You probably know by now that Book of Travels isnt a game that fits neatly into any kind of genre, well the same can be said of the writing in the game. Together, the different modes of ingame text comprise the contours of the story world: the backstory, NPC dialogue, item descriptions and UI text all play their part in bringing Braided Shore to life. Of course we can say this about all game worlds, but Book of Travels is a bit different: its a non-linear, exploratory, immersive experience where questing isnt centre stage. So in this case, the main role of text isn't to drive forward stories or point players through the next beat of an epic plot. This means we can have a bit more fun and allow it to enhance the experience in different ways.

NPCs as story book characters

One of the major differences between Book of Travels and conventional RPGs is that you wont be able to converse with the NPCs you meet. This wasnt a hard decision for us, we feel (and we think players feel) tired of that frustrating feeling of talking with an NPC as it runs through its script, so here we saw a great opportunity to do things differently. In Braided Shore NPCs speak repeatable, poetic lines - they'll still do all the conventional work of lore seeding and world building but since they dont simulate conversation the NPCs work more like two dimensional story characters than limited chabots. We hope that by creating them this way players will have a less wall-breaking and more immersive experience, and with its pop-up book aesthetic and 2D feel Book of Travels feels like exactly the right place to invite the player to encounter text in this bookish way. For me, the more poetic lines echo the painted, two dimensional scenery of Braided Shore - they add atmospheric detail and depth to the world as you navigate through it. Here a merchant and musician speak some character 'poems'.

Getting the tone right

Writing dialogue for NPCs is an obvious opportunity to enrich the fairytale picture book aesthetic of the game world, and the style and tone that we hope to have achieved is a mixture of folk wisdom, upbeat chit chat and lore-based whimsy. Each class of character has a range of lines that are each designed to reveal a little about their role in the world along with a tint of personal attitude. Weve crafted them to be a little bit poetic - some use rhyme, others use phonic or rhythmic patterns. The intention is to create a style that enhances the feeling of being in a picture book world at the same time as withstanding a fair degree of repetition. Players will also encounter dialogue that imparts something less ordinary, little parts of story or information. We wanted these to stand out a little bit and be less two dimensional so they are written in a tone that is more personal and direct - these are the aspects which signal happenings beyond the scenery and rhythms of everyday life. Stories, if you like!

Seeding lore

As with all RPGs, the text is a worldbuilding, ambient component of the game world and being so, must seed notions of the past history and current issues affecting its inhabitants. When I write dialogue I try to write it as though through the eyes of someone living its lore and history, so that fragments of these are revealed naturally when characters speak. This is one of the major ways that players will discover things about the magic, infrastructure and social practices of Braided Shore. There are a lot of unique and complex aspects to life there and they all matter to its inhabitants - we hope that over the course of your time there youll be able to learn from them and to piece together its unique culture. When Im writing text I have all this in mind - the challenge is to seed little bits of lore without being overly explicit or compromising the integrity of character voice, its a balance I think Ill always be in the process of perfecting!

Glimmers of story

While theres no overarching questline in Book of Travels, there are intrigues to explore - eventually players will start to see signs of a region-wide drama, but mostly they are event chains with narratives that have the small-magic feel of folklore. Both will be seeded throughout the dialogue, so look out for hints or between-the-lines implications.

Finding the balance between subtle, naturalistic exposition and something more clearly revealing isnt easy, so we expect to be working hard at that balance and well be listening to your feedback to do so. Thanks for reading, I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments below! Helen x

[ 2020-06-22 16:18:27 CET ] [ Original post ]