Data from CGTC:

"Technical communicators are well suited to reconfigure the developer-as writer model and situate themselves as professionals who can move seamlessly from creating internal artifacts to developing user-centered information products in forms and formats suited to computer game players and their goals." 17

technical communicators are trained in writing, design, rhetoric, research, and user experience (27)

Internal Documents

• guide during the production cycle
• keeping a team organized
• unified in their vision
• powerful reference tool for when a game may be converted to other platforms. (19)

Janet Murray - “agency” in interactive stories as the “satisfying power to take meaningful action and see the results of our decisions and choices” (126). With agency in mind, tutorials and game documentation take in a far greater role from the perspective of play. Without an understanding of controls and how specific actions might affect the game world, a player may feel lost and lose that all-important sense of agency. (20)

The GDD: highly collaborative, often referenced, continually revised, internal and external documentation

Most common errors with writing for audience, purpose, and context

Roles:

• Technical communication professionals continue to be audience analysts;
• they assess the situation and develop materials to meet the needs of both internal and external users.
• they work with technologies to “blend text, graphics, multidimensional images, sound, and video” to more effectively meet the needs of the audience.
• because of their work in specialized fields such as science, engineering, or software development, technical communicators may also manage “the flow of information” to support the team or workgroup (Bureau of Labor Statistics). (26)

Analyzing Text

• What is the purpose?
• Who is the audience?
• How is it formatted within relation to the genre?
• What makes this a manual?
• What is missing?
• How could you improve the document?