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Building a Narrative

Building a Narrative

Calla Murphy spotted a long stick lying on the forest floor. It would’ve been perfect for playing Hogwarts with her brother as a child. She twirled it, mimicking the movements she’d picked up from the movies. Her hand spasmed involuntarily, throwing the makeshift wand into the darkness of the forest.

She reassured herself that her squad would be fine in the end. They had the training and the tools to survive. They were smart, resourceful and they knew how to make the hard decisions.

Their trek from Philadelphia to the abandoned farm house was pure pain. Friends were lost in the city, and now they had lost another. Roy Walsh had gotten sick from a bite he sustained trying to save a child in the city. They stopped at the farmhouse with the sole intention of letting Roy rest and heal until they received further orders. Then Roy had turned. And the orders never came.

Calla sighed, taking one final look at the bright hunter’s moon illuminating her in the clearing in she had chosen. She peeled back the bandage on her wrist. What was once a mere scratch had degenerated into an oozing black wound with venial electricity crawling up her arm and spreading throughout her body. The veins infected her thoughts, making her itchy… scratchy. She knew she didn’t have much time before she ended up like Roy.

She placed the barrel of her M4 into her mouth, her good arm finger her thumb into the trigger piece.

She reassured herself that her squad would be fine in the end.


Hey everyone! My name’s Jeremy Ferretti (codename infr4mer), and this is the beginning of my dev blog. I am the lead writer/narrative guy for No More Room in Hell 2. This blog post will be an introduction to me, how I came to join the NMRiH2 dev team, and what we hope to accomplish with the story of NMRiH2.

I’ve been a part of the NMRiH community since 2004 when Half-Life 2 was first released. I still remember that cold December when I first discovered HL2. I remember being blown away by all the games that were being developed as a part of the HL2 mod community. Personally I was most excited for the mod D.E.A.D. (which has long been dead), but next on my favorites was the mod No More Room in Hell. Due to their team’s outstanding community outreach I quickly became friends with everyone through mIRC and Ventrillo. Most importantly, I became friends with a guy named Maxx. We instantly clicked, bonding over our love for plants, selling drugs in Garry’s Mod roleplaying servers, creating fake videogame companies, and making concepts for games that will never (and should never) see the light of day.

As life went on, Maxx worked tirelessly on NMRiH1 while I worked on developing my storytelling career, going on to write a few screenplays, a few novels, and a few totally awesome short comics.

After NMRiH1 was released and NMRiH2 began development, Maxx decided they needed a narrative guy, someone to help develop the world of NMRiH2, to create a coherent timeline where a zombie apocalypse could take place in, to create a backstory for each of the maps so they could logically fit in this timeline.

I believe it was David ‘Dman’ Meade who suggested me for the job, having known I could produce workable writing on a tight schedule (at my best I could write 2,000 fiction words an hour). I instantly agreed to help.

Sadly the world has become over saturated with zombie stories, but being able to tell one in a unique, dynamic way on my own terms seemed like a good challenge. I knew this game would give me the opportunity to tell the typical zombie story in a way I had never seen before. NMRiH2 wouldn’t rely on intrusive cutscenes or heavy ham-fisted dialogue from mouthy protagonists as so many video games do nowadays.

Another (unrelated) draw I had to NMRiH2 was the knowledge that a great realistic zombie survival hasn’t been created yet. There have been plenty of stellar zombie games, but most of them end up turning into arcade style shoot-em-ups. But that’s a whole different story for another time.

My favorite video games are those where the story isn’t the main draw. Video game storytelling is still in its infancy. It’s still a developing field with tons of indie devs breaking grounds on how stories can be told in games. When it comes to modern shooters, there seems to a pretty popular formula: you shoot bad guys, then comes a cutscene, shoot bad guys, another cutscene. That’s not what we’re going for for NMRiH2.

Half-Life 1 did storytelling quite well in my opinion. The story is all there if you pay attention, but it doesn’t really get in the way of the game. That’s what I would like to emulate in this game. A game where the story is there if you want to follow it, but we’re not gonna shove it down your throat.

So that’s where we’re at. Out of all the dev posts, you’re probably going to hear the most from me, considering writing is something I just do. Commentary on what I’m working on also helps me work better and more efficiently.

Plans for my upcoming dev posts include the inspiration for NMRiH2, the life behind the Night of the Living Dead map, the timeline of our fictional universe, the characters we will populate the worlds with, and the ideas for the upcoming campaigns.

Until next time, infr4mer out.
Jeremy “infr4mer” Ferretti also publishes his web comic Exits – A Paranormal Comedy (among others) at his website aberrantink.com

                                             

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18 Comments

  • Rafael Urdaneta (Steam: Stay.Dark|Rck)
    May 17, 2017 at 8:36 pm

    From: Venezuela.

    That narrative has bristled my skin..!
    That’s a very good job, continue like this. 🙂

  • Michael
    May 18, 2017 at 2:34 am

    the little ”sample” of the narrative or whatever is really cool!

