itsrhet
itsrhet
Rhet
47 posts
He/Him - I write werds, do a li'l bit of Twine-based dev, and sometimes post nonsense.
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Text
the urge to ignore all assignments and adulting problems to just sit in the woodland and write nonsensical stories while wearing a mushroom as a hat is strong today
0 notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Text
youtube
Yet another game I really need to get off my backlog, but this series from Quest Markers I think is a great dive for game devs or those interested in narratives and seeing how design choices resonates with players. Also, zoldo
2 notes · View notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Text
[EN] Video Game Writing Resources!
Hello! My name is Andrea--I have been writing for games since 2018, and even worked as a writer at Firaxis Games from 2022 until April of 2023. So, I knew a few things about narrative design--but what the fuck is it? Recently, I gave a talk about the fundamentals and history of the field of narrative design. In Spanish. So, let's talk about it in English--the "what," "why," "how," "when," and "who," of narrative design! What is narrative design? Narrative design is not just writing--it's a huge part of it, but designing a narrative system involves implementing narrative content into the build of the game. So there is a technical learning curve to it. Personally, I watched and obtained certifications in Unreal Engine 5 and Unity in order to be aware of the limitations of each engine. I used the free trial of LinkedIn Learning, but courses about this engine are available in these websites: - https://platzi.com/ - https://www.arkde.com/ - https://www.domestika.org/?query=unity - https://www.coursera.org/ Why do we need narrative design? In order to create an interactive story that the player feels a part of, narrative designers are mandatory. It's not a responsibility that can be placed on other designers (then we would be entering crunch territory) rather someone who specifically specializes in both creative writing and game design is needed to explain within the context of the game's story why the mechanics work in a certain way. Imagine if a Telltale game did not have dialogue, for example--what would we be left with? Or if The Last Of Us did not convey a narrative through its environments.
Narrative designers are needed so that all of the departments are in sync and understand the story that they are trying to tell. For example, if a game takes place in a haunted house that was abandoned, we need all hands on deck. The narrative designer can explain to the environment artists why there are so many holes in the living room--perhaps the last tenants of the house were a rowdy bunch. Or, they can tell the sound designers which planks of wood are the most rotten and need a loud sound effect to highlight how it has been abandoned. How do I become a narrative designer? There is no one way to become a narrative designer. Some people start in QA and transition into the field, I have also witnessed engineers and doctors wanting to get into narrative design. I do recommend having the following (at least): - A passion for storytelling. - Deep understanding of the mechanics of the game and the player experience. - Communication skills are incredibly important--can you describe your story in a concise way to your peers in a Confluence page?
Documentation skills are also a massive plus.
Very basic understanding of game engines and limitations. You don't have to be a computer science major, but know what your requests will entail. If you have an idea of a cutscene, can the engine handle it? Will the animators have enough time? Is it within scope?
If you can, attend game jams! They are an amazing way to network with amazing people and get a feel of what the game production pipeline is like.
Additionally, I highly recommend the following resources: First, the free resources! ~It's free real estate~
Look up Twinery tutorials. (https://twinery.org/) Not only is it free, but you can use it on your browser. More importantly, you will learn about branching narratives and can create your own games within a few minutes--the interface, though it requires a bit of coding, is incredibly easy to use and there are a lot of tutorials available online.
Download Ren'Py (https://www.renpy.org/) and watch tutorials. It's free, and there is a huge community of visual novel developers who may need help with narrative designers, writers, editors and even translators. An amazing resource that a colleague shared was this Discord with visual novel developers--if you have an idea, feel free to connect with artists and voice actors here! https://discord.gg/nW5yn4FE
Network, network, network! Follow narrative design and game writer groups on Discord, Facebook and even LinkedIn. -- An amazing convention that is online, free and accessible regarding narrative design is LudoNarraCon.
