This week we had a lecture on quests. I enjoyed considering quests as the bridge between the ludology vs. narratology debate. The intrinsic meaning and action found within their framework makes them well suited to ensure that narrative and gameplay can complement each other.

I enjoyed going through the steps of conceptualizing a quest in the GAM140 workshop. It was great to take the concept from initial idea, being represented as a flowchart (fig. 1), through to actually drawing up the spaces that the quest would take place in, and how each narrative beat would fit in spatially and temporally. By the end of the workshop I had a relatively fleshed out idea for a quest and level design, that I feel has potential to be the basis of my annotated level design.

(Above) Figure 1: Screenshot. The flowchart made to represent my quest idea in this week’s workshop.

This week I have fully implemented the navigation system within my game. While it is very simple, I think it is effective in creating the feeling of progression and disorientation within the player, as well as serving as a small palette cleansers in-between dialogue sections (figs. 2 & 3). It works by fading to different ‘views’ when a button is pressed, using Fungus commands, with each view having it’s own block in the flowchart (fig. 4). Essentially, the game will cycle between different PNG images, dependent on which paths you choose, which works surprisingly well. I have also created a separate custom menu for these navigational sections, placing the buttons at the bottom of the screen, taking up some of the blank space left by the floor.

(Above, top) Figures 2 & 3: Screenshots. The navigation system in-game. Simple button inputs to advance / choose which direction to take. (Above, bottom) Figure 4: Screenshot. The simple flowchart used to enable navigation.

I have also included most of the dialogue for The Pallid Giants, the second character that players will meet. As someone interested in philosophy and metaphysics, the dialogue has been very enjoyable, and challenging, to write. A big aspect of this character is the fact that they attribute colours to emotion, and are able to tune into the ‘aura’ that emotions give out. To aid me with this, I read an article on ‘colour psychology’ (Swarnakshi, 2021), which detailed the different psychological attributes and effects of particular colours. I understand that there are issues with this, as colours can mean vastly different things across cultures, so I have tried to be as accurate to Western culture as possible, with this being an issue to look into if I were ever to develop the project further.

I have also implemented the possibility to encounter the Soul Slugs that were made last week (fig. 5). Currently, when encountering them, you get the choice to increase or decrease particular statistics. I think that they help to give the player a sense of agency, as they are able to affect their statistics in a more direct way than outcomes from dialogue choices. It also means that players will have more unique play experiences, as the slugs are missable, and only found on particular routes.

(Above) Figure 5: Screenshot. An encounter with a Soul Slug, following this dialogue you get a choice for how to affect your stats.

References:

For GAM140, this week was the introduction of the second part of our assignment; the annotated 3D level design. The theory lecture touched on many interesting concepts, particularly relating to the design of 3D space from an architectural standpoint. Through effective use of intimate, narrow, prospect, and refuge spaces we can evoke particular emotions within players by tapping into our own evolutionary psychology and how we subconsciously navigate spaces. When used in tandem with form, void, light, and shade the effect that a level’s design has on a player can be huge. I took time to fully read the article that we touched on in the lecture (Totten, 2011). It was also interesting to think of levels in terms of labyrinths, mazes or rhizomes and how each framework can work for or against the player, dependant on gameplay style.

Within the workshop, we got to be more hands-on and put what we learnt about 3D spaces into practice with modular assets. By using a free modular asset pack (AurynSky, 2019), I created a rough layout for a generic dungeon room (fig. 1). As you can see, I have used narrow space with the corridors, which contain traps to pass through, heightening the sense of danger that this type of space gives the player. I have also employed a sightline – from either end of the corridor the chest is visible to the player, enticing them to risk entering at the prospect of a reward. In this sense, the prospect/refuge loop has also been employed. I really enjoyed this practical application of our theory, and it will surely help in my development of my 3D annotated level design as part of my assignment.

(Above) Figure 1: Screenshot. The dungeon room example made with modular assets.

