My Lovely Wife Devlog #5: The Twists and Turns in Game Writing

[h3]Game writing… Does that mean that it's already my turn?![/h3] Let me re-introduce myself, then. I'm [url=https://twitter.com/shelicopter_]Lasheli[/url], the lead writer and narrative designer of [i]My Lovely Wife.[/i] [i]My Lovely Wife[/i] is my first project as a game developer/writer! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/8837da769ad8489156054ab9cf40f24261a57960.jpg[/img] [i](It's a-me showcasing the game for an event.)[/i] In this devlog, I'm going to talk about how I modify and build up the game's lore, as well as the character creation process. You can read about the characters' visual development [url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1251930/view/2867094497441582868]here[/url] in the previous devlog. --- [h2]Building Up the Lore[/h2] As mentioned in the first devlog, the alpha version of [i]My Lovely Wife[/i] was released for public in 2019. That's when I first tried it out. In 2020, I officially joined the team as the lead writer & narrative designer for the game, and I can say that the lore has been polished significantly. It still has the same premise: a husband who lost his wife and tries to resurrect her by performing otherworldly rituals. However, since I was given the freedom to modify it, I added new characters such as Phillip and the Hallowed to the main plot. Both act as players' guides throughout the game. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/a4a2dcc6da04830e54f00783008f7f6bdbed8cdc.png[/img] [i](Phillip showing clickable buildings in the town to Jake.)[/i] As of the Hallowed… you'll see them in the full game, so I won't spoil anything about them now! [h2]Outlining the Dialogue Acts[/h2] So. Not only the lore but the game design was being modified as well. To create dialogue that can follow the flow of this simulation-management game, I had to make an outline for each chapter. The game has four chapters in total, by the way, I can tell you that at the very least. I found that outlining helps me focus on what I have to achieve in each chapter. The outline contains: [list] [*] Events and objectives of the chapter [*] Settings where the events take place [*] The characters that appear in the chapter [/list] Here's what it looks like in my worksheet [i](top secret!)[/i]: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/3c2302b7c4dffb2f366a7391cd971b4acd4416f5.png[/img] I worked with [url=https://twitter.com/dodick]Dodick[/url], the game designer, to set the events and objectives of each chapter. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/747669047040cac7e227803fba7072dad8c0507b.jpg[/img] [I](New prologue chapter flow discussion with Dodick.)[/i] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/1d108d8632760bbb7a7e381f085e41fef9e29a25.jpg[/img] [i](The list of things I had to do… which still goes on… #endmysuffering)[/i] [h2]Succubi's Branching Dialogue[/h2] Now let's head to the next topic: character design! Before I joined GameChanger Studio, I was told that there will be 20 kinds of succubi appearing in the game, and the players can sort of "date" them - since the plan was for the game to have a dating sim element as well. So, naturally, I had to write the dialogue for each of them. Did I get overwhelmed? [i]Of course.[/i] But here's where the help came! [url=https://www.facebook.com/VerenIrina]Verencia[/url] and [url=https://www.facebook.com/nasuverse]Adhitya "Nyasu"[/url] to the rescue! Verencia was in charge of writing for 5 succubi, while Nyasu took on 6. To make the writing process smoother for them… and for myself, setting a topic/theme for each of the succubi's dialogue sets is a [i]must[/i], since all of them have branching dialogue. The branch more or less looks like this: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/db622e084d13d8e589208a3cac4ff1bd3d2911e6.png[/img] Each set has two different options which will take the player to the next pre-determined set/endings. To determine the topic/theme for each succubus, I'd always refer to their characteristics and backstory, which I'll be talking about next: [h2]The Base for Character Creation[/h2] Before writing a story, it's important to know the characters who will be in it, since the way they think or talk will affect where and how the dialogue goes. To create the characters in [i]My Lovely Wife,[/i] including the succubi ([i]especially[/i] the succubi), I'm using the Personality Archetypes diagram. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/b80509fadb907690e2d85fd7c95b19b2dc88d2bf.jpg[/img] For example, I assigned "The Imperial" personality to the Berith. Determining a certain personality to them also helped a lot to shape their backstory. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/9bd0f1600faaa16cddd845eb566c0742886ecf42.png[/img] [i](The Berith's archetype)[/i] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37481570/d71f085a6f1823d5d4ad6cfd436897ba5925eb66.png[/img] [i](The Berith's backstory)[/i] … and it applies to the rest of the characters! --- That's about all that I can spill right now. What I can highlight from this devlog is: [b]don't forget to outline before writing![/b] Trust me, the writing process will go a lot smoother with it. [i]My Lovely Wife[/i] is planned to be released in early 2022 on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox. Follow us on twitter for more development trivias: [url=https://twitter.com/MLWthegame]@MLWthegame[/url] Thank you for reading, and see you on the next devlog!