Script Lock

Spring is here and so are Leslee (Design Producer on Marvel Strike Force at Scopely, previously a writer and development manager at Riot, and held a variety of narrative design and production roles at 2K and Dorian) and Cassandra (award-winning game & fiction writer who’s worked on such games as Sunless Skies, Wasteland 3, and Falcon Age)! They join us to talk about being stubborn, knowing when to stop pushing for something, writing barks, overlapping dialogue, where they start when creating characters, whether they’re plotters or pantsers, what their writing habits are, how to force yourself to start writing, how COVID has changed their habits, navigating bureaucracy, knowing when to leave your environment for a better one,  dealing with people overstepping their boundaries, and more!Our Guests on the InternetLeslee's Twitter and TiktokCassandra's Twitter and her three upcoming books are Walk Among Us, The All-Consuming World, and Nothing But Blackened TeethStuff We Talked AboutFinal Fantasy VII RemakeLife is Strange 2The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham JonesStation Eleven by Emily St. John MandelSharp Objects by Gillian FlynnSandman Slim series by Richard KadreyOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy New Year one and all! To celebrate yet another new beginning, we've brought back old guests Greg (Creative Director of Supergiant Games, and writer of Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades) and Kate (Narrative designer on Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, all of its DLC, the Outer Worlds, and was a narrative co-lead on The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon) to chat with us about working from home during COVID, work/life balance, Early Access, the keys to writing memorable shopkeepers, the beauty of em dashes, themes that they gravitate towards, working with ensemble casts, what kept them up at night the most on the last game they worked on, murder hobos, games being adapted into film/TV, collaborating with other disciplines more closely, and more, more, more!Our Guests on the InternetGreg's TwitterKate's Twitter and InstagramStuff We Talked AboutHadesThe Outer Worlds (and its DLC: Peril on Gorgon)PyreTransistorBastionResident Evil 4 (specifically this guy)UltimaNetflix's Castlevania showAnnihilation (book and movie)InsideHouse of Leaves by Mark Z. DanielewskiElric of MelniboneBig Dead Place by Nicholas JohnsonStories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (specifically the story: The Tower of Babylon)Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang (specifically the story: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate)Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Are those sleigh bells in the air? NO, IT'S A NEW EPISODE OF SCRIPT LOCK! After trudging through the hellacious year that was 2020, we're back with Cissy (actress whose voice you may have heard in such games as The Walking Dead, Life is Strange, Firewatch - for which she won a BAFTA - Horizon: Zero Dawn, and most recently Half-Life: Alyx and Call of the Sea) and Erika (actress, host, and producer whom you may have heard in such games as Dream Daddy, Destiny, 2, Fallout 76, Fortnite, Marvel's Avengers, and Cyberpunk 2077) to talk whether you need to live in Hollywood to be a VO actor, being recast, voice matching, auditions, secrecy around characters you’re auditioning for, the luxury of getting scripts before a session, how they like to receive direction, best and worst pieces of direction, vocal health and more!Our Guests on the InternetCissy Twitter and InstagramErika Twitter and InstagramStuff We Talked AboutFinal Fantasy 7 Remake's Voice Cast Got Their Scripts As They Were RecordingOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Hope you're all staying safe out there! This month's fantastic episode has Rex (co-founder and creative director of Foam Sword Ltd, which recently released its first game Knights and Bikes. He was also the creative lead of Tearaway, a production designer on LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2, and the senior graphic designer on The Movies) and Daniel (composer of such games as The Movies, LittleBigPlanet 1 & 2, Knights and Bikes, and has also composed for film & TV on titles including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Steve Jobs, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and more) joining us to talk about running into Peter Molyneux in the toilet at a conference in Spain, Guildford being the Hollywood of the games industry, whether their collaborative process has changed over the years, how early they started