This week I have also fully finished writing and implementing the dialogue for Ego, with the final word count reaching 1000 words for the finished script. After playing through the full encounter with a timer, it seems that it takes roughly three minutes to get through (somewhat dependant on which choices you make). This is much longer than I initially anticipated, meaning that with my current plan the entire game could take upwards of fifteen minutes to finish, with the navigation sections included. Because of this, and how much time it has taken to include just one encounter, I have decided to scale back my scope slightly. There will now be five characters in the game, rather than seven. As much as I would love to have all seven characters in the finished project, I have to think realistically about how much workload I can manage, especially with the other projects I have running concurrently. It also means that I can focus on making the dialogue for each character high quality, with good pacing and decision-making. Additionally, thanks to the modularity of Fungus, if I wanted to develop this project further down the line, I could add these characters in my own time.

Due to this reduction in scope, I understand that there will be less room for meaningful choice during navigation, with the majority of pathways leading you to the same outcome. In an attempt to negate this, I have decided that I will include pickups to be found while traversing the labyrinth (fig.3). Taking the form of ‘Soul Slugs’, finding one of these will grant you a stat boost or reduction of your choice, making different dialogue options and outcomes accessible further down the line. By having these in the game, I’m hoping that each player will be able to finish the game with very different stats and feeling like they had a unique experience.

(Above) Figure 3: Screenshot. The Soul Slug sprite made in Aseprite.

Next week, I am going to focus largely on getting the navigation portions of the game working, as well as starting to write the script for Emotion’s dialogue.

References:

As of this week, I have finished up the majority of the character portraits in Aseprite (2016). In line with my initial artwork for Ego, I have employed a grayscale aesthetic. I also took great care to have their design be reflective of their what they represent. For instance, Emotion (fig.1) is represented here as large, imposing renditions of the comedy and tragedy masks of theatre, reflecting the dramatic impact our leading emotional responses have over our lives, as well as the multi-sided nature they exhibit. Similarly, Memory (fig. 2) is a CRT TV with amorphous on-screen static. A product of a bygone era, with unclear, fuzzy picture, much like our recollections of the past. Id (fig.3) is the slovenly counterpart to Ego’s thoroughly kempt look. In psychology, the Id is theorised to be our ‘unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires,’ (Cherry, 2020), hence his sluggish, hedonistic design.

(Above, left) Figure 1: Screenshot. Emotion’s portrait. (Above, middle) Figure 2: Screenshot. Memory’s portrait. (Above, right) Figure 3: Screenshot. Id’s portrait. 

Another big addition to the project this week has been the inclusion of a functional ‘stats’ box on-screen (fig. 4). I titled the box ‘baggage’ as a reference to the weight that our emotions and characteristics have on our daily life, and as an effort to make more of the UI feed into the narrative, as touched on in a previous lecture. I have also changed the dialogue sections to take place against a black backdrop now, to draw more attention to the characters (fig. 5). This was done by using the ‘fade to view’ command, and fading the camera view into a blank screen. Initially, I was concerned about how I would be able to present the statistics to the player, as I am not particularly fluent with programming. Luckily, thanks to the online forums, I learnt that by using the ‘Set Variable’ and ‘Set Text’ commands, I am able to update the text component of this panel through Fungus (fig. 6). This means that I will be able to be update the stats easily on the fly, while the player is engaged in dialogue. I have plans for certain dialogue options to be available depending on your stats, so this is a great foundation to work on and means that the player will always be aware of what their current stats look like. As you can see in the command box, I have also utilised the ‘Wait’ command at the top of the block. This is in attempt to slow the pacing a little, as it seemed easy to accidentally click through text too quickly. I have also used the colour tag to accentuate the text denoting a stat increase or decrease. Hopefully this will signpost its significance to the player, as well as differentiate it from the character’s spoken dialogue – letting the player know that this piece of text is not being spoken by the character.

(Above, top left) Figure 4: Screenshot. The look of the stat box, with some example statistics. (Above, top right) Figure 5: Screenshot. The new aesthetic of the dialogue sections, this feels much cleaner, and somewhat breaks up the navigational sections. (Above, bottom) Figure 6: Screenshot. My use of the ‘Set Variable’ and ‘Set Text commands to change the stat box through Fungus.

