The Super Heroes Journey Storytelling in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

1
The Super Heroes JourneyStorytelling in Marvel
Ultimate Alliance 2

• Evan Skolnick Lead Writer
• evan_at_vvisions.com
• Jonathan Mintz Narrative Designer
• jmintz_at_vvisions.com

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Introduction

• How is being a game writer different from being a
  writer for other fiction-based media?
• And what the heck is a Narrative Designer?

3
Introduction
Short story writer
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Introduction
Novelist
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Introduction
Movie writer
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Introduction
TV writer
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Introduction
Comic book writer
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Introduction
Video game writer
Narrative designer
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Introduction

• Jonathan Mintz
• Over 5 years of game design experience
• Writer
• Spider-Man 3 Wii, PS2
• Tony Hawks Downhill Jam DS
• Lead Designer
• Mixed Messages DSi
• Ultimate Spider-Man GBA
• Madagascar DS, GBA

• Evan Skolnick
• Former Marvel Comics editor/writer
• Over 8 years in game development
• Producer
• Ultimate Spider-Man GBA
• Over the Hedge DS
• Guitar Hero III Wii
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance Wii, PSP
• Narrative/Writing
• Ultimate Spider-Man GBA
• Spy Muppets GBA, PC
• Over the Hedge DS
• Transformers DS
• Spider-Man 3 Wii, PS2

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• Action RPG sequel to Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• Development team size 120 onsite
• Development time 2.5 years
• Narrative team
• Full-time onsite Lead Writer
• Full-time onsite Narrative Designer
• Full-time onsite Junior Writer/Narrative Designer
• 2 offsite contract writers
• Narrative scope
• In-Game
• 15,000 lines of in-game dialogue (8,000 VO)
• Cutscenes
• Approx. 55 minutes total
• Combination of pre-rendered (outsourced) and
  engine-driven (in-house)

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Act IAdaptation
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Building on Success

• What narrative elements worked best in MUA1?
• Story beats that always served the core gameplay
  mechanic
• Epic tale to sustain lengthy play time
• Steeped in Marvel characters, locations, and lore
• Nods to deep character history, such as override
  conversations
• Wide variety of character personalities/voices
• Fan service at every turn!

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Building on Success

• MUA2 planned improvements and changes
• Bring tone up to date with modern comics and
  gaming audience
• Use narrative devices to honor and reward player
  choices
• Provide cohesive narrative for all types of
  players

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Building on Success

• Bring tone up to date with modern comics and
  gaming audience
• Shades of grey, not black-and-white
• Story drives locations, not vice versa
• Less fantastic, more grounded
• Explore current, relevant issues
• Human story with dynamic characters
• More realistic writing and VO
• Employ more complex narrative tools to provide
  storytelling depth
• Foreshadowing, planting, flashbacks...

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Building on Success

• Use narrative devices to honor and reward player
  choices
• Meaningful, morality-based choices within game
• Civil War
• Optional missions, more player agency
• Conversation choices tied to character
  development
• Character choices matter in both game and story
• Keep all dialogue in-character

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Building on Success

• Provide cohesive narrative for all types of
  players
• Please skippers, dabblers, and explorers
• Satisfying critical path content with
  opportunities for more depth
• Identify and preserve story backbone even as
  development necessitates game content changes
• Modern presentation to keep all players engaged
  (e.g. full VO)

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War Planning

• Where did the Civil War really start?
• Going back to Secret War allowed a true Act One
  buildup to Civil War

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War Planning

• Secret War
• Written by Brian Michael Bendis
• Dr. Doom is gone, but Latveria is still causing
  trouble
• Funding super-powered criminals to foment terror
  in the U.S.
• Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. get hard evidence
  against Latverias Prime Minister, Lucia von
  Bardas
• Von Bardas was effectively placed in power by
  U.S.
• President refuses to have Fury take action will
  handle diplomatically
• Fury calls in favors from super hero friends,
  leads secret strike on Latverian operation
• Mysterious agent Daisy Johnson destroys Castle
  Doom

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War Planning

• Secret War
• One year later, von Bardas revealed as having
  survived as a horrific cyborg
• Cyborg von Bardas leads terror attack on NYC with
  cybernetically-chained super-villains
• Heroes avert total disaster, but damage is done
• Fury ousted as leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.