If you go to itch.io you will see a list of game jams that you can attend to for free! Some game jams that I have attended and had a positive experience are the following: - Woman Game Jam. I encourage folks from marginalized genders to attend this game jam, as we have a large pool of mentors willing to help in every single discipline at any time due to the global nature of it. It is a safe and inclusive space for women and nonbinary folx who want to get into the gaming industry! - Global Game Jam. Self explanatory, it has some in-person opportunities but you can also attend remotely. - Greenlight Jam. Do you have an idea that can not be done in only 48 hours? The Greenlight Jam is amazing, as it lasts four weeks--which allows narrative designers to develop complex narrative systems and even record voice lines for a more complex project. Side Note: Even though most game jams have a time limit, I do encourage narrative designers to develop and polish the prototypes and levels created during game jams to have portfolios and writing samples that stand out!
Work With Indies is a job site that publishes job opportunities--including ones in writing and narrative design. Additionally, their Discord has some networking events with writers so you can connect with them.
Other websites that not only publish jobs but include networking events are Hitmarker.net (this is their Discord), IndieGameAcademy (link to Discord),
Newsletters! A lot of experienced game writers have newsletters dedicated to the craft, to name a few that I highly recommend: -- Greg Buchanan's newsletter. Rounds up game writing news every Tuesday, and includes job opportunities. -- Bright Whitney's newsletter. A studio founder with amazing insights regarding game design and thoughtful narrative, Whitney's threads are extremely insightful. -- Susan O'Connor's blog on The Narrative Department. In addition to providing free knowledge regarding world building, narrative design, game writing and other specifics of the craft Susan interviews industry professionals and alumni who offer testimonials that have amazing advice. -- GDC talks about narrative design. Though I recommend the GDC vault as well in the next section, I highly recommend the GDC talks regarding not only narrative design but the development of your favorite titles!
Now, for resources that may not be free--but I highly recommend, as someone who used them first hand. - The Narrative Department. This post is not sponsored by them at all, however it is rare to find an instructor as kind and hard-working as Susan O'Connor who has been a narrative designer in historic AAA, AA and independent titles. Known for her contributions in Tomb Raider, Batman: The Enemy Within, and BioShock to name a few (imdb is: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1897248/) her Game Writing Masterclass offers a certification in everything related to game writing. A few subjects she touches on are: -- Characters and how to make them compelling. -- Barks and ambience writing. -- Dialogue, backstories and scripts. -- How to work with other departments. And more! Additionally, you would obtain access to a huge alumni network full of game writing professionals working in independent, AA and AAA studios! Not to mention that all of the assignments completed in the class will look amazing in a portfolio as game writing samples. - GDC Vault. Though I have an opinion on the price tag of GDC tickets and the vault, I would definitely include it as it has resources from several studios, writers, narrative designers and more! When was narrative design formed? When can I become a narrative designer?
That's a wonderful question. Narrative design, as a term, was first used around the 90s but became more established between the 2000s and 2010s. So, although the field is relatively new, and there are not a lot educational resources available, consider yourself part of an innovative field that is exponentially growing! Recently, a game developer asked when was the best time to keep an eye out for job openings. And a harsh truth about the gaming industry is that it is extremely volatile--layoffs, downsizings and startups rise and fall. This is not meant to deter anyone from pursuing a career in narrative design, but rather I am including it for the sake of transparency. We cannot predict when a studio is going to layoff their employees, or when they cancel unannounced projects. Unlike most industries where we know for a fact that recruiters keep a sharp eye for candidates in Q1 and Q3, a piece of advice I received from a mentor of mine was to try to predict when projects are going to need more stories. There's the release of a game, and then there is the addition of additional narrative content--and for this, they will more than likely need associate/entry/junior level narrative designers, writers and quest designers. But--this is related to searching for a job as a narrative designer, and I can write a novel about that (and will edit this article to redirect folx into it.) So, keep an eye out for huge game announcements. Then, cater your resume to what the studio is looking for in a narrative designer. Now, to finish off this article: Who is a narrative designer? If you have a passion for storytelling and games, and have participated in game jams, congratulations you are a wonderful narrative designer! Make sure you always include that you are a narrative designer, and not an aspiring narrative designer--it makes you stand out amongst applicants. That's all I have for now--feel free to interact, comment and share! Let me know if I missed something and I will be sure to add it.
