important, and hence the value of its documentation in the story bible. Once a story
bible has been created, when an artist wishes to learn more about the character he is
modeling, he can turn to the bible and find out about that character’s childhood. He can
make his art better by making it fit with the back-story. When a voice actor wonders
how he should play that same character, if he has read the story bible he will be working
from the same information base as the artist. Properly used, a story bible can add to a
game’s consistency.
Should there ever be a sequel or spin-off made from the game, the game’s story
bible becomes all the more useful when the development team for the derivative pro-
ject tries to understand what sort of new story line can be crafted. Since the story bible
included more content than was actually used in the original project, it will provide the
new team with plenty of unexplored areas of the game’s universe. If the story bible is
followed properly, the new game will fit in perfect continuity with the original. As that
team creates the new game, the bible can be expanded and updated so that future pro-
jects will be just as consistent.
The format for a story bible is fairly open, and the bible’s author should make the
format best fit the information he is planning to include. Often the story bible consists
of a number of different historical narratives of varying lengths. One narrative might
describe the history of the game-world, detailing the major events that have led the
world to the state it is in when the players start their game. Similarly, the document
could include narratives for the different major characters the players encounter in the
game. Topics discussed would include the character’s childhood, how he rose to what-
ever position he has in the game, and what motivates the character to act as he does. By
having a sense of the character’s background, when it comes time to write the game’s
script, the game’s writer will be better equipped to create compelling and believable
dialog for the different characters. Of less importance but perhaps still appropriate for
the story bible are the histories of the various major items or locations the players find
in the world. A powerful sword might have a colorful history that NPCs may hint at
when they talk of the object to players. A particular shrine might have a dark secret of
its own. However, the author should always be careful to try to keep in mind how much
information is actually going to be useful to the game’s creation, and should not feel
obligated to fully explain the lineage of every last character and object in the game.
Include only the information that you think will be important to the game’s creation.
The writing style of the story bible should be in more of a prose style than the bul-
let-point style of the design document itself. A team member using a story bible is more
likely to want to sit down and read a few pages at a time, and will appreciate bible con-
tent that reads and flows nicely. Breaking the document down by character, item, or
major event is still useful to the reader, so using a good quantity of appropriately titled
headings is a good idea. You may also wish to include various diagrams in the document
to supplement the written content, such as timelines, event flowcharts, or charac-
ter-relationship trees. These charts can prove useful in allowing the reader to
understand a particularly complex game-world.
On the other hand, even with a complex game-world, you may not need a story
bible at all. If the author of the game’s script is able to keep track of characters and their
motivations in his head, and if the likelihood of a sequel worked on by another team is
low, the creation of a complex story bible may not be a good use of anyone’s time. It all
312 Chapter 17: Game Development Documentation