The player, at this point, can move and fight a basic set of enemies. My original plans revolved around a heavily narrative experience, such as what can be found in a novel. Of course, the interactive elements need to be strong; but I had envisioned this story unfolding in a storybook style fashioned. But what would this look like?
There are two trains of thought that need to come together in order to pull off what I want to;
1. A Narrator
The first aspect is an entity that would narratively ‘accompany’ the player through, feeding them various pieces of an overall story. I love the idea of a creature that follows the player, but simultaneously leads the way through the dark. Effectively anytime the player moves to a new ‘dungeon tile’, the narrator will move in front of the player and tell them a story piece as the player is moving.
Visually, I was thinking about an owl. Their affination with wisdom and ability to fly would allow for interesting mobility possibilities and allow it to disappear at will; creating mystery and intrigue every time the player comes across the owl. Sitting on trees at the top of the screen, the owl would fly from branch to branch, well out of way of the action.
The second aspect would be a support UI, with text that refreshes when needed. This should occupy the bottom part of the screen, which may require a change in position of the bottom UI already there.
These, of course need to be developed further, however, for now I will implement:
- An owl that flys from tree to tree
- A text box that pops up when the owl is ‘talking’
- Implement a pause before the player starts walking to allow the owl to fly into the darkness.
After this, we should have the key mechanics of the game and we will need to think about what the stories are going to look like.