How I write a script (Patreon)

Hi everyone. Earlier today I asked you to contribute questions that you'd like to hear me answer in a Q&A video. (Please add some more!)

One of the questions, from Julian, is probably better suited to a full written thing rather than a quick comment in the video. So here we go. Here's Julian's question:

Can you name some of the GMTK videos that you think have the strongest-structured script? Specifically with regards to making the information streamlined and well communicated?

I'd like to examine how you make a video essay that doesn't ramble and all the information is grouped together appropriately in a way that communicates clearly.

I have no idea how you organize information in a way that is comfortable for other people to hear it.

So, I try to do this with every video I make. Fancy motion graphics, high quality video, and colourful thumbnails don't mean jack if the viewer doesn't understand or gets bored when hearing my message. So structuring my thoughts for flow and clarity is where I work hardest. 

Because The Last Guardian script and process is still fresh in my mind, I'll show you how I came to write that one. I've excised any spoilers from this bit, just in case you haven't played the game. 

I should note that while it's written out in nice clean steps, it's often a lot more messy in practice. But that's the creative process for you. 

Step 1. Finding my thesis

With all of my videos, I try to come up with a really strong, but rather concise idea to build the video off of. Something that can be explained in a few paragraphs. I call this a thesis. 

When I start, I generally have a very vague idea of what I want to talk about. It might just be something like "health" or "immersive sims" or "that cool Bioshock level". For this one, I knew I wanted to say something about the relationship between the boy and Trico. But I need to get more specific. 

So I played the game, read interviews with Fumito Ueda, talked about the game with friends, and asked you guys some questions. And I came up with a bunch of things that I thought were interesting. Here they are. 

• Comparing Trico to other companions
• Having verbs specifically to interact with Trico
• Trico's animation
• The Last Guardian's relationship to Ico and SotC
• Trico's controversially disloyal AI
• A cool moment
• Similarities to the game Brothers
• Escort missions
• How the game's relationship is depicted through game design

Now, I'm probably going to mention almost all of these, but something needs to become the dominant point to build the video around. Otherwise, it's just a messy pile of disconnected statements.

I initially did a lot of thinking and note-taking on the "comparing Trico to other companions" thing. Here's a neat graph showing their different abilities. It's kinda interesting to see how Trico and the boy (and Yorda and Ico) are more balanced than other game heroes. 

But ultimately I decided that the "how the game's relationship is depicted through game design" topic was more interesting to me. So I went with that for my thesis.

Most of the time, I keep the thesis in my head. But for this one, I actually wrote down a statement. Here it is. Bear in mind that it came after lots of thinking, false starts, and aborted thesises. Thesi?

Lemme Google it. 

Theses. Duh. I'm an idiot. 

the last guardian is a powerful artistic work that depicts the relationship between a boy and a beast - which is impactful because we get to explore that friendship through the very mechanics of the game.

we see how the boy and beast need each other through their complimentary verbs. we see how their friendship evolves when [cool moment]. we are given verbs to interact with trico - even if they have no gameplay purposes. 

as a player, we appreciate trico's companionship as he helps with combat and traversal. and we get to feel a sense of parental protection as we calm him down after combat, feed him, and break the stained glass windows. 

it reminds us that, as an artistic medium, the unique strength of video games is it's interactivity. by exploring themes through mechanics, TLG is a stunning work of art. even if it isn't always a terrific video game...

Wow, that's a pretty comprehensive one. You can see the finished episode lurking in there. They're normally a lot shorter and need more work to get to a final script. 

But anyway, I also need to be able to describe this thesis in a very pithy way that can be used for the title, the thumbnail, and the tweet. In this case, I settled on how The Last Guardian tells its story "through the unique language of video games".

You'd think that would come last, when I'm on YouTube and writing in the title. But forcing myself to shrink my thesis into something that fits on a thumbnail is a really good way to get at the absolute heart of the video. The single sentence that I can use as a guiding star. 

Also, having this set early makes sure that my video will always be faithful to the way I eventually market it.

2. Finding the acts

So I've got this point I want to share, but now I need to figure out the main beats I want to touch on. These are basically all things I came to in my research / thinking phase, but now intsead of them being disparate points, I'm using them to help answer the key question "how does The Last Guardian tell its story through game mechanics?" So...

• I want to talk about how the combat roles in The Last Guardian reveal info about the central relationship, and how it's done better than other games with a companion. 
• I want to talk about how it's an interdependent relationship, and how the boy gets to do things for Trico too.
• I definitely need to talk about that cool spoiler moment. 
• I'm going to need to say something about the wonky AI. I'll be crucified in the comments if I don't. 
• I want to talk about this idea of art forms having unique languages, and how games have mechanics as theirs.

These are the really important beats that the video needs to hit. 

3. Figuring out the order and links

This is the bit that I've been finding difficult lately. It was a big brick wall with the Nintendo video. But it's important to get right. 

I want to put those points in some kind of sensible order, and find ways to go from one point to the other in a way that flows and creates a nice narrative that the viewer can follow.

