount Olympus. Offence +10

Your prompt-- if you choose to accept it-- is to take the 4 following items and describe them:

1- Tiger Sword

2- Charm Bracelet

3- Fire Ruby

4- Mage's Cloak

Tips for Description:

--> In a game, a description for an item can't be too long. So figure on a trait or two that stands out about it and focus on that, instead of trying to do a generalized description.

--> Potions and some armor don't need a whole lot of description. Healing Potions heal. We get that. If you want to go more into detail, go for it, but again, keep it short.

--> Descriptions should match the tone of the game. Serious games don't describe something as "An awesome sword built for ownage." A comical game, however, does. Games rated "E" have simpler explinations then those rated "M." Keep these things in mind.

--> Write more then one draft. Always. For everything.

Let me know what you guys come up with!

Photo: (C) Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town