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                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="3">Tell 
                        me a Story</font></i></font></b><br>

                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">By 
                        Russell &quot;<a href="mailto:radpipe@loonygames.com">RadPipe</a>&quot; 
                        Lauzon</font></div>
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                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 9<br>
                      January 24, 2000</font></b></h5>
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              <loonystart> 
              <h5 align="right">&nbsp;</h5>
              </DIV>
            <blockquote> 
              <div align="left">
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Justin Chin:</b> 
                  Typically I've been working on standard story driven shooter 
                  games, but our current game has some very new elements to it, 
                  so I've approached it with different design ideas then in the 
                  past. I'm working on several other new designs and each one 
                  of those have a very different in design approach as well. In 
                  a nutshell, the goals or the style of the project can really 
                  dictate the process. Just coming up with a story is not enough, 
                  just as having a game type in mind, i.e. FPS, RTS, or FRP, is 
                  not enough. You really have to get into the root of what you're 
                  trying to create.</font></p>
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It usually starts 
                  out with me thinking, &quot;You know it would be really cool 
                  to play a game where you can ____________&quot;. That gets the 
                  ball rolling. Then I start doing some research in the areas 
                  that might apply to that initial inspiration.</font></p>
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I then start a notebook 
                  so I can have a place to write down ideas &#150; research notes, 
                  characters, plot points, weapons, game-play and design goals. 
                  It helps to keep all that information in one place. Sifting 
                  through books, reviewing similar games, and looking at artwork 
                  is an important part of this process as well. It's pretty messy 
                  in the beginning, with me photocopying visuals ideas and taping 
                  them into my notebooks. The Palm Pilot also allows me to take 
                  notes on the run.</font></p>
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Then to make a long 
                  story short (too late), I take all those notes and &quot;hide&quot; 
                  them (within reach), start over, and begin to write what I think 
                  will be the &quot;treatment&quot; or &quot;outline&quot;. That 
                  is then taken to the next level, the design document. I usually 
                  have two documents (both are updated throughout the production 
                  process), a design doc, and a story doc. Both have very different 
                  goals. The design doc focuses on detailed design issues; weapons, 
                  enemies, controls, naming conventions, essentially everything 
                  that a person might need to make the &quot;game&quot;. The story 
                  doc, is what one would use to make the levels, record dialogue 
                  and find out what the hell this thing is &quot;about&quot; and 
                  where the game may take you.</font></p>
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Only reading both 
                  documents will one get the full picture of what the game is 
                  really about.</font></p>
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And to answer the 
                  question about whether I, &quot;consciously make an effort to 
                  remember you're developing this for a computer game&quot;: yes...</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">...</font></p>
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">and no...</font></p>
                <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I mean, I like to 
                  push the limit. You can ask anyone that has ever worked with 
                  me and they might say (other than the fact that I want things, 
                  &quot;bigger&quot;), that I'm fond of saying, &quot;No one has 
                  really done that before. &quot;But with pushing the envelope 
                  comes a lot of compromise and potential failure. Then again 
                  some people might say I don't do anything innovative at all. 
                  It's a madhouse out there.</font></p>
              </div>
            </blockquote>
            <div align="center">
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
                There seems to be no set standard for beginning the creation process 
                of a game, which is probably why you&#146;ve never seen a book 
                on the subject. Each of the designers takes a vastly different 
                approach to creating their games, and yet at the same time, the 
                &#147;story driven&#148; theme is felt from the very beginning.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p></loonystart>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 2000 <a href="http://www.3dpalette.com/dimension">Durrenberger David 
  (dines)</a>. This article is &copy; 2000 Russell Lauzon. All other content is 
  &copy; 2000 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. So 
  don't do it, or we'll make you cry, sissy.</font></i></p>
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