working together on Knights and Bikes, what they wanted to accomplish with the music, throwing stuff away, if people undervalue the storytelling potential of music in games, memorable pieces of nonverbal storytelling, the best and worst they've ever been treated on a job, not knowing what you're doing, and a whole lot more!Our Guests on the InternetRex's Twitter, and here's the official site for Knights and BikesDaniel's TwitterStuff We Talked AboutPopulous II: Trials of the Olympian GodsI Wanna Ride My Bike (From the Videogame 'Knights And Bikes') by the Daniel Pemberton TV OrchestraWe Are the Best!Daniel Pemberton InterviewControlOnce Upon a Time in the WestSpider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Podcasting safely from home, we're back with Alix (actor in such games as Assasin’s Creed: Origins, Dragon Age Inquisition, Origins, and Awakenings, Mass Effect 3, The Last Story, Deponia I, II, and II) and Erin (actor in games like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, Oxenfree, Firewatch, 2064: Read Only Memories, Afterparty, and the upcoming Wolf Among Us 2) to talk about working during a pandemic, where do they start when creating a character, how to support a fellow actor well, rehearsals, the audition process, receiving direction, what makes a good/bad director, trusting your actors, the best/worst direction they’ve ever gotten, intimacy on the motion capture stage, having more morally gray female characters, whether AAA games should keep learning from Hollywood, and more!Our Guests on the InternetAlix's Twitter and InstagramErin's Twitter and InstagramStuff We Talked AboutTales from the BorderlandsDragon Age: InquisitionVermintideOzarkPortrait of a Lady on FireA Taxi Driver Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Today we've got Jo (writer of games and short stories, and has written on Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda, and is currently at EA working on an unannounced project) and Paula (writing lead and story editor on Neo Cab. She's also adapted Let’s Play from Webtoon into an animated series and has had her fiction and essays featured in outlets like Salon, the Austin Film Festival, and more) talking with us about masters degrees, delivering criticism, the most helpful piece of feedback they've ever received, how they like to collaborate with others, things they've appreciated in games that might go generally unnoticed, keeping track of branching stories and how to maintain consistency and pacing, when to stop writing, parody games, writing tests that best represent their skills, whether games are too focused on learning from Hollywood blockbusters, the last story that surprised them, and more!Our Guests on the InternetJo's TwitterPaula's Twitter and WebsiteStuff We Talked AboutStar Wars: The Old RepublicNeo CabDoom (2016)Portal 2TacomaThe Pomodoro TechniqueStar Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderDance Dance RevolutionPortrait of a Lady on FireThe Dark Crystal: Age of ResistanceOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy New Year! This month we've got Duncan (writer on Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Neo Cab, In the Valley of Gods, and the co-creator and writer of the Something True podcast) and Jon (writer, narrative designer and co-founder of Inkle, and has worked on games including 80 Days, Sorcery!, Heaven’s Vault, and Over the Alps) in to talk about being a writer without a writing degree, blank canvas vs well-defined main characters, research, hot air balloons, Lovecraft forums, when to stop researching, underappreciated game moments, player agency, the sweet spot between satisfying and frustrating, the role of writers in pre-production, and more. Our Guests on the InternetDuncan's Website and Twitter.Jon's Twitter, Inkle's Website and Twitter.Stuff We Talked AboutIdle ThumbsCentralia, PALeliana's Song DLCRameses by Stephen BondSpider and Web by Andrew PlotkinPystOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy holidays everyone! To close out the year we've got Walt (writer and creative director at New Game Plus, and has worked on games such as The Darkness, Bioshock 1 and 2, Spec Ops: The Line, and Star Wars Battlefront 2, and he’s also the author of the book Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art & Soul in Games) and Mary (currently writes at Insomniac Games, and has also written for Certain Affinity, Techland on Dying Light 2, and Telltale on the final season of The Walking Dead and Batman: The Enemy Within) joining us to talk Narrative QA, their most important collaborators, narrative band-aid experiences, storytelling that they appreciate