  • Antonio Lombardo
    May 18, 2017 at 11:02 pm

    Finally a realistic game is coming but more better then nmrih1 i cant whait, please do your best, make it more awesome as you can, and we will all love you 4 ever <3 ( Thank you from Italy )

  • Ahren
    May 20, 2017 at 9:53 am

    As a writer myself, I hope you are able to create story that is intriguing and realistic. Intriguing in a way that, the story becomes something people can talk about even after the game and realistic in a way that, the story itself seems possible to occur in the premise of the game at least. I give you the best of luck on your journey in crafting a narrative that you see fit for this game.

  • Jumi
    May 21, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    PLZ do it !!!!

  • Rasim
    May 27, 2017 at 5:11 pm

    Just want to say thank you for the job, you are doing well.
    (With love from Russia)

    • Infr4mer
      June 20, 2017 at 9:59 pm

      Thank you for the kind words my Russian friend!

  • Ravager
    May 28, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    “itchy… scratchy”

    Remembers me of “Keeper’s Diary” in the first R.E.
    Feels about right some (almost) forgotten things coming to mind when seeing a quote like that!

    Btw, Jeremy, read out this one:

    “School’s out. For ever.

    Hated the place…

    The bullies… Even in their deaths, they’ll not stop preying on others, but now it’s a matter of life or death. Trapped some down in the basement. Their stench is now just a reminder for myself to keep on living. Used a few of them to learn how to swing a baseball bat.

    The lunch… How I long for that horrible, greasy fast food that sold at the cantina, again! Almost all of it has already spoiled, rotten – as the new , uh… “inmates” of the school…

    Hated most those gym classes, was never a good runner, but that gave me some leverage when it all started. The teacher, Mr. Wilson, was a heartless bastard, even when he was just a kid, my father told me. The bully of his time, his nemesis… But turned out a quick meal for the dead, along with the other teachers. Wish my dad could see his demise. Dad, I miss you, old man!

    But also loved it. Because of ‘her’. Dark hair, some freckles, a warm smile. She was not popular, but was really cute. I knew her since we were seven years old, or so. I’ve seen that weird, tomboyish girl turn into a woman. Just think it is a shame that we will not have the prom ball. I would surely invite her out.
    I remember she saying, some time ago, about her stepfather’s gun collection… Has them made it through, or took the way out? I wonder if she’s still alive…

    Well, that gives me some ideas…
    Here, I have shelter, but the food and water is almost gone. I know that out there is a hell, with all those walking corpses in hunt for a bite on fresh, living flesh… At least most of the fires are already out. The hardest thing will be finding a route to her house, I can’t even imagine what I’ll found on my way there… Eight blocks, give or take.
    But it’s my only chance. If I don’t take the risk, I’ll die, anyway.

    Luckily, I can find her safe and sound at home!
    Time to leave this place for good!
    But first, I’ll grab some chemicals in the school’s labs, and think about something to divert the dead off my way… Now I think this place was not a total waste of time…”

    • calvin
      June 18, 2017 at 5:39 pm

      that story was absolutely awesome.
      it felt like it came straight out of TheWalkingDead.

      • Infr4mer
        June 20, 2017 at 9:51 pm

        Ah man, I remember when I first read Walking Dead #1 in school. My friend gave it to me as a birthday gift. I read it under my desk in the middle of history class and gave it back to him because I felt bad knowing I wouldn’t be able to take care of the comic. Maaan, if I still had that thing, I’d be a couple thousand dollars richer.

        Take care of your comics, you never know which one’s gonna be the next huge hit.

        Thanks calvin.

    • Infr4mer
      June 20, 2017 at 9:58 pm

      Wew, that’s some dark stuff! Keep up the writing work, my dude.

      Reminds me of a story I have sitting on the back burner called The Story of Zeb. It’s about a kid who shows up to school to kill the people who bullied him, but when he gets there he finds half the school has been zombified and he’s the only one with a gun. Chaos ensues.

      Thanks Ravager.

      • Ravager
        December 9, 2017 at 7:22 am

        Thx for the kind words, mate!
        You guys should make sort of a contest, where players could write out some background for a character (of their own creation). Then, just give 2-3 of them life in the game, with credits and all, as a way of rewarding and inspiring their creativity even further.
        But then again, that would be an insanely hard work…
        What about Florida’s swamps and bayous? Zombies and alligators competing for food, hunting each other would be fun, too!

  • timmy chikoriteh
    May 28, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    yes! keep it up! this will be amazing 🙂

    • Infr4mer
      June 20, 2017 at 9:47 pm

      Thanks for the vote of confidence Timmy. NMRiH2 will be nothing short of amazing, my friend.

  • PİCAHCU
    June 17, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    PLS NO BYUİN FREE TO PLAY VERY LOVER A GAME

  • Blazk0
    June 20, 2017 at 10:27 am

    This looks like its coming along great guys, keep it up. i was a HUGE fan of nmrih. Youve got my money for sure! Cant WAIT!

    • Infr4mer
      June 20, 2017 at 9:45 pm

      Thanks Blazk0. Your support means a lot to the team and me. We’ll be sure to deliver a product worth your money! 😉

  • Quincy Gatten
    May 7, 2022 at 5:23 am

    Not Even Aliens Can Explain this Bullshit

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