242 notes · View notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Book Holder // Costurero Real on Etsy
3K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Finished up my tooled leather pauldron! And decided to throw everything onto the mannequin torso to see how it looks with the rest of it. I’m happy with it! Just need to find two good medieval style buckles for the chest and arm strap (they’re held with leather ties at the moment).  I’ve also made a ton of progress on my camping gear and will be ready to take some pics of that stuff soon. Can’t wait for these 90-100 degree days to be over so I can do some Ranger hiking and camping this fall, and attend Weekend Warrior. 
911 notes · View notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Text
I know people on tumblr looove stories of underwater cave diving, but I haven't seen anyone talk about nitrogen narcosis aka "raptures of the deep"
basically when you want to get your advanced scuba certification (allowing you to go more than 60 feet deep) you have to undergo a very specific test: your instructor takes you down past the 60+ foot threshold, and she brings a little underwater white board with her.
she writes a very basic math problem on that board. 6 + 15. she shows it to you, and you have to solve it.
if you can solve it, you're good. that is the hardest part of the test.
because here's what happens: there is a subset of people, and we have no real idea why this happens only to them, who lose their minds at depth. they're not dying, they're not running out of oxygen, they just completely lose their sense of identity when deep in the sea.
a woman on a dive my instructor led once vanished during the course of the excursion. they were diving near this dropoff point, beyond which the depth exceeded 60 feet and he'd told them not to go down that way. the instructor made his way over to look for her and found a guy sitting at the edge of the dropoff (an underwater cliff situation) just staring down into the dark. the guy is okay, but he's at the threshold, spacing out, and mentally difficult to reach. they try to communicate, and finally the guy just points down into the dark, knowing he can't go down there, but he saw the woman go.
instructor is deep water certified and he goes down. he shines his light into the dark, down onto the seafloor which is at 90 feet below the surface. he sees the woman, her arms locked to her sides, moving like a fish, swimming furiously in circles in the pitch black.
she is hard to catch but he stops her and checks her remaining oxygen: she is almost out, on account of swimming a marathon for absolutely no reason. he is able to drag her back up, get her to a stable depth to decompress, and bring her to the surface safely.
when their masks are off and he finally asks her what happened, and why was she swimming like that, she says she fully, 100% believed she was a mermaid, had always been a mermaid, and something was hunting her in the dark 👍
126K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Text
it's okay:
to be proud of your writing
to boast about your writing
to abandon/start new WIPs on a whim, even if you've already got projects that need to be worked on
to have a bad day of writing
to not want to share your writing with anyone
to not want constructive criticism
to fail and start again
to succeed (achievements should be celebrated)
to write things because it's fun (even if it's not your forte)
to write things that are purely meant to be enjoyable, not everything has to come with a complex plot that deconstructs society as we know it
to not like everything you've ever written
3K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media
73K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 2 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
9K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Text
#my heart is going to fckin explode
Tumblr media
They're dating
Tumblr media
2K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
PLEASE play Dragon Age: Origins
4K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
my brain would not let me rest until i made this
9K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Note
What's the real reason Elon Musk bought twitter?
What joke could I invent that compares to the humorless spiteful laugh that is the reality of modern times?
What darkness, what chaos, what perversion of natural order has not been committed even in the last few days that would let me get a concept in edgewise to compete?
I have invented worlds, written novels, made films, drawn landscapes and creatures and comics that challenge the extremities of human invention. I have scarcely tamed my own sanity for decades to keep from falling into the lovecraftian abysses that torment me in my nightmares, but I cannot begin in satirical text to compare with the cycles of atrocity after maddening atrocity inflicted upon us by the mindless evil of humankind devouring itself, as those in control are the least able, the most inept and greedy, the most vile and demented and malevolent?
Every page I turn reveals a new level of frustration. Every article I read reveals a new low to depravity. Everything good that I struggle to create is shattered and shamed. Every person I meet constitutes a further absence of soul and devotion to absolute cruelty. I cannot look at the eyes of another anymore without being crushed by their disgust and contempt, and then again their abuse.
