Hey,

I've always wanted to start writing a story for a game and really get stuck in there. This post is asking for opinions on where you start when designing a game. Do you start with a character design that you have? Do you have a favourite setting or genre that you've always wanted to work on? I'm sure it differs for each person and any tips and feedback would be appreciated.

Assuming you already have a general story universe in mind, start with a concept for the game. That means you need to know how the story will be interactive. Choose whatever story universe you want. It's odd to just want to write “a story for a game” - usually most storytellers have an idea of what kind of story they want, then figure out what game genre works with it.

Another option might be to do the opposite (if I'm understanding Tom Sloper's suggestion correctly): To first figure out what story (or sort of story) you want to tell, and to then determine what sort of game would best support that story.

To be clear, I'm not gainsaying Mr. Sloper's advice--just offering another potential approach.

(This doesn't quite address the question, as I don't think that it's quite my own approach. But then, as mentioned in the first post, I daresay that different devs have different processes.)

Thaumaturge said:
first figure out what story (or sort of story) you want to tell, and to then determine what sort of game would best support that story.

Yes. I didn't say it very well.

Tom Sloper said:
usually most storytellers have an idea of what kind of story they want, then figure out what game genre works with it.

Tom Sloper said:
Yes. I didn't say it very well.

Ah, I see--then we're saying the same thing! And in all fairness, I am very tired today, so it may simply be that I didn't read your post very well!

Well, fair enough, then! ^_^

Thanks for going of of your way to respond to this post.?

These points do make a lot of sense and as always it does usually differ per developer. I'll take these posts into account and figure it all out one bit at a time instead of trying form a world, game genre, characters and all that at once and getting overwhelmed.

The general approach is similar to writing a book.

Make an outline of the story you want, the core points like the GDD, and go from there.

GeneralJist said:
The general approach is similar to writing a book.

Even in the writing of books, approaches vary from author to author, I believe. Indeed, I daresay that there are those authors who don't produce outlines at all. (See this link at TV Tropes.)

I rather design mechanics and gameplay first, and only after that come up with some story to suit that well.

But depends on genre. If you want some walking simulator, no need to think about gameplay. If you invent the next gravity or portal gun, science fiction background makes more sense than Romeo and Juliet.

Thaumaturge said:

GeneralJist said:
The general approach is similar to writing a book.

Even in the writing of books, approaches vary from author to author, I believe. Indeed, I daresay that there are those authors who don't produce outlines at all. (See this link at TV Tropes.)

That's correct. Some authors (most) outline to some extent while some authors let the story grow out organically from the words. It is usually quite obvious which method was used because outlined novels/films/whatever have a more structured story but can feel a bit generic whereas the counterparts often have stories that “fizzle out” where the characters and situations feel more authentic. Obviously there is no right answer to which one is better but most commercial successess are outlined to some degree.

The same of course applies to games, that you can start with a goal in mind and fill in the blanks as you go, or you can just fire up a blank project and start creating mechanics until something starts feeling fun. For games it seems organically discovering mechanics oftentimes can lead to more commercial success than going the linear route so I think there is a distinction there when comparing games to other art forms.