One direction, off ramp

This happens. There are solutions that are in place and that part was crowding my mind ever since I have learned that the main quests of AC Mirage are a mere 11 hours. Now in the 90’s I tested a program called Final Draft. As such it has always been on the back of my mind. Beside the fact that this program is one used by around 95% of all scriptwriters. I considered that this might also be a solution for gaming writers. Now, I have no idea what they are using at present. But I am aware that some are using a whole range of Microsoft products. There are several methods in place but when I saw “games abandon the dream of becoming narrative media and pursue the one they are already so good at: taking the tidy, ordinary world apart and putting it back together again in surprising, ghastly new ways” my mind went through all kinds of connections and it occurred to me that several players like Final Draft, Google Docs (with template), Apple pages and a few more have every chance of being the tool of choice for those writing a gaming narrative.

I think Final Draft has a clear advantage here as they have a stage for a narrative, a stage for locations and scenery and as such they can make a larger case for gaming. Narrative, cut scenes, in level dialogues and that goes in several directions. The largest stage is the addition of a database for objects, people, NPC and locations. Once that is in place I reckon that Final Draft is pretty well set up. The others have options, yet I wonder if they can clear the advantage that a maker like Final Draft has.

The setting that follows is that this goes well beyond RPG games. The list of games that have a narrative is growing each year and that setting merely grows with the platforms. As streamers get the upper hand, a much larger population will require the stages of GaaS scripting and that is before people realise that when the narrative can be copied and pasted into the game directly, the advantage will overtake whatever considerations game makers have.

This is seen on a few levels in several games. Any games that has a narrative (example: Skyrim) will require a much larger and much better solution. I reckon that Bethesda has its option in place, the larger station is not that others copy whatever Bethesda has, but that a provider can offer a larger station to many developers. In this Final Draft could have an additional meal ticket coming their way. The fact that it is very affordable makes it the possible chosen solution for game developers on a global stage. The fact that Final Draft is a mere $200 makes it a good choice for many developers. The question becomes will Final Draft evolve beyond Scripting for TV and movies and add the elements making it the solution for gaming as well.

Perhaps there are other solutions, yet I do not see them out in the open. There is seemingly no open advertising in this area and perhaps it is time to make that step. Streaming will soon become  the place to be for gamers, not all gamers and not exclusively, but the step from a few million to hundred million gamers is as little as 2 years away, when that happens the providers either have a scripting tool of choice, or that market will suddenly face a wild west of providers. This is nice, but not great. Wild West solutions tend to be a solution with a weekly taste. Yes, there are solutions out there in gaming development, but as the stage changes, its narrative writers will come from all over the field and they have their own solution to increase productivity. The one appealing to those two parties will get the larger field all to themselves, whomever it will be.

Just a thought, consider it as you get through Saturday, for me Sunday is 14.2 minutes away. Have a great day.