Games writer Rhianna Pratchett
Game on!
Rhianna Pratchett, winner of the 2008 Writers’ Guild Award for Best Videogame Script, tells UK Writer about her influences, her working process and the evolution of games writing
What was the first game you loved?
It was a puzzle game called Head Over Heels on the Amstrad. You played these two cute little dog-like creatures. Mr Head could jump and float, whilst Mr Heels’ skill was being able to run very fast. They could move around separately, or Head could sit on top of Heels and they could move around together – Master-Blaster style! I remember playing it for hours and hours, transfixed by my black and green Amstrad graphics. The puzzle worlds they moved around in were massive and very complex. I had to draw maps of the levels in the end (which I think was half the fun) as this was way before the days of in-game maps. I think I only ever managed to conquer one of the worlds. But it felt like such an achievement!
How did you get started in games writing?
I trained as a journalist and went from freelancing to a full-time staff position on the UK games magazine PC Zone. I spent a couple of years there and also wrote about games and gaming for other publications like The Guardian and The Sunday Times. I decided to return to the pyjama-based life of freelancing about six years ago. As luck would have it a games company I knew were looking for a story editor and asked if I was interested because they knew I was a fan of their games. After that I started picking up bits and pieces of work, until I got my first big game which was Sony’s Heavenly Sword on the PS3.
What are your main influences?
I have a healthy interest in most media. My bookshelves are usually heaving and I have a DVD collection that would put the average Blockbusters to shame. I actually have no discipline when it comes to buying DVDs. Especially horror. It’s a disease, it really is. I’ve got to stop laying down good money for any old horror movie in the hope that it’ll turn out to be the next Descent. As far as specifics go, I’m a big fan of Joss Whedon and Neil Marshall, or anything with Sigourney Weaver in. I think Ellen Ripley made a big impression on me as a young girl. I’ve always found that asking myself: “What would Ripley do?” solves a lot of life’s problems!
How early do you normally get involved in a game’s life?
It can really vary from project to project. A lot of developers only get writers in when something has gone wrong and they only have a short time to solve it. Which is hardly ideal. For my larger projects, I tend to get involve anything from eight months to a year-and-a-half before the game hits the shops. What’s the process after that? It’s basically working out the narrative needs of the game versus the timeframe and budget in which you have to achieve them. Narrative will have its own pre-production phase where a lot of time is spent working out the overall story arc and how that fits into the gameplay, environments and levels. Quite often I’ll be involved in a game where many of the levels will have already been designed before I’ve been brought onboard. It’s like trying to write a movie around an existing set. There will often be meetings with the other teams involved in the project, particular audio and level design. Then there’s character creation, bio writing, bible writing, voice casting etc. And that maybe before I’ve even finish the script! In fact the script is often the last thing to get locked down.
Are you able to initiate ideas?
It’s ultimately a collaborative process, but I’ve certainly been lucky enough to have had projects where there was enough space for me to contribute ideas on story, character, world and gameplay. The central narrative premise for a game often won’t come from a writer (surprisingly) because they are rarely involved at a stage where they can do this. However, more companies are starting to employ full-time writers and narrative designers to contribute in this area.
How does writing a game story compare to say, a TV series or feature film?
I’d say it has a little more in common with TV writing, rather than film writing, because you’re trying to tell a story in a small space while executing scenes and establishing characters quickly and succinctly. That’s while still trying to squeeze colour, personality, imagination and good writing into the mix! Ultimately you’re not dealing with a linear medium, nor one in which the needs of story are particular well established or respected. That can be pretty challenging, even for experienced games writers. Understanding how games work and what gamers want from them is actually not something you can walk in from another medium and just know. You have to have had some experience of games and, ideally in my opinion, be a gamer yourself, even if it’s just casually. No one would expect to write a movie having never watched one or read a screenplay.
Overlord has been praised for its humour – is that something you always look for?
I think the humour in Overlord came from a variety of factors: the gameplay (which, being an evil Overlord running around with a bunch of sycophantic Minions, was inherently funny) and the visuals (very strong, colourful and crazy) as well as the script and voice acting. I think I was a good fit for what the developers (Triumph Studios in the Netherlands) wanted to achieve. I enjoy making people smile in my writing, although not too many projects allow me to do this. Sometimes the industry has got a little fixated on ‘Can games make you cry?’. I think ‘Can games make you laugh?’ is just as important a question.
And can we look forward to more of the same in the Overlord sequels?
Definitely. We’ve ramped up the general mayhem and characterisation, whilst focusing on creating much more of a coherent, living world. I think it’s a stronger game for it. There’s a lot more narrative, too. I think I must have written at least the equivalent of about four screenplays!
Games like Mirror’s Edge and Heavenly Sword have a lot of straight narrative – do you think they could work as film or TV scripts?
Heavenly Sword’s main script was much like a very, very long screenplay. Having the wonderful facial and body mo-cap, plus a great director (Andy Serkis) and cast really gave it a movie feel – in a good way! Mirror’s Edge has a strong world and backstory that I think could help it translate into any entertainment medium. I’ve been writing a Mirror’s Edge comic with DC Comics and I think it’s translated pretty well into that format. It’s certainly been very enjoyable to write.
They also have female protagonists. Is that because you chose those characters, or do you think the developers chose you because the hero was a woman?
In the case of Nariko and Kai in Heavenly Sword and Faith in Mirror’s Edge, they were already established, certainly visually, when I came on board. My role was to build their characters and backgrounds. I’d like to think that it was something more than what is essentially an accident of birth, that got me the jobs, but I’d say it didn’t hurt. However, I have written many male characters as well and your supporting cast can often be just as important for defining the gameworld and story as your hero.
Is the games industry difficult for women to break into?
It’s a bit difficult for me to tell really because I’m already in and have been in for a long time. However, I don’t actually think it is difficult for women to break in. The question is whether they want to or not. Although plenty of women play games, I think they’re still a lot more built into the fabric (especially the social fabric) of growing up male. If women have the desire and talent there’s really nothing stopping them.
The idea of a games writer is still relatively new - have you seen attitudes towards scripts and writers change over the years?
It’s happening. Slowly, but at least it’s happening! The needs of story and the needs of gameplay seldom tread the same path, so it’s a steep learning curve for all involved. Employing professional storytellers is nowhere near as industry-wide as it should be. But then again the number of writers who really know about games isn’t high enough at the moment, either. I think my knowledge of games and gaming has occasionally given me the edge over people with more glamorous writing experience but no knowledge of games. It’s important to developers that their storytellers understand games. It sounds like a no-brainer but you’d be surprised at the number of writers who try to get into games with no knowledge or love of them.
What trends do you see in games development over the next few years?
I’m particularly interested to see what happens with episodic gaming and whether that takes off, because I think narrative has an important part to play in that framework. Half Life 2 obviously did it very successfully with Episodes 1 and 2, although they came out quite far apart. Some of the successes with more regular instalments have been Telltale Game’s Sam & Max series and more recently Grimm. I’m hoping that the interest in technology gives way a little for more of an interest in games narrative and storytelling. Because I think that’s what’s going to really make the games of the future stand out. Just look at what games like Bioshock, GTA IV or Portal have done to make the industry realise how much good narrative can contribute to a game’s success.
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