Dialog in Games

Let's face it. Most writing in games is terrible. Dialog is the portion of the writing that is observed by players, and so it is usually considered the most important part of writing. This is untrue. If the writing of a game is like a car, then the dialog is the shiny (or not so shiny) exterior which is seen by everyone when you drive past. However, dialog is only the symptom, not the cause of bad writing. A bad engine will ruin the car no matter how much paint is on the outside. Have a good engine, and you'll be able to go wherever you want, no matter what the condition of your paint is. The "engine" of game writing is having interesting characters who are placed in interesting locations. If you have boring characters talking in an equally boring location, nobody is going to care about the dialog because they're rapidly hitting the A button to skip over it!

Now, besides just interesting characters and locations, what makes dialog sound good? Perhaps... realism? No. Wrong. Have another guess? I humbly insinuate that it is the appearance of realism. Take a moment and think about it: in real life, most conversations are very unfocused. They wonder around. People speak in sentence fragments and say "um" a lot. In a game, dialog needs to be focused. It has to communicate a point to your audience. It could tell the player information about the world, or it might demonstrate characterization. You shouldn't just throw in some dialog because it's easy. You need to be as concise as possible, so that you stay focused and don't lose your over-caffeinated players.

Despite this, realism still plays a part in dialog. Great authors, like Dickens or Shakespeare do an incredible thing with their dialog. They give just about every character a unique and identifiable way of speaking an acting. You can often times identify a character just by hearing a few lines of dialog from that person. Even if you can't guess the specific character, you can usually identify the social class which they belong to. For example, take this line from Chapter 3 of Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.

"I'll eat my breakfast afore they're the death of me," said he. "I'd do that, if I was going to be strung up to that there gallows as there is over there, directly afterwards. I'll beat the shivers so far, I'll bet you."


From the character's manner of speaking, the language he uses, his bad grammar, that he belongs to the working or lower class (the character in question is actually a convict). Now, try contrasting that example to this one:

"It seems to me that in the despondency of the tender passion, we are looking into our gift-horse's mouth with a magnifying-glass. Likewise, it seems to me that, concentrating our attention on the examination, we altogether overlook one of the best points of the animal. "

This person uses much more flowery language and has the decency to use correct grammar. He is certainly of the upper class, or at least a rich member of the middle class. All this from only a couple lines of dialog! A good author can uses dialog to indirectly characterize characters by exploring their manner of speech, a lesson which many writers should take note of.

That's it for now. See you next time.

Game Spotlight: Bioshock

Bioshock has been incredibly popular since its last release. Its gotten glowing reviews from both critics and players. I've always been a fan of the System Shock series, considered to be spiritual prequels to Bioshock. If you've played System Shock 2, a lot of the elements of Bioshock may be familiar to you. You explore an atmospheric and creepy world. You fight off a variety of mutants with a combination of guns and psychic powers. There are security systems and robots to hack. However, to call Bioshock a simple rehash of the System Shock 2 formula would be a crime.

Gameplay-wise, Bioshock sheds off some of the unnecessary  complexity of System Shock 2. The inventory system is vastly simplified The game is also a lot easier to get into thanks to a interactive tutorials system which gives you little hints if you are having trouble, but never gets too intrusive. The combat is also insanely fun and intense. You'll find yourself on the edge of your seat as you duke it out with the various enemies in the world of Bioshock, from the mutant Splicers, to the monstrous Big Daddies. Fights are filled with bullets, fire, and explosions. You'll rapidly switch between the various weapons (including a machine gun, makeshift flamethrower, and a deadly crossbow). You also have a variety of plasmids (psychic powers), such as Emperor Palpatine style lightning. One of my favorite tactics is to set a Splicer on fire, and when he jumps into a nearby pool of water, I throw lightning at the water, electrocuting him. However, there are also more subtle powers which let you manipulate the world around you to a fascinating degree.

