Hamsterdamm Has a Script! – Indie Game Scriptwriting

April 14, 2022

Hamsterdamm finally has a script! Woot!

We’ve come a long long way, from ideating this game in 2017 to having to shelve development in 2020 to restarting late last year. And we’re so excited about the progress we’ve made in such a short time.

There have been quite a few developments in the past few months, but one we always struggled with being new indie game devs is….how do we convey dialogue and action in this game?

We literally wondered….”Do we need something like a script?”

“I thought they only did that in movies….”

We came to realize that while this is a game, it still includes quite a bit of immersive elements that are similar to film. So, we began the process of creating a full-on game script for Hamsterdamm.

via GIPHY

The Master Story Doc is a Lifesaver

First, we figured out that we needed to better organize and pull in the details of our game. We had loose Google docs of ideas, concept sketches, character bios, and plot points strewn over a variety of Google Drive folders and within Discord. While this is a natural part of the indie game dev process (and really any project where you’re idea may go through a variety of iterations), we realized that we needed to join everything together in a way that was easy for us to refer back to so we can begin creating a cohesive story.

So, we put together a master story document that included information about:

The entire story plot.
Narrative styling and tone.
Characters (including their personality, look, and the part they play in the story).
Chapters/levels.
Details about the world of Hamsterdamm.

It seems so simple, but this doc has become worth its weight in gold.

via GIPHY

It’s allowed us to more easily onboard contractors we work with so they can quickly get a good idea of the story and tone of Hamsterdamm. Additionally, it’s created a great base for us to start building out a complete story with plot points and dialogue.

Arc Studio is Immaculate for Scriptwriting!

Next, we began writing the script. We’ve been able to use the exceptional (and incredibly user-friendly) Arc Studio for scriptwriting. It’s been amazing for writing dialogue, scene set up, and assigning character actions (it literally allows you to seamlessly change between formatting for dialogue, action, and scene-setting).

However, it also makes it easy for us to repurpose the script to jot down player actions and directions for our programming team (which is the next step).

Lastly…we also contracted a new writer to help with this effort (can wait to talk about them in the near future).

Sooooo….What’s Next?

We are looking to be done with the script by the beginning of May (Woohoo!)

We cannot wait to share more exciting stuff that is going on with Hamsterdamm. We have quite a few things happening in development and programming that we’re saving for our newsletter squad, so if you want to keep up-to-date on those details, be sure to sign up here (we only send bi-weekly/monthly emails, so we promise not to spam :-D).

Until next time, stay nerdy!!!!!

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Favorite indie game posts of the past month!

July 19, 2021July 19, 2021

Feature image: Photo by Chris J. Davis on Unsplash

So, it is true that we are on a bit of a development hiatus until spring of next year. However, we still want to share our love of indie gaming with you all!

We are huge fans of Twitter and the #indiegamedev community. So, we want to share some of the best tweets we’ve seen this past month.

Take a look below 😀

Me playing indie games before getting into game dev myself: This game is fun!

Me playing indie games now: HOLY SHIT this art must have taken them FOREVER??? Wow these animations are so smooth!!! This writing is inspired. These people are geniuses#IndieGameDev

— Rachel | Datababe (@the_datababe) July 11, 2021

We feel like this describes every indie game dev at some point lol @the_datababe

You would be surprised how many people use movies , TV shows , streams , and YouTube videos to learn English! So instead of asking someone to stop typing in their native language, you or a mod can use Google translate and connect with them. Make them still feel welcomed!

— Janey O’ the Laney | #BLACKMINECRAFT (@_JaneyLaney) July 9, 2021

It’s a beautiful thing that the gaming and streaming community has become so diverse. However, it’s always important to keep in mind how crucial it is to make others feel welcome — regardless of the language they speak or where they’re from. We can all put in the effort to do this. We love that this tweet by @_JaneyLaney conveys this.

