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  • Subject: To any Bungie Writers
Subject: To any Bungie Writers

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  • 07.10.2011 7:33 PM PDT
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I believe they go about it as a mix, but rather more spontaneous than the traditional novel or play scripts.

  • 07.10.2011 7:36 PM PDT

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[*Please note that anything in my posts is likely to be filled with sarcasm, and should be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to help people, usually*]

I think a lot of cinematic game scripts work like this really old, fake (but still awesome as a fanfic) Halo 3 Script.

This isn't the original .PDF. I don't know where you can find the original anymore. I personally really enjoyed all 118 pages of it.

As a note, writing a video game script in the form of a novel is confusing as far as a design document goes. You want to detail everything about the scene, as you would a movie, and having that in a novel format, just doesn't work too well.

  • 07.10.2011 7:39 PM PDT


Posted by: ExquisiteDragon
Posted by: SonicJohn
I think a lot of cinematic game scripts work like this really old, fake (but still awesome as a fanfic) Halo 3 Script.

This isn't the original .PDF. I don't know where you can find the original anymore. I personally really enjoyed all 118 pages of it.

As a note, writing a video game script in the form of a novel is confusing as far as a design document goes. You want to detail everything about the scene, as you would a movie, and having that in a novel format, just doesn't work too well.
I wonder how Tom Clancy does it.


It's easy, he writes books, then people make games about it that don't have a real story. Except for Splinter Cell, that one he put his name on and then someone else wrote the book.

EDIT: Also, Ghost Recon is the same way.

[Edited on 07.10.2011 7:59 PM PDT]

  • 07.10.2011 7:55 PM PDT


Posted by: ExquisiteDragon
Does he write the book first or does he do it strictly for the game and then publish them both at the same time?


I think the only book he wrote that became a game was Rainbow Six. The rest are books based off of "his" games written by other people. He co-founded Red Storm Entertainment (the developers now owned by Ubisoft) and they just slap his name on things nowadays.

[Edited on 07.11.2011 1:12 AM PDT]

  • 07.10.2011 8:03 PM PDT

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Posted by: x Foman123 x
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Posted by: SonicJohn


Holy cow, thanks for posting that. I know what im doing tonight.

  • 07.10.2011 8:03 PM PDT

To be honest, I'd look into companies like BioWare, seeing as the whole multiple scenarios storytelling is starting to be a trend of sorts. Not to mention that if you learn to write super complex stories, writing a simpler one will come easier.

[Edited on 07.10.2011 8:10 PM PDT]

  • 07.10.2011 8:09 PM PDT

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  • 07.10.2011 8:15 PM PDT
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If you go back and watch the Halo 2 LE disc, you'll see Joe talking about the Cinematic script being 100+ pages. The script he shows looks like a movie script. When I write movie scripts I like there to be a clear distinction between the action performed, camera movements and the dialogue. Movie script formatting lends itself best to these requirements.

  • 07.10.2011 8:54 PM PDT
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I think I've seen it hundreds of times. In some of the Halo 3 LE clips they talk a little more about what a game script should accomplish and how to do it. It's fascinating, you know, if you're into that sort of thing.

  • 07.10.2011 9:26 PM PDT

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Take a look at the Bungie Research & Development Publications. Several under "Production" might yield some answers.

  • 07.10.2011 9:46 PM PDT
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Posted by: Reptilian Rob
I would be asking Bioware, Visceral or Irrational this question, not Bungie.
This guy obviously wants to know about Bungie's writing process, not the companies you mentioned.

Besides, Bungie's games are formatted way different from those companies' games.

  • 07.11.2011 12:51 AM PDT
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In the past they've also mentioned and shown off storyboards, which is something that's more like what movies might do than what a novelist would do. And considering all the cutscenes and pseudo-cutscenes, I have to imagine a movie-type script would be necessary at least for those parts.

  • 07.11.2011 1:09 AM PDT
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Posted by: Reptilian Rob
I would be asking Bioware, Visceral or Irrational this question, not Bungie.
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  • 07.11.2011 1:19 AM PDT

Posted by: Big Black Bear
What are we supposed to be discussing here?


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Like others have said it's just like a movie script. A general story is thought up and then a script is presented. All the other stuff works off the paramaters of the script.

  • 07.11.2011 1:21 AM PDT