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It's the end of the year, which means it's time for us to put out a new episode and feel guilty for not releasing more this year! (We were busy, but we got lots more planned for next year!) Our guests this month are George Lockett (Senior Writer at Failbetter Games and a Narrative Consultant, Writer, and Designer at Bear Wolf Narrative. Previously the Narrative Lead on The Last Clockwinder, the Scriptwriter and Interactive Designer for BBC Earth - Micro Kingdoms: Senses, and a Contributing Writer to Where the Water Tastes Like Wine) and Mary Goodden (Senior Narrative Designer at Maze Theory currently working on Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom. Previously a Writer and Editor on Zombies, Run!, a Writer and Narrative Designer at Failbetter Games on Sunless Skies and Fallen London, a Writer on Inkle’s Pendragon, and co-created Funicular Simulator 2021), and they join us to discuss how their marketing backgrounds have helped with their writing, how to make a writer’s room work, advice for thinking in terms of design, what's helped maintain their writing output, what they’ve learned from the other writers they’ve worked with, giving feedback, tips for writing themselves out of problems, the best ways we can diversify the voices in the industry, how they approach working with other departments to get their needs taken care of, what their favorite narrative tools are, favorite thesauruses, what their ghosts are, and more, more, MORE! Our Guests on the Internet George's Twitter, Website, and you should wishlist/check out Mask of the Rose when it comes out next year Mary's Twitter, Website, and you should wishlist/check out Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom when it comes out next year Stuff We Talked About Zombies, Run! Twine Inkjam Writing for Games by Hannah Nicklin The “Reverse of the Spielberg Gaze”: Jordan Peele, Rian Johnson, Tony Kushner and More Talk Shop on THR’s Writers Roundtable Miro Micorosft OneNote Obsidian (the notes app) Webster's 1913  Power Thesaurus WordHippo Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

We've got a unionization-heavy episode for y'all as we've got Rob (additional writer on Indivisible for Lab Zero Games, writer on Spider-Man 2 for Insomniac Games, and current co-chair of the WGAW's LGBTQ+ Writers Committee) and Andrew (writer, narrative designer, narrative director, story consultant, and more on games like Horizon Forbidden West, Horizon Call of the Mountain, Watch Dogs Legion, The Division, Prince of Persia, Fable Legends, and more) in to talk about fate meeting preparation with getting that first job, finding your voice as a writer, changing your voice for the market and work-for-hire, living in fear of “no notes,” likable characters, taking notes, the Writer’s Guild (of America & Great Britain), the differences between the two with representing game writing, the similarities to the struggles of the Animation Guild writers, the growing appetite for unions in the west, why unions are necessary, favorite side characters, and creative authenticity. Our Guests on the Internet Rob's Twitter and Instagram. Andrew's Twitter and website. Stuff We Talked About The Writer's Guild of Great Britain Videogame Guidelines The Writers by Miranda Banks Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

Somehow we're over halfway through the year, but this podcast is still going! Our guests this month are Sarah Baylus (Principal Writer at Larian Studios where she’s currently working on Baldur’s Gate III, and previously she wrote on Divinity: Original Sin, and its sequel Divinity: Original Sin II) and Mike Laidlaw (Chief Creative Officer at Yellow Brick Games working on an unannounced title, and previously was a creative director at Ubisoft, a Senior Creative Director on the Dragon Age franchise as well as a Lead Designer, and was the Lead Writer on Jade Empire), and they join us to discuss why Dragon Age’s storytelling has struck such a chord with people (especially in game development), what they look for in a creative director, what makes a good game writer, the best ways to keep teams updated on a game’s ever-evolving story, favorite software for collaboration, what’s one thing they wished games delved into more often, whether their definitions of good writing and narrative design have changed over time, common mistakes they see writers making these days, favorite game writing/design experiences they’ve had, writing/directing nightmares, localization notes, resources they go back to a lot, things they would've changed to their favorite game narratives, the most effective narrative-based techniques they like to see being used in games to immerse the audience, and more more MORE! Our Guests on the Internet Sarah has an Inactive Twitter, but Larian Studios has Baldurs Gate 3 on Early Access right now, and Larian's hiring! Mike's Twitter, and Yellow Brick Games is hiring!  Stuff We Talked About The Dragon Age franchise Google Docs Miro Jam Board Citizen Sleeper The Stillness of the Wind An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope Jade Empire Divinity: Original Sin 2 Understanding Show, Don’t Tell: And Really Getting It by Janice Hardy The ending of Transistor The last hour of Finaly Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Star Control II Moon Hunters Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

