Hey everyone!
It is been a while, but as you can imagine things have been pretty busy with the announcement of Insiders.
Today we will be talking about an important topic, even if for some players it's "not that important". We are referring to the Narration of ENDLESS™ Dungeon.
As I am not a writer myself, I will leave you in the expert hands of Jeff, Narrative Director, and Benoît, Lead Game Designer.
A long Time Ago...
Compelling stories and events have always been present in Amplitude’s games; we are all geeky fans of great fiction, be it Greek epics or gender-bending SF. Great stories are a critical element of any media experience, and we work hard to bring narrative to our games that is as interesting as the graphics and the gameplay.
Video games of any genre basically have two types of narrative: the authored narrative created by the devs that you discover as you play (canon), and the emergent narrative created by the player as they do their own unique playthrough of the game and build their individual story (headcanon).
While an important part of the tales that come from strategy games like Endless Space and Endless Legend evolve from emergent stories, games with stronger RPG elements like Endless Dungeon necessarily rely a lot more on the content authored by the devs.
Accordingly, the team spent a lot of time at the beginning of the project working out the big picture story of the Station and where (and when) it fit in the canon of the Endless Universe timeline. The timeline is important to determine what factions may or may not be present, what events have or have not happened, etc. Next, of course, we had to refine the history of the Station, its rise and fall, what all the different structures and districts are, why it ended up this way, and everything else that creates the backstory of the actual game experience. (Note: Though these elements are created first, they form the deepest layers of narrative that are only uncovered through concerted efforts by players who want to dig into the lore…)
Once this backdrop was complete (or at least relatively stable), we then started working out the details of the game story. This is the personality and backstory of each hero, the details of how they interact with each other and with the Station, what their individual quests and goals are, and everything else that goes into this most visible layer of the game narrative. These are the stories and events that are the most immediate for the player as they are tied to the progression of the heroes, achievements, equipment, bonuses, and all of that.
To show you how and why we did this, here is a dive into the key narrative elements of Endless Dungeon, explaining some of the systems and content that players will discover in the game.
The Station
Even though you will find yourself controlling a bunch of very unique shipwrecked heroes, the main character of the show clearly is that mysterious station. We took time with the art team to make sure the different places, the saloon, the Hoist, all the 10 districts, also tell a story and convey an ambiance and an atmosphere that fits with the stories the station has to tell.
Archives
Starting with the history of the Station itself, the lowest layer of narrative are the annals of the Endless, their rise and fall, why they built the Station, what it was used for, and why it is in its current state. These chapters are presented in the Archives, found in fragments across the ten districts of the Station which are called Mementoes.
When a player brings the Mementoes to the Cartie’s Library, she can piece them together into the eight chapters of the story that tells the tragic tale of the Station and the Endless civilization.
District Notes
At a more detailed level, there are Notes that are also scattered throughout the Station and tell the story of people who once lived inside the station. From the pomp of the Headquarters to the mad experiments of the Life Incubator, each District has its own storyteller, history, style, and format.
Notes have been written for players who want to connect a bit more with the past of this station, giving a bit more narrative details that you will enjoy reconnecting with each other.
Here are some examples of the types of Notes that you will find as you explore the Station:
Heroes and Quests
You will run through the Station, dying and re-trying, as one of the eight heroes in the game. These heroes represent five known factions of the Endless universe plus two new ones (maybe one and a half). Every one of them has not only gameplay roles and abilities, but also backstories based on the gameplay plus personal goals that led them to the Station—or will lead them away from it.
The development of the heroes was of course one of the most entertaining parts of the narrative dev cycle. In fact, any time design, writing, and art are sitting together brainstorming we know it’s going to be a fun part of the dev cycle! Some of the heroes started from concept art and some started from design needs, but all of them get a thick coating of lore icing with animation and audio as the cherries on the cake.
Of course, not all the heroes are immediately trusting of whatever noob comes chatting with them in the Saloon. They may have to be unlocked, and will let you know what needs to be done for them to decide if it’s worth going back down into the crazy killzones of the Station. To discover more about them, each hero has a personal quest that they are pursuing. These range from discovery and domination to revenge and redemption.
Quests have been designed to offer run-based challenges to heroes facing the dangers of the station. The quests are unlocked step by step. Completing quest steps will improve your hero permanently while rewarding you with currencies to spend at the Workshop.
Saloon
One of the most important parts of the whole Station is the central hub of the player experience: the Saloon! True to the Western tropes of the game, the Saloon is a combination of café, meeting place, workshop, and concert hall. This is where the players will add to the Archives, upgrade heroes and weapons, unlock Districts of the Station, and add to other meta-game elements like trophies that reflect your progress through the monster-infested halls.
Character Reactions
Heroes react to game events and objectives through what we call Barks and Talks.
As in any game, a Bark is a reaction to a moment or an event mostly during runs; it is the reaction of the character to a given, immediate situation.
Talks, on the other hand, are used to inform the player about what is going on and explain a bit more about what the hero is doing—or wanting to do. In order to not distract the player from the game (and therefore, uh, kill them), Talks generally occur in the saloon or in game zones where there are no monsters and no immediate threats (Note: There aren’t too many of these…).
The End of this Story
If you made it this far, thanks! The narrative team appreciates your interest in the game and your ability to patiently read all this text. Trust us; in the game, we have tried to make everything shorter and sweeter.
We made sure narrative elements are present in different ways throughout the game, and there is even more for those who will look for a little more.
We had a lot of fun and learned a lot about game dev while making Endless Dungeon, and we hope that your experience and your journey is even better than ours.
That´s all for today folks.
Hope you have enjoyed learning more about how Narration will work on Endless Dungeon.
Cannot wait for you to discover the story behind the Station, the characters, etc... And the connection with the Endless Universe.
Have a nice day ^-^
