So my last check-in with Scott left with a lot of questions to answer and I was excited to dig into the grit and come out with some fun ideas. first off the layout of the space (see above)
it was floated earlier that the space needed to be made more solid and connections needed to be drawn and honestly, I had fun. unfortunately, it made me realized I had more drawing to do. I need to create some inner spaces like tunnels and caves.
sectioning off the areas however did give me a nice window into how to connect a few of my story beats (see bellow)
these images show linear and branched versions of the narratives from last week. it's still a little runny in the middle but I like where it's going, I already know I want to have a version of the game that focuses on resolving emotional issues with talking and thinking over force. (dante's inferno but less "I'm going to sew a cross to my chest")
The touchpoint between Story, Choice and Level designs
I want to take a moment to muse on the concept of level design and choice. and this interesting thought came up on the matter of level exploration. level design can be utilized to lead a play to their target goals in the narrative of a game. this is a given. however, I do notice in some spaces the design sometimes fails those who want to explore. say a game has two paths equally lit, and treated the same because it's in the same hallway. one door leads to loot or a fun little narrative side nugget. the other locks off the entire section prior to that choice and railroads the story along. this happens a lot in games like Journey or some RPGs.
while not a criticism on the playability of a game it it does feel like a tactic used to elongate engagement with a piece. "Oh no I missed this option I have to go back and do it agian"
the trick is getting a person to be excited about that. but that' for another day I feel
out of that line of thinking I came to this idea for my own line of questions.
how can I make a player content with their choices? not happy, content. knowing that there are alternates but knowing this is for them. taking the bright path over the dark one. what variables does that change if any? does the illusion of choice make up the difference for actual meaningful choice? in this case, meaningful is choices that change the aspect of a game.
Comments