Writing & Narrative Design: A Relationship
summary
Explains how Telltale split responsibilities so writing owns characters and narrative beats while narrative design owns player-facing choices, branching and mechanics, and how they stubbed scenes in a proprietary dialogue tool with blue/ yellow nodes and a feeder line to tee up choices. Gives concrete examples (a DDR‑style crafting minigame concept, the eversource chicken scene from Minecraft Story Mode episode 5) and operational lessons: share the story credit, watch for 0.5% silent‑choice pick rates, use display‑text, and avoid writing‑ or design‑domination. Practical, tactical, and results‑focused.
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chapters (4)
- 0:00Start
- 8:42start with pre-production
- 27:34keep the player in the driver's seat
- 31:55giving the player a diverse range of dialogue choices
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