Hey people. I thought it might be an interesting exercise to examine all the different areas in game development in which a writer might find themselves being able to contribute. I think we all tend to concentrate on the 'writer as game designer' when there are actually other places you might find writing work to be done. Here are some I can think of off the top of my head... - writing and editing of technical documentation (relating to technology developed by the in-house R&D team) - writing and editing of the game manual - writing and editing of company or game Web site content - writing, editing, and maintenance of game design documents - writing and editing of interviews for PR - writing and editing of backstory material for game world - writing and editing of character dialogue - writing and editing of promotional copy for advertising, packaging, etc. - writing and editing screenplays for cutscenes (animated or acted) [thanks, Kylotan] - writing and editing of a strategy guide or hints booklet [thanks NightWraith] Some of these writing tasks could be the responsibility of game designers, producers/assistant producers, technical writers, PR/marketing writers, programmers (for the SDKs for example, code documentation, etc.), etc. So, I think we can all agree that there is some room for writers in the games industry, just not always in the areas we tend to focus on. Can you think of anything else to add to this list? R. Edited by - Tacit on February 28, 2002 4:59:30 PM Edited by - Tacit on March 1, 2002 10:21:08 AM

Well, that''s true, but I have seen some cases of actual ''script writer'' and ''dialogue writer'' positions at major game studios.

I think in many cases people assume the designer was responsible for the storyline and dialogue in a game, where it''s often been farmed out to a pro writer who works on contract or whatever.

For example, Sheldon Pacotti was one of three professional writers who worked on Deus Ex. We tend to credit people like Warren Spector and Harvey Smith for the storyline (and I''m sure they were instrumental in laying down the ground rules and deciding on the ultimate direction of the narrative), but Sheldon penned a huge (apparently, 9-inch thick) movie-style script covering ALL the dialogue in the game, along with direction (camera angles, subtle character movements, etc.). There were two other pro writers involved in DX, one who did the intro and outro scenes and another who took care of all the text for the emails, books you found laying about, etc. in the game.

Another example is Marc Laidlaw. A respected cyberpunk author, he ended up landing a job at Valve while doing a story for Wired on level designers. He was largely responsible for Half-Life''s storyline and the gritty, suspenseful flow.

So obviously it''s not common, but it does happen. I could give other examples (Roberta Williams, the person who wrote the story for Myst whose name I can''t remember at the moment) but I think you get the point...

R.

Of course!! How could I forget. Good one!

R.

You mention backstory for the game world, I assume this would include backstory for some of the major characters (in certain games.. doesnt effect the way the game works, but brings the plaer moire "in" to the game). And Manuals I assume would cover things like trouble shooting, quick start bits, and of the bits that get shipped with the game (Registration card [not that u get them any more]).

You could include the writing/editing of a stratergy guide or "hints" booklet, not exactly something that happens during "development" but may be considered a development of the game''s scope. (or like Shiny did with sacrifice, ship a mini-guide with the game, to get you to buy the full guide).

Yes yes...excellent! Strategy Guides...thanks!

That would be cool. I could turn it into an article, if people were interested. I''ve done most of these things already (although, not for game companies) and know people who''ve done the ones I haven''t.

Would anyone be interested in seeing this topic covered in an article??