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Welcome to the first narrative blog post! Considering our game is a visual novel, you can expect many more updates about narrative and writing. To start off, this blog post will go over the iterations that the narrative has gone through so far.
Originally, the narrative for this game was based on the topic of long-term nuclear waste warnings and most of the NPCs all ended up dying of radiation poisoning - which the player would come to realise through clues in the story. However, due to changes within the team, we expanded our essential experience of ‘exploring the outside world through the confinement of an isolated space by character interactions’ to wider narrative themes. Some things stayed consistent though, such as the main characters, and the option to kill the fisherman based on the player’s morals.
When this idea was first presented, many people seemed drawn to the setting of the lighthouse. This led me to research the history of lighthouses for new narrative ideas and I made some interesting discoveries along the way. It turns out that lighthouses are involved with much more mystery than you might think! For example, The Flannan Isle Lighthouse mystery is a case that even today, over 120 years later, remains unsolved. It involves the sudden and strange disappearances of three lighthouse keepers and has garnered many different theories; ranging from reasonable explanations to betrayal and murder to sea monsters. The latter theory would become the new source of inspiration for our game; because what’s cooler - and more terrifying - than a massive sea serpent when you’re trapped and alone in an offshore lighthouse?
From the beginning, I knew I wanted this game to have a gloomy, sombre atmosphere and while researching, I had found something that provided me with a perfect solution; Edgar Allan Poe’s The Light-House. Similar to the Flannan Isle case, this short story is also surrounded by mystery. It is the last piece of work Poe wrote before his death and consists of three diary entries from a lighthouse keeper. Although, some theorise that this was intentional as it alludes to the protagonists’ death and raises speculation based on clues in the text. This sense of ‘not knowing for certain’ is exactly what we are trying to achieve in Keeper’s Veil. The moody and dramatic tone of Gothic literature would excellently complement our game, so I will attempt to emulate this style when writing. I have previously read many Gothic literary works by authors including Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, and (more modernly) Stephen King, so I feel confident in my ability to replicate this style.
Our new narrative fits into a three-act structure which, in the game, will happen over three days. Day one being the setup of establishing the characters, their motivations and goals and some world building. Day two will introduce some conflicts and tension. Day three will slightly dip in tension before once again rising to an all-time high as the big twist is revealed and the player must make a difficult choice. Each day will include three conversations with the fisherman – broken up by gameplay – as well as a letter from the fisherman’s wife and a diary entry from the light keeper.
Narrative plan, made on Figma https://shorturl.at/dio9s