Back in the throes of summer, we've got Corey (lead narrative designer at Silver Rain Games, writer and narrative designer on WindRush Tales, editor and social media manager of Butterfly Books, and a journalist, critic and content producer for companies such as PlayStation, Yahoo! and the Eurogamer Network) and Kelsie (narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment on Outer Worlds 2,  narrative lead for Dangers in the Motor Vortex,  lead writer for Death Carnival,  creator of It Girl, and was also a content designer at Jam City and a writer at Pixelberry Studios) here to talk about writing tests, barriers, common motifs & themes in their writing, games they wish they wrote, unexpected pieces of media that inspired them, games where they felt the most invested in the player characters, silent protagonists, things they wished game narratives delved into more often, character tropes, building characters from scratch, and more! *The views and opinions expressed by Corey do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Silver Rain Games* Our Guests on the Internet Corey's Twitter and Website. Kelsie's Twitter and Linkedin. Stuff We Talked About Jax & Daxter series Hades 90 Day Fiance Sandman by Neil Gaiman Return of the Obra Dinn What Remains of Edith Finch Dragon Age: Origins The Activision Blizzard Diversity Space Tool Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

It’s time to get MEDIEVAL with our guests Zoe (currently an Associate Narrative Designer at Obsidian Games working on unannounced projects, and she is also the cohost of the Maniculum Podcast) and Franciska (currently the Narrative Lead on Around for Primal Game Studios, and also the Senior Narrative Designer on Ayna: Shattered Truth for Designmatic. And previously she was a Game Writer on Ori and the Will of the Wisps for Moon Studios, as well as a Narrative Designer on their unannounced ARPG)! They join us to talk about ousting J.R.R. Tolkien as the top fantasy writer of all time, untapped medieval stories that people in games should be thinking about, parallels between medievalism and game design, manuscript culture, how you balance between explaining things for players and letting them fill in the blanks themselves, would they rather tell stories with dialogue or without, are there any books or talks or resources they go back to a lot when working on a game, how to give good criticism and best piece of feedback they’ve gotten, how they think of the player’s active role in the story when they’re writing, what sort of imagery do they find most evocative in horror and medieval literature, and MORE! MUCH MORE! Our Guests on the Internet Zoe has no twitter, but check out The Maniculum Podcast! Franciska's Twitch, Twitter, and check out Around! Stuff We Talked About The Maniculum Podcast The Witcher 3 Franciska's Undergrad and Postgrad Theses Táin Bó Cúailnge The Metrical Charms The Last of Us Part II Outer Wilds Return of the Obra Dinn Horizon: Zero Dawn Horizon: Forbidden West Hades GOBELINS Youtube Channel  Like Stories of Old Youtube Channel How to be a Great DM Youtube Channel Game Maker’s Toolkit Youtube Channel Middle English Compendium The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinary Literate by Eugene Ehrlich Master Lists - The Maniculum Podcast Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

We celebrate spooky season all year round here, which is why we've brought back Ashley (Character Art Director at Bad Robot Games, previously Character Art Director at Naughty Dog, Lead Character Concept Artist on The Last of Us Part II, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and a concept artist on The Last of Us: Left Behind) and Graham (Writer, Director, and Sound Designer. Writer on Supermassive Games' Until Dawn, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, Hidden Agenda, The Inpatient, and The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan) to talk all things horror! Together they chat with us about what attracts them to horror, whether horror is a genre or a tool, the sublime of horror, the power of Silent Hill and Resident Evil, cross-pollination between film and TV, video game adaptations, how to pace horror games when players control the pacing, horror games following different rules from other horror media, first-person horror, how horror changes the art-making process, what non-horror games could take from horror games, the calcification of genres, horror games showing too much, dream crews, guilty pleasures, and Pyramid Head.  