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War Planning

• Road to Civil War
• Written by Mark Millar et al.
• Increasing public mistrust of super heroes
• New Warriors team of teen heroes launch reality
  TV show
• Mr. Fantastic calculates major global turmoil is
  ahead
• Iron Man speaks before Congress against proposed
  hero registration
• New Warriors inadvertently allow super-villain to
  explode in Stamford, CT, killing hundreds of
  bystanders, including children, on TV
• Congress passes Superhuman Registration Act
• Captain America refuses to register, goes
  underground
• Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic support SRA and
  promise to deal with Cap

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War Planning

• Civil War
• Written by Mark Millar et al.
• Captain America leads Anti-Registration movement
• Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic and S.H.I.E.L.D. attempt
  to enforce SRA and shatter the Anti-Reg movement

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War Planning

• Secret War ? Civil War
• Gradual transition from black-and-white of MUA1
  to grey of MUA2
• Flashbacks with only partial revelations
• Heroes question goals but still complete their
  mission
• True nature of what players have done not
  revealed until later

23
Test of Character(s)

• Strict Adaptation vs. Gameplay
• Removed Daisy Johnson character
• Put onus directly on players to push the button
• Force complicity and evoke guilt

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Test of Character(s)

• Strict Adaptation vs. Gameplay
• Civil War allegiance could have split player
  roster in half
• Hulk and Thor were not in Civil War
• Gameplay and player choice trumped all these
  considerations
• Dossiers used to explain details of these
  variations to the hardcore fanbase, but well off
  the critical path

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Test of Character(s)

• Creating a cast of characters that worked within
  our limits
• Shift to higher-rez graphics had major story
  impact
• No assets from previous game used
• All characters had to be made from scratch
• Limited overall numbers
• Fringe benefit same models used for in-game and
  cutscenes

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Test of Character(s)

• Creating a cast of characters that worked within
  our limits
• Solution pool of NPCs
• Could serve as friends on one side of the war,
  and enemies on the other (and vice versa)
• Characters that could change allegiance mid-game
  would do double- or even triple-duty

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Test of Character(s)

• Keeping it balanced
• Diligently avoided playing one side as good and
  other as bad
• MUA1 had The Masters of Evil
• In this story, no one thinks theyre evil...
  everyone believes theyre right

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Test of Character(s)

• Polite conversation
• Wanted to do fully-voiced conversations but
  impossible for 24 playable characters
• Schedule
• Budget
• Disc space
• Considered several options before settling on NPC
  VO and player text choices
• Higher-rez models this time would allow for
  close-ups and lip-sync during convos and EDCs
  (Engine-Driven Cutscenes)

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Test of Character(s)

• Polite conversation
• Wanted to honor player conversation choices with
  3 kinds of rewards
• Narrative (different NPC verbal reactions)
• Systemic (Boosts based on attitude choices)
• Branching (story divergence)
• Ultimately accomplished 2 of 3 (almost no
  branching based on convo choices)

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Test of Character(s)

• Polite conversation
• Personality variant text
• New feature
• Hulk always sound like Hulk!
• Not feasible to write 24 versions of every
  player character convo line
• Adapted personalities concept from our
  Spider-Man 3 pedestrians VO system
• Organized PCs into 8 personalities
• NPC lines remain the same, but player text lines
  vary
• Trickiest part making sure all lines flow back
  into locked NPC VO response
• Opportunities to add new meaning

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Test of Character(s)
Intro Line
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Test of Character(s)
Realist Responses
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Test of Character(s)
Joker Responses
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Test of Character(s)
Brute Responses
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Test of Character(s)
Outro Line
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Test of Character(s)

• Polite conversation
• Personality variant text
• Some categories were tougher to write than others
• Renegade always wanted to sound like Wolverine,
  but had to work for Cage, Penance and Thing too
• We didnt support persistence of attitude (e.g.
  NPCs wont remember if youre being a jerk all
  the time)
• Number of permutations would take us out of scope

