This is a 15,000-word document I wrote about a year back on a different site on how to improve the plot and character of your games. People seemed to like it back then. Hopefully those who haven't seen it would find it useful.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

An Introduction / PRELUDE.............................. 3
PART ONE - General Plot Outline........................ 11
PART TWO - A Look at Plot and Conflict................. 18
PART THREE - Cutscenes, Focus, Mood and Theme.......... 28
PART FOUR - Spike-Haired Heroes, One-Winged Villains... 39
PART FIVE - Dealing with Dialogue..................... 45
PART SIX - Creating, Shaping My World Into Something Not Embarrassing........................................... 59
PART SEVEN - A Brief Note on Storylines for Short Games 75
PART EIGHT - Closing Statements....................... 79

I'll just post the introduction here:

"This tiny tome of mine would probably more suit makers of RPG's or games with long storylines, though I will also try to write a little for those who want to write a simple, hour-long game or so. But I want to concentrate more on story-oriented games.

It's no secret that some of you produce some very, very bad story scripts for your games. Story may not always be the element of a game people look most forward to, but I always like to think of it like a knot or a cog. If the knot is loose, if the cog is rusty, there is a great possibility the machinery isn't going to work as well as it can. And within that possibility, the chance lies that your machinery can fall apart.

And we don't want that to happen.

We want to make sure all the little cogs, all the springs, all the nuts, bolts, wires, are all in place and ready to go. That's why I'm writing this – to help you prepare yourself to do this. One last thing to keep in mind, I'm not an expert at game scripting. I've never produced anything I have been very proud of, with respect to writing a game's script (that has been turned into a game, anyway) but I do think I know some tricks, some hints, some tips that could at least help you improve a little, help you see your faults.

This guide is split into parts and at the end of each part I will pose a number of questions that you can ask yourself, as well as supplementary material, mostly about literary writing, not game writing, that I thought would be great extra reading material."

The file is attached to this post.

Click to view attachment

I can't lie and say I've read it all, but I've skimmed over it and I'm truly amazed what you have produced here. It's almost too useful! I'd even go as far as to call this a 'definitive guide'. Of course, I've only read the first couple of pages and skimmed the rest, but this seems like a fantastic resource and I thank you for taking the time to make it!

Thanks for the comment. Glad you find it helpful!

Would you happen to know the site still?

It was back when I was a moderator on GamingW.net.

My computer started lagging...
But now I know cliche's are our friends. Thanks this was helpful.

That was a very interesting read, I got a little confused with the Meg example though. She just came out of nowhere and I had no idea what that scenario was about xD Still, very handy stuff.

Haha, I just re-read that part. Even I'm confused by the reference now. I wonder what was going through my head. Oh well, it happens! Glad you read and enjoyed, though.

fantastic guide, really I was impressed. I was expecting some little fidgety cliche post by someone with 0 knowledge of what they're talking about, because this happens all but too often on the internets, but instead I found a well thought out, enthralling, informative (albeit badly spelt at times ) guide that really was an eye opener.
I can't think of a single missed point really. Very professional, easy to read, well laid out.
Well done, well done indeed.

Things I learnt:
stop doing '...' so much
don't write emotion, show it
learn your worlds history, even if you don't make it compulsory to learn.
You don't have to understand something to make it, because your audience probably doesn't care how each little mechanical thing works.
and much more...

I would highly recommend this (and a few other guides I've read recently) to the majority or game makers

I have to agree with most posts in here so far. In fact it raises several questions Iv'e asked myself in the games
I'm making, and its certainly made me reflect more on those weak area's and how to resolve them.
The story itself I find always diversifies from its main theme, thats always a danger really. Often enough, its not
until you finish the game and realise, "was this its true intention" ? This document helps alot in keeping the rpg in
true perspective, and kudo's for sharing this.
Haha, loved your concluding paragraph btw.

Goddamn right! Thanks lot for posting this up!! It's coming in handy to me! >=D

This is a really excellent read! I recommend people read this, though not to absorb all the information in one go.

Thanks for sharing.

I like to say manifesto. I also like this manifesto. Anyway, I have one problem with it, and it comes at the very end. I don't like how it, or the writer (psst, is that you?) encourages developers to do something new and innovative. I don't know about you, but I feel that all this innovation has gotten a little out of hand. Today's RPGs have no appeal to me. I would rather play a carbon copy of Super Mario RPG than FFXIII. I started playing RPGs when they were only stories about people collecting rocks so they could kill some guy/monster, and that's how I like'em. Can you believe that's how gamers liked their RPGs once upon a time? Yep. People also used to like Pong. I'd bet there are people would would rather play Pong than ProGuy's Tennis 2010.

Point is, there's an audience for people who like cookie cutter RPG games, but cookie cutter sounds bad. Let's call them old school, old fashioned, traditional, or classic? You know, stories about knights who save princesses from evil wizards and their pet dragons.

So er, rather than encouraging people to be innovative, I'd sooner encourage them to do what they want to do. Number one rule of being an artist: you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. In layman's terms, do what you want to do, make the kind of game you would like to play, and don't worry about reception or standing out.

Of course, make quality stuff. Cookie cutter sounds bad because it gives the impression that the game is generic, lame, dull, hackneyed, trite, whatever. Old fashioned RPGs should not be called cookie cutter or generic, because it's just a bad stigma. You can still make a damn good game with a template. You can make an old fashioned kind of RPG and make it great. You could make a game with a story a party of misfits who rescue a princess from an evil knight and you could make it good. It is possible. It's been done before, sure. It's a cliche, sure. But that kind of thinking is subtractive. I like to play those kinds of stories. Or at least, I think I do when I consider the alternative is to play FFXIII. Bleck.

Any innovation I'd like to see is a little customization to the old formula. Supposed the princess has actually escaped long ago and is disguised as a peasant and is hiding out in a town and you're actually rescuing her body double who has some affiliation with some spirit or noble family or something. I dunno.

OK I know... This is a old topic but still...

Dude, I admit that i just registered here to thank you for this worderful text... Seriously, ever though i'm not really the writter type, this made me see my upcomming project in other lights.

I'm still reading it, but this surprised me! Everything on this doc is making me reflect on what i've been doing on my project and how to fix it. I'm going to finish reading this up before going any further on my coment, but again... Thanks for the tips!

Also, sorry for my english, I just had to make sure to praise you for this lesson!

Very helpful! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the great read! It allowed me to fathom, or discern, everything I did correctly. It seems my plot is actually on the right track--thanks to you. I did everything correctly--such as: detailing the world, giving the characters a backstory, etc. My only problem is that I noticed I have a slight amount of ego. I do get slightly worried when my friend says, "Meh, it was alright, I guess."