A Conversation with Richard Cobbett: Channel 44 (Patreon)

Dan and Fred talk to Richard Cobbett about writing for games, including The Long Journey Home, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, and Nighthawks. Richard shares his love for The Ur-Quan Masters, and explains how a good storyteller can draw the player into a game's story, setting, and characters.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:56 - The Long Journey Home

4:15 - The Ur-Quan Masters

5:52 - Layers of sci-fi writing

10:28 - Likeable villains

12:33 - Where to start writing

21:14 - Narrative design in Sunless Skies

31:35 - Writing with a team

45:46 - Star Trek and self-referencing

50:42 - Changing from the first idea

55:33 - Ownership and project size

1:00:27 - Sci-fi and procedural generation

1:04:19 - Making of Nighthawks

1:09:00 - Starting a career in games

1:27:10 - Sketches and iteration

1:36:30 - Fusing story and gameplay

1:49:43 - The unique appeal of UQM 

2:02:01 - The adventure game genre

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