There is no hope now, if there ever really was. The only ashes of the sublime left to us are those that we're given to experience the pain of their loss. It is not the death of the world we see now, but the beginning of its final state- That of inescapable and eternal misery.
He also probably wanted to ban that kid who was tracking his jet.
2K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
an older comic featuring my warden and everyone's favorite sewer rat man post da2
my headcanon is that the two of them meet up after anders' little oopsie at the end of dragon age 2 and go look for the cure for the calling together
889 notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
drifter is a terrible influence
2K notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Text
Mark Darrah's Memories and Lessons on Dragon Age: Inquisition
youtube
Former BioWare developer and Executive Producer Mark Darrah talks about the development of Dragon Age: Inquisition.
A summary of major points:
If Dragon Age 2 had come out any later, it would have been post-Skyrim, and regardless of what changes had been, it would have been difficult for that kind of game to hold up in comparison to Skyrim.
Dragon Age: Inquisition exists and was developed in a post-Skyrim world. Skyrim changed the gaming landscape.
Frostbite was basically the only choice for DAI. Unreal was not on the table as an option for them at the time the choice was made.
Frostbite was great for art and level design, but at the time it was not ready for RPGs—so the art team was able to get to work right away, while the dev team had to get certain systems built before they could really begin.
In the early days, they had a hard time boiling down DAI into a 30-second pitch or vision statement.
Q3 2013 was the planned release date for DAI. It actually shipped a year later. Execs at EA wanted a launch title for the next gen consoles, and they wanted to replicate the fast and cheap turnaround of DA2. Darrah says that he and the devs never believed in that date—they expected to go back and push for more time later—but they to agree to 2013 in order to get started. This also meant that they had to scope the game as if it would ship in 2013, planning for a much smaller game than the eventual finished product. Notably, he says that while the devs had always wanted to put playable races back in after DA2, it was due to the executive pressure to ship in 2013 that they initially scoped the game without them, with the hope that they could add them in later.
Mounts were a table stakes feature for fantasy games at the time. DAI had to have mounts to check that box, but chose to deprioritize them so they didn't take over the game. (Darrah has another video on why mounts are harder than you think.)
Darrah describes DAI's structure as "multi-region open world" and thinks it's a good model if you want your story to take place over a large geographical area.
At the PAX 2013 demo (which Darrah has also made a detailed video about), they still hadn't really nailed down how the player would control the Inquisition's power across territory. They didn't ultimately want it to be a heavily tactical game to the detriment of the RPG elements. Eventually they found a balance in the War Table, though Darrah feels it's a little short of what they wanted. He thinks it would have been great to go further letter the player play with Skyhold as a fortress, and as central to a quest.
Scout Harding was a late addition to the game, designed to introduce the areas, give some life to each new area, and establish the Inquisition's presence there.
Darrah calls the Hinterlands "basically a trap," because it has so much relatively mundane content and doesn't adequately urge the player to go advance the plot. After launch, they immediately realized the problem and began adding in some content to give some sense of urgency to advancing the plot.
As they were populating the regions with content, they actually played Skyrim to see what made the open world work even in large, isolated spaces. Darrrah notes that you're never far from some sign of life in Skyrim—a note, some kind vignette that tells a story, etc. He calls these "designer hugs," and says that it's a lesson they learned pretty late in development.
DAI's tactical camera is "a bit of a compromise." Unlike DAO, it doesn't have a freely-moving camera, something that makes level design more complicated as you have to make sure the camera doesn't show anything it's not supposed to. Darrah doesn't expect that we'll see tac-cam in Dreadwolf, but adds, "I guess we'll see."
"Operation: Sledgehammer": In late 2013, after getting their extra time, all the writers plus Darrah and Laidlaw got together to try and scope the story into something they could finish and which made sense. He thinks it's really the characters that make DAI, not the story. He acknowledges that Corypheus's plan isn't really very well established. "Characters are what drive BioWare games, not plot," he says, and the story needs to make enough sense to hang your characters off of it.