This week’s GAM140 lecture on the laws of UX presented some interesting theories. I particularly enjoyed checking out the ‘Laws of UX’ website (Yablonski, 2021), and reading up on the different ways in which player experience can be streamlined with these different models. Of particular relevance to my Fungus project, I zoned in on Jakob’s Law and Hick’s Law. I feel that my UI design is already quite evocative of other choice-based narrative games, however if I make any updates or additions, I will remember to keep in mind that players will subconsciously be expecting a certain presentation and layout. I also am making effort to ensure that the player does not get overwhelmed with choices while they play. Currently, none of the choice intervals exceed three options at any given time, but I can easily see this increasing as the game progresses, so I will make sure to carefully consider these at each stage. I think that in general, I want the difficulty of choice to come from the choices themselves, rather than choice-paralysis due to overwhelm.

References:

Aseprite. 2016. David Capello, Igara Studios.

I have been busy writing more dialogue for the game this week. Already, I am noticing how time-consuming it is to write branching dialogue. You can spend a long time writing pages of dialogue, which the player may only see a small portion of. It’s a lot of work but I’m very much enjoying the challenge, and chance to flex my creative-writing muscles! To aid me with my writing, I have checked out some interesting Gamasutra articles. I read a fascinating article on how developers approach the design and writing of their characters (Bradley, 2018). It seems that there is no one set way to approach this – with some developers moulding their characters to fit into the world and narrative, whereas others shape the narrative around the characters and their abilities. As my project is very much led by the characters you interact with (to the extent that their reactions to you directly impact your stats), I chose to employ the latter approach. I also read an article about the role of a writer in within a game development team, and how it is often important to keep them in the loop at all stages of design (McDevitt, 2010). While I am not in a team for this project, it was interesting to consider, and will certainly benefit me in my team projects moving forward.

This week I have made a custom Say Dialog to hold each character’s speech, name, and icon (fig. 1). As you can see, it uses a similar colour palette to the backgrounds and character portraits, fitting in with the aesthetic style of the game. The character’s portrait has also been moved to sit in the centre of the screen, drawing more attention towards them. I am really happy with how this looks and think it is a big improvement over Fungus’ default Say Dialogs. I originally wanted to present the stats within the ‘say dialogue’, but the interface quickly became too messy, negatively affecting the user experience. I think I will have them visible in the corner of the screen instead, to be less obtrusive to the player. Keeping Jeff’s previous theory lecture on UI and UX in mind, I still think it would be a great idea to have the UI look ‘fleshy’ but this would have to be in such a way that it does not detract from the legibility of the text. Perhaps I could employ a grayscale look similar to the character portraits. I will make sure to look into this once I am further along with the script and art assets.

(Above) Figure 1: The new custom say dialog made to better fit in with the game’s aesthetics.

This week’s theory workshop was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed going into the breakout rooms with fellow designers and creating some speedy concepts. The combination of a time limit and certain constraints made for a highly creative environment in which we were all bouncing ideas off one another. For this reason, I can understand the popularity of game jams, and would love to take part in one in the future. It was also interesting to think of games as constantly moving between different states. I’ll make sure to consider this for my current project.

Next week I will continue to write for the script, and make some more art for the characters to be implemented into the Unity project.

References:

I made some good progress on the overall story structure this week. Using diagrams.net (2021), I made a flowchart representing the top-level flow that the game will take, as well as giving a good impression of the narrative topology. As you can see, I have gone for a braided narrative, as I feel that will allow for a good amount of choice and player agency, while still funnelling the player through certain story beats. I also think that this model is realistically achievable with my skillset and time frame available to me.

(Above) Figure 1: Screenshot. The narrative topology for the game. I imagine much of this will be tweaked and moved around during development, but this serves as a good framework to work from.