Setting an schedule everyday and writing in notebooks has really helped me as an #indiegamedev #solodev #gamedev #person . Still a beginner but learned a lot over the past 5 to 6 months.=) M.Y.S.O.U.L is coming along great. #RPG #JRPG #anime #art #indiegame #advice pic.twitter.com/Bh7AoqCAgY

— Christian ciaro (@cgulley80) February 3, 2021

You’d be surprised how putting things on the calendar and writing stuff down can propel your projects as an indie game developer. Big ups to @cgulley80 for pointing this out!

pic.twitter.com/4fBd3T7a5f

— Mia Amare | ENVArtist – working on coms… slowly (@MiaAmareVT) June 27, 2021

Honestly, there is nothing to add to this one. We all come to a point where we need to hear a message like this, so soak this one up. 🙂 Thanks for this one @MiaAmareVT

Again, the beauty of the #indiegamedev community on Twitter (and even IG) is the support and advice given from other indie game developers. So, if you aren’t already plugged in (or you are a non-dev who wants to stay up on creative games), track that hashtag and stay plugged in 😀

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Game Docs & Indie Game Social Media – Dev…

October 18, 2020October 18, 2020

Has a goal ever hit you so hard that you wished there more than 24 hours in a day? Well, that is where we’ve been in the last two weeks. We’ve finally begun to make movements toward two things: 1. the development of game documents & 2. a social media strategy.

So, let’s address each one separately.

Developing the Game Docs

We decided on the very first game that we would like to be the first official release for Nerdy Bear Studios. It will be a mobile-based game that is inspired by one of the most interesting, intoxicating, and fun places we have ever been.

We are working alongside a game designer to get some detailed game documents ready to start the actual development process. It’s an exciting time. One where we are smoothing out the story, walking through technical aspects of the game, and getting the opinions of friends and family. We are definitely in information-gathering mode.

Creating a Realistic Social Media Plan

Being honest, both myself and my partner still have full-time jobs.

So, it has been a challenge keeping things up—especially on the marketing front. However, we have done three things within the past two weeks:

Talked about priorities – We begin to realign our priorities and understand what matters at this point and what we can schedule for later. We started to discuss how we need to make getting the word out about what we do a priority. The last thing we want is to build a cool game, but not have anyone to share it with.
Understood how important brand messaging is – Brand messaging is all about creating conversations and connections. We want to be as interactive and transparent as we can be about what we are working on. We knew this has to be a part of our overall strategy, and we wanted to get better at using social media to do this.
Creating realistic goals – Can we both dedicate five hours a day to social media marketing and branding? No! However, what we can do is develop a blog post a week, use our work breaks to interact with you all on social media, and make a conscious effort to grow our following.

Our top two goals at this point are to start the process of creating an excellent game that you will enjoy, and creating a community with you while we do it. So, you can expect more social media-related updates and some good progress on the technical side of the development of our first game.

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NBS DevLog 02/21/2020

February 21, 2020February 21, 2020

Animal Planet inspiration:
Lone Digger by Caravan Palace

Inspiration Posts:

We get a lot of questions on things that inspire us. So on top of our regular devlogs we will post some things that we have been inspired by in some of our projects

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Dev Log 2/9/2020 Conventions

February 10, 2020February 10, 2020

Projected Convention Schedule

BlerdFest 04/04/2020 (New Orleans)

Momocon 05/23/2020 (Atlanta)

Southern Fried Gaming Expo 07/11/2020 (Atlanta)

DragonCon 09/05/2020 (Atlanta)

Anime Weekend Atlanta 10/31/2020 (Atlanta)

Anime NYC 11/21/2020 (New York)

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DEV Log 1/27/2020

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020

And with the passing of another year and Chinese new as well NBS is back in full swing. Currently revising schedule and GDD (Game development documents) Starting the new year is always like a breath of fresh air. It allows me to look back on all the progress we have made and the wonderful people we have met. I truly thankful for my journey and would no want things to go any other way. Here is to the new year!!!!!!!!!

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Dev Log 12/7/2019

December 7, 2019December 7, 2019

Okie Dokie. So the massive army of freelancers is killing it. Game Stories are coming together. On top of this, I am getting massive inspiration from this Amsterdam vacation (photo’s coming soon). To all the Small Dev’s out there from me to you. Take a break. However hard you are killing it. You have to play just as hard. A lot of times I forget this because, LIFE, but hey it’s not worth living if you cant LIVE. [A bit redundant but you get the point]. Anyway for the rest of the year, NB Studios with be taking a “Mental Health Break”. Not to worry we will pick back up in January.

-King Kuma

“Game Recognize Game”