Since today Each Sunday, I will be posting an interview with an Interactive fiction writer Today as the first writer we Have @JimD Author of Zombie Exodus and Zombie Exodus Safe Haven.
Jim Datillo's Interview
One of the main doubts that may arise is how to create characters and how to present them dynamically and profoundly, but that, at the same time, leave room for the player to create their own relationships and opinions about them- In my opinion Jim Datillo, He is one of the best writers in this field together with his coder skills, to create deep systems that reach various parts of his games that include millions of words …
Now you will tell me, Mama Mara, we are far from reaching that level. And I agree, we are not, but Jim started more modestly, 8 years ago with the first Zombie Exodus. And that is what I want to focus this interview on, how he then designed his stories and characters and how he has evolved up to this moment when Jim is working for a project linked to A World of Darkness.
Question 1 : Many years have passed, Jim, how did you start planning Zombie Exodus? Has
the way of planning your projects changed a lot?
Normally I sketch out a rough outline of how I want each chapter to go, the major events, and what happens to various characters. I keep to this outline loosely, because as I write I tend to come up with new ideas. I like to remain flexible as I write so I can change things if needed.
Question 2: What do you advise us, beginners, to do to better plan our characters and
stories? Any program to help us?
I don’t use any programs aside from a basic notetaking document and spreadsheet. When I am not writing, I jot down ideas for characters, different motivations they may have, and unique traits that explore some aspect of the world. Just like with the plot, I tend not to be too rigid with characters so I can change them if it suits the plot.
Question 3 : About the code, do you prepare it before or after writing the text of the scene?
How has your way of coding changed?
I code as I write. Doing both at the same time reveals issues I may have down the road. For example, If I want to write a large battle scene, I will think of all the choices I want to offer to the player. At this point I can estimate how long it will take to finish writing and coding that part of the game. If it seems like it will take too long or if it will create too much hidden content, I can easily see it right that without wasting time later.
Question 4: As a writer under Cog you are used to being under the pressure of deadlines,
How do you plan and organize that factor to meet deadlines?
by writing every day. I rarely take days off. It’s just like exercising or any routine, you need to plan out a certain number of hours per day and be disciplined enough to commit to it. Recently I have missed some deadlines, not because I’m failing to keep my schedule but because I’m writing more content to finish up certain storylines. It’s definitely hard to balance my time these days, and I wish I had planned things differently. Even after writing for ten years, I still make mistakes.
Question 5: How do you prepare to set realistic characters, in fantasy or science fiction
worlds? And what do you think is more advisable for us to learn to create them?
No matter what genre you write in, you need to adhere to basic elements of character development. You need to give them a backstory that’s realistic for the setting and give motivations and flaws they will reveal in the story. If you’re writing a zombie apocalypse story and you introduce a character who is good in every skill, you need to give them a reason for being in that story, in that place, at that time. You need to make them flawed enough to be at risk were to have conflict with the main character. You need to give them a motivation that makes sense in the story.
Question 6: Now let’s move on to the stats. You create the plot of your projects before the
playable mechanics. Or do you first create the Stats and other mechanisms of the game? Has
That has changed since your first game?
I generally create an outline and then create stats. I usually start off with a few stats and add them as the game develops. Even when a game is nearly complete, I will go back and add stats, which is a grueling process. However I think it is necessary to see where a game is going before you finalize the mechanics of the game. When I first started writing gains, I did not include a lot of stats and tracked everything through binary variables (true/false). Now I use fairmath, which is a popular tool in Choicescript. I highly recommend using fairmath. Once you get a fair understanding of why you need to use it and how to use it, you will develop better games.
Question 7: Your most popular games are episodic; however, your two Cog games are
single-volume games. Do you change the way you design your project based on that concept?
I definitely have to change my style of writing based on whether the game is one-shot or a series. When I write a single, one-shot game, I have to tie up all loose ends by the ending. In a game like Zombie Exodus, if I don’t get to something in Part 3, I still have room to address it later on. Also, you need to think about the development of the main character and how it happens over a longer period of time. This is the most difficult part of writing. I have to make Part 2 as exciting as Part 5.
Question 8: You have worked for several companies with various coding systems. Do you change your approach depending on the engine, or is the process always the same?
I approach story and characters the same, but the type of coding and features offered by the company impact the way I can tell that story and present characters.
Question 9: Myself and many novice writers suffer from stress and uncertainty when we have
to show something publicly. Have you ever been through that? If so, how are you able to cope
it?
If you are going to get into the world of writing or any other creative art, you’re going to have to deal with criticism, both positive and negative. When I first started writing and posting my work for review, I enjoyed the positive feedback for the single time I read it, but the negative criticism stuck with me for a long long time. I began to doubt myself and question whether or not I should be writing. It was especially bad when other writers and editors attacked me and pulled apart my writing with in-depth analysis. The thing that pulled me through eventually was dissecting the criticisms, improving my writing, and trying again. Criticism fades over time. People judge you by the latest piece of work you produce. So even if I fail at writing something, I always have the ability to start over and put something else out there for feedback.
Question 10: Do you have any advice for the jam participants?
Enjoy what you’re writing, work hard, put away distractions while you are writing, and commit to writing on a schedule. Use this jam as an opportunity to share your writing and interact with your readers.