Dan Houser revealed his secret recipe for writing video games.
Dan was asked in the recent IGN interview how he set about writing Rockstar’s games. Senior executive editor Ryan McAffrey asked Dan if he started with the characters, or location.
Dan said:
I think it changed over time.
But Dan did share what he referred to as his equation for writing video games.
Dan Houser’s ‘Equation’ For Writing Grand Theft Auto
I think from a writing perspective, I hopefully got better as I went along, as I began to understand the process more. By Grand Theft Auto IV, we really tried to make it a more character-rich experience.
But it was always this combination of – it was almost like an equation – the tone of the world multiplied by the personality of the lead character. That was the game.
Houser’s History Before Grand Theft Auto
Dan and his brother Sam Houser were founding members of Rockstar Games. However, they were not part of the original developer team at DMA Design.
Instead, they got their start as part time employees of BMG Interactive. In this capacity, they got BMG to sign the rights to a DMA game called Rock’N’Chase.
Those of you who know this history will know that Rock’N’Chase would later be better known as the first 2D top down PlayStation classic, Grand Theft Auto.
Learning On The Job
So Dan didn’t actually start out as a video game writer. He also revealed that Rockstar’s writers already laid out a story for Grand Theft Auto III and he made adjustments to it.
As we had pointed out before, the creative process at Rockstar was always collaborative. Dan, his brother Sam, and Leslie Benzies all got to bring their input in for what was ultimately a team effort.
Between Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar worked on a variety of games, even testing different genres. Dan would get seasoned from these experiences, and that’s how he figured out what worked and what didn’t.
What Houser Is Bringing To His New Absurd Ventures
McAffrey referred to one of Houser’s upcoming projects, American Caper, as darker than anything he’s written in Grand Theft Auto.
Houser doesn’t quite agree, citing Trevor’s story in Grand Theft Auto V. But he did point out the graphic novel take the story of the career criminal from an origin and in a direction that he couldn’t explore in Grand Theft Auto.
That sounds like a creator who’s pushing himself forward after past glories. It’ll be fascinating to see what Dan makes on his own.
