New Year's Resolution: Embrace Limitations to Enhance Your Story
Obstacles and limitations can actually be wonderful gifts. Also, an update on the future of HTWG.
How To Write a Game is a free publication written by Ryan Matejka, an organic human who loves to write. If you like this, please consider making a small donation.
One of the greatest thrills of writing a story is the absolute freedom it brings. You can make absolutely anything happen. Defy physics. Defy logic. Force those two awesome ideas you had into the same single scene. Anything is possible when you put pen to paper!
But you’re not just putting pen to paper. You’re writing for a video game. Sure, you can still defy physics and logic, but you cannot defy the game engine, the code, the art, the music, or the demands of your boss (even if you are the boss).
As New Year’s Eve draws near, I suggest this as one of your resolutions for 2024: instead of getting frustrated that the super awesome idea (or mundane idea, like ladders in Fallout: New Vegas) that you had will break the game and budget, you should view your limitations and obstacles as welcome tools to make a better story.
Identify Your Limitations
Ideally, you’ll want to identify your limitations before you even start imagining the vaguest idea of what your story is. Of course, this is impossible not only because you probably already have some idea for your story but also because you won’t truly know what all of your limitations are until the game is finished. That said, here are just a few factors that might pose limitations to your story:
Genre
Gameplay
Engine
Budget
Time
Other media (art, music, etc.)
Your expertise
Audience expectations
So yeah, basically everything about game development is going to pose some limits on what you can do with your story. Every asset, every person, and even yourself.
For Example:
Imagine that you feel like your story needs a scene in which the main character does an impressive dance. Maybe you’re on draft five of the story and know in your bones that this dance scene is a critical emotional beat that ties in all the themes and ideas into one beautiful moment of character growth and plot development; this dance scene will rally the good guys, intimidate the bad guys, and give players something to talk about and other writers something to reference for years to come.
Unfortunately, you’re writing for an indie racing game, and the artist on your team has no idea how to animate an impressive dance (in fact, they don’t know how to do character animation at all, which is why they’re working on a racing game) and they cannot possibly learn how and execute it effectively in time for launch without putting a bunch of other important work on the back burner and thus delaying the game. As a result, the perfect brilliant scene that you expected to win you all the awards cannot possibly go into your game.
As silly as the above scenario might sound, it’s very similar to a real problem we ran into while developing Cook Serve Forever that I cannot talk about yet. For now, let’s just say that it’s not easy writing a dramatic multi-character city-spanning story that takes place entirely in a food cart.
Looks like you’re going to have to compromise. Don't fret. By leaning into your limitations you'll most likely end up with a way better story.
Harness the Power of Your Obstacles
Limitations are what make stories great. Sure, at the moment when you encounter one while writing your game’s story, you may think to yourself “If only I were writing a novel, then I wouldn’t have to worry about gameplay or whether or not the artist knows how to animate an impressive dance,” but even authors who craft worlds of fantasy locations, creatures, and lore have limits to work around—they’re just more abstract concepts like story structure, internal logic, and satisfying storytelling. Working within your limits will make the story more cohesive and satisfying so that the pivotal moment of your indie racing game isn't a scene that feels completely disconnected from the rest of the experience.
Limitations also promote creativity. They force you to brainstorm and problem-solve unique solutions. What is the racing equivalent of that impressive dance scene? I don’t know, but I’m dying to find out!
There's a theory that goes something like this: true creativity begins not in your first idea or your second, but in your sixth or seventh. The first handful of ideas you have will be more derivative of everything you've been influenced by than those that come later. Anything that forces you to reconsider an element of your story will only make the result more special and memorable.
The next time you find out your cool story idea isn’t possible, take time to mourn its death, then accept it as a gift and take the time to unwrap it to find the hidden treasure inside.
The Future of How To Write a Game
Hello you beautiful writers,
I was laid off from my job as a Narrative Designer and Community Manager a few days after the Early Access launch of Cook Serve Forever this past spring. I’m proud to say that even the negative reviews praise the story and characters we worked so hard on, and I am hopeful that the remaining team can make good on their promise to overhaul the game into something truly special so you can enjoy the entirety of my hard work.
The past six months have been the most challenging and stressful of my entire life, and I’m not out of the woods yet. Of course, in the spirit of this month’s topic, I've been doing my best to embrace the challenge and turn it into something good.
When I started developing HTWG in December of last year, I promised myself that I would dedicate a single year to it no matter what happened or how few people read it. I am delighted to say that I have gained more readers than I expected, which has truly been a bright spot in this otherwise dark time. However, it has become increasingly difficult in my current situation to dedicate the time necessary to writing, releasing, and promoting HTWG, which is why the issues have been released later in the month with each issue.
I still love game writing and I still love sharing my knowledge. I have ideas for the future of HTWG that I am very excited and hopeful for. However, I can no longer guarantee that I will be able to dedicate the time and resources needed to continue this as a monthly publication.
Thank you very much for reading. I hope you have a wonderful 2024.
- Ryan