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Bone Voyage is a narrative-driven adventure game where the player plays as a skeleton who finds himself on a ship to the afterlife. As a skeleton, the player has the ability to detach his head, which helps with solving certain puzzles.
My tasks on this project included:
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The game was released on Steam.
PROCESS
Shaping quests and game progression
When designing a quest, we usually started with a brainstorm to come up with ideas for what the player has to do. Not only do we want to make sure the quest is fun to play, but also that it fits within the narrative of the game. Therefore we worked closely together with the narrative designers on the team.
To make sure there is enough variation in quests, we have different quest types; dialogue-heavy quests, ability-heavy quests, fetch quests, and more. To distribute these quests evenly and to make sure we do not overload the player with new information, we carefully plan out the order these quests are presented in. Through on-boarding, we teach the player how to use new abilities, and how to solve new puzzles.
To make sure there is enough variation in quests, we have different quest types; dialogue-heavy quests, ability-heavy quests, fetch quests, and more. To distribute these quests evenly and to make sure we do not overload the player with new information, we carefully plan out the order these quests are presented in. Through on-boarding, we teach the player how to use new abilities, and how to solve new puzzles.
The quest implementation process
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After the quests have taken form, we put all of them in a list, where we delve further into the specifics of each quest. We split quests into quest states. On every state, the player has a specific goal which ties back into fulfilling the overarching goal for the entire quest. To visualize these quests, I usually make a few sketches.
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After this, the quests and their respective states go into the
in-engine quest list. Here, the quests can be called by their specific ID, and can be activated, updated to their next state, or completed. In-game hints presented to the player are also based on the quest descriptions in this list. |
Scripting and dialogue passes
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Scripting is an important part of the quest implementation process. For this game, we use a dialogue system where we can make NPCs say anything by linking text balloons together.
I always prototype the quest first by quickly scripting the quest and by putting in placeholder dialogue. Then, I play the quest extensively and do multiple iterations on it by editing the dialogue and doing scripting passes. I always make sure to comment my work. This is not only neat for me, so I remember what everything does, but also for my team members and lead. 
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While creating content, our programming team works hard to optimize the tools we work with. I have played in active role in this by finding improvement points in the system and communicating this to the programmers. We always welcome feedback on each other's work. Because of this, we went from a system where we need to reuse a lot of the same blueprints to one where we can directly call functions from within the dialogue system. This allowed us to make more content, faster.
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Get In Touch
As a developer and an individual I like to be challenged and am always on the lookout for new ways to provide players with unforgettable and meaningful experiences. If you are interested in how I can help you out, please do not hesitate to contact me;
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© Martijn de Bie
All content and trademarks property of their respective owners.
All content and trademarks property of their respective owners.