Our Guests on the Internet Ashley's Twitter (but don't follow her) and Instagram Graham's Twitter, Instagram, and check out his sound design work in the upcoming X! Stuff We Talked About The Crypt Keeper The Prince of Darkness Resident Evil franchise Silent Hill franchise Until Dawn Blair Witch by Bloober Team P.T. Soma Ashley’s Silent Hill Mondo covers Masuhiro Ito Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We’re BACK! AGAIN! And we swear we’re gonna post more episodes this year than we did last year! Alyssa (writer of fiction, comics, and games. Winner of the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Locus Award, finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and her fiction has been shortlisted for the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and Shirley Jackson Awards. Comics credits include Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and Adventure Time, and she’s also written for Overwatch, and Story and Franchise Development at Blizzard Entertainment) and Lauren (Senior Writer at Insomniac Games where she is currently working on Spider-Man 2, and was previously Lead Writer on Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Before Insomniac she was a writer at Telltale Game where she worked on The Walking Dead: The Final Season and Batman The Enemy Within) joined us to talk about how a theater studies degree is useful in games, shipping characters, writing hours, how hot Emperor Nefarious is, interacting with actors, writing characters and situations you hate, what draws them to horror storytelling, sexy monsters, what they need to nail down first in a story, what makes a good villain, worldbuilding, types of stories they don’t often see in games that they’d love to write, and a whole lot more! Our Guests on the Internet Alyssa's Twitter, and you should check out Doctor Aphra and Iron Fist! Lauren's Twitter, and you should check out Spider-Man 2 when it comes out! Stuff We Talked About John Carpenter liked Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Paragon Alyssa’s first tweet about Emperor Nefarious Unpacking Fears to Fathom Devotion The Walking Dead: The Final Season The Boys Starbound Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Disco Elysium Dragon Age: Inquisition What You Left Behind by Alyssa Wong (the Overwatch short story about Baptiste)  Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We're back with a new, Returnal-focused episode! Joining us are Gregory (Narrative & Cinematic Director at Housemarque  on Returnal. Also the co-founder, CEO, and Director of Convict Games, where he's made Stone and the upcoming Burn. Previously was a Senior Narrative Designer at Remedy Entertainment on Control and a narrative designer on Quantum Break) and Eevi (Senior Narrative Designer at Housemarque on Returnal, and was previously a narrative designer on Control, Quantum Break, and CrossfireX at Remedy Entertainment, and a Product Manager on Kingsbridge at Wooga) to talk about the differences in how narrative design is defined at Remedy vs Housemarque, growing pains at Housemarque with making a story-driven game like Returnal, navigating the line between challenging players too much vs not enough, telling ambiguous stories, haunting players, the relationship between narrative and sound, negotiating how much to tell players about the story, how to not re-traumatize yourself when writing something painful, and how can you make main characters as likable as your side characters. Our Guests on the Internet Gregory’s Twitter and Website for Convict Games Eevi's Twitter Stuff We Talked About Returnal Stone Burn Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

How are we almost done with May already?! It's bananas, and you know what else is bananas? Our guests for today's episode! Bahiyya (game designer, writer, and filmmaker who’s currently doing her masters in film, and is most well-known for her IGF award-winning game After Hours that will be released soon) and Son (writer who's currently the studio director and co-founder of Perfect Garbage, and director and co-founder of Chimeric Animation. They’re also a narrative designer at Silver Rain Games, and will be publishing their debut graphic novel soon, Thief of the Heights) join us to talk about writing processes, where they start when they’re creating a character, how often their stories change from what they originally planned, story structure, their greatest tools for storytelling, how they figure out their beginnings, when do they let other people see their work, whether they’re ever dissuaded by feedback, storytelling moments in games that they thought were special, silent protagonists, storytelling advice, major influences, what they’re reading/watching these days that isn’t video games, and way way more! Our Guests on the Internet Bahiyya’s Twitter and Itch.io page Son Twitter and Website, and you should check out the short film Death’s Diner, Thief of the Heights (when it's published by Harper Collins in 2022), and Love Shore Stuff We Talked About Rain White Noise Generator Daria Butterfly Soup  Possessor Bloodborne Limbo Fran Bow Dishonored Guy Ritchie Cain by José Saramango The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Spring