Judas, Writing and Narrative in Games with Bioshock Creator Ken Levine
Oct 9, 2023
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Ken Levine, legendary creator of Bioshock and the upcoming Judas, discusses his journey into game writing, the pressure of following up Bioshock's success, tackling complex narratives, avoiding arrogance, the influence of Looking Glass and films on storytelling, balancing content for oneself and the audience, AI tools in writing, the value of innovation in game development, and the challenges and responsibilities of game development.
Feedback and iteration are essential in game development for growth and improvement.
Avoiding repetition and embracing experimentation is crucial when creating follow-ups to successful games like Bioshock.
Using modularity in game development can enable dynamic and reactive narratives driven by player actions.
Deep dives
The Origins of a Creative
In this podcast episode, Ken Levine, co-founder and creative director of Ghost Story Games, shares his early experiences in writing and playwriting, discussing how a childhood passion for storytelling led him to a career in game development.
The Importance of Feedback and Iteration
Ken Levine emphasizes the value of feedback and iteration in game development, highlighting the importance of being open to criticism and using it as an opportunity for growth and improvement.
Navigating the Pressure of Success
Ken Levine discusses the challenges of following up on successful games like Bioshock and the pressure to create something equally impactful. He stresses the need to avoid repeating oneself and embracing the freedom to experiment and try new things.
The Power of Creating Immersive Worlds
Ken Levine emphasizes the importance of world-building and storytelling in games, sharing his love for creating rich, detailed worlds with depth and exploring complex themes and ideas within them.
The power of authentic voice in video game narratives
The podcast episode explores the significance of authentic voice in video game narratives. The speaker highlights how early games like System Shock 1 used text audio logs before transitioning to recorded voiceovers, which enhanced the naturalistic and immersive qualities of the storytelling. The importance of writing realistic and relatable human characters is emphasized, drawing from personal experiences and diverse accents heard growing up. The use of audio logs is discussed as a powerful tool for conveying authenticity in dialogue writing. The speaker also discusses the common mistakes made in video game audio logs, such as making them too long or overly polished, and suggests the importance of letting actors stumble and sound more natural.
The concept of narrative Lego and its potential in game development
The podcast episode delves into the concept of narrative Lego: the idea of using modularity in game development to create larger narrative experiences driven by player actions. This approach involves handcrafting specific elements and establishing rules for combining them to form dynamic and reactive narratives. Examples such as Xcom's map building are mentioned to illustrate this concept. The speaker discusses the challenges faced in creating dynamic narratives while maintaining a high level of asset quality. The concept is seen as a means to facilitate player choice and create more personalized experiences, with the speaker acknowledging the potential power of emerging AI technologies in aiding game development processes. While recognizing the limitations of AI in writing effective dialogue, the speaker highlights how AI can be useful in areas such as analytics and generating certain types of content.
Adam Orth chats with Ken Levine, the legendary creator behind the Bioshock series and the upcoming Judas. Together they discuss Ken's journey into game writing; using art as a healthy outlet for processing uncomfortable subjects; dealing with the pressure of following up the first Bioshock game due to its massive success and popularity; how to tackle complex narratives and concepts aimed at general audiences; his thoughts on AI; and how to avoid falling into the trap of arrogance.
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