I have also written a large amount of dialogue for the first character the player will meet: Ego. As well as this, I went into Aseprite (2016) and created a portrait for him (fig. 2). My goal is for each character to be a physical manifestation of how we regard each mental construct that  ‘resides’ within our mind, hence why Ego eyes the player with a condescending look. He also has devil horns, representing the general belief that egotism and vanity are bad and to be discouraged. I have implemented these features into a Unity project to see how the dialogue flows in-engine and I’m mostly happy with how it feels (fig. 3). Of course, I will update the UI to fit in more with the narrative and desired aesthetic of the game soon.

(Above, left) Figure 2: Screenshot. The portrait for my first character, Ego. Made in Aseprite, using a grayscale palette. (Above, right) Figure 3: Screenshot. The dialogue in-game, with Fungus’ default dialogue boxes.

This week’s theory lecture was all about UI and UX. It was helpful to consider the differences between the four main types of UI (diegetic, non-diegetic, spacial and meta). Each bring their own feel to a game, whether it’s increased immersion, or greater understanding of a game’s playspace. Whether intentional or not, their implementation and aesthetic also feeds into a game’s narrative, so it’s always important to carefully consider your UI. The information gained in this lecture will help me greatly when designing the UI for my assignment.

I have made some basic mock-ups for the UI in MS Paint. I think that my current goal is to keep in line with the grayscale colour pallet of the character portrait, to keep aesthetic cohesion, as well as bringing the character into the centre of the frame, as they are the focal point of each interaction. I think that next week I will try to make the dialogue boxes to be implemented in-engine and I can start to iterate and refine them to best serve the player experience.

(Above) Figure 4: Screenshot. My current mock-up for the look of the custom say dialog.

References:

Aseprite. 2016. David Capello, Igara Studios.

2021. ‘Flowchart Maker & Online Diagram Software’ [online]. Available at: app.diagrams.net/ [accessed 12 February 2021].

The GAM140 lecture on interactive narrative covered some interesting points. It was good to see some examples of effective embedded and environmental stories in games. It is evident that marrying the two within a game’s narrative can make for great outcomes, however they are often at odds with gameplay systems which often lend themselves to more emergent stories. Balancing these factors, and knowing what to emphasise is essential to crafting a great game narrative. The GDC talk on environmental storytelling was fascinating – conveying the unique ability of videogames to convey narrative through exploration and ‘mise-en-scene’ (Smith and Worch, 2010). I also liked the case study of Fallen London (2009), with heavy importance laid on building a world first, and then ensuring that all elements of the game are made to be in service of that world and narrative. I will aim to do the same for my assignment, taking particular care to make sure the UI reinforces my narrative.

At the beginning of the week, I made some more artwork for my initial idea based around a haunted island (figs. 1, 2 & 3). However, following the GAM140 workshop, in which we discussed the assignment brief for the Fungus game, I have decided to pivot from this idea to something more manageable and fitting of the assignment. The reasoning for this is that, while I would love to make a classic point and click adventure game, the structure is more limiting for a branching narrative when compared to a more traditional visual novel style game. I would also be putting significant time into creating gameplay which, while fun, wouldn’t fall within the marking rubric for this assignment. I think I will shelf the idea for now, perhaps to return to for a later project. As I’m very happy with the look of the art, I have decided to carry over the monochromatic aesthetic into my new idea.

(Above) Figures 1, 2 & 3: Screenshots. Art made in Aseprite to be used for the point-and-click game idea. I’m really happy with how it looks, and have decided to carry over the monochromatic style into my new idea.

The new idea I have landed on takes the form of a “dungeon crawler”, in which you traverse the labyrinth of your own mind, meeting interesting and eccentric characters on your way. These characters will be physical manifestations of your own mental constructs, such as Ego, Guilt, and Memory. The majority of gameplay will stem from the conversations you have with these characters, and depending on your choices, you will gain stat increases/decreases. You will also have choices on which direction to take, which will determine who you meet on your journey. This is an idea that I am really excited about as I think it has a lot of potential. I have created some pixel art to represent the environments the player will move through, likely to be updated and refined later down the line (figs. 4 5 & 6). As the game will be largely focused on the dialogue system, I wanted the environments to serve as an abstract backdrop to these conversations rather than taking centre-stage.

