063If you make a lot of noise or
don’t take out a Screamer
in time, you’ll have the
horde on you. Plan ahead.
In conversation with Days Gone
creativedirectorJohnGarvinDAYS JOHN
OPM: How many writers
work on the game?
John Garvin: Uh, me! I
have a couple of writing
assistants who are
amazing and helped do
a lot of research. I had
a couple of other
writers who helped do
backstory and help
write out the lore – for
example, the Rippers [a doomsaying
death cult and faction in the game].OPM: What has the writing process been
like for this game?
JG: Big question and a good one. I think
it’s probably similar to writing for any
medium. The thing again that makes it
unique for a game like Days Gone [is that]
the story and the characters and the
gameplay and the setting and what you’re
doing all have to work together. And I
think that, you know, I’ve been really lucky
that Bend Studio has super-talented
developers [...] and everybody realises
that this whole thing to create a unified
experience has got to work together. So,
for example, I would come up with the
core mission structure and say, “Hey, the
storyline has Deacon starting here and he
has to make this horrible choice at the
beginning and then [...] we flash forward
two years later and he and Boozer are
chasing down this guy, they’re bounty
hunters, Sarah is nowhere to be seen...”OPM: It sounds emotional. Is it hard to tell
a narrative in an open world game?
JG: The challenge, I think, is creating a
compelling story that keeps you
interested [...] while at the same time
making the gameplay different. It’s got to
have a variety. [...] I think that’s the real
challenge, it’s kind of like a puzzle. [...] My
process is to have the backbone of the
game from the very beginning. So, one
of the first scenes I wrote was the
ending. [...] You have to have that
backbone so that you have a structure
you know where you’re going.OPM: How has the game changed since
you began development?
JG: It’s been in development for six years
and I think the real challenge for a game
like this is you have to have all the
systems in place. It’s a complicated game
[...] the experience is seamless for the
player and making it that way is a real
challenge because you really want the
player to be able to, you know, go from his
melee weapon to stealth mode to range
weapon, all within the same scenario if he
has to – and he does have to – because
the world is dynamic, and, you know, shit
happens and that’s the way it is. So
creating all those systems and having
everything work together and having it be
playable... it’s just a challenge and to get
everything to work seamlessly together.