Script Lock

We return with another grab bag episode for GDC 2025! Like last year, we brought a bunch of simple questions to ask folks, and in these three groups you get to hear how their answers differed. In our first group we had Chase Dodge (NYU student), Ruari Root (NYU student), Calliope Ryder (prev Lead Producer on Tales of the Shire at Weta Workshop), Chandana Ekanayake (Co-Founder and Creative Director of Outerloop Games), Hudson Janow (NYU student, Gay Gaming Professionals scholar), Apollo Umbra (Northwestern student, Gay Gaming Professionals scholar). Our second group had Lis Moberly (Lead Game Designer at Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Games), Vincent Perea (Senior Art Director at Disney Experiences), Lola Shiraishi (Co-Founder of Stellium Studios), and Meghan Thornton (Story Manger at Insomniac Games). And our last group had Emma Kidwell (Writer at Firaxis Games), Natalie Checo (PR Consultant at Future Friends Games, Journalist, and Game Writer/Editor), Sam Low (Global Communications Exec at Neon Noroshi, and SEA Brand Development Manager for Critical Reflex), Nessa Cannon (Game Writer and Narrative Designer), and Bria Davis (Community Director at Young Horses) Topics included: favorite people they’ve worked with, hobbies that have paid off the most in their work, underrated game faves, ideas and mechanics that they are keen to put in their next games, what to do when you’re feeling drained and in need of inspiration, most recent games they’ve been playing, someone in the industry who did something nice for them, games they keep returning to, if they could force developers to do one thing what would it be, times they’ve messed up and what they learned from it, game character crushes, something they do as their process that saves time, what they would have on their ideal writing/narrative design test, how they creatively rejuvenate themselves, and more! Our Guests Group 1: Chase Dodge [https://dodgechase.xyz/], Ruari Root [https://ruariroot.com/], Calliope Ryder [https://bsky.app/profile/callioperyder.bsky.social], Chandana Ekanayake [https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7zme6uhuddumxmin6m575tkb], Hudson Janow, Apollo Umbra [https://www.apolloumbra.com/] Group 2: Lis Moberly [https://www.thewritegame.com/], Vincent Perea [https://www.vincentperea.com/], Lola Shiraishi [https://www.lolashiraishi.com/], Meghan Thornton Group 3: Emma Kidwell [https://www.emmkid.info/], Nessa Cannon [https://www.nessacannon.com/], Natalie Checo [https://bsky.app/profile/heartimecia.bsky.social], Sam Low [https://bsky.app/profile/rinoaskyes.bsky.social], Bria Davis [https://www.briadavis.com/projects] Stuff We Talked About Fear the Spotlight [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1959390/Fear_the_Spotlight/] Tangle Tower [https://store.steampowered.com/app/359510/Tangle_Tower/] Chants of Senaar [https://www.focus-entmt.com/en/games/chants-of-sennaar] 30 Flights of Loving [https://store.steampowered.com/app/214700/Thirty_Flights_of_Loving/] Spiritfarer [https://thunderlotusgames.com/games/spiritfarer/] MÖRK BORG [https://morkborg.com/] Hues and Cues [https://theop.games/products/hues-and-cues] Life is Strange [https://lifeisstrange.square-enix-games.com/en-us] Papers, Please [https://papersplea.se/] Urban Shadows [https://magpiegames.com/collections/urban-shadows] Arctic Eggs [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2763670/Arctic_Eggs/] Citizen Sleeper [https://www.fellowtraveller.games/citizen-sleeper] Metaphor Refantazio [https://metaphor.atlus.com/] Rimworld [https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/] Frostpunk 2 [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1601580/Frostpunk_2/] Monster Hunter Wilds [https://www.monsterhunter.com/wilds/] Hades 2 [https://www.supergiantgames.com/games/hades-ii/] Return of the Obra Dinn [https://obradinn.com/] Dragon Quest V [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_V] Subnautica [https://unknownworlds.com/en/news] The Artist’s Way [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Artist%27s_Way] Final Fantasy VII [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VIII] Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness [https://www.isabellaness.com/], and our logo was created by Lily Nishita [https://www.lilynishita.com/].