This is really the biggest strength of Bioshock. The world is incredible. Its really something you have to experience on your own. Its not just that the world is incredibly pretty.   What really sets Bioshock apart is the incredible atmosphere which pervades your every step. Its the way that you can mess with the world and its inhabitants. Its the fact that the world of Bioshock isn't like anything else you've ever seen before.

Another factor which heavily contributes to the atmosphere is the sound design. Its above just about anything else I've ever seen (heard?). If you just stand still for a moment, you might hear the insane ramblings of a nearby Splicer. Maybe some heavy machinery in the distance, or the drip of water. Perhaps you'll hear the distinctive heavy step of a Big Daddy. Sometimes I would run around with my wrench hitting different objects, just to hear the distinctive sound that each one made.

I'll try not to spoil anything, but the story is almost as fascinating as the world it takes place in. I would have liked for some of the philosophy to be explored even deeper, although I'm sure the developers didn't want to alienate trigger happy gamers. Also, the way that morale decisions are approached is far too black and white for my taste.

Perhaps the only other flaws are that the game was a little too short for my tastes (it took me around 15 hours). There isn't really anything to add replay value to the game, but its still incredibly fun the second time around. Also, the final battle was on the easy side, although it was still a frenetic and exciting climax to the game.

Nevertheless, Bioshock definitely lives up to the vast amount of praise it has gotten. I would recommend it to almost anyone (although the game can be rather disturbing for younger kids). If you get a chance to play it, you shouldn't pass up the opportunity. 

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Bushido

I made a game in a week. I doubt I spent more then ten hours on it. I made it for a competition I had with myself. I bet myself that I wouldn't be able to make a game in a week, and I lost. Here's the result:


Bushido
You play as a samurai, fighting against a horde of bandits. Progress through the three levels with your trusty sword, beating back your enemies. Remember, a true samurai is not afraid of death.

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Game Spotlight: Deus Ex

In a word, Deus Ex is an amazing game. It took the (basic) first person shooting gameplay of its time, and fused in an inventory system where you could carry around dozens of different weapons and equipment. It added RPG elements allowing you to customize your character and add upgrades to your weapons. It added the ability to approach any given situation in numerous ways. It took these fantastic gameplay elements, and put them into an entrancing plot, which takes place in tons of different locations around the globe, and it is long. Nowadays, shooters like Modern Warfare 2 clock in at around five hours. You could probably fit ten Modern Warfares into Deus Ex. However, Deus Ex does a great job of drawing you in with addicting gameplay and a great story.

            By now you probably realize that I really like this game. However, before I get too carried away, I’ll tell you that the game isn’t quite perfect. Most of the flaws are because the technology of the day really held back the game’s design. The graphics are pretty bleh. There’s a wide variety of interesting locations, and the character designs are fairly interesting, but the graphics are fairly uninteresting, even for their time. However, this can be forgiven, because the levels are huge. Every nook and cranny is filled with little bonuses that reward you for exploring the levels. You’ll revisit some of the locations throughout the game, and every time you return to a location you’ll notice tons of little changes. Someone might have refilled the soda in their refrigerator because you stole it last time. An establishment might have closed, or people may be gone. Little details like this really bring the world to life, in a way that all the realistic explosions in the world fail to do.

            Another flaw brought on by the technology is that the game is rather glitchy. Sometimes you may get stuck on a certain peace of geometry, or someone might become hostile against you for no apparent reason. For the most part, these are little things, and fail to hurt the overall experience.

            You see a lot of games these days which talk about giving the player the ability to choose their own destiny through the way they play the game. I’ve talked a lot of nonlinear elements like this in my previous posts, and Deus Ex pulls off this emergent gameplay far better than almost any other game I’ve played. Let’s say you’re supposed to attack an enemy building. You can probably find a way to get in underground. Maybe there’s some ventilation shafts in the ceiling. Of course, you can always blast your way in through the front door. The open ended levels really let you play the game however you want, in a way which you rarely see. This element of choice is what really sets Deus Ex apart from other games. If you haven’t played Deus Ex, I would strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone. It’s really something you have to experience on your own to experience its genius.