is here and so are Leslee (Design Producer on Marvel Strike Force at Scopely, previously a writer and development manager at Riot, and held a variety of narrative design and production roles at 2K and Dorian) and Cassandra (award-winning game & fiction writer who’s worked on such games as Sunless Skies, Wasteland 3, and Falcon Age)! They join us to talk about being stubborn, knowing when to stop pushing for something, writing barks, overlapping dialogue, where they start when creating characters, whether they’re plotters or pantsers, what their writing habits are, how to force yourself to start writing, how COVID has changed their habits, navigating bureaucracy, knowing when to leave your environment for a better one,  dealing with people overstepping their boundaries, and more! Our Guests on the Internet Leslee's Twitter and Tiktok Cassandra's Twitter and her three upcoming books are Walk Among Us, The All-Consuming World, and Nothing But Blackened Teeth Stuff We Talked About Final Fantasy VII Remake Life is Strange 2 The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy New Year one and all! To celebrate yet another new beginning, we've brought back old guests Greg (Creative Director of Supergiant Games, and writer of Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades) and Kate (Narrative designer on Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, all of its DLC, the Outer Worlds, and was a narrative co-lead on The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon) to chat with us about working from home during COVID, work/life balance, Early Access, the keys to writing memorable shopkeepers, the beauty of em dashes, themes that they gravitate towards, working with ensemble casts, what kept them up at night the most on the last game they worked on, murder hobos, games being adapted into film/TV, collaborating with other disciplines more closely, and more, more, more! Our Guests on the Internet Greg's Twitter Kate's Twitter and Instagram Stuff We Talked About Hades The Outer Worlds (and its DLC: Peril on Gorgon) Pyre Transistor Bastion Resident Evil 4 (specifically this guy) Ultima Netflix's Castlevania show Annihilation (book and movie) Inside House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski Elric of Melnibone Big Dead Place by Nicholas Johnson Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (specifically the story: The Tower of Babylon) Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang (specifically the story: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate) Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Are those sleigh bells in the air? NO, IT'S A NEW EPISODE OF SCRIPT LOCK! After trudging through the hellacious year that was 2020, we're back with Cissy (actress whose voice you may have heard in such games as The Walking Dead, Life is Strange, Firewatch - for which she won a BAFTA - Horizon: Zero Dawn, and most recently Half-Life: Alyx and Call of the Sea) and Erika (actress, host, and producer whom you may have heard in such games as Dream Daddy, Destiny, 2, Fallout 76, Fortnite, Marvel's Avengers, and Cyberpunk 2077) to talk whether you need to live in Hollywood to be a VO actor, being recast, voice matching, auditions, secrecy around characters you’re auditioning for, the luxury of getting scripts before a session, how they like to receive direction, best and worst pieces of direction, vocal health and more! Our Guests on the Internet Cissy Twitter and Instagram Erika Twitter and Instagram Stuff We Talked About Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Voice Cast Got Their Scripts As They Were Recording Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Hope you're all staying safe out there! This month's fantastic episode has Rex (co-founder and creative director of Foam Sword Ltd, which recently released its first game Knights and Bikes. He was also the creative lead of Tearaway, a production designer on LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2, and the senior graphic designer on The Movies) and Daniel (composer of such games as The Movies, LittleBigPlanet 1 & 2, Knights and Bikes, and has also composed for film & TV on titles including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Steve Jobs, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and more) joining us to talk about running into Peter Molyneux in the toilet at a conference in Spain, Guildford being the Hollywood of the games industry, whether their collaborative process has changed over the years, how early they started working together on Knights and Bikes, what they wanted to accomplish with the music, throwing stuff away, if people undervalue the storytelling potential of music in games, memorable pieces of nonverbal storytelling, the best and worst they've ever been treated on a job, not knowing what you're doing, and a whole lot more! Our Guests on the Internet Rex's Twitter, and here's the official site for Knights and Bikes Daniel's Twitter Stuff We Talked About Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods