Perks of going to film school-

Sometimes you have a guest lecturer come in and talk about something you really love. Today my MA Screenwriting class joined up with the MA Digital Media class for an extremely insightful 4 hour lecture from a very intelligent woman. Inter-media and it's role with video games, specifically script writing. Some of this may be re-hash or old news, but I found it really helpful to have a worded breakdown of what I see in my head everyday.

The key with any scripted structure for a game lies between two main elements, Immersion and Engagement. Immersion stems from elements of film and novels; it is the viewer/reader's dedication to follow all those plot twists, character arch's, etc. Engagement happens with every click of your mouse or mash of a controller's button, aka the motor control and muscle memory needed in order to carry out the virtual actions of the game. Once both are achieved and work on both a conscious and subconscious level, you will have obtained what is called THE FLOW- a perfect chemical cocktail of entertainment.

From that, the actual narrative structure can be broken down into several parts:

High Level - What is imagined by the writer(s) of the game.
Immediate Level - What is played by the gamer.
Spine of the game - The mandatory route the player must take in order to reach the End Game.
Bread-crumming - Leaving specific clues for players to find in order to aid them on their quest(s)
Funneling - Redirecting the player back to the main path, IE: Map edge.

Further more, you've got five main elements to any well scripted narrative:

Back-story
Cut-scene
Game-play
Setting
Characters: Avatars and NPCs

The most important thing to keep in mind when writing for games is to create a vibrant an interesting world/setting. As of late, more and more games are providing in-depth back-story to their main characters- Bioshock, Dead Space, Grand Theft Auto, Assassins Creed...the list goes on. Much like the necessity for the viewer to care about the main character in a film, a gamer has to care about the character he or she is playing. Which brings me into three specific elements of any successful video game character. (All are pretty self explanatory):

- Purpose and Personality
- Governing trait and secondary trait
- Customization (You make not be able to completely customize your character down to how high the right eyebrow is from the left, but majority of games certainly allow you to collect special armor and what not. Sweet loot anyone?)

The good news for writers looking to break into the video game industry is that it is much more open to listening to writers' pitches and just overall getting to know new writers. Most content is generated in-house, but there are many companies that will encourage and accept resumes even if you are applying for a job that isn't listed. It's not like the film industry where writer's are at the bottom of the totem poll. Video Game writer's are very much respected.