(Above) Figures 3, 4 & 5: Screenshots. More pixel art made in Aseprite to represent the different intersections that the player will encounter. I like the abstract representation, alluding to the ‘fleshiness’ of a brain without it being obvious. I have also carried over the monochromatic style of the last idea.

Other than the above, this week has been largely spent learning how to use Fungus, as I feel that I will be able to more confidently jump into my project and begin experimenting with different ideas when I have a better idea of what the tool is capable of. I picked up another great course on Udemy (McGrath and Gregan, 2017), by the creators of Fungus itself, and worked through the entirety of it during the week. It covered most of the major aspects of Fungus, and took me step-by-step through the creation of a simple point and click game with a branching narrative. One of the key things I took away from it is the ability to create custom dialog boxes and menus – something which will be key to creating a UI that feeds into the narrative of my game. The ability to create draggable / target sprites also intrigued me, opening up the possibility to implement an item system.

Next week, my goal is to begin writing a story outline and topology, as well as writing dialogue for the various characters. I would also like to start making the art assets for the characters too.

References:

Fallen London. 2009. Failbetter Games.

MCGRATH, Paul and Chris GREGAN. ‘Make Unity 3D interactive games with Fungus – no coding!’. Udemy [online]. Available at: www.udemy.com/course/make-interactive-games-with-fungus-unity3d-no-coding-required/ [accessed 02 February 2021].

SMITH, Harvey and Matthias WORCH. 2010. ‘What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling’ [online lecture]. GDC Vault. Available at: https://gdcvault.com/play/1012647/What-Happened-Here-Environmental [accessed 03 February 2021].

Moving into the second study block, I am excited to develop my skillset further, and get involved with more design assignments. My first impressions of the assignment briefs are positive, as I am particularly interested in narrative design and storytelling, so this module should be a good chance for me to flex these particular design muscles.

This week’s introductory lecture provided some engaging discussion points, namely on the concept of meaningful choice. It is interesting to consider that ‘meaningful’ choice doesn’t necessarily have to affect the narrative in a large way, as long as it affects the player. I also enjoyed learning about different narrative topologies and the strengths and weaknesses that they each have. The recommended GDC talk on FTL’s design process was also informative (Ma and Davis, 2013), showing the importance of iteration and refinement when crafting the desired player experience.

Outside of the timetabled lectures, I have been busy learning practical and theoretical skills that will aid in the assignments for this module. I checked out the online fungus forum, found on the fungus games website (2021) – something which looks to be highly useful if I get stuck in the future. I have also been working my way through a Udemy course on 2D game development (Davidson and Tristem, 2021), which so far has taught me a great deal about the application of UI elements, including canvases, panels, buttons, text and images. This will hopefully prove useful in the creation of my narrative-driven Fungus game as my submission for this modules assignment, and I will continue to work through it in my own time.

I’m already busy concepting and generating ideas for the narrative-based Fungus game assignment. Currently there are two ideas that I feel could create compelling experiences.

The first is a point-and-click style game set on a haunted island, inspired by The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), with the main objective being to escape. There would be other characters to interact with, utilising branching dialogue systems, with some choices effecting the ending. After experimenting and researching Fungus, it seems that it works well within a point-and-click format, so if I were to go ahead with it I will do some self-learning to help me as I have never made a game in this style.

My other idea is much more dialogue heavy, inspired by games such as Coffee Talk (2020), in which you are a bartender, engaging with clients and fixing up drinks. The dialogue will branch out and effect relationships with other customers over the course of a few nights. This seems like it would lend itself well to Fungus and would be easy to quickly prototype and iterate on. I am aware that this is a well-trodden concept, so if I go with this idea, I will have to add a unique spin to keep it fresh and original.

We are still very early on in the module, and I have some more time to conceptualise my ideas for the project. Hopefully soon I’ll land on something exciting, as the creative freedom allowed with this assignment allows for a lot of potential.

References: