Bark WRITING

A sample set of reactive character barks written for Project ZR, a team-based extraction/BR game. These lines were designed to reflect character voice, reinforce gameplay goals, and create emotional beats during high-stakes combat.

Goals for this bark system:

• Communicate key gameplay states (objectives, success/failure, threats, etc.)

• Reinforce character personalities through line delivery

• Minimize repetition fatigue by offering line variety and modularity

• Contribute to tone: Tomoe is dry, tactical, and deadpan; Nova is excitable, chaotic, and emotionally expressive

System Considerations:

• Lines needed to be under ~3 seconds for VO feasibility

• Modular enough to allow batching by event type and priority

• Designed for a four-player co-op environment

• Avoided heavy lore exposition to keep lines punchy during gameplay

Examples of Bark Categories Included:

• Objective setup ("Kill the dragon, retrieve the Anchor")

• Success/failure state (“Anchor secured,” “They got the Anchor”)

• Urgent escape cues (“The world is collapsing”)

• Victory screen chatter

• Combat zone entry (“Too much Anomaly presence here”)

Bonus video of Tomoe and Nova actors in the booth:

NOVA:

Slay a dragon? How hard could it be?

Look, I know a LOT about killing dragons. Hypothetically.

Dragon’s basically toast already.