Rhianna Pratchett
Rhianna Pratchett
Rhianna Pratchettis an English video game writer, narrative designer, and journalist. She has worked on titles such as Tomb Raiderand its follow up, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Heavenly Sword, Overlord, and Mirror's Edge...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionDesigner
Date of Birth30 December 1976
climbing dad drew found games liked maps played trees
I liked climbing trees and could often be found up one reading a book. I played games with Dad and drew maps for him on isometric paper. It was very bonding.
based boys liked sisters
I'm an only child, so I never had sisters to tell me what I should like based on my gender. I liked what the boys were doing and thought: 'Why let them have all the fun?'
board central dad electrical generating job realised
When I was really young, Dad wasn't that well known. I don't remember when I realised he was a writer, but I do remember him leaving his full-time job at the Central Electrical Generating Board to concentrate on books.
adventures became happier humans rather warriors watching
Because I once became so distraught watching the film 'Watership Down,' my parents were happier to let me watch action adventures featuring humans and warriors rather than cute animals.
characters flesh medium people respect tend time treat writer
The thing with videogame characters is that they tend to be really undercooked, and people don't take the time to really flesh them out. They don't treat them with the respect that a writer writing characters in any other medium would treat their character.
playing since
I have been playing games since I was about 6, and they've always been a big hobby of mine.
fairly gone guided projects though toward types
My journalist sensibilities have guided me toward the types of projects I've gone for, even though the projects have been fairly diverse. It always has to have that interesting to attract me, I think.
although bit designers earlier fitting games included round slowly writers
Ideally, writers and narrative designers should be included much earlier in the process, where they can be of most benefit. However, although the industry is slowly getting used to fitting narrative professionals into games development, we're still going through a bit of a 'square-peg in a round hole' phase.
Cavorting around fantasy-style environments with a rampaging horde of sycophantic psychos is inherently amusing.
terrified
Showing a videogame character terrified and scared is something that's not really done that much.
games reviewing visiting
I did my degree in journalism, and I then went on to being a games journalist, reviewing and previewing games and writing about the industry, visiting and interviewing developers.
computers dad robotics
Dad was very into electronics, robotics and computers, so I was interested in what he was doing.
beside computer dad forecast graph hours moves plans sit worked
Dad loved computer games, and I would sit beside him for hours with graph paper, drawing out plans to try and forecast the moves he should make while he worked the computer controller.
along changing move videogames
Writing for videogames is really unique. You learn all the rules of writing, but there's a whole other set of rules for game writing, and we're changing them as we move along as well, which makes it more challenging.