It’s been an embarrassingly long time but we are BACK! Again!!! And this time we’ve brought returning guests Adam Dolin and Jolie Menzel to discuss breaking in, how they define narrative design, the differences between creative directors who come from narrative versus other displiclines, the three c’s, can game writers exist without knowing narrative design, favorite narrative tools, what makes a good opening to a game, tutorials, letting players have choices where the results lead to them missing lots of content, bad habits they’ve noticed in younger writers/narrative designers, the future of the industry, pieces of media they go back to get reinvigorate/inspired, the themes they’re always writing into their stories, stuff they’re always editing out of their writing, how to write good dialogue, and maybe one or two other things. It’s great! Our Guests on the Internet Jolie's Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joliemenzel/]. Adam's Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamdolin] and BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/adamdolin.bsky.social], and his ELVTR class [https://elvtr.com/course/become-game-writer] starts in April! Stuff We Discussed Larian Cinematics: A Top-Down Look at Our Bottom-Up Approach in 'Baldur's Gate 3' [https://youtu.be/MdmY9Mt-vz8?si=Oc__giFOG5r2U-am] Jolie's 3C's of Game Design Presentation [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XW3q069CtCqK783FnQ1wW55Jeoot9TQ6TFwvy8aYCoo/edit?usp=sharing] Twine [https://twinery.org/] Visual Studio Code [https://code.visualstudio.com/] Highland 2 [https://quoteunquoteapps.com/highland-2/] (FYI looks like a Highland 3 launch is imminent) Ink [https://www.inklestudios.com/ink/] YarnSpinner [https://www.yarnspinner.dev/] Castlevania: Symphony of the Night [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night] Pentiment [https://pentiment.obsidian.net/] Against the Storm [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1336490/Against_the_Storm/] UFO 50 [https://50games.fun/] Balatro [https://www.playbalatro.com/] Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast  [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/magic-the-gathering-drive-to-work-podcast/id580709168] The Callisto Protocol [https://callisto.sds.com/en-us] God of War (2018) [https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/god-of-war/] Detroit: Become Human [https://www.quanticdream.com/en/detroit-become-human] The Darkness 2 [https://2k.com/en-US/game/the-darkness-ii/] Another Crab’s Treasure [https://aggrocrab.com/ACT] The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist [https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262545402/the-videogame-industry-does-not-exist/]by Brandon Keogh Sonic Adventure 2 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Adventure_2] Hank confronts Walter [https://youtu.be/J1SuCDkWLDM?si=xWd6WPxA0zNP2pM7] in Breaking Bad Barry [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_(TV_series)] The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Brisco_County,_Jr.] Burn Notice [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_Notice] Clerks [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerks_(film)] Dogma [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma_(film)] Nick's Dialogue Playlist [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjJNdQM2QiA&list=PLxT4HIjvZAd-sLFSiPX9iaKIMrQP4lXm8&pp=gAQB] Game Narrative Summit: Building Rome in a Day: A Sociological Storytelling Primer [https://gdcvault.com/play/1028785/Game-Narrative-Summit-Building-Rome] Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow,_and_Tomorrow,_and_Tomorrow] by Gabrielle Zevin Futurama Commentaries  [https://thedirectorscommentary.tumblr.com/post/181768208394/futurama-the-complete-series-audio-commentaries] Tetris Forever [https://www.digitaleclipse.com/games/tetrisforever] Listen To a Movie [https://www.listentoamovie.com/] Script Lock BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/scriptlock.bsky.social] Our Theme Music was composed by Isabella Ness [https://www.isabellaness.com/], and our logo was created by Lily Nishita [https://www.lilynishita.com/]. The vampire sucking noise was created by Robinhood76 [https://freesound.org/people/Robinhood76/sounds/360907/].

Moving on from our GDC episodes, we're back with Jaclyn (Writer at Respawn Entertainment on Apex Legends, instructor & student mentor at Vancouver Film School. Previously a Writer on RPG Puzzle Legends and Merge Tales for Microfun) and Christal Rose (previously a Writer at Respawn Entertainment on Apex Legends and an Associate Writer on Hogwarts Legacy at Avalanche)! Together we discuss writing fanfiction, doing work you’re proud of without getting too attached, finding a way into a character, being funny on demand, self-imposed rules, whether their writing styles have changed over the years, writing with constraints, worldbuilding pet peeves, most overused words, what practice would they standardize across the industry, and common themes in their writing. Our Guests on the Internet Jaclyn's Twitter [https://x.com/jaccplays], Website [https://t.co/Zc7Y0plP2o], and Lore Trailer for Alter [https://t.co/XpXefut8VY].  Christal Rose's Twitter [https://x.com/hellohazelton], Website [https://t.co/TIqC1kWlcu], and Lore Trailer for Conduit [https://t.co/zYnCdCrILU].   Stuff We Talked About Jaclyn and Christal Rose's GDC talk: Creating Diverse Characters: Writing What you Know and Don't [https://gdcvault.com/play/1034491/Game-Narrative-Summit-Creating-Diverse] The Gasoline Baby NPC Convo in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 [https://www.tiktok.com/@brgaming/video/7293595762896801066?lang=en] Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness [https://www.isabellaness.com/], and our logo was created by Lily Nishita [https://www.lilynishita.com/].

Hey hey! We're back with our second episode that we recorded at this year's GDC, and it's a doozy! In a switch from how we normally do things, we brought a grab bag of simple questions to the conference and hit up people who were free, and so y'all get to see how everyone's answers differed. In our first group, we had Ben Starr (actor, Final Fantasy XVI), Alexa Ray Corriea (senior writer at Cliffhanger Games on Black Panther), Kait Tremblay (narrative director at Soft Rains), and Kelsey Beachum (writer / narrative designer). In our second group (starting at 35:21) we had Adam Dolin (writer), Kate Dollarhyde (senior narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment), and Kelsie Mhoon (senior narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment on The Outer Worlds 2). Our third group (starting at 1:19:39) had Emma Kidwell (writer at Firaxis), Nessa Cannon (game writer), and Calliope Ryder (lead producer Weta Workshop on Tales of the Shire). And we closed things out (at 1:47:33) with Chandana Ekanayake (co-founder / creative director of Outerloop Games, and director of Thirsty Suitors). Topics include: hobbies that aren't related to game development, current game of the year, favorite villains / antagonists, a time you messed up and what you learned from it, how you stay positive, games you keep returning to, favorite choice you've ever made in a game, people in this industry who did something nice for you, favorite NPCs, games you're always referencing that nobody else has ever heard of, games that made you think differently about something, first game you played where the story really affected you, what you'd force devs to change during production, games you wish you'd gotten to work on, how to get team members to read documentation, something in your process that saves a ton of time, advice for people wanting to get into game narrative,  and so SO much more it's kinda insane!!! Our Guests on the Internet Group 1: Ben Starr [https://twitter.com/The_Ben_Starr], Alexa Ray Corriea [https://twitter.com/AlexaRayC], Kait Tremblay [https://thatmonstergames.com/], Kelsey Beachum [https://kelseybeachum.com/about] Group 2: Adam Dolin [https://twitter.com/AdamDolin], Kate Dollarhyde [https://www.katedollarhyde.com/] (wants you to play Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [https://eternity.obsidian.net/]), Kelsie Mhoon [https://twitter.com/kdlunas] (wants you to play Jak 2 [https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/jak-ii-renegade/]) Group 3: Emma Kidwell [https://www.emmkid.info/] (wants you to play Hindsight [https://annapurnainteractive.com/en/games/hindsight] and Midnight Suns [https://midnightsuns.2k.com/]), Nessa