A topic that stood out to me was the talk Narrative Designer or Game Writer? Yes. given by Evan Skolnick. This talk was interesting to me because it really went into depth as to exactly what it means to be a Narrative Designer and a Game Writer, at the very least in his eyes. From these opinions as to the differences between the two fields, I was able to gain a lot of information about writing for video games in general. The main struggle I saw in writing for games was communication. The majority of the other people on the board are focused around creating the game play for a game, and sometimes completely forget about the story entirely. This can cause major problems for those trying to create a plot for the game, as game play mechanics, level design, and audio tracks must all coincide with the plot, else it does not fit. So, as defined by Evan, a Narrative Designer's job is to communicate with the board, being an insider that speaks for the plot in board meetings and makes sure changes are made to incorporate it, while the Game Writer is doing the majority of the creative thinking and story telling. On smaller teams it is seen that these two jobs merge together, while on larger teams it is usually structured to have a team of writers, and one or two Narrative Designers getting changes made and getting their voice out there, as well as communicating with the Game Writers on what needs to be done on their part. This talk interested me because this is literally what I want to do for the rest of my life. No questions about it, I want to create fictional worlds with infinite depth that players will immerse themselves in and truly be invested in. Of course, the road to being able to do that is going to be tough, as many of the professionals that I spoke to have told me, but seeing how far you can get, and generally what the Game Writer and Narrative Designer community is like, as I basically spent a day in a half in the same room surrounded by the same professionals, some of which never actually went up and spoke but were there for the information as much as I was, it gave me a sense of a dedicated community that I want to be a part of. In fact, that is precisely why I loved this conference so much. Besides the colleges, which while I understand why they were there and how helpful they were being by being there, I didn't really care about them too much, the people there were extremely dedicated to their craft. People were not there just to sell their games, they were there to share this cool new thing that they made, and tell you all about how they made it, why they made it, and how you can make it too. I just absolutely loved the community feeling, especially as I said before the Narrative Track's community and I can't wait to go back next year.
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Remembering this information was not that difficult. The majority of these questions could have been replaced with "Do you know what (insert job here) is/does?". The only thing I had difficulty remembering was the different document names, and when you send them to your employer. So, in preparation, I would review what some of the more specific jobs have to do, and what documents are sent when. Besides that, I'm good to go.
It was fairly difficult to remember the material after a year of not seeing it. I got a 77% on my first try, and got a 100% by the third or forth. I will need to spend time reviewing where the traditional games came from and the advancements that took place as they went along, as well as exactly when some of the newer advancements happened as well. Its been a year, the dates are a bit fuzzy, and I already have trouble remember dates without hundreds of days between seeing them. But, besides that, the majority of the material has stuck, which is good I suppose.
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AuthorI am 17 years old, and currently enrolled in Durham School of the Arts. Within the Game Design field, I'm looking to become a game writer or a programmer, preferably a combination of the two.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public School Archives
June 2018
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