re: stretching & wildcards
Tags: gamedev, writing
Published: 2023-12-24 16:21:00

---
title: re: stretching & wildcards
published: true
date: 2023-11-26 00:00:00 UTC
tags: [ 'gamedev', 'writing' ]
canonical_url: https://onwriting.games/daily/20231126-128-re-stretching-wildcards/
---

Today I wanted to share a small article written by my friend and fellow subscriber Nico Saraintaris.

For a bit more background, Nico and I worked together a few years ago on [Bloody Service](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1415020/Bloody_Service/), a game in which I developed a visceral frustration with the state of narrative engines (we used Ink for the game), which triggered the creation of cuentitos.

Nico is the creator of LCB Games, along with Fer.

They have been working on a series of games within a genre they call Pixel Pulps.

On Friday they published [an article about their creation process](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1933190/view/3901868081490074626). If you notice the article's name is similar to this list: yes, we are both a bit nerdy about Stephen King, what can we do.

In the article, they introduce two concepts: **stretching and wildcards**.

About stretching:

> In the Marvel Method, Stan Lee cannot stretch ad infinitum the text of a panel. Space is finite. But we? We can! We can keep a single image on screen and render as much text as we want. This process, which I call Stretching, allows us several things from a narrative point of view: to manage the reading pace, to build expectations, etc... But, more importantly, Stretching allows us to let players see Fer's work on screen for longer!

This is a great example of how we can use a property of interactive narrative that we don't have available in printed narrative (although we do in audiovisual).

While stretching is a good concept to dwell on, what interests me most personally are the wildcards.

Nico explains that, when he's writing the outline for the game, he sends it to Fer with some notes, and details that are not fully fleshed out.

Fer then sends Nico some artwork based on the outline:

> Once I receive Fer's storyboard, that's when things get interesting. The detail appears as an unavoidable presence, and many times I wonder why I chose what I chose, or why Fer chose what he chose. **Wildcards is letting go of the steering wheel for a while and then pick it up and straighten the car.** (emphasis mine)

So. Here's what's interesting to me.

Nico has long said that games are **inevitably** unique and that one shouldn't worry about doing "the same" as others, that each game has its touch because the people making it have a unique combination of interests and backgrounds.

I think this is the first time Nico has publicly talked about a concrete implementation of this idea in his production process.

What I find interesting is that the synergy they created between the two of them, in terms of writing, is nothing more than an injection of probability.

What do I mean by this? When one writes a lot, things tend to converge to a more or less stable point. What Nico and Fer achieve with their process is to add a point of randomness that undoubtedly makes the game's outcome better.

This also gives Fer a level of authorship that is not usually present in narrative video game projects, where the writers have all the control and the artists are limited to drawing.

As the late Sophie 💔 would say:

> If you need that something, but don't know what it is Shake, shake, shake it up and make it fizz

Great article, Nico, thank you so much for sharing your process 👏.

The interesting thing is that Nico developed this process because he has the **expectation** that whatever Fer introduces will create a better experience.

Can we do the same thing, but within our stories?