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#43 Tutorial: Ocularis

Today’s post is about tutorial construction in general and in specific. Tutorials … are about introducing the player to the game experience. This means that the core mechanics (meaning the ways the player can interact), the overall pacing and atmosphere/theme all need to be set up. So a key element to tutorials is the repeatingContinueContinue reading “#43 Tutorial: Ocularis”

#42 Quest Prototype: Ocularis

After a long time of failing to continue, finally a new post. Hopefully a series of them. Prototyping I bring with me something I learned during my university courses: Making a prototype is answering one question. So no matter how aesthatically unpleasant or technically unstable the result is, if it proposed answers to the questionContinueContinue reading “#42 Quest Prototype: Ocularis”

#41 UI: Ocularis

Back from vacation I’m carrying a lot of new ideas with me. Some of these have already started before, some are new. This post is about how UI storytelling is employed in a project I’m participating: Ocularis. Aesthetic Cohesion and Dissonance A while ago I wrote a post about how video games present themselves viaContinueContinue reading “#41 UI: Ocularis”

#40: Transitions: The small Fox

Well, I finished the Mistborn series. This wouldn’t be of particular relevance to this blog, if it weren’t for the author Brandon Sandersons lectures on Writing, which I can now continue to watch and review on this blog. Hooks and Transitions When writing episodic stories, or stories with chapters, sections – in short: Any storyContinueContinue reading “#40: Transitions: The small Fox”

Cyberpunk 2077: A quick Quest Design Review

Okay, so CD Projekt RED Lead Quest Designer Paweł Sasko asked some questions from the community which played Cyberpunk 2077: https://twitter.com/PaweSasko/status/1441836927540502529 https://twitter.com/PaweSasko/status/1441836943893991424 So, while I planned a larger review at some point, I’ll now have to swallow the pill and give a quick Quest Design review of Cyberpunk 2077. Before we start, let me stateContinueContinue reading “Cyberpunk 2077: A quick Quest Design Review”

#39 UI: Cybertext

“Substance before Style” Another post, another storytelling device: The user interface, or for short UI. Principles of Interaction Design On his website, Bruce Tognazzini gives a holistic (my favourite!) introduction to what he calls “interaction design”. The background he is writing from is that of the great design, UI, UX (user experience) trends which cameContinueContinue reading “#39 UI: Cybertext”

#38 NPC Communities: Langeness Pt. 2

The second post in this series is about concretizing a NPC community concept. Environmental Storytelling By placing certain actors in certain places, having certain looks and being surrounded by certain objects, we can tell something about the place and the people living there. This telling becomes even more evident when things are moving: People work,ContinueContinue reading “#38 NPC Communities: Langeness Pt. 2”

#37 NPC Community: Langeness Pt. 1

In this post we’re gonna take a look at NPC communities: How NPC are integrated into the gameworld, doing actions, reacting to events and being integrated in quests or small dialogs. Quest Design in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt A neat article including this topic is one written by now Lead Acting Quest Designer PhillipContinueContinue reading “#37 NPC Community: Langeness Pt. 1”

#36 Scene: The Father

This post presents the conclusion of long ongoing project of mine, a scene for trial 6 in the trial of radishes, which are a tutorial for the radish modding tools for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Cinematography Techniques The active reader might remember post #18, where I introduced how the creation of scenes is organizedContinueContinue reading “#36 Scene: The Father”

#35 Quest: The Lonelines of Old Eremites

After writing the last post, I decided to take another step against my drive for theory. This is on the one hand to get closer to the root motivation for the whole project – practical quest design – and on the other hand a reaction to the simple fact that I’m slowly but surely runningContinueContinue reading “#35 Quest: The Lonelines of Old Eremites”