For Better Narrative and Fictional Ideas
Hello All Mod Makers!
I am a linguist and screenplay consultant. I've always been interested in Unreal Engine Games and the Unreal Universe as we know it
I've been perusing mods all the time since Unreal1 days and woefully fail to see originality in terms of narration and script writing.
Anybody interested in polishing their mods for linguistic presentation, dialogues and regarding creative “writing”, drop me a line, I’ll be happy if I can be help.
To be honest, I'm sick of the notion that most games/mod concepts drive from two motion pictures in the last decade: Alien series for Science Fictions setting and plots and Saving Private Ryan for WW2 Shooters.
For some little fun, a short, quick “don’t/do”s List:
1) Please don’t start your science fiction concept with the line “it’s the year 2034,2046,2078,2019 etc.etc”...Stanley Kubrick (Or shall I say Arthur Clarke), one of the most respected filmmakers in the history of cinema anticipated that we’d travel to Jupiter by the year 2001, but for the last 2 year, I’ve not heard of such a thing. Design your future world first, then give it a date...
2) Please Please, no more “Something goes wrong in the lab...” premise. All the lab technicians are not stupid and they don’t have to always execute experiments resulting in the creation of evil monsters.
3) There has been thousands of war since the beginning of mankind other than World War 2.
4) Less is More. Your Npc’s should speak less; they don’t have to explain the whole story all at once. When we are in trouble, we speak in exclamations, not in proper, grammatically correct sentences. Hence not “I need you go down sector B and open the door by entering the pass-code XXXX and please bring me the nodes” but instead “I need the God damn nodes now!”
5) Terrorists are cool to shoot at but enemies with solid, menacing and clever motivations are harder to neutralize therefore more rewarding. So please state briefly “why” they have to take hostages/bomb the place etc....
6) You need a hero with a motivation and you need an enemy with a motivation. First work on that hard, the rest will follow. Reaching the “next level trigger” or getting the ultra-rocket is not a motivation; it’s a medium.
7) There are more creative blocks/obstacles than keys/passwords. The greatest, most common and yet working cinematic conflict is to choose between love and death. Emotional and mental blocks are more intriguing than “triggering a blocked door” no matter how complex your level design is, may it be full of dispatchers.
8) Reversal of Fortune: I, the player, have to change through the gameplay/narration experience. This is not intended for single player games only. Running to flag and returning back to base with the flag is a CHANGE. We all love CTF levels with alternate routes. Give us changes that is “Gradual” and “Full of Surprises.”
9) Nobody is alone, even Robinson Crusoe. We need mentors to help us in our quest. However, they don’t have to be human characters all the time. Vehicles, turrets help us in multi-player games. Why not super-ai computers?
10) And finally please read fiction; don’t just download pdf’s. Know that your idea is already written 50 years ago; don’t feel frustrated to discover that since there’s no new story under the sun. Just evolve!
Email: eastgate2@yahoo.com
Hello All Mod Makers!
I am a linguist and screenplay consultant. I've always been interested in Unreal Engine Games and the Unreal Universe as we know it
I've been perusing mods all the time since Unreal1 days and woefully fail to see originality in terms of narration and script writing.
Anybody interested in polishing their mods for linguistic presentation, dialogues and regarding creative “writing”, drop me a line, I’ll be happy if I can be help.
To be honest, I'm sick of the notion that most games/mod concepts drive from two motion pictures in the last decade: Alien series for Science Fictions setting and plots and Saving Private Ryan for WW2 Shooters.
For some little fun, a short, quick “don’t/do”s List:
1) Please don’t start your science fiction concept with the line “it’s the year 2034,2046,2078,2019 etc.etc”...Stanley Kubrick (Or shall I say Arthur Clarke), one of the most respected filmmakers in the history of cinema anticipated that we’d travel to Jupiter by the year 2001, but for the last 2 year, I’ve not heard of such a thing. Design your future world first, then give it a date...
2) Please Please, no more “Something goes wrong in the lab...” premise. All the lab technicians are not stupid and they don’t have to always execute experiments resulting in the creation of evil monsters.
3) There has been thousands of war since the beginning of mankind other than World War 2.
4) Less is More. Your Npc’s should speak less; they don’t have to explain the whole story all at once. When we are in trouble, we speak in exclamations, not in proper, grammatically correct sentences. Hence not “I need you go down sector B and open the door by entering the pass-code XXXX and please bring me the nodes” but instead “I need the God damn nodes now!”
5) Terrorists are cool to shoot at but enemies with solid, menacing and clever motivations are harder to neutralize therefore more rewarding. So please state briefly “why” they have to take hostages/bomb the place etc....
6) You need a hero with a motivation and you need an enemy with a motivation. First work on that hard, the rest will follow. Reaching the “next level trigger” or getting the ultra-rocket is not a motivation; it’s a medium.
7) There are more creative blocks/obstacles than keys/passwords. The greatest, most common and yet working cinematic conflict is to choose between love and death. Emotional and mental blocks are more intriguing than “triggering a blocked door” no matter how complex your level design is, may it be full of dispatchers.
8) Reversal of Fortune: I, the player, have to change through the gameplay/narration experience. This is not intended for single player games only. Running to flag and returning back to base with the flag is a CHANGE. We all love CTF levels with alternate routes. Give us changes that is “Gradual” and “Full of Surprises.”
9) Nobody is alone, even Robinson Crusoe. We need mentors to help us in our quest. However, they don’t have to be human characters all the time. Vehicles, turrets help us in multi-player games. Why not super-ai computers?
10) And finally please read fiction; don’t just download pdf’s. Know that your idea is already written 50 years ago; don’t feel frustrated to discover that since there’s no new story under the sun. Just evolve!
Email: eastgate2@yahoo.com