Darrah considers the Hissing Wastes a great example of size for the sake of size, and specifically for the purpose of being "bigger than Skyrim." They were also in a "pissing contest" with The Witcher 3 over things like number of possible endings (which the DAI team was counting in terms of the number of possible combinations of end slides). Darrah thinks that sharing your numbers is often a bad idea and potentially misleading. "Size != quality."
A lot of core features weren't put into the game until after they had declared Alpha.
DAI was always intended to be a multi-gen console launch. EA was worried that the uptake rates on the next-gen consoles would be slow, and that a next-gen-only launch would hurt sales. Compromises had to be madeto be sure the game could run on last-gen, losing things like density of NPCs and eliminating even the possibility of mounts for companions. Darrah still thinks the multi-gen launch was a mistake, but it's a difficult decision to reverse late in development.
Darrah maintains that the base game is not incomplete on its own. Corypheus is the villain of the game; the game ends with defeating Corypheus. What is revealed about Solas in Trespasser and even in the post-credits scene is additional. But he thinks that the backlash to Trespasser will have made BioWare gun-shy to ever do another post-game DLC, which he thinks is kind of a shame.
Story DLC is not cheap to make, and has a tendency to fall into "attach rate hell" and be less profitable than the base game, even lower the overall profitability of the title by percentage.
Darrah suspects a lot of his viewers don't even know a multiplayer mode exists in DAI.
The Mass Effect 3 team felt that the MP mode helped them to more easily refine the combat for the whole game, but it also had drawbacks. The multiplayer mode was perceived by players as mandatory because when the game shipped, you couldn't achieve max readiness without playing. This was actually a bug and not intentional, and was later patched, but it generated a negative response.
DAI's multiplayer mode (or DAMP, as it was called) did not help the combat in the same way, because due to the different ways that Dragon Age utilizes party members compared to Mass Effect, the mechanics had to be rebalanced for DAMP where players only controlled one character. The team also overcorrected for the ME3 backlash, and DAMP had very little visibility.
For a brief time, DAMP was free to download and play in hopes that it would be an onboard ramp to new players. EA didn't love that strategy, and it didn't last long.
EA has tried Origin subscriptions and early access as a subscriber perk as a means to generate additional revenue streams. Darrah does not like early access; it allows opinion on a game to solidify before the game is even really selling.
DAI's branding moves away from the red and white color scheme of the first two games. Darrah thinks they lost a certain distinctiveness, but understands the decision.
Collector's Editions of games are becoming less common in an increasingly digital world, with some titles offer "Collector's Editions" that are really just the collection of special merch without the actual game, allowing the game to be acquired separate however the player chooses. Darrah likes the DAI Collector's Edition but thinks it lacked the one big standout item, like a statue, that many such editions have.
Dragon Age: Inquisition received a number of Game of the Year awards in 2014, but that year also turned out to be a tough year for games, with fewer GOTY awards given out overall than other years. A lot of intended launch titles for the next gen consoles had been pushed back to 2014, and then pushed back again. Darrah also wonders how much The Witcher 3 changed based on the reception to DAI.
Darrah is overall really proud of DAI, saying that of the games he's led it's the closest to what they were going for.
Things Mark would change, with a remaster or a time machine:
Make it smaller. Cut the Hissing Wastes, one of the areas in the Dales, and possibly another region, and it wouldn't really affect the quality of the game.
Tune down the Power required to progress the plot.
Don't make the Hinterlands the first open area, or at least create a stronger push to get the player going to other areas, and progressing the story.
Time machine option, where anything is possible: Use Unreal instead of Frostbite. Building on Unreal doesn't necessarily make DAI better, but it might lead to better development for Andromeda and Anthem.
Darrah predicts two more videos in his "Memories and Lessons" series: one encompassing Anthem, Andromeda, and "Joplin" (the codename for the scrapped early concept for DA4), and another video for "Morrison" (the codename used for what is now called Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
57 notes · View notes
itsrhet · 3 years ago
Text
Hollow Knight- Hornet mask-
SHAW!!! 😆 haha, well I recently cosplayed Hornet from Hollow Knight and I wanted to share the process of how I did the mask! 
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Keep reading
82 notes · View notes