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Atonal Dreams Weekly Update 19 - Script Writing!
4 years ago - Edited 4 years ago2,017 words
I've made good progress on writing out the script! Here's a sample!

Feels like I've been quieter than usual for a while! I keep thinking of blog post ideas, but I've been so busy doing a bunch of creative stuff that I've not found the time. I've been playing around a lot with stuff like my old music compositions, compiling a collection of pieces I can actually play on the piano (not many!), working on a couple of other personal projects, and it's left me feeling good for the first time in I don't know how long! Feels so fragile, though; I know I'm going to fall into another pit of depression soon. I'm just trying to enjoy it and use it as best I can while it lasts.

I think a big part of the pleasant feelings comes from generally avoiding all the promotion research side of things; I've barely even looked on Twitter recently, and I certainly haven't done more research! I know I'll need to eventually, but I know it'll ruin my mood so I'm not exactly eagerly diving into that.

I haven't got back to Undertale yet either! I've almost finished Crown Tundra though, after playing it for a short while each day.



In last week's post, we talked a bit about cinematic techniques, like camera panning. Someone said I should pay attention to how this was done in Pokemon Sword, and I did, was was surprised to see that it used panning constantly in dialogue scenes! I found this interesting because I thought I'd paid attention before and noticed that it didn't, but I must have been mistaken.

What it did was set a camera angle, then gradually ease over a time period to a second, slightly different position, with the ease speed and curve apparently different for each shot. It also had a cut every other line, though; shots didn't pan from one to the other, but rather each cut was 'softened' or given dynamic energy by having it move slightly afterwards; eg it might cut to a side-on shot at 200% zoom then ease to 210% zoom over 5 seconds. A lot of (most?) shots were extreme close-ups on faces, and the character emotes and general dialogue were very over-the-top to give an energetic, cartoony/anime feeling. There also weren't many lines of dialogue in total.

I feel that worked well for that game, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort for mine! Because it would be quite a bit of effort for not much gain. I have to think about the cost/benefit of everything I do since I'm trying to do it all myself, so in this case I think I'll just leave it as it is and see if people are okay with it once they can actually play the game.



The biggest thing I've done this week is starting on writing out the script in its entirety!

I was planning to make a revised version of the Pierce intro scene/battle to show how things have improved since last week, but it's a lot of effort and I'm not completely happy with what I've got for that scene yet and don't want to have to redo it again because I'll surely edit this later, so I'll just show you the text version:













I probably gave the impression before that Collie was going to be some libidinous pervert, constantly making sex jokes, but from writing what I have of her so far, she only ever really hints at it, and only rarely. There's more about her association with the Blight Wolves, with her admiration of Savitr, and the dog angle, though I imagine I'll continue cleaning up everything I already have as I go on. There's a pervy (and not particularly funny) line here that's crossed out because I don't like it and need to come back to it later.

I do like what I'm doing with Pierce though! He reminds me of Undertale's Papyrus, in the sense that he's a boastful-but-lonely eccentric, though his speech patterns are more similar to MARDEK's Muriance, who he's based on (both come from my mind, after all). I liked some of Muriance's dialogue in chapter 3 (the chapter 2 stuff is mostly just 'generic villain'), maybe around the Earth Temple, I think? So if you liked that, then hopefully you'll like this too. If you don't like it, then that's a shame, because I like it quite a bit myself. I keep reading back over it and laughing more than I expect to each time! (Some of his lines here would be from offscreen while the camera's focused on Savitr and Collie; they're not marked or anything though.)

Oh, and monsters 'talk' in the form of these often-stupidly-grotesque and distinctly-worded quips (in purple here), which often are completely at odds with how (cute) they look. It's because monsters are essentially thoughtforms, so they're voicing a (distorted) thought rather than expressing any mental activity of their own. My aim is to have many of them express things that are subtly relevant to the story and characters - the sorts of things you'd understand on a second playthrough - but which might also be familiar to people who are used to being berated by an inner critic. Savitr is prone to guilt because of 'past sins', so he gets a 'PANG' (essentially PTSD) here when this exaggerated, accusing thought pops up.

Also, lore note: I've decided that miasma is a result of Alora Fane's fracturing, so it could be said it's the 'world's blood', which is what Savitr's getting at there. The fracturing left the world with several 'drealmscars', literal wounds between the formed reality and the drealm beyond, through which drealmstuff seeps. That's miasma.