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Test of Character(s)

• Polite conversation
• For key moments, fully-voiced conversations (but
  no branching)
• Attitude system for in-game boosts
• Pro- and Anti- variants for certain scripted VO
  moments and convos

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Act IIExecution
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Narrative Team Structure
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Narrative Team Structure
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Narrative Team Structure
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Narrative Team Structure

• Full-time, onsite Narrative Designer and Lead
  Writer
• Roles/responsibilities
• Both
• Collaborate on overall plot with Game Director
• Concept and plan narrative delivery methods
• Work with mission designers to plan out in-game
  story beats
• Patch into VO sessions to provide context and
  addl direction
• Collaborate on narrative reactions to game design
  changes

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Narrative Team Structure

• Narrative Designer
• Serve as narrative champion among rest of team
• Work with Game Director to concept mission flow
  concepts
• Work w/tools team to set up narrative templates
  pipelines
• Work w/mission designers to plan specifics of
  narrative content
• Write first draft mission dialogue and set up its
  data
• Prepare VO recording scripts
• Manage Junior Narrative Designer
• Implement core narrative content into game
• Coordinate production of text content dossiers,
  trivia, loading screens, tutorials,
  achievements/trophies...
• Keep Lead Writer in the loop on day-to-day
  changes that could affect storytelling
• Support EDC team on story issues and VO needs
• Support audio team with VO integration

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Narrative Team Structure

• Lead Writer
• Set and watchdog narrative tone
• Write all cutscenes (pre-rendered and in-engine)
• Write all conversations (sometimes over NDs
  drafts)
• Write all in-game scripted VO (over NDs drafts)
• Provide feedback on storyboards, cutscenes,
  briefings, audio, marketing materials, etc.
• Participate in VO casting process
• Select VO takes for nearly all lines
• Organize and submit narrative materials for
  licensor approvals
• Identify, contact and and manage contract writers
• Edit/polish all narrative content provide
  unified voice
• Weigh in on big-picture narrative issues
• Serve as on-staff stand-in for licensor

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Narrative Team Structure

• Advantages of this setup
• Narrative Designer, not having to write as much,
  can stay on top of day-to-day developments
• Lead Writer, not having to constantly attend
  meetings, is generally free to actually write
• ND can call in LW at any time for
• Big-ticket items/decisions
• Moral support (strength in numbers)
• Easy for game writers to get trampled by other
  team members
• When necessary, two narrative champions instead
  of just one

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Narrative Team Structure

• Advantages of this setup
• Side-by-side walkthroughs of in-progress missions
  possible as needed
• LW can ask ND stupid questions at almost any time
• Close collaboration possible as needed
• Onsite LW will catch narrative bugs that most
  others will miss
• Possible for both ND and LW to patch into VO
  recording sessions

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Narrative Team Structure

• Disadvantages of this setup
• Sometimes other team members didnt know whom on
  Narrative Team to consult
• Important to clearly communicate roles to rest of
  team
• Reduce go ask your father situations
• Occasionally decisions get rushed by Narrative
  team members without proper consultation with
  each other
• Need to deal with this gracefully
• If roles not clearly defined, differentiated and
  respected, major problems could occur

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Narrative Team Structure

• Other narrative roles (esp. offsite)
• Keep critical narrative path content in-house
• Farm out items that
• Arent crucial
• Wont be affected by game design changes
• Could be cut entirely

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Narrative Team Structure

• Other narrative roles (esp. offsite)
• In-house
• Main story plot and structure
• Cutscenes
• Briefings/Debriefings
• Core conversations
• Mission VO
• Potential to outsource
• Quips
• Flavor text (a la Personality Variant text)
• Lore items (audio logs, dossiers, trivia games,
  etc.)

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Tools Tech

• Writers often low on tools priority list
• On MUA2, simple tools utilized for organizing
  narrative and VO content
• Narrative Scope Tracking spreadsheet
• Writing workbooks
• Document data
• Build tools that allow writers to add content in
  a format the game can exploit
• VO database
• Text-to-speech

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Tools Tech

• Writing Workbook
• Excel tool for planning, writing, and exporting
  narrative content
• Structured for three audiences
• Mission Designer reviews flow of content
• Lead Writer edits updates content
• Narrative Designer exports content into game
• Workbook pipeline
• Step 1 Written by ND, reviewed with Mission Des.
• Step 2 Editorial pass by Lead Writer
• Step 3 Imported into game w/text to speech by ND
• Step 4 Triggers updated by Mission Designer
• Step 5 Final VO recorded, replaces text to
  speech

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Mission Narrative Pipeline
Mission Designer
Narrative Designer
Lead Writer
General Mission Concept
Mission Planning Meeting
LDD First pass
LDD Review Meeting
LDD Final
Pre-Production
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Mission Narrative Pipeline
Mission Designer
Narrative Designer
Lead Writer
Map Collision
Core Functionality
Workbook w/placeholder dialogue
Text-to-speech files
EDC stubs
Implement Workbook
Refine Gameplay
Mission Playthrough
Update Workbook
Refine core dialogue
Text-to-speech files
Re-implement Workbook
Production
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Mission Narrative Pipeline
Mission Designer
Narrative Designer
Lead Writer
Polish core VO
Gameplay Refinements
Licensor Approval
Export VO Script
VO Recording Support
VO Selections
Production
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Mission Narrative Pipeline
Mission Designer
Narrative Designer
Lead Writer
Gameplay Refinements
Update Workbook
Refine dialogue
Personality Variant Text Writing/Review
Licensor Approval
Bug-finding
Bug-fixing
Post-Production
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Embracing Change

• No game writing plan survives contact with the
  dev team
• MUA1 model
• Five-act structure
• Two acts completely expendable, to be developed
  last
• MUA2 model
• Four-act structure
• Individual missions prioritized, act structure
  preserved if cuts made

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Embracing Change

• In reality, all possible cuts were made, and then
  some
• Cutscenes reduced as well
• Narrative gaps between missions increased to the
  breaking point
• Needed to have other devices pull more weight
• Briefings/debriefings
• Audio objects
• EDCs

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Mission Iteration

• Tools
• EDC stubs
• Chatter placeholders
• Conversation placeholders
• Finding the right amount of placeholder content
  to support the gameplay while still allowing for
  revision
• Designed Civil War missions to involve players in
  determining the outcome of similar setups
• E.g. Cables rebel hideout Players either
  successfully defend it, or successfully invade it

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Act IIIEvaluation
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How did we do?

• Bring tone up to date with modern comics and
  gaming audience
• Use narrative devices to honor and reward player
  choices
• Provide cohesive narrative for all types of
  players

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How did we do?

• Bring tone up to date with modern comics and
  gaming audience
• Largely accomplished
• At times writing didnt account for presentation
  limitations
• Example Player characters in EDCs
• Caused some unintentional hokiness

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How did we do?

• Use narrative devices to honor and reward player
  choices
• Largely accomplished
• Did not deliver many events in which player
  choice drives narrative in different direction
• However, the signature narrative choice (Civil
  War affiliation) received a lot of love and
  should be memorable

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How did we do?

• Provide cohesive narrative for all types of
  players
• Accomplished (in our opinion)
• Audience response will be the final arbiter here

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What else did we learn?

• Dramatize the story to entire team early and
  often
• Attempted this regularly but we could have done
  better
• Vital to get entire design, art and animation
  teams on board with desired tone

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What else did we learn?

• Close communication between Narrative and
  internal Cutscene teams is essential
• EDC pipeline came together late and coordination
  was tricky
• Not always clear who had final call on content,
  audio etc.
• Cinematics Director role would probably have been
  very beneficial

66
What else did we learn?

• Excel has its limits
• Our massive VO database pushed Excel to the
  breaking point
• High-powered database program would probably have
  fared better

67
What else did we learn?

• Onsite Narrative Designer Onsite Lead Writer is
  a good model
• Most studios not prepared for a Bioware-sized
  investment in narrative staffing
• Others fail by only bringing in contract writers
  on, often too late to help with story structure
  problems
• Our Narrative team structure and staffing plan
  positioned us to deliver high-quality,
  well-integrated content