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Game Script Style Guide

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edrovinhaz edited this page Apr 1, 2026 · 12 revisions

Introduction

For anyone implementing changes to the game's script, to keep things consistent please follow these conventions.

General

For all spelling, the target is US English.

Numbers

  • Amounts of things, measurements of time: 1-100 spelled out, decimals and 101+ as numerals (eg. three gates, twelve years, 0.67 seconds, 500 years)
  • Abbreviated, unabbreviated, or implicit measurements: always numerals (5 kph, 10 repsol per hour, 1000 sharls, incoming speed 120)
  • Ages: always numerals (eg. aged 3, 7 years old, my son is 16)
  • Money: always numerals (eg. 3000G)
  • Game mechanics/counters: always numerals (eg. 2 AP, 3 Action Points, 1 HP)
  • Percentages: always numerals (eg. 1%, 100%)
  • Countdowns: always numerals (eg. 3...2...1..., commencing in 3...)
  • Computer readouts: always numerals (eg you have 19 unread mails)
  • Military divisions/buildings: always numerals/ordinals (3rd Fleet, 11th Development Base)
  • Military manoeuvres/stages: always numerals (BattConn level 1, mark 3, pattern 10)
  • Component/room/vehicle ID: always numerals (eg. torpedo tube 6, turret 2, bridge 3)

Punctuation and emphasis

  • "Double quotes around complete dialogue where the speaker is named". No quotes around dialogue where the speaker is not named.
  • No quotes around signage text (eg. Laughing Fox & Piglet Tavern, No Entry)
  • Single quotes for text read from a diary, graffiti etc (eg. 'Stop the njections yew quack.')
  • Single quotes for 'quoted' or 'emphasised' terms in the dialogue of ANY character.
  • Single quotes for direct reference to selecting a UI element (eg. select 'Arcane' to open a spells list).
  • Key terms may be put in 'single quotes' when first introduced or explained. Once will usually be enough.
  • Space after ellipses when at the end of a sentence... But no space when...the sentence continues like this.
  • S-Stuttered words at the start of a sentence are capitalised before and after the dash, but otherwise n-not.
    • Before the dash, the entire first sound of the stuttered word should be r-repeated, th-thanks.
  • Asterisks around onomatopoeic words like *huff*, *groan*, but not around phonetics like argh, tch.
  • Words within asterisks should not be capitalised (unless all caps) or have any punctuation outside them, apart from ellipses. Generally treat them like standalone clauses.
    • *sigh* If you insist...
    • *cough*... Know what I mean? ...*cough*
    • ...*huff, puff*...
  • Interrobangs are exclamation mark first, okay!?
  • Em dash with spaces for emphasis of explanatory clauses — this being one example.
  • Parenthetical em dashes where — such as in this example — deemed suitable. Again include the spaces.
  • Immediate em dash then a space for end of a line where someone is— Interrupted by themself or someone else.
    • No question mark after an interruption, only when it was obviously going to be a question (eg. Why did—)
    • Exclamations (and therefore interrobangs) after a heated interruption are ok (eg. That's not—! Why the hell—!?)
  • - Dashes with spaces around headings for some computer readouts etc -
  • Tildes for elongating vowels only when the character is si~ngi~ng.
  • Acronyms never have full stops, so DNA not D.N.A.
  • Always okay, never OK or O.K.
  • Alright rather than all right.
  • Since we cannot use italics, use all caps for words that HAVE to be emphasised. Try to use sparingly.

Titles

Use title case for the speakers of dialogue boxes, location names, items, in-game books etc:

  • Mysterious Woman
  • Man in Black
  • Red-Haired Man
  • Mountain Path
  • Entrance to Shevat Palace
  • Ether Doubler
  • The Adventures of Big Joe

Always capitalise titles and ranks if it's a reference to a specific person, otherwise not. Examples:

  • Yes, Commander.
  • Go ask the Commander.
  • It's not easy being commander.
  • You're the doc, Doc.
  • Will you be joining us, good Doctor?
  • Young Master, how could you?
  • Where is the Young Master?
  • This is Queen Zephyr?
  • Protect the Queen.
  • They say the Prince was lost.
  • I'm not sure if I can become king.

Likewise, for capital cities:

  • Let's return to the Capital.
  • This is the Imperial Capital of Kislev.
  • We're so proud of our nation's capital! (Grey area?)
  • Does every nation have a capital?

Control schemes/save operations

In terms of casing, follow the PlayStation TRC wherever possible:

  • Left/right/up/down directional button(s)
  • SELECT button
  • START button
  • X button etc (each face button requires use of a pointer, mapped to a special font character)
  • L1/L2/L3/R1/R2/R3 button(s)
  • Memory Card slot 1/2

(See section 7.0 in https://psx.arthus.net/sdk/Psy-Q/DOCS/TECHNOTE/mtrc13.pdf)

Handling furigana/gikun

In the Japanese game script, furigana is indicated by angled brackets, so you frequently see key terms in the form: concept<reading> (for example, 死霊＜ウェルス＞). Handle these by working both the concept and the name (reading) into the dialogue once, either when something is first introduced or when there is some exposition of it, and from then on using the name only.

Notes

When inserting em dashes into the script txt files, they must be typed as a double dash inside angled brackets like so <--> This is so that Xenolater will map them correctly to the font file.

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