Directing Voice Actors for Space Frontier

Plus 2023’s Last AMA

Last week, Space Frontier, a sci-fi survival RPG, finished its first Steam playtest. This title is the first roleplaying game I worked on, and I’m so proud of our team and the contributions I made to this game.

I translated and localized the script from Korean to English and directed the voice actors for the game. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at my work on Space Frontier.

We’re a couple hours into the New Year here in Seoul, and this year comes with major changes for my life that I’m excited to share with you all next week. Stay tuned for an update on January 7th.

Until then, here’s our final AMA for 2023.

December 2023 AMA

This month’s questions are in reference to our Story Hourglass lesson, which was the second lesson of our three-part How to Write a Synopsis series. You can check out all three lessons at the links below:

• The 15-Beat Synopsis

• The Story Hourglass

• The Final Synopsis

1. How do I better connect my Midpoint and Bad Guys Close In beats?

Let’s start by reviewing our definitions of these two Save the Cat beats.

Midpoint

The Midpoint is the second, big turning point in the story. Since the Turn Into Act II, the protagonist has been actively pursuing a goal. But due to their fears or misbeliefs, they’re likely going about things in the wrong way. Since the protagonist has not yet transformed to survive the story, they typically experience a false victory or a false defeat around the 50% mark of the story.

Bad Guys Close In

The Bad Guys Close In beat is the sequence where the antagonist continuously creates new obstacles that interfere with the protagonist’s new external goal. If the protagonist experiences a false victory at the Midpoint, this sequence is often a downward spiral for them. If the protagonist experienced a false defeat, this sequence is often an upward path that offers a small win before the All Is Lost beat.

I think part of the struggle with using our lesson material to connect these two beats is coming from the fact that we haven’t done an in-depth lesson for the second half of Act II yet. Thank you so much for your patience with waiting for this lesson. For the last three months, my day job has kept me busy with preparations for Space Frontier’s playtest. I look forward to writing this lesson when I have the time and energy to make it a useful resource for your writing life.

All that said, here are two tips for structuring the second half of ActII, also known as Act IIB. Until our lesson is ready, I recommend checking out The Story Solution for a guide to help you structure this section of your story. For now, here are two suggestions. As always, take what’s useful and leave what’s not.

Act IIB Advice