I've been trying to think of my new game's intro sequence for over a week now. I had one planned, but it never sat right with me and I want something that will really click. It's been frustrating the heck out of me, and just about every chance I get, I turn my mind to this matter. I'm thinking of just pouring a nice bath, shutting my eyes and thinking for a long time. Hopefully, a good idea will come before I drown.
The intro for Cirque took no thought whatsoever, I knew immediately what I wanted to do so this is really frustrating for me. So, I was wondering if other people go through this, and what they do to get ideas. Meditation? Watching movies? Playing games? Going on a mentally refreshing hike up a mountain?
I shut the lights off so I won't see anything. I listen to some music (mostly game music) so loud that I won't hear any sounds from outside my room. Then I lay down to my floor, close my eyes and think about every book I've read, every movie I've seen and every game I've played. Then I rip parts of them into my mind and build some new ideas around them.
This kind of stuff usually works for me.
First, I try making up a rough outline(Usually while taking a walk, relaxing in my bed or taking a shower). Then, I draw the sequence on some paper and see what fit, and what's not fitting in correctly. After I've done that, I scratch the idea and start over. :D
So, basicly, I would do what Pablo said.
I just close my eyes and start to think - music usually only distracts me. Then I bring my... 'vision' or whatever into being with photoshop or my sprite editor, and that's it.
Several scenes in my game came to life that way. Some dialogue, too.
Also, sometimes when I'm starting to write a new story, I can just walk around in my room for a very long time, thinking about the plot.
The record is over 40 minutes just walking around. (but no story came up ;))
heh the only thing that was structured properly and planned and timed and all that in SOL was the intro. The introduction was the only solid idea I had, and I tried to carry on with the resonance that it created. So I guess I really don't have an answer for you. Happened by itself.
I burn peanut butter sandwiches and dress like a woman......
No, I usaully get an idea I think is funny, and build on that, then think about it, show it to a few people and make a finished draft....
Whenever I brainstorm on stuff like this, I walk around the house in circles, then when I get an idea I draw relative nonsense on paper. Then I get up and continue my walk until I'm finished.
I know this is a bad way to make games, but I plan out a game like you would plan out a movie.
I write a screenplay. I make little tree diagrams for the puzzles and I write out the cutscenes like little films. (The dialogues are made up on the cuff during programming, unless I think of some really funny lines, in which case i would write them down.)
When making a game I normally start with the intro and build a game around it.
The only advice I can give you is to watch movies similiar to your game or play games etc, then try and think what you want to present your audience with. Once you get an idea it really helps to sketch it out in sort of storyboard form.
I love intros to games that are either very exciting or mood-setting. Think of some of your favorite game intros, and think of why they were so awesome. For me, one of the best game intros would be Final Fantasy VII. Not only does it start with a bit of mood setting (Showing Aeris in Midgar) before showing a large view of the city of Midgar, the setting for the first act of the game. Finally it zooms into an oncoming train which docks at a station, and out pops the main hero, who is thrust into a battle right away. The music here is very exciting and excellent.
So when making an intro, I would think about:
-Mood-setting
-Exciting, start with a bang?
-Great music
Then I would figure out how to get those three elements to fit with the rest of the story in a great opening sequence that will get players hooked on the game. Then, to work!
One thing you could do is try to pin down the essence of your game, and find some way to express that in the intro.
For instance, I'm (very occasionally) working on a game that is about being lost and finding your way home. I've identified that as the essence of my game.
In the intro, I set this up by showing the main character somewhere he doesn't belong, trying to go somewhere he can't find.
Beyond that, try to think of the story of your game, and your characters. What are their motivations? I think it's much easier to get players excited about playing the game if they know why their character is doing it. You did a great job of this with Cirque, showing why Alexander didn't want to go back to his own world, why he wasn't about to do someone else's crapwork, and how he wanted his own circus.
You could make the intro show what playing the game will be like, or alternatively you could use the intro to provide necessary elements that aren't in the gameplay. (For instance, if you're making a horror game but the player can never get killed, you might want to use the intro to establish a sense of danger.)
Like Squinky, I generally have some sort of funny idea and work of it. The key to making them without a blockage, I suppose, is to know what's happening in your game. What kind of mood you want the entire game to represent. What kind of story. The intro is easily one of the most important aspects to a game, because it's through the intro that you can grab a player's interest and tell him what he/she is to expect for most of the game.
It's much easier to make an intro if you know where the story is going to take you. The intro should tell you who your main character is. Their personality and other odd and ends. It's probably a good idea to know what the ending of the game will be, as well as key aspects in the middle of the game. If you don't want to plan your game out in full out detail, that's fine. But you should always have some idea of where the game is going.
