It’s in the Game The Art of Creating a Helpful Video Game Guide (Super-Ultra-Hyper-Championship Edition)

HALO! (sorry) I’m Andrew Mills Senior Information Developer for Arm in Cambridge You can tweet me here: @the_tech_author Or e-mail me at: andrew@samus.co.uk

How I started writing video game guides 1. Uncharted Grounds How I started writing video game guides

A Link to the Past The first game I played was Centipede when I was 7. I began writing gaming guides when I was 12. In 1999 I had my first magazine guide published. My first professional guide was for Metroid Prime 2. By 2012 I’d produced over 140 professional guides. Formats include: print, web, DVD, eBooks, and apps.

My first printed guide in N64 Magazine, 1999.

2. Shadow of my Colossus Making help... helpful

My Ultimate Goal To remove a player’s frustration by making easy to replicate solutions that work every time.

Max Pain How to make it helpful. Replay key ‘bottlenecks’ until I had a solution that worked 100% of the time and was easy to replicate. Would never move on until I was confident other people could copy my strategies (so not “lucky”). Screenshots should add real value and help. If it’s hard for me, then it’ll be hard for others too.

That warm, fuzzy, feeling you get for helping someone

3. My Journey Key considerations

Wipedout Questions I needed to ask myself for every game: What format(s) is the game available for? What style/genre of game is it? Does it even need a guide? Would it likely sell well enough to justify making? What type of guide would work best? Full guide? Bosses only? Collectables & achievements/trophies only?

The Author May Cry How many hours will it take to finish once? How many collectables does it have? Does it reveal where you’re missing any? Are they in separate categories? What save options are available? How often does the game auto-save? Can I copy, backup, or import saves as needed? Any announced DLC plans?

Hardware and software requirements 4. A Mass Effect Hardware and software requirements

Hardware What tools did I need to make a game guide? Pre-release code requires a special dev’ kit. High-Definition capture card (e.g. Elgato). Lots of hard-drive space for video captures. OBS for PC game video capture. 3DS games required a specially-modded 3DS. Microphone for audio commentary.

Software What tools did I need to make a game guide? Audio, image, and video editing package (Adobe CC). Sigil (free ePub editor). Notepad++ (free HTML and CSS editor). MS Word VLC for taking screenshots from video footage.

The production workflow 5. My Half-Life The production workflow

An overview of the process Play and observe Create a flatplan for content Formulate strategies on replay Record video of final strats Timestamp key areas in video Write guide/script based on videos Take screens from video Export guide to other formats

My video game guide ideas for the future 6. Modern Warfare My video game guide ideas for the future

Place your screenshot here Live Guide Place your screenshot here Uses APIs to get info in real-time from the game. Auto-opens at the place where you’re stuck (at a checkpoint, at a boss, e.g.) You can scale the level of help you need (from basic hints to full detail). Tracks all collectables automatically. Full stats from multiplayer matches. Analyses playstyle and makes suggestions for improvement. Text, video, and audio help available.

THANKS! Got any questions? You can find me at: @the_tech_author andrew@samus.co.uk LinkedIn: techauthor

CREDITS Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free: Presentation template by SlidesCarnival Photographs by Unsplash