in other games that may go unnoticed by players, making "good" and "bad" choices, emotion-oriented goals, violence-based games, not giving your characters more story than they can handle, narrative pet peeves, things they've learned by slipping up, overwriting, digital media shelf life, what game project(s) they wish they'd been a part of, how important costume design is to their writing process, writing tests, and a thing or two more that you'll just have to find out for yourself!Our Guests on the InternetWalt's Twitter, Instagram. and check out Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art and Soul in Video GamesMary's Twitter, and check out Read Only memories #1Stuff We Talked AboutSpec Ops: The LineHellblade: Senua's SacrificeWe Are Not Heroes: Contextualizing Violence Through Narrative GDC Talk by Walt WilliamsThe Walking Dead: The Final SeasonDisco ElysiumWhen the Streaming Platform Dies, What Happens to its Shows?What Remains of Edith FinchSpider-ManNight in the WoodsStar Wars Battlefront IIAlso Max and I worked on Neo Cab and Man of Medan, two great games that came out this year, and they're totally worth checking out!Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We're back again this month with Heli (theatre and performance costume designer, most recently a costume and character designer for Remedy’s Control and the upcoming Crossfire 2. Also worked on Mirages for Kroma Productions, and EGO CURE for Aalto University)and Claire (currently an art director at Valve, previously an artist and associate production designer for Microsoft Studios on a ton of Kinect games, Fable Legends, Sunset Overdrive, Powerstar Golf, and more. Also the production designer for Westworld VR) to talk about why costume design as a specialized role isn’t more common in games, the narrative features of costume design, differences with fashion design, research, building costumes for worlds less-based in reality, the problem of flowing clothes, working with the non-monetary budgets of video games (memory, processing power, etc), not holding back on your first draft, their most important collaborators, iteration, pitching ideas that may be too “out there,” the hardest costume they’ve designed (that they can talk about), knowing when something’s done, how non-costume designers can learn more about costume design, mundane costume design, work/life balance, and how can writers make costume designers’ lives easier.Our guests on the InternetClaire’s Twitter and Website.Heli’s Website and Artstation.Stuff We Talked AboutMarvelous DesignerLA NoireThe Art of Manipulating Fabric by Colette WolffUncharted: The Lost LegacyBayonettaOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Apologies to all for the slight delay, but the wait has TOTALLY been worth it because today we've got Nicole (Senior Narrative Designer at Crystal Dynamics, and before that a Creative Director on the unreleased The Wolf Among Us: Season 2, and a writer on season 2 of Minecraft: Story Mode, Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman, The Walking Dead: Michonne, Game of Thrones: Season 1, and The Wolf Among Us: Season 1) and Megan (Senior Narrative Designer Team Lead and Senior Writer on the recently-released Outer Worlds by Obsidian Entertainment, and before that she was a Senior Writer on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Tyranny, and a Senior Game Designer and Content Zone Lead on Wildstar for Carbine Studios) joining us to talk writing/design tests, whether narrative design and game writing should be separate jobs, the hardest things to write and design, writers' rooms, rewriting processes, where they start with constructing branching narratives, what they look for in endings as creators and whether it's different than what they look for as consumers, meaningful choices, storytelling trends they'd like to see more of, NPCs, major influences, and a great deal more!Our guests on the InternetNicole's Twitter.Megan's Twitter, Website, and check out House of Ash and Brimstone (Gatewalkers Book 1)!Stuff We Talked AboutThe Wolf Among UsBioshockAnita Blake: Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. HamiltonSabriel by Garth NixUntitled Goose GameThe Walking Dead Season 1The Outer WorldsMore than Quest Givers: Why Good Characters Matter Konsoll 2019 Talk by Molly Maloney and Eric StirpePyreGod of WarTransistorBrave Fencer MusashiApex LegendsDota 2The Snow Queen by Hans Christian AndersenThe Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers GrimmLuigi's Mansion 3Brothers - A Tale of Two SonsSchitt's CreekSpinning Silver by Naomi NovikOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.