The topic of dialogue in video games comes up a lot with many professional writers, in articles, industry forums and conferences, and among gamers. As a writer in the video game industry for over four years, I’d like to summarize a few things I’ve learned. It’s still an ongoing learning process for me too, and I can say that I may not always hit the mark. But the key is to be objective and keep learning.
It is important to say that while in an ideal production where there’s a lot of pre-planning, and a healthy exchange between designers and writers, these issues can be mitigated, or may not even be issues. However, it’s an ongoing sore spot that dialogue doesn’t work in some games and I think it’s valuable to work out all of the reasons why that may be.
Player Information:
The most important thing in almost all video games, and certainly in those games with a narrative, is to ensure the player knows what he/she is supposed to do. In most cases the dialogue takes quite a load to deliver this in game / gameplay information. “You gotta get over to the garage real quick, Miss. That fella says he’s gonna take your car.”
This dialogue can almost always come across as stilted and unnatural. Even the best writers have to deal with this. And even the best may find it difficult to make this sound natural in certain game scenarios. For instance: How do you make directions sound natural, when what the player has to do is awkward or unnatural? “Drain the rest of that person’s blood, it’ll make you stronger.” Uhh… hookay.
– natural sounding dialogue can often take longer to convey what needs to be said: most players do NOT want to stand there hearing a character’s life story, or a lot of quirky characterizations and back-story before finding out what they need to do.
“Ever since the plant dumped that virus in the lake, when the moon shines on it, well, it caused all sorts of weird things. And anyway, that’s why you gotta go drain the blood, and drink it. Trust me, it’s the only way.” lol – <skip!> pretty hokey. Comedy would offer some flexibility but most games want to be serious.
It’s my opinion as a game writer and as a gamer, that the player matters most, and it’s critical to always consider that point of view. What the player needs to hear, usually should be conveyed up front. But I struggle with this myself. It just doesn’t always make for good dialogue. My solution, where I’ve been able to address it, is to try to give the illusion of natural dialogue. This at least gives some flavour but can keep it somewhat shorter. My other solution is to try and get the instructions OUT of the dialogue. The trailer for Alan Wake, I believe, shows the objectives cascaded into the world. Some may say that doesn’t make sense, who’s doing it, who wrote it to him. Well, that sort of immersion has to go along with suspension of disbelief. To me, that’s a much more interesting and eerie method than having someone call him on his cell phone, or to hear a disembodied ghost’s voice.
Objective (plot) vs Story:
Mixing objective (what has to be done) with story, can overload the dialogue. This may result in dialogue that is too weighed down with all that has to be conveyed. I’ve had this problem with some of my projects, where the dialogue has just too much it needs to say. I’m trying to set up character, setting, story, as well as tell you what you need to do next, all of this can result in nattering dialogue that a player wants to skip.
To me, it’s the perfect game narrative if what the player is doing is intertwined with what the story is and who the character is. Unfortunately this isn’t always possible. Your story may be about an oceangraphic scientist who discovers a new cure deep in the oceans. The race is on for you (the player) to get there before pirates, and treasure hunters get there. Most of the game (essentially the plot) is what you need to do to get there first. Designers may want the game to be high-action: So lots of sea-doo chases, boat races, and gun fire over the bow. The challenge for the writer is developing your character in the midst of those high-action events. This may be a stretch if you see the character in a more realistic light as a scientist looking at charts etc. It isn’t impossible. A good writer and open-minded and/or writer designers could work this out. However, dialogue in this scenario may take the load of explaining what the technical science is, in between gunfire and ammo hunts. This could result in players wanting to skip the dialogue to get to the next boat race.
Story Information:
If you’re lucky enough as a writer to be working on an adventure, mystery, thriller, then the very nature of that genre allows the gameplay to help you deliver the information both in-game, and in various other ways, rather than just in dialogue exposition. Those genres are naturally conducive to exploration, discovery and having characters ask direct or indirect questions, to be contemplative, and suspicious of information. This frees the dialogue up a great deal: What you need to do is usually tied to what you’re trying to uncover.
Unfortunately, other genres are trickier. War is one of the most popular game genres (if not THE most). I had a lot of fun playing Gears of War but the dialogue was rife with the stereotypical barks and military nomenclature. I find it difficult to fault this since by the nature of military there really ARE soldier barks of “Man up, soldier!” “No man left behind!” “Get them before they get you!” “Man down!”. Lines like these are probably in every military game and to say that’s bad dialogue, which I’ve heard many say it is, is somewhat unfair.
– don’t confuse bad dialogue with dialogue that accurately reflects a type or setting. What is bad about the dialogue (besides maybe the repetition of it) is that it doesn’t attempt to do anything more. It doesn’t try to add a layer of irony, or reflect the characters differently than a stereotype, or deepen the setting.
Voice Acting versus Animations and the Uncanny Valley:
Wow. If I could explain to you how often in reviews I noted how ill-placed critiques were for me, and the team. I’m not talking just about any project I’ve worked on but also published games.
I’ve observed that some will quickly slam the voice talent, when it is the dialogue that isn’t working. Others slam the voice talent when, I suspect, they’re actually being swayed by the facial and body animations.
– there are definitely occasions of poor voice acting, and most certainly stilted or over-the-top dialogue along with an over-the-top performance can scrape at your nerves. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great voice actors, and to be able to offer direction during voice sessions. I’ve made some mistakes also, believing I wanted a line a certain way, or thinking what I wrote was clever and pithy when in fact it was sadly neither. What I have learned is so obvious but is really hard to fight for in a lot of cases: LESS IS MORE. I’ve had the over the top dialogue that was necessary for the scene, but in having the talent reign it in, and deliver a low-quiet controlled performance, the dialogue can fit the event.
Good Dialogue Basics:
Less is more. — I have to remind myself of this also. Every writer has to be vigilant. And I know we may be up against others who disagree. Some people say it but I don’t always think they believe it. Stand your ground.
Player doesn’t have to know EVERYTHING. — Holy cats, I can’t say this enough. Not every story point has to be a forced event. If the game design allows, let the player discover it on his/her own. If the design is linear, Gears of War, Halo, then hold back on some things. Drop hints but let some things not be fully explained. Most people talk like that: They trail off into their own thoughts and never do finish that important thing they were going to say. Real people DO forget what they were telling you. Interruptions happen. In the game dialogue, let that happen. Sorry Halo fans, but gosh Cortana is a chatty one. In Halo 1: I would’ve loved for the main thread to be that she DOESN’T know what the Covenants’ language is, and can’t understand their communications. We go through the whole game with her attempting translations and offering one word, or tantalizing sentences that later prove to be foreshadowing. Finally at the end, when she DOES translate their tongue, we learn maybe that they’re leaving their crew behind because what they found scares the bejeezuz out of them. To me, that would have kicked ass in story reveal, tension and made for great dialogue. It would’ve said so much more without removing anything from the player’s actions. It would’ve allowed her dialogue to build tension as the game progressed.
Revise – read out loud. — Yeah, a luxury at times, I know. Stall people if you have to. Barricade your doorway or hide in the washroom. But take the time. It still may not always help, but do your best.
Game writing over all other forms of writing seems to require the most diverse input. My scripts and dialogue serve many masters. Do the best you can to stand your ground, and don’t sweat too much if you lose some battles. I don’t care to be in word wars with my direct reports or publishers. What matters to me most is that I can make the writing blend into the game.