Overall, I'm not entirely happy with what I've got for this specific scene so far - some bits make me embarrassed to show it and afraid of not-undeserved-but-still-discouraging criticism - but I'd say I have a good, rough idea of what I'm doing with the characters. More than I did a week ago!

I started with a plan for all the plot scenes that I wanted to include, so I knew what was going to happen at every stage of the story before turning any of it into the dialogue. I'm in the process now of going through each of these scenes and turning them into actual character dialogue. With each one, I get to know the characters better, and can go back to the previous ones and edit things if I feel they aren't adequately foreshadowed, no longer make sense, or I just have some better ideas that day. I'm intending to write out the whole thing, then do a couple of passes like this to refine everything as much as I can, so chances are this beginning bit will be cleaned up a bit when I do.

I'm just trying to get things down at this point without caring about getting them perfect; the polishing will come later!

I noticed when seeing some (amateur) artists drawing a few years ago that some of them started finely rendering specific details of their drawings before drawing the rest, so they might have a detailed, coloured eye floating in a void because they'd yet to draw the rest of the face. This isn't a a sensible way to do it! Instead, it's best to roughly sketch out the entirety of the piece first and work on it as a whole, refining details gradually across the piece rather than hyper-focusing on one bit.
I've talked about this before, and I think I included a video of a digital portrait process last time? Here's another video of a similar thing (not by me):



Writing and drawing are quite different, but the general idea is the same. I'm still in the process of roughly filling in the canvas, and I'll refine all the details later.

All this is very different to MARDEK, where I wrote everything as I went along, without even really fully knowing what was coming next. I did have plans, like the ones in the documents included with the Steam extras, but from what I remember, I'd write conversations as I needed them, and pretty much never went back to edit old ones once they were done. Unwise!

I feel this approach is much better. Also, it's not taking as long as I thought to write! I originally had 33 conversations planned (though this has since changed a bit), and I wondered whether I'd be able to get through one a day and I'd take a whole month. It was tough to get started because I had to get into the right state of mind, but once I did, I was able to rough out maybe a third of the scenes in this first week? Something like that? I got more comfortable and confident about it the more I wrote and the more sure I felt about the characters and story, too, so it began flowing out more easily and quickly. It's looking likely that I could get a full draft done either next week, or the week after... though I'm hesitant to say for sure because I don't exactly have a good track record when it comes to predictions! (Oh hey, there's a road map thing, isn't there.)

I don't know how long it'll take to plan and then refine the whole script, but it definitely feels like the best thing to be focusing on at this point! Once I've got all the scenes planned out in detail, a lot of indecisiveness about what to do next should be completely eliminated.



Another thing I talked about last week was how I'd revised the structure of the game: at first I planned one big island for the overworld, then I changed that to a series of islands you travelled across the sea between, then I revised that again to be one big island again.

From writing these scenes, what I'm planning now is for the overworld to be made up of four islands: a tutorial island, an island that contains ruins of a Blight Wolves settlement (which provides a great opportunity to explore all the stuff relating to that), an island where Pierce lives (with his Mumsie), and an island that contains the monastery. Maybe there'd be a fifth with optional pure gameplay stuff if there's time and interest later.

Each would also have its own catacombs, like a little dungeon, maybe, which you'd pass by - but couldn't enter - on your first run around, then you'd have to go into them after getting some kind of key at the monastery.

They'll be an archipelago, connected via either artificial or natural bridges of some kind. I don't want to get too bogged down with worrying about adding new mechanics like some kind of boat or mount creature (though I might model one anyway just to stand around on the beach you arrive at, to explain how Savitr and Collie got there... Hmm, how did Ossoum get there though? I never even thought about that before! Wouldn't be fair on the creature if he'd left a mount - a 'paroat' - hanging around on the beach by itself for ages... unless it and Savitr's are friendly with each other and there's a little bit with them and-... I'll have to think about that later!)

What this means is that I could still use the first tutorial island as the demo. It might be around the same length as the ruins in Undertale, maybe? So I'll be thinking about that.



I'm going to keep working away at this script! It's making me quite excited about the game, since these character interactions are something I enjoy probably more than most of the stuff I've done so far (except maybe the music).

As I said, though, this is very much the first rough draft, the sketchy outline, so keep that in mind!!