Cannon [https://www.nessacannon.com/] (wants you to wishlist Star Trucker [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2380050/Star_Trucker/]), Calliope Ryder [https://twitter.com/callioperyder](wants you to wishlist Tales of the Shire [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2016460/Tales_of_the_Shire_A_The_Lord_of_The_Rings_Game/]) Group 4: Chandana Ekanayake [https://twitter.com/Ekanaut] (wants you to play Thirsty Suitors [https://www.thirstysuitors.com/]) Stuff We Talked About Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown [https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/prince-of-persia/the-lost-crown] Final Fantasy VII Rebirth [https://ffvii.square-enix-games.com/en-us/games/rebirth] Dave the Diver [https://mintrocketgames.com/en/DaveTheDiver] Chants of Senaar [https://www.focus-entmt.com/en/games/chants-of-sennaar] Garden Galaxy [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1970460/Garden_Galaxy/] Advent Rising [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_Rising] Prey - Mooncrash [https://store.steampowered.com/app/865670/Prey__Mooncrash/] Pyre Original Soundtrack [https://store.supergiantgames.com/products/pyre-original-soundtrack-digital-download] Lonely Rolling Star - Katamari Damacy [https://youtu.be/7_QydNXI_ok?si=XMX5lz4dLhyg6wBL] Aquatic Ambiance - Donkey Kong Country [https://youtu.be/CKAc3nYEatw?si=-Os1odQmdNQu1vjm] Liberi Fatali - Final Fantasy VIII [https://youtu.be/XJ53m_uxBUI?si=dvuhLQY484ujafG1] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 credits [https://youtu.be/fHwjgyvZbTk?si=KK4IT3xPs3AvUXGL] Anna Megill's Game Writing Guides [https://www.annamegill.com/books] Adam's LLVTR game writing class is no longer being offered otherwise we'd link it :'[ Packing Up the Rest of Your Stuff on the Last Day at Your Old Apartment [https://turnfollow.itch.io/packingup] Dredge [https://www.dredge.game/] Growth [https://lizengland.itch.io/growth] Nina Freeman's Games [http://ninasays.so/games/] Full Throttle [https://www.doublefine.com/games/full-throttle-remastered] Bellatro [https://www.playbalatro.com/] A Short Hike [https://ashorthike.com/] Long Live the Queen [https://store.steampowered.com/app/251990/Long_Live_The_Queen/] Game Dev Story [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1847240/Game_Dev_Story/] Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness [https://www.isabellaness.com/], and our logo was created by Lily Nishita [https://www.lilynishita.com/].

Coming to you NOT LIVE from GDC, we've got a special episode of the podcast covering SAG-AFTRA's negotiations with game studios! Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA) and Sarah Elmaleh (Chair of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media (IMA) Negotiating Committee, as well as actor in titles like Helldivers 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Halo Infinite, Gears 5, Afterparty, and Gone Home, and VO Director for titles like Goodbye Volcano High, The Wreck, and Fortnite) join us to discuss the overall situation as regards to the potential strike, the issue of Artificial Intelligence, studios trying to exempt certain types of performances from AI protections, dealing with the convenience bargaining group (aka the studios), their experiences at GDC, the ways devs can support SAG's members, if there's been anything they learned at the conference this week that surprised them, how people can get more involved in organizing, whether the negotiations for this year are different than the ones for last year, next steps, how they keep themselves relaxed during these stressful times, and much more! Our Guests on the Internet Duncan on Twitter [https://twitter.com/duncanci] Sarah on Twitter [https://twitter.com/selmaleh], and you should listen to Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games Podcast [https://linktr.ee/eggplant.show] Stuff We Talked About SAG-AFTRA 2024 Tiered Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement [https://www.sagaftra.org/files/sa_documents/Tiered-Budget%20Independent%20Interactive%20Media%20Agreement.pdf] Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness [https://www.isabellaness.com/], and our logo was created by Lily Nishita [https://www.lilynishita.com/].