J.E. Sawyer on Writing

[Cimmerian Nights]

<strong>[ Person -> Article ]</strong> - More info on <a href="http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/J. E. Sawyer">Person: J. E. Sawyer</a> | More info on <a href="http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Obsidian Entertainment">Company: Obsidian Entertainment</a>

<p>J.E. Sawyer, currently the Project Director and Lead Designer on <em><a title="Fallout: New Vegas" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout:_N ... s">Fallout: New Vegas</a></em> has <a href="http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?au ... ogid=3&">a new blog post up the Obsidian boards on High Level Writing Principles</a>.</p>
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<p>* <strong>Dialogue should inform and entertain players</strong> -- inform them about the world and quests, entertain them with interesting characters and prose. If you aren't informing or entertaining, think hard about what you're trying to accomplish.
* <strong>Write an outline</strong>. Really. Just do it. You should have an idea of where you are going before you set out. If you don't know where you're going when you write your conversation, chances are the player is going to get lost at some point.
* <strong>Always give at least two options</strong>. At a bare minimum, you should always have an option that says, "Let's talk about something else," that leads back to a node where you can say, "Goodbye." You may think that your dialogue is riveting and no one could possibly want to stop reading/hearing it, but believe me -- someone out there does.
* <strong>Never give false options</strong>. Do not create multiple options that lead to the same result. It insults players' intelligence and does not reward them for the choices they make.
* <strong>Don't put words in the player's mouth</strong>. With the exception of conditional replies (gender, skills, stats, etc.), phrase things in a straightforward manner that does not mix a request for information with an emotionally loaded bias ("I'd like to know what's going on here, <em>jackass</em>.").
* Keep skills, stats, gender, and previous story resolutions in mind and <strong>reward the player's choices</strong>. If it doesn't feel like a reward, it isn't; it's just a false option with a tag in front of it. Note: entertainment value can be a valid reward.
* <strong>The writing style and structure are the project's; the character belongs to you and the world</strong>. As long as the dialogue follows project standards and feels like it is grounded in the world, it is your challenge and responsibility to make the character enjoyable and distinct.</p>
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<p>Some great points, and refreshing to see this approach be brought back to Fallout. Remains to be seen how his approach actually manifests itself.</p>
<p> </p><p>Spotted @ <a href="http://www.rpgcodex.com">RPG Codex</a></p>

[Retlaw83]

Only thing Fallout 3 got right was 5 and nothing else.

Number 5 was all FoBoS had.

[Kashluk]

I'm not sure if Sawyer intended it this way, but it seems awfully lot like criticism towards FO3...

[King of Creation]

I'm not sure if Sawyer intended it this way, but it seems awfully lot like criticism towards FO3...

It certainly should be.

In Fallout 3, no matter how you were trying to play your character you could could say (or do) things that mattered in a goody two-shoes way.

[jimmypneumatic]

Yes Kashluk, I believe that's what he's getting at...

"Never give false options."

Like the conversation option that leads you to bed with Nova in megaton. I would have rather just the classic fade out & back Fallout sex scene than the crap they fed us with that one. Fading to black and waking up with drugs in your inventory has much stronger implications.

[Cakester]

Very good stuff from Sawyer. I will keep it in mind while making my Fallout 3 Multiplayer mod. Which by the way will be related to the first couple of fallout's story or theme. but the story for our mod, from what i have heard from my modder will be much different . But I don't want to spoil anything, especially this earlier into development.

-Cakester

[Kickstand27]

This was good to read. agreed on the criticism. the convo was pretty dry in F3, a lot of times felt like just cycling through dialogues.

[King of Creation]

Absolutely. Too many times I was in dialogue in FO3 and had no options that I would have wanted to say (that would be in tune with the way I was playing my character), and no option to just stop the convo.

[inomel]

I learn from this blog every-time I read it.