I Wanna Ride My Bike (From the Videogame 'Knights And Bikes') by the Daniel Pemberton TV Orchestra We Are the Best! Daniel Pemberton Interview Control Once Upon a Time in the West Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Podcasting safely from home, we're back with Alix (actor in such games as Assasin’s Creed: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Origins, and Awakenings, Mass Effect 3, The Last Story, Deponia I, II, and II) and Erin (actor in games like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, Oxenfree, Firewatch, 2064: Read Only Memories, Afterparty, and the upcoming Wolf Among Us 2) to talk about working during a pandemic, where do they start when creating a character, how to support a fellow actor well, rehearsals, the audition process, receiving direction, what makes a good/bad director, trusting your actors, the best/worst direction they’ve ever gotten, intimacy on the motion capture stage, having more morally gray female characters, whether AAA games should keep learning from Hollywood, and more! Our Guests on the Internet Alix's Twitter and Instagram Erin's Twitter and Instagram Stuff We Talked About Tales from the Borderlands Dragon Age: Inquisition Vermintide Ozark Portrait of a Lady on Fire A Taxi Driver  Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Today we've got Jo (writer of games and short stories, and has written on Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda, and is currently at EA working on an unannounced project) and Paula (writing lead and story editor on Neo Cab. She's also adapted Let’s Play from Webtoon into an animated series and has had her fiction and essays featured in outlets like Salon, the Austin Film Festival, and more) talking with us about masters degrees, delivering criticism, the most helpful piece of feedback they've ever received, how they like to collaborate with others, things they've appreciated in games that might go generally unnoticed, keeping track of branching stories and how to maintain consistency and pacing, when to stop writing, parody games, writing tests that best represent their skills, whether games are too focused on learning from Hollywood blockbusters, the last story that surprised them, and more! Our Guests on the Internet Jo's Twitter Paula's Twitter and Website Stuff We Talked About Star Wars: The Old Republic Neo Cab Doom (2016) Portal 2 Tacoma The Pomodoro Technique Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Dance Dance Revolution Portrait of a Lady on Fire The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy New Year! This month we've got Duncan (writer on Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Neo Cab, In the Valley of Gods, and the co-creator and writer of the Something True podcast) and Jon (writer, narrative designer and co-founder of Inkle, and has worked on games including 80 Days, Sorcery!, Heaven’s Vault, and Over the Alps) in to talk about being a writer without a writing degree, blank canvas vs well-defined main characters, research, hot air balloons, Lovecraft forums, when to stop researching, underappreciated game moments, player agency, the sweet spot between satisfying and frustrating, the role of writers in pre-production, and more.  Our Guests on the Internet Duncan's Website and Twitter. Jon's Twitter, Inkle's Website and Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Idle Thumbs Centralia, PA Leliana's Song DLC Rameses by Stephen Bond Spider and Web by Andrew Plotkin Pyst Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy holidays everyone! To close out the year we've got Walt (writer and creative director at New Game Plus, and has worked on games such as The Darkness, Bioshock 1 and 2, Spec Ops: The Line, and Star Wars Battlefront 2, and he’s also the author of the book Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art & Soul in Games) and Mary (currently writes at Insomniac Games, and has also written for Certain Affinity, Techland on Dying Light 2, and Telltale on the final season of The Walking Dead and Batman: The Enemy Within) joining us to talk Narrative QA, their most important collaborators, narrative band-aid experiences, storytelling that they appreciate in other games that may go unnoticed by players, making "good" and "bad" choices, emotion-oriented goals, violence-based games, not giving your characters more story than they can handle, narrative pet peeves, things they've learned by slipping up, overwriting, digital media shelf life, what game project(s) they wish they'd been a part of, how important costume design is to their writing process, writing tests, and a thing or two more that you'll just have to find out for yourself! Our Guests on the Internet Walt's Twitter, Instagram. and check out Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art and Soul in Video Games Mary's Twitter, and check out Read Only memories #1 Stuff We Talked About Spec Ops: The Line Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice We Are Not Heroes: Contextualizing Violence Through Narrative GDC Talk by Walt Williams The Walking Dead: The Final Season Disco Elysium When the Streaming Platform Dies, What Happens to its Shows? What Remains of Edith Finch Spider-Man Night in the Woods Star Wars Battlefront II Also Max and I worked on Neo Cab and Man of Medan, two great games that came out this year, and they're totally worth checking out! Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We're back again this month with Heli (theatre and performance costume designer, most recently a costume and character designer for Remedy’s Control and the upcoming Crossfire 2. Also worked on Mirages for Kroma Productions, and EGO CURE for Aalto University)and Claire (currently an art director at Valve, previously an artist and associate production designer for Microsoft Studios on a ton of Kinect games, Fable Legends, Sunset Overdrive, Powerstar Golf, and more. Also the production designer for Westworld VR) to talk about why costume design as a specialized role isn’t more common in games, the narrative features of costume design, differences with fashion design, research, building costumes for worlds less-based in reality, the problem of flowing clothes, working with the non-monetary budgets of video games (memory, processing power, etc), not holding back on your first draft, their most important collaborators, iteration, pitching ideas that may be too “out there,” the hardest costume they’ve designed (that they can talk about), knowing when something’s done, how non-costume designers can learn more about costume design, mundane costume design, work/life balance, and how can writers make costume designers’ lives easier. Our guests on the Internet Claire’s Twitter and Website. Heli’s Website and Artstation. Stuff We Talked About Marvelous Designer LA Noire The Art of Manipulating Fabric by Colette Wolff Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Bayonetta Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Apologies to all for the slight delay, but the wait has TOTALLY been worth it because today we've got Nicole (Senior Narrative Designer at Crystal Dynamics, and before that a Creative Director on the unreleased The Wolf Among Us: Season 2, and a writer on season 2 of Minecraft: Story Mode, Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman, The Walking Dead: Michonne, Game of Thrones: Season 1, and The Wolf Among Us: Season 1) and Megan (Senior Narrative Designer Team Lead and Senior Writer on the recently-released Outer Worlds by Obsidian Entertainment, and before that she was a Senior Writer on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Tyranny, and a Senior Game Designer and Content Zone Lead on Wildstar for Carbine Studios) joining us to talk writing/design tests, whether narrative design and game writing should be separate jobs, the hardest things to write and design, writers' rooms, rewriting processes, where they start with constructing branching narratives, what they look for in endings as creators and whether it's different than what they look for as consumers, meaningful choices, storytelling trends they'd like to see more of, NPCs, major influences, and a great deal more! Our guests on the Internet Nicole's Twitter. Megan's Twitter, Website, and check out House of Ash and Brimstone (Gatewalkers Book 1)! Stuff We Talked About The Wolf Among Us Bioshock Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton Sabriel by Garth Nix Untitled Goose Game The Walking Dead Season 1 The Outer Worlds More than Quest Givers: Why Good Characters Matter Konsoll 2019 Talk by Molly Maloney and Eric Stirpe Pyre God of War Transistor Brave Fencer Musashi Apex Legends Dota 2 The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm Luigi's Mansion 3 Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons Schitt's Creek Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We've got Kelsey (game writer and narrative designer on Outer Wilds with Mobius Digital, along with Stormland for Insomniac, and wrote the unreleased Tales from the Minus Lab for USC’s Interactive Media & Games Division) and Olivia (script writer and narrative designer at Ubisoft Montreal on Far Cry 5 and Far Cry: New Dawn, and previously a scriptwriter at Ubisoft Quebec on Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and its DLC) in this month to talk about the hardest parts of working with nonlinear storytelling, stress, taking feedback, nonlinear murder mysteries, quantifying values that are hard to quantify, assuming that players are smart, tracking all the permutations in branching narratives, player assumptions when it comes to knowledge of the story and vice versa, letting players pull in information instead of pushing it on them, what makes a good opening and ending, DnD, and more. Our Guests on the Internet Kelsey's Twitter and Website. Olivia's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Outer Wilds Twine GDC 2019: Technical Tools for Authoring Branching Dialogue by Carrie Patel and Szymczyk Steven Universe Overqualified by Joey Comeau Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.