Incanebula
- Genre: 3D Action Adventure / PvE
- Type: Quest
- Engine: Unreal Engine 5
- Duration: 8 Weeks
- Tools: Arcweave, Excel, PPT
- Role: Narrative Designer
- 1. Quest branching dialogue writing, design, and implementation
- 2. Bios, barks, and voice-over scripts
- 3. Character design
- 4. Location and building design
- 5. World building (+ game cartography)
- 6. Storyboarding and script design
Goal
- Build a narrative-focused project beginning with research and finishing with documentation tailored for team collaboration
- Create branching and linear dialogue that is congruent with the characters and seamlessly leads to gameplay
- Create clear and digestible character, location, and script materials for art and design teams and team collaboration
Overview
Linear & Branching Dialogue
Designed Quest Branching Dialogue
Quest Branching Dialogue Creation Process:
Step 1: Wrote branching dialogue threads that integrate variables and choices seamlessly into the gameplay:
Included the following branching dialogue design considerations:
- Roleplay choice HUB – Allows the player to respond to the NPC with polar opposite reactions that best suit their own playing styles
- Tutorial Quest – As this quest is still part of the tutorial, there are no quest acceptance hubs.
- Polarized Choices – Polar opposite choice to cater to the various player types
Step 2: Wrote dynamic dialogue that responds to player actions:
Created thematic choices to increase player immersion:
- Urgent Stakes: Ensured clarity on the narrative urgency for the Repair Equipment and Battle gameplay
- Respected Player Character – Made it clear that the leader trusts the player character’s insights, so that player feels their choice holds weight
- Narrative Simplicity – Quest reflects the player character’s unquestioning loyalty to his leader at this stage of the game, but gives polar opposite choices to cater to different player types
- Tied to Gameplay – Ensured dialogue was tight, informative, and quickly led to gameplay
Step 3: Prototyped a clickable branching dialogue text prototype using Arcweave to simulate the dialogue in the context of narrative flow:
Created a prototype with the following goals:
- Optimize player tap/clicks: Through a clickable prototype, the script can be further revised to improve pacing and player investment
- Live design space – Through the node function in Arcweave, design teams can leave notes on experience and improvement directly in the prototype
Linear Dialogue
Quest Linear Dialogue Creation Process:
Step 1: Designed linear dialogue threads to proof story to gameplay functionality.
As part of the tutorial section, this interaction was designed to:
- Raise tension by revealing a threat that gives narrative context and stakes to the Repair Equipment gameplay.
- Introduce the leader NPC.
- Teach players how to heal after the Battle gameplay.
- Communicate clear goals – by structuring the dialogue to convey simple objectives framed by narrative lore.
Step 2: Iterated dialogue based on internal feedback to increase character voice and narrative tension to increase immersion with the following design considerations:
Character Introduction – Made sure the Leader NPC was clearly and concisely by communicating:
- Who they are (daily life – character lore)
- What they need (quest)
- Where or how the player can help them
Character Voice: Ensured both the Player Character and the Leader had strong and unique voices to increase immersion by:
- Showing the King’s authority, tolerance for the player character, and knowledge of the threat.
- Showing the player character’s goofy nature and deference to the Leader
Character Design & Barks
Player Character : Jinn
Crafted a player character with motivations that conflict throughout the story, leading to dynamic choices that shape his growth and branch his story into exclusive character arcs that resonate with players across various gameplay quests and mechanical themes.
This is the general overall description of tasks and skills used to create the characters (not unique to a specific character)
- Researched, designed, and fleshed out character motivations and personality to reflect narrative themes, combat functions, and game mechanics.
- Wrote the character bio and gameplay barks using their design, combat function, and Jungian personality archetypes in mind.
- Designed unique weapons and attacks for each character, as well as named and described their attacks (with GIFs), in support of Combat Design.
- Polished the characters’ personalities, bios, and barks based on the finished character designs.
Ally NPC: Yasmeen Lumiya
Designed a Leader NPC quest giver and wrote their dialogue barks to connect them to their building, biome, and location. Also, crafted a storyline for this character connected to the gameplay within their region.
- Created a bond with the player character by highlighting their work relationship, having emotional ties to the pc’s crew. This creates a reasonable situation when testing loyalty to the player, as both directions can be justified.
- Designed the Leader to be authoritative and stern but hinted at a softer side that’s approachable.
- Unique weapons and attacks were made based on the juxtaposition of a strong, muscular character using a dexterous item like a whip. I wanted to highlight how muscular female characters often lose their femininity by designing contrasting looks and fighting styles.
- The character’s look is based on Middle Eastern (Lebanese and Kurdish) styles to go along with the fierce leadership quality of the monarchs of these cultures.
Enemy NPC: Union Security
Designed the antagonist NPC to address the following design needs:
- Rather than a “big bad” right away, Players go up against the faceless image of the “Union” to highlight the ever-present influence of the Triad Dynasty.
- The Union Security’s motivation is something small and innocuous (they want to add back a menu item) to highlight how they are used to getting their way and how quickly they are willing to turn to violence.