I was mostly successful in the Last Guardian episode, I think. Here's how it goes:

Games like Bioshock Infinite depict a different relationship in the cutscenes and the combat
But
The Last Guardian avoids this disconnect, by using the combat roles to explore the relationship
Likewise
The non-combat roles in the game show that this is an interdependent relationship
Which leads us to
The cool moment involving rules
And this is really powerful because
Each art form has its own language, and rules are the language of games
However...
Fumito Ueda also explores this through the game's AI, which leads to an experience that isn't always fun
And so
Making games with meaningful mechanics is hard, but I think ultimately worth the risk to say something interesting. 

If you find that all your linking words are just "and", then you're going to have a very flat script.

4. Write it

Okay! We now have a solid structure! All that we need to do now is write it. I'm going to expand each point, add in more detail, and improve the links. 

I can also pepper in extra bits that came up during research. I made sure to briefly mention animation, as that's a really important part of Trico's appeal. I quickly talked about petting Trico and pulling out spears. And I needed to talk about escort missions to explain the context behind Bioshock Infinite's design. 

I decided to leave out Brothers (though I put it during the credits) for various spoiler- and pacing-related reasons. And excised the stuff about The Last Guardian's conception altogether (it was made as a reaction to fans' love for Agro in SotC) , also for pacing reasons. Though, in retrospect, I can maybe see a nice place to slot it in at the end....

And that's kind of it. Though I make it sound a bit more easy than it really is. It's sometimes quite a painful process. The video I'm working on now has come together a lot easier, I'm pleased to say. Though, I'm just about to start step 4 and things can still fall part. 

/////

Finally, let me show you how the final script reflects the stuff I just said. This bit does have some stuff that you might consider a spoiler. 

I start with an intro. Explain why we should care about this game, mention the polarising bits so people understand that I'm not going to be talking about those. And kinda set up, or tease my thesis. 

The Last Guardian is the third game to be directed by this clever chap. He's called Fumito Ueda and he's the Japanese designer responsible for three pretty important games.

There's Ico, which is about forging a friendship with a girl. Next came Shadow of the Colossus, which is about toppling giant mythological beasts. And now there's The Last Guardian, which cleverly rounds off this triptych by being a game about forging a friendship with a giant mythological beast. Called Trico. 

Now, the reaction to this game has been, shall we say... mixed, with plenty of disagreement about the clumsy controls, annoying input lag, clunky physics, patronising hints, omnipresent button prompts, tedious puzzles, and so on. 

But one thing most gamers can agree on is that this game does a pretty stellar job of depicting a bond between the boy, and Trico. 

And in this video, I want to show how Ueda, and his team at genDesign, achieved this relationship not through lengthy cutscenes or dialogue - but, instead, through the unique language of video games.

Next, into combat roles and comparing to other games.

I'm going to start by looking at combat. It's not a significant part of the game, but it offers a convenient way of comparing The Last Guardian to other games that feature a companion character.

Now, back in the day, a companion often meant a dreaded "escort mission", which is where the player has to protect another character. Like how Monkey needs to keep Trip alive in Enslaved, because.. If I die, you die

This means the player has to do everything. Monkey has to look after himself, and kill all the robots, and look after Trip, who can't attack enemies and can be killed if you don't look after her. 

It makes for an interesting dynamic, but a lot of players found this style of gameplay stressful and frustrating. Trip is, I should say, one of the better ones because she hides and can survive one robot attack. 

But anyway, in an attempt to fix this frustration, a more recent trend has seen the rise of invincible companions, like Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite who cannot be killed in combat, so you only need to look out for yourself and the enemies.

It's a very simple fix, really. And it certainly avoids any frustration. But it does create a nagging disconnect between what's happening in the story, and what's happening in the gameplay.

BOOKER: "You think people like that are just gonna let you walk away? You are an investment, and you will not be safe till you are far away from here."

Eh, I think she'll be fine, dude. I mean, going by the combat, Elizabeth is not only invincible but is actually protecting Booker, as she finds him ammo, offers up her ability to pull in machine guns from alternate dimensions, and even brings him back from the dead. Hm.

Of course, we can just write this all off as goofy video game logic but what Fumito Ueda has always understood is that video games speak most loudly through their design. And he uses this to explore themes and tell stories, almost entirely through gameplay. 

The game Ico doesn't need to tell us that it's a game about a boy protecting a girl. We get to experience it ourselves, as Yorda is frail and vulnerable during combat, and the invincible Ico has to save her at every turn.

The Last Guardian is the mirror image of Ico, effectively putting you in the role of Yorda. The boy can't defeat the magic soldiers, and will die if he's taken into a spooky door. Trico, on the other hand, is invincible and massively effective in combat. 

And so, we feel vulnerable when we're alone, and thankful for Trico's company when he saves us from danger.

In all of Ueda's games, combat is not just something to do to pass time between the story bits. The roles that the characters take in combat tells us so much of what we need to know about their relationship to one another. 

Okay, onto the stuff about making it a balanced, interdependent relationship. 

Outside of combat, The Last Guardian shows us that this is, actually, an interdependent relationship, where Trico needs the boy, just as much as the boy needs Trico.

