L.A. Noire Script Is 22 Thousand Pages Long

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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L.A. Noire Script Is 22 Thousand Pages Long



Open world games typically have huge scripts with a lot of recorded dialogue, but 22,000 pages is excessive even for an expensively huge game like L.A. Noire [http://www.amazon.com/Noire-Playstation-3/dp/B002I0J5UQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1278962546&sr=1-1].

Brendan McNamara, co-founder and head of Team Bondi, told Edge Magazine that the script for its upcoming L.A. Noire has grown to astronomical proportions. The title has been in development since 2004 and its release has been pushed back several times. The long development time, in addition to the game's huge scope, has made it one of the ten most expensive games to make [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98682-Top-10-Most-Expensive-Games-Ever]. No release date is set for L.A. Noire, but it is expected in Q3 2010.

Brendan McNamara seems excited by the hugeness of his game. "The script's up to 22,000 pages," he told Edge Magazine. "That's two full years of a TV series and probably 12 feature films. It goes a lot of places!"

22k pages is really huge. Although McNamara compares it to TV and film, it's also bigger than most literary works. All three volumes of War and Peace [http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-50th-Anniversary-Vol/dp/0618640150/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278962595&sr=1-1] counts in at 1,475 pages.

Hell, the total page count of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, largely thought to be the longest, most drawn out story of all time, is currently 10,508 pages. That's less than half of the amount of writing in L.A. Noire.

Sure, there are less words per page in entertainment writing, but, still, the numbers here are staggering.

The really funny thing is that all of those pages are going to be read by one man. And that man's name is Don LaFontaine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine].

"In a world, ruled by sex, greed and corruption..."

Source: ConnectedConsoles [http://connectedconsoles.com/ps3-LA-Noire-Script-Is-Up-To-22000-Pages-Long.cfm]

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Feb 13, 2008
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Greg Tito said:
The really funny thing is that all of those pages are going to be read by one man. And that man's name is Don LaFontaine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine].

"In a world, ruled by sex, greed and corruption..."
THE Don LaFontaine?

I'm all over this like a rash.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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The_root_of_all_evil said:
Greg Tito said:
The really funny thing is that all of those pages are going to be read by one man. And that man's name is Don LaFontaine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine].

"In a world, ruled by sex, greed and corruption..."
THE Don LaFontaine?

I'm all over this like a rash.
Don't scratch it, or else it will spread...

OT: Wow. Ok thats a huge script, but will the game be any good?

One can hope...
 
Dec 14, 2009
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I don't really know much about this game but if it will be as deep as 22,000 pages implies then I will keep an eye on this I think.
 

Masonhome

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Sep 9, 2008
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Well, considering LaFontaine's been DEAD for about two years now (click the link if you don't believe me), and also considering that this game has been under numerous redevelopments, I find it hard to believe that he's going to do ALL the pages.

But still, TOTALLY AWESOME!!!
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Thats alot of words o.o makes you wonder how long it is going to be...

It also makes you wonder how much of it will actually be heard.

That many words for a game is simply staggaring! Anyone have on hand how many words are in Bioware games like Dragon Age or Mass Effect? I know theyhad a staggering amount too
 

CezarIgnat

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Jul 5, 2009
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Masonhome said:
Well, considering LaFontaine's been DEAD for about two years now (click the link if you don't believe me)
Hmm...yes that might prove to be a small impediment.
 

shogunblade

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Apr 13, 2009
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The long development time, in addition to the game's huge scope, has made it one of the ten most expensive games to make. No release date is set for L.A. Noire, but it is expected in Q3 2010.
Is this going to be the Avatar of the Video game Realm?

So many years to make and so much money? I'd invest in a PS3 for this game, I think. I just hope it's really really good.
 

DarkSaber

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Dec 22, 2007
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Don't scripts typically contain MORE than just dialogue though?

Nevertheless I'm remaining skeptical at how much of the 22,000 pages actually ARE in the game, and how much is just hyperbole.
 

SnipErlite

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Aug 16, 2009
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I still read this game's title as La Noire. Like with a french la. Hmm.

Also that's one hell of a huge amount of script, hope it's actually any good.
 

bakonslayer

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Apr 15, 2009
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xDHxD148L0 said:
As long as theres still more gameplay than cuscenes, its ok.
Gameplay in our Video Games? Don't be so old fashioned! Why think tank puzzles and new pressing game mechanics when you can easily write 22,000 pages and toss some buttons on the screen? Or, if you need to throw a puzzle or two in just copy something from Braid. Game done in 3 years if we rush it!
 

Cowabungaa

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Feb 10, 2008
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Greg Tito said:
The really funny thing is that all of those pages are going to be read by one man. And that man's name is Don LaFontaine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine].
I'm all for it but, he kinda died in 2008. So em, how's that supposed to work?

Still, I only recently learned about this game, and already did it make me nerdgasm. Classical film-noir? *shudder*
 

GonzoGamer

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Apr 9, 2008
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HG131 said:
The_root_of_all_evil said:
Greg Tito said:
The really funny thing is that all of those pages are going to be read by one man. And that man's name is Don LaFontaine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine].

"In a world, ruled by sex, greed and corruption..."
THE Don LaFontaine?

I'm all over this like a rash.
He's dead. How do the dead read?
That's what I thought.
Zombie Don!

This game is either going to be really interesting or terribly boring.
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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So what, is it going to be 500 hours long then?

I'm wondering how far spread the quality is across 20,000 pages.
 

SharedProphet

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Oct 9, 2008
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Greg Tito said:
22k pages is really huge. Although McNamara compares it to TV and film, it's also bigger than most literary works. All three volumes of The Lord of The Rings is only around 1,000 pages. Most Bible translations top out about 1,200 pages. The paperback of Tolstoy's War and Peace counts in at 1,475 pages.

Hell, the total page count of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, largely thought to be the longest, most drawn out story of all time, is currently 10,508 pages.
Not in manuscript format [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript_format], which would be a better comparison.

This is a picture Patrick Rothfuss put on his blog of his first-draft manuscript of The Wise Man's Fear, compared to the hardcover of its predecessor, The Name of the Wind:

The Wise Man's Fear will maybe be 400ish pages longer than The Name of the Wind (based on his statement that it would be at least 100,000 words longer, and stuff online saying that equates to about 400 pages), which should bring it in at over 1000 pages, but you can see that in manuscript pages it comes out to a whole lot more...

Anyway, hopefully it isn't 22,000 pages of crap.