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Welcome back for another update on our progress. Here we wanted to show you what we have made so far and what our plans are next to improve. Our designs at this stage are very early and do not reflect the final outcome, but we expect to see a major jump forward in design over the next few weeks.
As we mentioned before, we are using Unity to produce our FMP. This is because we are the most familiar with this software and feel that this project idea will be best produced with what Unity can offer.
Our game so far.
Illustrated above is our previous plan to have 4 forms of communication that could be viewed by pressing arrow keys to switch between them. This would look over out into the sea where the player could view the sky and potentially any boats out on the horizon. Even though this is very early, it has already brought our idea into fruition.
After some discussion about mechanics and some feedback from fellow players, we decided to tweak the communication via 4 different radios mechanic. This is because we felt that this would end up confusing, complicated and too stressful to manage, taking away from the main dialogue of the game. We wanted to keep the 4 different screens however, so we decided to fill in with new mechanics that would flow together easier.
We did not want to change the idea of communicating with the outside world much, but we wanted to simplify it. We collaborated on other ways a player could find out about the world without distracting the narrative too much.
New gameplay storyboard.
Our new idea still keeps the original radio for mainline dialogue, but we decided to make the other screens coincide with the main mechanic rather than work as a separate function altogether.
What this means is that there is now a radar/map (we have yet to decide) device that will show the location of the lighthouse in approximation to the area around it. This will be so that the player can choose their dialogue choices based on the changing world outside. For example, if there is a storm that moves in a certain location, the player will be able to talk about it on the radio (or not!). This acts as a support system that keeps a focus on the narrative and still remains as a ‘communication device’ without the complexity. The players choices have an effect on the end-game, so this will instigate players to replay and try new options for different outcomes.
We wanted to keep the letter-writing mechanic as this also will work alongside the radio for the player to base their decisions on. Players will receive letters and will be able to respond to them, which will build the empathetic relationships we wish to achieve. This leaves us with one last screen idea, which we are yet to decide.