And I think a stronger bond is forged when both parties help each other. That's why Enslaved narrowly escapes the escort mission trap, as Monkey ultimately relies heavily on Trip, to create distractions and hack stuff.

There are lots of examples of this in The Last Guardian, such as the boy petting Trico's back after a fight to calm it down, or him finding it barrels of food. But let's focus on these stained glass eyes. 

Whenever Trico spots one, the creature becomes paralysed with fear, and it won't move forward until the boy has found a way to smash or remove the eye. 

This gives... the boy... a chance to protect... Trico. And it shows how the two characters are strong in different ways. Trico is powerful in combat, while the boy excels in platforming and puzzle solving.

But this also establishes some pretty clear-cut rules: the boy can't defeat enemies without Trico, and Trico can't advance until the boy destroys these stained glass eyes.

Rules like this help you understand how the game works. So when you reach a room like this, you know exactly what it means. There's a stained glass eye, which the boy needs to remove, but he's going to need to go through these enemies, without Trico, to approach it. 

It's tense and nerve-wrecking, but it feels good when the glass has been smashed and Trico can join the fight.

Which leads up nicely to the cool moment section. It was really important for me to explain the rules of the game, so this next section makes perfect sense. 

And then I got to this bit. Two soldiers are blocking this window by holding up shields, made from stained glass. I knew what it meant, and I knew what to do. I needed leave Trico, sneak around, shove the baddies off the ledge, and let the beast through.

Except, I rushed in, dropped down, and got ambushed by soldiers. I struggled free, and I ran up the slope, and I shoved one soldier down before being grabbed again.

I knew, at that moment, that I was screwed. The boy can't fight these soldiers and Trico can't help because of the shields. Rules are rules. It's over. And then this happened. 

Oh. Yeah. 

The game wanted to show me that the relationship had advanced to the point that the boy's safety was more important to Trico, than its own fear of the stained glass eyes.

And to do that, it broke a clearly established, mechanical rule. Which are supposed to be these unbreakable, static... well, rules. 

And to me, this made it more impactful than, say, the bit in The Last of Us where, after establishing that Ellie, another invincible companion, shouldn't use a gun. She then shoots a guy to save Joel. 

That's a really good cutscene and strong storytelling. But I think the moment in The Last Guardian is actually stronger. 

Okay, now I've set myself to talk about art and language. 

Because, and this is gonna get a bit arty farty but stick with me. It's clear that each artistic medium has its own unique language. Painting uses the language of shape and colour. Music is an exploration of sound. Literature uses the language of, well, language. And film is about moving images. 

And video games can, of course, use all of this stuff. But what makes the medium unique is interaction. Things like mechanics, rules, and systems are the language of video games - and so where Naughty Dog is largely borrowing from film to tell the story of Joel and Ellie, I think The Last Guardian is an artistic work, in the medium of video games. 

The Last of Us does gets some bonus points for making Ellie become a more formidable character in the combat sequences, following that important cinematic. 

But now I need to slow down my freight train of praise, and fire off that big caveat. 

Anyway. This moment is all part of Ueda's plan to sell Trico as a real creature, rather than a predictable and flawlessly programmed video game tool. We can see this in the incredibly lifelike animations and in familiar moments where, say, Trico hesitates to jump into the water. 

But this is also where the game's most controversial decision crops up, as Trico does not immediately and reliably listen to the player's commands. 

UEDA: When the boy calls Trico, we could have made Trico come immediately, like clockwork. But if we did that, Trico would not seem like an independent creature. It wouldn't seem like it was alive and making its own decisions. 

Instead, you have to be patient, and learn to understand Trico's sounds and body language. Plus, according to players on Reddit, the way you interact with Trico can impact its loyalty and responsiveness. All of these wonderful little interactions with Trico, like removing spears, tending to its wounds, finding food, and petting it can all make the creature a better companion. 

In a way, this all sounds like another great decision to use gameplay mechanics to show the relationship between the boy and Trico. We see that this is an animal, and that the boy can't rely on Trico like he could a human. And by building a system where certain interactions change Trico's behaviour, we can explore, as players, what it's like to love or mistreat an animal.

And that is cool. But isn't always fun. 

And then bring it to some kind of conclusion about the challenge of making meaningful or artistic games. 

And this is a unique challenge of being a games designer who is interested in making a game that says something interesting. Similar to our discussion on Dark Souls, where Miyazaki has to sacrifice certain players because those games wouldn't be as meaningful without their intense level of difficulty. 

In this instance, making systems and mechanics that are both enjoyable and charged with meaning is a brutally difficult balancing act, and one that Fumito Ueda boldly attempts with every game he makes. 

Whether he succeeds or fails is ultimately, up to each individual player. Sorry, that's a cop out. But for my money, I'm glad that there are developers like Ueda out there, at least willing to take these risks to do something a bit... different. 

The Last Guardian is about a relationship - and not just in the cutscenes, or in tiny scraps of dialogue between fights. But everything, from the roles in combat, to the way you solve puzzles, to vignettes that are set up by the game's rules - it's all there to say something interesting, and we get to explore that as players - because it's said through the unique language of video games. 

Hope that helps!