Status: Early Access
Star Singularity
- Team Size: 7
- Developers: Star Bunny Enterprizes
- Genre: Space ARPG
- Platform: PC
- Engine & Tools: Visual Studio, Google Tools
- Contribution: Narrative design, Quest design, Dialogue, Lore entries
Context
A Strange Small Favor is a quest I’ve designed for the Star Singularity game. It is a major faction story quest.
Goal – when I joined the project, the Trading Guild faction didn’t have much of a story. I had to make something out of it.
Solution – I gave the Trading Guild a more sinister background and a shady character, which helped me design this quest.
Result/Sample
Full Quest Flow - A Strange Small Favor
Design Process
Step 1. Drafted the Quest's Outline
I took the quest story premise and outlined its story into story beats. Each story beat includes what the player does, how the game reacts to it, and what the player needs to do next (objectives).
Step 2. Wrote up the Quest's Basic Info
Before starting the work, I needed to sync with the lead game designer about the scope of the quest. So I wrote a spreadsheet that outlines the involved NPCs, locations, and enemies.
Step 3. Designed the Quest's Flow
Once the outline was approved, I started the design process. My first step was to lay out the quest’s flow:
- Gameplay – the players’ actions, usually corresponding with given objectives.
- Objectives – what players need to do next to reach the next step of the quest.
Step 4. Defined Interactions with NPCs
Next, I delivered the story via interactions with NPCs, depending on the quest’s needs.
- Reaction and Context – where the player is and how the game reacts to their actions.
- Dialogue – this is just the placeholder, the topic of the conversation, not the actual dialogue yet.
Step 5. Defined and Added Enemy Encounters
- Planned enemy encounters based on the quest’s pacing and flow.
- Diversified encounters with roles (tank, range, support).
Story Dialogue
I wrote dialogue based on the conversation topics I had mentioned earlier in the quest flow. This dialogue involves conversations with the quest giver, as well as with the player’s flight assistant (companion). I gave These were my considerations during the writing process:
- The dialogue serves its gameplay purpose and flow.
- The participants are trying to achieve their goals.
- The dialogue stays true to the game’s lore.
- The dialogue reflects character personalities.
Optional Dialogue
I also wrote optional dialogue that allows the player to ask questions at the starport. This helps the player learn more about the game’s world.
Some questions are not available right away. They are unlocked based on the quest progress, major story events, or when a different question has been answered.
In most cases, new questions are added on top of the existing ones. On rare occasions, new questions can overwrite the older questions (in case the older questions become irrelevant or make no sense anymore).
Codex (Lore) Entries
I wrote codex entries as a part of the A Strange Small Favor quest. These are the diaries of a scientist who conducted unethical experiments on behalf of the Trading Guild. These were my considerations:
- Intrigue – I split the story into 6 short entries to keep the player engaged and wanting to keep reading.
- Narrative Context – the codex entries provide information and help advance the story.
- Pacing – I made sure the player finds the codex entries within reasonable intervals.
Genre and Content Research
Researched popular video games, TV shows, and movies to:
- Find creations to draw inspiration from and broaden my creativity horizons.
- Figure out what people like about these creations and what makes them so popular.
- Get a better idea of what works in the genre, what doesn’t, and what my audience’s expectations are.
- Get a practical understanding of the genre strengths, limitations, and conventions.
- See what already exists and what I can do to stand out.