IThe hardest part for me is creating graphics. Next to that narrations and dialog are simple. Good luck, I'm sure it will be a great intro.
-MillsJROSS
For me, the creation of an opening sequence usually comes to me in a visual sense through the music I listen to. When creating a cinematic sort of introduction,I usually treat it like one big informative music videos, allowing images to form flowing with the music as I listen. It helps, of course, to be able to compose music of your own for this, since licensed music can be a real pain, but I think the Byzantine demo (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=326) had one of the most engaging opening sequences I've ever seen in an AGS game. If only the music was licensed. It set the tone, and even though it wasn't particularly complicated (Though the effects on the opening credits were groovy), it worked perfectly.
Office Space (http://www.bullshitjob.com/officespace/) had another great example of this 'story opening set to music' thing. And if Kubrick didn't insist on using the entire damned arrangement of Blue Danube in 2001: A Space Oddyssey (http://www.palantir.net/2001/), the Cosmic Waltz Scene (I know, Dawn of man/Also Sprach Zarathustra is the logical choice, but the actual meat of the story started with Cosmic Waltz) would've been captivating as well.
So, yeah. It's all about listening to music for me. Usually my intros write themselves that way. The biggest setback, mind you, is that you kind of commit yourself to whatever song you choose, unless you can find another with the same timing... Assuming you're not talking about dialogue and just general scene-setting, in which case this doesn't necessarily apply.
I usually figure where the intro would end, Figure out where i'd like it to start and then get into the mind of the character to see how they would get to the intro ending point. I usually write fairly detailed outlines of my characters and how they think with some conversation examples so I can do this. Helps with any points i get stuck in writing the story too.
Thanks for all the advice, everyone ^_^ I did indeed take a big long bath today and I have my intro today. It's always interesting to hear about how other people tackle these problems though.
Maybe too late to help you out, but another tip that has helped me a lot in writing. I always find it hard to start writing, to put down that first sentence. (This applies whether I'm writing a technical report, an essay or a short story.) So I don't. I start writing somewhere in the middle, right after the end of the beginning, so to speak. Then when I have a fair chunk of the middle portion done, I go back and do the start. It works for me, so maybe it will work for others, too.
Quote from: Snarky on Mon 21/03/2005 14:06:10
Maybe too late to help you out, but another tip that has helped me a lot in writing. I always find it hard to start writing, to put down that first sentence. (This applies whether I'm writing a technical report, an essay or a short story.) So I don't. I start writing somewhere in the middle, right after the end of the beginning, so to speak. Then when I have a fair chunk of the middle portion done, I go back and do the start. It works for me, so maybe it will work for others, too.
I sometimes do EXACTLY like that!Ã, :P
Quote from: Snarky on Mon 21/03/2005 14:06:10
Maybe too late to help you out, but another tip that has helped me a lot in writing. I always find it hard to start writing, to put down that first sentence. (This applies whether I'm writing a technical report, an essay or a short story.) So I don't. I start writing somewhere in the middle, right after the end of the beginning, so to speak. Then when I have a fair chunk of the middle portion done, I go back and do the start. It works for me, so maybe it will work for others, too.
Me too. I even write essays like that too. Divide them up into sections, and then do the bits I'm most confident about first.
As for the intros, I guess the basic thing is to introduce the character, and what the goal of the game is (at least the initial goal):
'I'm Guybrush Threepwood. I wanna be a pirate'Ã, ;)
I agree with Mr. Flibble. I approach it sort of like a movie script. I even doodle little story boards to help me set the scene before I start working on it.
However, if I'm simply unable to come up with an idea or am stuck on a particular part of a scene, I just don't think about it. I go away from the scene for a day or a week and suddenly I find myself with an idea for it that I have to scribble down on a napkin before I forget it. (The game project drawer in my filing cabinet is filled with such napkins!)
The way I see it, nobody is paying me to do the game so why force out a bad idea just to meet an arbitrary self-imposed deadline? I'd rather take a day or two off and come back to it with a better, freshed take than before. The game will be better for it.
That's how I deal with writer's block anyway.
- Ponch
Sleep deprevation.
Thank you, Iqu -- I've always found that most of my big inspiration come in moments where I'm either stupidly tired or when I'm dreaming. It's why I always carry a notebook in my back pocket and why I have another beside my bed.
So my advce? Stay up a lot longer than usual sometime (doing something else, of course), then sleep for a good, long time.