Tools of Narrative Design. A Guide to Creating Engaging Plots for Games

If you dream of learning how to create engaging plots for games, this book is just for you! This amazing guide was developed by four professionals from various fields of game design. It describes the role of the screenwriter and... narrative designer in the development team throughout the entire game creation process from concept to final testing and the requirements placed on them at each stage. Drawing on real experience, the authors provide tips for crafting compelling, player-oriented plots and demonstrate how to transition from writing literary works or scripts to interactive storytelling. The book covers: • developing and presenting concepts, writing pitches; • creating worlds, finding ideas, and sources of inspiration; • working with characters, plot, narrative, and dialogue; • ways to use and types of cutscenes; • interaction with the development team and quality assurance department. Each chapter contains exercises that will allow you to develop your own documentation, make sketches and diagrams, and create samples of game dialogue, which will be useful when applying for jobs in the game industry or for independent projects. "A must-read not only for narrative designers and game writers but also for everyone interested in the process of developing a story for video games, including producers and game designers. The textbook is written by experienced narrative designers of legendary game projects. The task of the book is to explain what narrative design is and how it differs from game scripting and writing skills. In my view, the book successfully accomplishes this." — Maria Kochakova, founder and director of the School of Narrative Design and Screenwriting 'Narratorika'