As you may or may not know, I’m down in Austin to be part of the first “Independent Game Summit” ever held here. The IGS has been a staple of San Francisco’s Game Developer’s Conference for three years now, and the organizers wanted to make this new IGS pretty special.
I decided to propose a talk about something that had been on my mind for a long time – stories in games.
What ensued was an epic trip to Austin, Texas – to live in a house with about 8 other indie game developers, who also happen to be some of my best friends.
While there I also organized the Marian teaser in several days by drawing on some very talented artists from Winnipeg and the US. (I’m going to make a separate post about how that was done, because it was pretty intense!)
I ended up having the last time slot of the IGS, which is both a blessing and curse. It meant that I got the opportunity to wrap up the entire summit with my own little message, but it also means that a fair chunk of people would be tired or already on their way out the door.
Fortunately, a decent sized crowd stuck around and I ended up happy with how it went. I debuted the Marian teaser during the talk, and it was fun to see it on the “big screen” and hear it boom out of the sound system.
If you didn’t make it in person and you’re interested in finding out exactly what I was yammering on about, it turns out that Ashley Davis of Destructoid has written a pretty detailed and more-or-less accurate account. (can you spot the typos?)
I’m going to work on editing my slides and I’ll post them here eventually!
day wrote a Comment on September 20, 2009 at 10:09 pm
i have a question
if i don’t have a big budget for voice acting..and i need to use a dialog box
how do i keep the player immerse…without breaking there game play flow ?
i also want to try a Quentin Tarantino like dialog, but doing something like this in a dialog box will make things every irritating for the player
( example : JULES
— okay now, tell me about the hash
bars?
VINCENT
What so you want to know?
JULES
Well, hash is legal there, right?
VINCENT
Yeah, it’s legal, but is ain’t a
hundred percent legal. I mean you
can’t walk into a restaurant, roll
a joint, and start puffin’ away.
You’re only supposed to smoke in
your home or certain designated
places.
JULES
Those are hash bars?
VINCENT
Yeah, it breaks down like this:
it’s legal to buy it, it’s legal to
own it and, if you’re the
proprietor of a hash bar, it’s
legal to sell it. It’s legal to
carry it, which doesn’t really
matter ’cause — get a load of this
— if the cops stop you, it’s
illegal for this to search you.
Searching you is a right that the
cops in Amsterdam don’t have.
JULES
That did it, man — I’m fuckin’
goin’, that’s all there is to it.
VINCENT
You’ll dig it the most. But you
know what the funniest thing about
Europe is?
JULES
What?
VINCENT
It’s the little differences. A
lotta the same shit we got here,
they got there, but there they’re a
little different.
JULES
Examples?
VINCENT
Well, in Amsterdam, you can buy
beer in a movie theatre. And I
don’t mean in a paper cup either.
They give you a glass of beer, like
in a bar. In Paris, you can buy
beer at MacDonald’s. Also, you
know what they call a Quarter
Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
JULES
They don’t call it a Quarter
Pounder with Cheese? …….
doing something like this will be a pain in the ass in video games …..
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on September 20, 2009 at 10:13 pm
That’s an interesting example.
If you don’t have a voice over, you may be able to get away with short lines of text on the screen that don’t prevent player input. (player can still move around while the dialog is going)
But some games manage to "break flow" by having text boxes and it doesn’t feel -too- out of place. I think as long as you’re not strong-arming the player into it, you have a decent shot at getting away with it… provided the dialog is really fun/interesting to read.
Kaworu wrote a Comment on September 23, 2009 at 4:44 am
It’s a pity there is no movie of some sort. I would really like to see it.
Reading of a panel is like dancing about architecture
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on September 23, 2009 at 4:46 am
I could try recording myself presenting it if people would find that useful/interesting…?
Dale Johnson wrote a Comment on September 23, 2009 at 8:18 am
I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to that.
Aerendyll wrote a Comment on September 30, 2009 at 6:02 am
Speech! Speech! Speech!
Come on, all the Alec fans need more inspiring words here. (Or eye candy?)
I’d be very interested/happy/useful if that recording was going to happen.
Aerendyll wrote a Comment on September 30, 2009 at 6:02 am
…wait, did I just say I’d be useful?