11 COMMENTS

TheJop32~4Y
The script is looking good so far! I was worried that Collie would come across weird to an outsider as a subservient woman who's obsessed with sex, but it doesn't seem so bad. Anyway, I'm glad you've made so much progress, especially on the script since that's usually my favorite part of your games.
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Tobias 1115~4Y
I was always going for a comically open/socially inappropriate angle more than something like "uhhh spank me master uwu", but it does seem wiser to take the safer path.
1
LevProtter42~4Y
It is coming together!
I really like the monster lines, and can see it scaling up really well. The gnarlier monsters could have more disturbing lines, repeat lines, ones that suggest destructive thought patterns and cycles.

You might be able to incorporate (if I understand all the systems about right) the Collie quirks into monsters she tames/summons. That way you can express a characters hang ups without making them too off putting. (sort of the way real people repress that sort of thing.)

Despite all the things you still need to be worked out,
(that you are obviously aware of) I'm warming up to the project. Funny how even though I knew things would get refined, I still couldn't shake the
negative initial feelings I had.
Maybe that's a good reason to sit on criticism for a while. Makes you think about how useful 'constructive' criticism actually is.

Anyway, looking good, keep it up!
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Tobias 1115~4Y
It helps me to share the process, but it is important to be aware that judging what I have currently is like gauging a cake that hasn't finished baking yet, or a house that's still not get any roof or walls, or... something.

Based on what people said in comments re community opinions of Undertale characters, I'm wondering if what seems appealing to me (open display of issues) isn't appealing to other people because it does seem more well-adjusted to be guarded, oblivious, or in denial about such things. But I can't write any other way, so we'll have to see how it goes, I suppose. There's always a chance it could stand out in a good way. Maybe.
3
Maniafig222~4Y
I got the impression it would be easier to write if Collie and Savitr had a third party to bounce off against, and it seems it's true!

I recently started playing Pokémon Ultra Sun, since I'm always so up to date with these games, and the one thing I noticed about the cutscenes is... Just how many of them there are. Cutscenes are nice and all, but they're a drag if there's nothing interesting going on in them.

Thankfully yours are much more inspired! Pierce has a lot of good lines, I like how unfazed Savitr is by his attitude and Collie is also markedly better here.

One thing I don't understand is Collie's first line, why is she so hostile? All Pierce did was tell them to halt and ask who they are, somewhat rudely, no real reason to consider chopping his head off, or worse still, calling it ugly!

I am totally expecting P-dialogue where Pierce demands Savitr tell him his bald head is very handsome, to which Savitr begrudgingly agrees. And Collie to worry that Pierce's baldness is contagious and has spread to Ossoum. Or Pierce boasting he's BALDER than Ossoum, like it's a contest. And Ossoum calling Pierce a bonehead.

I like Pierce's reaction to the Pawn switching sides.

I was expecting Pierce to dispute Collie's status as a lady rather than just insult her dog ear hair.

I like the idea of Pierce's interjecting from off-screen, that sells how much of a non-threat he seems to be.

I like that all that Savitr takes away from the rant is that Pierce is the abbot and promptly apologizes for the lack of decorum. I can't tell whether he's oblivious or just humoring Pierce.

I recently replayed MARDEK, for the like billionth time, and I did like Muriance's dialogue in chapter 3! He had a few good lines in chapter 2, too. He was an entertaining villain, though I can't imagine him as the serious threat the notes made him out to eventually be in later chapters!

Gasp, I know it. Savitr's secret... He poops really, really loudly.

Is it still lore that Miasma forms where people are, or does it just form everywhere outside of the protection of Obelisks?

Whenever I'd make quests I'd always finish things off with several test runs and edit dialogue as I played. I'd most often have to edit dialogue near the start of quests!
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Tobias 1115~4Y
I'm glad you liked it!

Why Ultra Sun, and which was the last generation you played before that? Thinking back, that one does seem unusually cutscene-heavy, I think? I was never bothered by it at the time, but I suppose it depends on your state of mind going in. I'm VERY EXCITED when I play any new Pokemon game, so I can forgive them for a lot, but I'm much more wary/judging when playing unfamiliar games (or things like Undertale which I'm forcing myself to play because I 'have to' rather than because I want to) so things are more likely to drag on or bother me. I imagine it's this way for most people, and I wish there was a way around it but there probably isn't!

I wasn't really planning to have any cutscenes, really! The 'cutscene' at the start is more like a battle intro, since it would have been way too jarring to just jump immediately into gameplay, but other than that I can only think of maybe one or two different (climactic) points in the story where everything would stop to just play a scene out with no player input?

