Believing is Seeing: The Creations of Shelly Warmuth

Game Writing Philosophies

Disclaimer:  Games are always changing.  Philosophies change with that.  There are new techniques, new player passions, new ways of doing things.  I'm malleable. But, you also have to be able to analyze why something works or doesn't work for you.  That's what this is about.

Game Design:

Empower the Player:

Don't you just hate it when the PC is the only one who doesn't know what's going on?  Everyone's telling him where to go, what to do.  Has he been living under a rock? I love the way Metal Gear Solid uses the codec to empower Snake.  Snake chooses to get information about weapons or places.  In Bioshock, the player can choose to look at the environment more closely and to find all of the tape recordings.  The player is in control of the experience.  The player is empowered.

First Person Camera Views: 

I'm a big fan of total immersion in a game.  I love to play in the dark, surround sound, big screen.  It's the only way to go.  If you're following around an avatar, you're not the character.  It's that simple.  With 3D and 360 degree views. we're there. 

Minimal Cinematics:

As much as we talk about interactive movies, the reality is gamers want to play.  Cinematics make nice payoffs, but they take the control out of the players hands.  If you're not playing, you're not immersed.  Cinematics at the beginning and end only, please.

What If?:

What if failure was an option?  What if the player isn't being dragged through my story with a forgone conclusion?  It's labor intensive, but I'd like to see more choice in games.  Maybe I've just played too many linear progression games....

The Antagonist has the story:

This was done in Bioshock and Far Cry 2.  This makes the player the hero of his own story instead of sitting back and playing someone else's story, the story of his avatar.  This blends well with the First Person viewpoint.  You can't watch an avatar if you don't have one!

Behind the Scenes:

Research, Research, Research: 

It's worth the time and effort.  If you want to make an accurate war game, talk to vets, research the weapons, research the scenery.  Who knows what your game might inspire.  Something better than the usual knee-jerk reactions, we hope. 

Remember the Player is a real person:

Save points.  Optional reminders of recent events.  *Shrugs*  Our teen players have to get to class.  Our college-age gamers have homework, work, and class.  Maybe a few parties.  Dads and Moms might play while they're waiting to pick the kids up from soccer practice.  Maybe it's been a week since they played.  We need to make sure they can pick up the game a week later and remember what they were doing and what was going on. We need to make sure they can save so they can make those appointments on time!

Network:

Affiliate with other developers. Take notes. The game industry is a growing, morphing child and developers are spread all across the world.  But, creatives always like to share.  In an instant, you can read an interview on one site with the writer of Bioshock, then read an article on the level design in Mass Effect 2.  Your magazine subscription brings an article on the design philosophies of Valve.  What you glean from other artists only improves your art.  Don't forget to share with others, too!