- Union Security attacks and weapons are all non-lethal and self-protective. This aims to highlight how the weapons are more commonly used on citizens rather than actual outside threats.
- Union Security all wear protective gear that is in line with riot equipment used by law-enforcement. All of their personalities (as seen in the character barks) are designed to highlight their disdain for their position and the people of Tin.
Storyboarding & Trailer Script Writing
Created Story Board
Wrote a storyboard script for the opening sequence of the game, and designed a preliminary storyboard to collaborate with the art and marketing teams:
- Designed shots with worldbuilding in mind, creating a sequence that can be used as the intro cinematic leading into character creation.
- Included clear location, camera view, and action for use by the art team.
- Wrote text in the POV of the main character to maintain continuity with the character-centric narrative of the game.
- Designed a storyboard prototype with simple assets for quick and efficient communication between teams.
Voice Over Documentation
Designed and Formatted a Voice-Over Script Document:
Created 5 Voice Over Actor documents for the Player Character, 3 NPC quest characters, and the enemy leader that provided detailed information to support the actor and provide faster and better voice recording sessions.
Each document included:
- Character Design images, character bios, personality notes, motivations, and vocal directions for each character
- All lines of dialogue for this character, along with scene details and quest summaries, to provide situational and mood context for the voice actor
Compiled a Voice-Over Actor Casting Document:
Compiled a Voice Over Actor Casting Document to help our team cast appropriate actors/actresses based on cultural, age, and gender requirements for the characters.
Worldbuilding
Wrote World Lore Short Pitch
Fleshed Out The Exterior Locations for The Map
Designed the building documents for the art and design teams to achieve the following design goals:
- Provide a key reference image with notes and additional information to further refine design intent and supply the art team with clear materials to inspire their work
- Clearly indicated if the building document was for the interior or exterior of a building as well as its name and location number for the team to reference the town map with ease
- Included notes on the important details, gameplay usage, NPCs, and brief descriptions of NPCs relating to the building for quick reference
The Gear Box was created to give players a place to learn the basics of item Crafting/ Repairing. This is where the Player will spend the beginning of the game customizing their character’s look and playstyle.
Lore Considerations:
I wanted the Gear Box to be immediately identifiable to the Player from a distance while simultaneously introducing the concept of the Automotitons, a near-extinct species of semi-sentient robots.
The Jewel is the Main Story Quest Hub, where Players get jobs from the Tin Leader Yasmeen Lumiya. Through Act 1, Players frequently return to the Jewel to turn in and receive new Quests.
Lore Considerations:
Acting as both a Town Hall and a Union Center, the Jewel is designed to highlight to the Player how invasive the Triad Dynasty is. Even on a backwater like Tin, the Union is stationed within the halls of their leadership.
Live Laugh Love, the medical facility run by Dr Sunstar and his wife, Dr Elari. The medical facility allows the Player to heal themselves and their party for free and without moving time forward.
Lore Considerations:
Moon Flowers only bloom at night and need to be tended to outside of the sun’s gaze. The garden is both a subtle indication of Dr Sunstar’s vampiric past and his newfound caring nature.
Fleshed Out The Interior Locations for The Map
The Gear Box was created to give players a place to learn the basics of item Crafting/ Repairing. This is where the Player will spend the beginning of the game customizing their character’s look and playstyle.
Lore Considerations:
Mac, a semi-sentient Automotiton wants desperately to be human and has created Hue-Mann as a means to live out this fantasy. Local members of Tin all refer to Hue as a person without acknowledging his finger-puppet vibe.
The Jewel is the Main Story Quest Hub, where Players get jobs from the Tin Leader Yasmeen Lumiya. Through Act 1, Players frequently return to the Jewel to turn in and receive new Quests.
Lore Considerations:
The Jewel is what passes for “fancy” on Tin. Everything is meant to look high-end with substantial grit. This is reflected in the personality of Tin’s leader, Lumiya.
Live Laugh Love, the medical facility run by Dr Sunstar and his wife, Dr Elari. The medical facility allows the Player to heal themselves and their party for free and without moving time forward.
Lore Considerations:
The interior of the medical facility always has water-filled tanks so that Elari (a water-breathing Oceanide) can roam around freely. Dr Sunstar loves his wife, and their shared living space is designed to highlight their ability to work together closely.
Designed the Solar System's Cartography
Created a world map to achieve the following design goals:
- Designed the sectors as both memorable story environments and a natural boundary for scope
- Created locations centered on the natural progression of resource needs for gameplay
- Divided the key quest locations across the worlds to encourage exploration and expansion for players to unlock new skills, tech trees, and narrative arcs as they explore new territory
- Wrote a location key to indicate location names and their faction status at the start of the game
Genre and Content Research
Genre and Content Research
Performed high-level research document to help determine the game’s popularity and help the marketing team do preliminary research with the target audience, by critically consuming content from similar games as well as movies and shows that share narrative themes:
- Created a list of movies, TV shows, and games, including the official synopses of the titles, and links to their trailers
- Wrote focus notes on what elements to draw inspiration from to prove similar ideas have interest across several audiences