One of the big things about Collie is that she was raised by the Blight Wolves to basically be a vulgar criminal, and she's in the process of becoming tame. It's where the aggression/inappropriateness comes from! I suppose in this case it would be a case of her having learned to deal with perceived conflict with threatening behaviour so as not to be walked over... though it also conveniently sets up a joke that helps characterise Pierce too. A meeting of two ill-adjusted minds isn't going to be polite!

Ha! I like those ideas! Particularly the contagious baldness thing. Maybe I'll STEAL that, if it fits anywhere!

I wanted to mention the dog-ears-hair because I wonder how many people would even see them as that!

Expressions are sure to add a lot; Savitr would look quite flat/tired while apologising to Pierce there! Though he's also trying to pacify him (contrasting drastically with Collie).

If miasma formed only after the link to the Aolmna was severed - and I do like the idea of miasma as essentially the drealm that's leaking into the world through literal wounds/cracks rather than a residue from the creation process - then there probably wouldn't be any obelisks, since the gods were meant to have made them! Monster 'species' form where a lot of people have had recurring thoughts over years, so I suppose they'd just be less likely to appear where thoughts haven't been as much? Animal minds wouldn't form them because they come from abstract thought.

I wondered about how you approach the dialogue in your quests! But I didn't ask you because I am weird and just complain about how I have nobody to talk to while actively avoiding talking to everyone. After I've replied to this I have to reply to an email I haven't replied to in weeks and have got two pestering "please reply" pokes about. Whoops. Do you plan the dialogue all out before you start or just write it as you go??
3
Maniafig222~4Y
My last three playthroughs were of Pokémon Omega Ruby, Y and Platinum in that order (Or Rising Ruby, Wilting Y and Renegade Platinum, since they were hard mode romhacks, basically), so I'm playing Ultra Sun (or Photonic Sun, really [LINK] ) now since I've not played any gen 7 game before. I actually wanted to play Ultra Moon instead, but it was easier to acquire the means to play Ultra Sun, and they're not that different anyway.

I went into this game knowing it has a reputation for being cutscene-intense, but I figured people were exaggerating since they said the same about gens 5 and 6, so it was somewhat disappointing to find out it's exactly as disruptive as people said!

Also, team pics since those are mandatory whenever discussing Pokémon:
Pokémon Omega Ruby: [LINK]
Pokémon Y: [LINK]
Pokémon Platinum: [LINK]
Pokémon Ultra Sun: [LINK]

The Platinum team is all-Ice types and the Ultra Sun one is planned to be all-Fairy types, since in that romhack Meganium and Ninetales are Grass/Fairy and Fire/Fairy respectively.

I suppose most dialogue would happen during combat and when talking to NPCs and other party members, then? How does it compare to Taming Dreams, which had those but also did have scenes where the party stops to talk about and do some things?

You are free to REAPPROPRIATE my ideas if you wish! Ideas as good as mine would be a shame to not share with all the world, after all. And I am incredibly generous, and humble.

IIRC the reason why you had Obelisks in the old lore from a Doylist perspective was to explain away why Miasma didn't form in towns and cities, since that's where most people are and most thoughtforms would gather. How does that work with the new explanation, does Miasma form often in Barbari settlements, or did they come up with their own solutions?

For my quests I tend to have an idea of how I want the important dialogues to go before I start writing them, some scenes are planned out specifically whereas some are general plans such as "character X and Y talk, X upsets Y for reason Z but they reconcile", but I don't exactly plan them out in minute detail, and some things do get shuffled around.

I had one quest where the two playable characters didn't really get along at all, so I had to adjust some dialogues to make sure the dialogue wasn't schizophrenic, one outburst got removed since I needed the two characters to get along in the coming scenes and it'd detract from a later, more important outburst.

And most of the unimportant dialogue isn't really planned out at all, such as talking with unimportant NPCs, examining furniture and triggers for going to the wrong places. Though those dialogues are good places to implement some foreshadowing, or sometimes they can even be sources for ideas to flesh out the world and whatnot.
1
AdmiralLara49~4Y
It's cool that youre happier working the way you have this month, but then I dont get why you also get demoralized by low views or comments or twitter impressions. One just follows from the other
0
Dingding32167~4Y
I really like the dialogue, glad you're feeling motivated and productive right now! We don't expect more than weekly updates anyway so don't worry about that at all either :) Love how things are coming together.
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Dingding32167~4Y
I also just realized that the bottom of the website says 2004-2020 next to your name like that's your age and lifespan. Slightly distracting!
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Tobias 1115~4Y
That's what it is, though; I made MARDEK 1 when I was three!

(Wait, I've only had a website since I was 16? Surprising!)
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