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Industry Assemble!

 
 
rising and revolving
16:45 / 16.06.05
So, at the very least there's Punji (at IO, by the looks of things) and me - who else here is a developer? What do you do, and where?

Make anything I would have heard of?
 
 
Punji Steak
10:22 / 17.06.05
Actually it's Eidos. I'm on the publishing side of things. So I shouldn't really have said we are 'making' the next Hitman, but you know what I mean...
 
 
rising and revolving
16:03 / 17.06.05
Arrrgh! A publisher! I thought we sprayed for those?

...

Sorry bout that. I'm sure you're lovely - and I've never worked with Eidos, so they may be lovely too.

I'm at a tiny Montreal shop these days, cranking away on the Teen Titans game (amongst others) thesedays - it's a change of pace from my previous work (Freedom Force, Homeworld 2, Splinter Cell 3) to be working on childrens licence titles - but it's also refreshing. Things here are a lot more raw than many other places recently, and I thrive in that kind of environment.
 
 
sine
01:48 / 19.06.05
I've was in the "things characters say" end: I did writing work for Bioware a few years back, and I used to write game scripts for a (now-defunct) company called Immersion back in the mid 90's.

In the end, I found it kind of unsatisfying: less overhead control than simple fiction, less interactivity than roleplaying, less kinesis than film...paid well, but it never really clicked for me and I drifted away from the contract pool.
 
 
cusm
03:50 / 20.06.05
Not a developer or writer, though I hang out with enough of 'em. Though I have appeared in the occasional playtest credits.
 
 
rising and revolving
15:10 / 20.06.05
In the end, I found it kind of unsatisfying: less overhead control than simple fiction, less interactivity than roleplaying, less kinesis than film...paid well, but it never really clicked for me and I drifted away from the contract pool.

Yeah, that's the advantage of being one of the few writer/designers about (at least, who's actually decent, if I do say so myself) - enough control over the mechanics to ensure the narrative integrates well, and vice versa.

I've worked with external writers in the past, and honestly it's very rarely a satisfactory experience for anyone. No critique on Bioware, though. They've always had top notch writing.
 
 
paranoidwriter waves hello
17:34 / 20.06.05
Sylph, (et al) can you recommend some books (etc) about writing narrative for computer games?

As I said on Barbelith once before, after reading George P. Landow, Borges, and Janet H. Murray (etc), this is a medium I'd love to get involved in, one day...

Sorry for the threadrot.
 
 
rising and revolving
00:08 / 21.06.05
Sylph, (et al) can you recommend some books (etc) about writing narrative for computer games?

Sadly, no. There are some - but everyone I've read has been crap. The best way I know is to learn everything you can about writing screenplays and everything you can about designing games and kinda smoosh 'em together.

Good luck with it, though! And remember, experience counts for a tonne in this industry, so it's worthwhile trying to hook up with a mod-team and deliver them a better story than they'd have otherwise. That way, everyone wins. They get good story (generally not a strong point w/ mod teams) and you get experience.
 
 
paranoidwriter waves hello
00:19 / 21.06.05
Much obliged. Thanks for the good advice; I'll be sure to follow it. BTW, if (say) in a year's time, I have something to work with, would you mind if I PM'ed you and asked any similar questions? Oh, and apologies for high-jacking this thread folks!
 
 
rising and revolving
00:57 / 21.06.05
Course not - ask all the questions you like. Either here, if you think they're interesting for others, or via PM if you think they're not the sort of stuff everyone will want a piece of. Happy to help where I can.
 
 
Grey Area
16:32 / 04.10.06
I now work as a GM for an indepently owned MMORPG. Which might not be as important as a dev or publisher but hey, who else is going to help all those poor little noobies.
 
 
rising and revolving
17:12 / 04.10.06
I'm moving on, to work for Pandemic - so back to Australia! Yah hah!
 
 
invisible_al
09:24 / 05.10.06
As I've mentioned before I work as a 'community coordinator' for an MMO company down in Brighton. We deal with the fans so you don't have to, run community events and make sure the Devs know what the Fans are saying and likewise.

I also usually get involved in testing and helping to run Beta's and the like. Which I can tell you is an education .
 
 
fat_cap
12:29 / 05.10.06
Character artist here - bit of a lurker on the boards but thought I would pop in and say hi and aknowledge the ever more self-realising geekiness of my job! Woohoo!
 
  
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