agbouskila.bsky.social
Writer and illustrator, formerly in 2D animation, currently in games. Narrative designer on Destiny 2. Previously on Destiny: Rising.
They or she.
Portfolio: agbouskila.com
54 posts
115 followers
56 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
I've been keeping my dayjob out of this, but I think of the above two as an interlinked set because I use them together constantly on raids/dungeons in D2 (activities that rely on mystery). I went ham with the personalization in Vesper's Host and I hope some of it hit the surprise that surprises!
comment in response to
post
SURPRISE THAT SURPRISES: Not only a surprise in terms of what's there, but a surprise in terms of what is possible. Something that blows open the expectation of what can even happen in a game/activity like this. It can create awe.
Psycho Mantis reading your save data is this + personalization.
comment in response to
post
Belatedly, here's two I use constantly that I just plain forgot count as lenses.
PERSONALIZATION: Even in a linear story, is there a way to make the game respond to some player choice—their action, their state, their inventory? A couple small things here make a big impact.
comment in response to
post
Schell!! It's such a useful paradigm.
comment in response to
post
Thank you so much! Every time my friends say something clever I write it down and it turns out after doing this for a while you accumulate a pile of great advice. I'm mostly just the scribe here.
comment in response to
post
I still can't believe the mentor who introduced this concept and phrase to me did it basically off the cuff and had totally forgotten about it when I brought it up again later like ME AND MY FRIENDS ARE ALL TALKING ABOUT THIS!, it's so useful.
comment in response to
post
well I hate looking at a long thread it turns out. I've mirrored this whole list here: www.agbouskila.com/lenses
comment in response to
post
Anyway-- this is my current set of lenses. I reach for them constantly and have proselytized the problems bucket in particular to basically all my writer friends at this point. Would love to hear it if anyone's got other lenses they reach for in their narrative work.
End of thread. Thanks! 🫡
comment in response to
post
I will try to come back here at later points to add lenses as they come into my collection. Player ergonomics is the newest one, arrived at in talking with a mentor just recently.
I should also whack all of these up on my website somewhere now I think about it. I'll figure that out.
comment in response to
post
PLAYER ERGONOMICS: How comfortable are players in this story moment? How good does it feel to exist around this character? How uncomfortable can you afford to make your players? IMO a lot of popular villains are popular because they have good player ergonomics, and selling a face turn relies on it.
comment in response to
post
Game writing in particular has to be dense with information/layers because of time and budget limits. It's such a treat to go back to prose with no wordcount limits now and just sprawl out inefficiently, haha.
comment in response to
post
EFFICIENCY: How many things is your line doing? Can it do more? Things a line can do (non-exhaustive list): reveal something about the world or a character; further the plot; tell the player where to go; explain a UI interaction. If a line or scene drags maybe it's not doing enough to earn its keep.
comment in response to
post
It gets repetitive if you only ever place your bomb at the final beat. Maybe a script feels weirdly paced because your bomb is always in the same position within a line (or chapter, or mission, or cutscene...).
comment in response to
post
PUNCHLINE PLACEMENT: Where in your line/chapter/mission/cutscene is the most important piece of information? Play with that for pacing/tension/surprise. "And his name was… DRACULA!" feels more explosive than "And Dracula… was his NAME!"
comment in response to
post
SIDE CHARACTERS ARE A PRISM: With limited time/space, a way to make a text feel richer is for every character to say something about your main character. What thematic questions does your MC pose? How do side characters reflect those questions?
I stole this from deathless genius Emily Tesh.
comment in response to
post
EMOTIONAL = MECHANICAL. If you have a villain who face-turns (or an NPC you want players to like) they can't just cheer on the heroes, they have to provide some missing piece of the puzzle to be satisfying. See also: shounen fights where one guy punches better because his friends believe in him.
comment in response to
post
Just this week a friend pointed out that interpersonal relationships should basically always be in the problems bucket but sometimes aren't. I hadn't thought of using this lens that way but it's so smart. My friends are so smart.
comment in response to
post
THE PROBLEMS BUCKET: What gets problematized in your story? Which is to say, what goes in your bucket of problems? Inconsistency here is what kills me. For example: a contemporary fairy tale retelling that isn't sure whether or not monarchy is something to be interrogated or not.
comment in response to
post
One last preface is that none of these came to me in a moment of heavenly inspiration; I stole them from friends/mentors/books or arrived at them in discussion.
THE LIST:
comment in response to
post
Lenses that work for game writing often work for non-interactive writing. Maybe I hang out with too many SFF authors but I find there's a lot of overlap particularly with genre writing. I reach for my lenses constantly to figure out the logic behind a gut feeling: something feels off; what is it?
comment in response to
post
I stole lenses from Jesse Schell's Art of Game Design. Schell says:
"[...] View your game from as many perspectives as possible. I refer to these perspectives as lenses, because each one is a way of viewing your design. They are not blueprints or recipes, but tools for examining your design."
comment in response to
post
😌😌😌
comment in response to
post
This guy is the deuteragonist of a really odd Redwall book, probably.
comment in response to
post
Instead of an apron I decided to fuck around making tiny jewellery from the same wire I used for his armature. Calling this little guy fashionable and complete. 👍
comment in response to
post
beafte even
comment in response to
post
This guy needs a little apron to wear at his travails and then I think he's done.
comment in response to
post
Hoggin slowly along.
comment in response to
post
omg, a cherished memory....!
comment in response to
post
Please, not obscure, she's famous 😤👏
comment in response to
post
He's a very helpful fellow.
comment in response to
post
I've taken so many photos this week but none have topped Kingdom Hearts weed-smoking Goofy.
comment in response to
post
A nice place for a CHILD to become SPECIAL just what I needed +1
comment in response to
post
Honestly stacking -1s every time I see that wretched PostHog ad.
comment in response to
post
Trans Americans get a whole pyramid +1
comment in response to
post
ty, that's really kind! Some local friends gave me a list of neighbourhoods to poke around and the Mission is one of them. I don't have any questions off the dome but if I think of one I'll ping, thank you again 💕🫡
comment in response to
post
Downtown core empty of everything but waymos, bad vibes, -1. Every area other than downtown full of life, good vibes, +1. It turns out this whole time I was judging both Seattle and SF against a city with over three times their population, +1 only to the I Miss Toronto bucket.
comment in response to
post
Oh my god, I'm so sorry. May Rowan's memory be a blessing to everyone they knew and every life they touched.