programming

If you aspire to be a video game developer or are already a designer in the industry, and are looking to raise the emotional value of your games, then this is the book for you.

It's by David Freeman (a guy that also teaches this subject to Hollywood writers) and gives by far the most in-depth look at how to make your story and characters more deep & interesting.

It's really quite inspiring as you soon realize that instead of the book trying to rah-rah you along (then leaving you empty handed), it actually shows you HOW to do it! Meaning there are VERY clear examples of how the professionals pull it off and it's easy to adopt those tried and tested techniques yourself.

It's also quite an amusing read as he does not get too bogged down, and ultimately surprises you with just how many parts you need to understand to make up an emotional story.

I highly recommend it.

I've had a handful of screenwriting classes, and some limited practical experience with making games. I thought this book delivered on what it promised, yet at the same time I felt there are many problems with the way its written.

Freeman uses what seems to be a highly methodological way of dealing with the 'soft' issue of emotion in games. You'll find countless references to elaborate terms such as "NPC Toward Player Relationship Deepening Techniques", "Emotionally Complex and Situation Techniques" and so on. Some very specific examples even get their own designated capitalized label. Structured as this seems, it actually only helps to make things confusing. A lot of the "hundreds" of techniques are quite similar, and without a clear overarching framework, things get very convoluted.

Some great knowledge and insights are contained in this book, mind you. I personally found some of the hypothetical games and game scenarios that are presented valuable. However, the knowledge is fragmented and disorganized. Freeman quickly jumps from one thing to the next, without a clear underlying logic as to how all the information is distributed among the chapters. The book especially emphasizes quantity - Freeman even refers to things beyond the scope of the book, i.e. "this would take way too long to explain, but let me give you the short version". I think the book would be a lot better if the information were better organized.

The book leaves a lot to be wanted in terms of focus and clarity. This book needs a new edition, or someone else needs to come along and tackle this (very important) subject from a different angle.

This is THE book everyone at my game company is reading. I like:
1. The tons of techniques for creating emotion in games (weaving emotion right into the game designs -- these techniques go far beyond "writing")
2. The excellent examples showing how to use each technique.
3. All the impressive art.
4. Freeman's humor. (He's very funny, in a left-field kind of way.)

Freeman knows his stuff, since he uses these game design and writing techniques in games he's worked on for Ubisoft, Sony, Activision, Microsoft, Atari, Vivendi Universal Games...

Errrg! I've had TWO of these books swiped off my desk by others at my company. Therefore, be warned, Freeman's book contributes to crime.

If you want recommendations, check out the back and front covers. This book has been endorsed by Wll Wight (The Sims), Scott Miller (Max Payne), Mike Morhaime (Warcraft; Diablo), Raph Koster (Star Wars Galaxies, Chief Creative Officer for Sony Online), and Warren Spector (Deus Ex).

That should tell you something about the importance of this book.

If you want to know how to create emotion in games, stop reading this review. You should be reading Freeman's book instead.