Hi Leather Raven,
Great to meet someone who worked on the writing for the game.
Interesting to hear that you wrote "many of the DK lines", because that's pretty much what came across to me - that the character was the product of more than one person. Obviously the change of voice-overs also complicated things considerably. It must have been tough for you not have had the chance to give some directional input. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />
I've never written for games, but I have done work on educational software and also for live theatre. Fortunately, I also sometimes had the opportunity to direct, which gives you the luxury of being able to explain want you wanted (and get told you're wrong by the actors! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> ). You also have the chance to re-write or reshape a little if the actor just isn't able to quite bring off your originally intended effect (it happens!). That could have been handy for BD. I'm sure that the games world is structured completely differently though, with much more separation between members of the production team.
But, to answer your question. I haven't really gone through the DK lines but the way it felt to me was that there was some inconsistency, or indecision (at a story overview level) as to exactly what this guy was supposed to be and just how strong the friction between the two main characters was going to be. There are so many ways a Good Guy/Bad Guy theme can be treated and it was hard to tell in Act 1 just what sort of character the DK was. Is this going to be a bitch fight, a horror movie, a buddy movie, an 'odd couple' style or what? Of course, having to establish it with monologues rather than dialogues is a pretty crippling handicap! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />
Once he settled down into the grumpy bad guy who makes sour comments about imps, and cracks jokes about almost liking the paladin who had come down with a touch of insane evil, the DK was doing fine, and also seemed at least roughly within the voice actor's range. It was mainly the initial bit where he has to rapidly tell us who and what he is that didn't seem to come across. After all, the whole soul forge thing is featured as major premise of the game, so the player is primed and keen to see just how that mismatch will go. But in the event it was hard to tell whether he's supposed to be outright evil, or nasty with a wry streak, or just a bad case of cynical grumpy [nocando], or whatever. Openings are never easy, but they are always crucial. Whatever the writer(s) intended at the start was also lost in the shock of hearing it delivered in what seemed a jarring and inappropriate way. In fact the whole game opening just seemed to lumber along the runway for far too long without taking off. This of course is primarily not the fault of the dialog writer.
People might say "What does it matter, it's not Shakespeare, it's only a game" but I think that good writing is crucial to the feel of a game. I should add that in general the writing for both DD and BD have been among their most appealing features, and one of the main reasons that I've enjoyed them. I take my hat off to you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I've been saddened to see no writer at all credited for a great many games, and the lack of expertise usually shows. The DK does get many good lines, and now and then he brings them off OK too, but it's sad to see such an important character not succeed as he should.
Keep up the good work. Are you working on DD2?
Cheers from the depths of West Australia. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
