What is UP gamers welcome to SALVAGE pt 2 electric boogaloo.

As a reminder, SALVAGE is a multi-part devlog series documenting the creation of my thesis game That Which Faith Demands.  The series is currently estimated to be approximately 7 parts long, dedicated to individual facets of the creation process organized both chronologically and by discipline. These entries will ideally be published on the 14th of every month. The previous entry of this series, [link], was published May 14th. It provided an overview of the series as well as context and plans from August 2020, when the game was first conceived. 

And, just like last month, we have a fresh new track from Austin M. to accompany this postmortem: https://soundcloud.com/austinmwav/death-rattle

Uploaded alongside this post is a new .zip file containing the earliest ink prototype and the design document I made for my thesis class. It is also available on drop box here.

SALVAGE // INITIAL PROTOTYPE

So, last month I went over my initial plans, dead dreams, and pitching process for this both as a mentorship project and as a thesis concept. After successfully pitching the idea to my thesis class & professor, the next step was a proof of concept prototype. At this point in the process I honestly had no idea what I wanted the actual excavation process to feel like. But I did know that I wanted the player’s outlook shaped by who they decided to be in-game. To do this, I wanted to explore character creation as a narrative tool rather than a superficial customization.

I had already brainstormed different methods of character creation for fun prior to this pitch being accepted. Some of my ideas were pretty simple, like building a playlist of the character’s taste or choosing stickers to put on a laptop. Others were things like summoning a demon for your dark purpose and instructing it in such a way that would reveal (and determine) your backstory. These were fun exercises, but not really appropriate to the setting of intergalactic war and late capitalism. I easily settled on the idea of the player being interviewed for the job they were about to embark on.

THE INTERVIEW

The interview hasn't changed much structurally since my first conception of it. Beat by beat, it looks like this:

• Choose empire of origin
• Choose your previous occupation (and whether or not it was directly involved with the war)
• Describe your feelings about your previous occupation and how you performed your duties
• Determine what ultimately ended your career in that field, be it forcibly or willingly

These were the most important facets of character creation for me in this game. Each question determined your potential relationship with the work you'd perform, the people you'd work alongside with, and your knowledge of the war and its intricacies. Narrative driven character creation is less about the physical aspects of a character; instead, it can serve as a chance to plot out how the player character arrived to the present, despite being freshly made to in the eyes of the player. 

LACK OF AUTONOMY

These questions asked are all specific to the game's world and lore, and ultimately provide little control over the overarching narrative of the game. No matter what you say to the interviewer, you get the job. No matter how you talk to your coworkers, the work day continues, and then it ends. The reason the character creation was so important to me was because ultimately this is a game where players lack agency. Sure, they can choose dialog choices and explore the mech in whichever way they like, but the character and the role they inhabit is someone disenfranchised and adrift in the midst of a galactic war. The player has no control over anything except who they choose to be and how they choose to feel. 

In the world of That Which Faith Demands, no one has autonomy except the powerful. This is something I wanted to emphasize through all options available-- and unavailable-- to the player. Limitless player agency is hailed as innovative in many games, but really, it is an expectation most frequently found in the privileged. I want to challenge the notion that players are inherently due the right to control the environments and systems around them. Players inhabit the world of the game, but that does not mean they should be given the power to shape it. Games shouldn't exist solely as power fantasies. 

As a result, the most agency I offer players in this game is to choose who they are. With the character creation,  each question asked is a new lens that the player will be able to view the game through. Where they're from, what they were trained to do, how the war took it from them-- all of these are variables that impact descriptions, dialog, and the impressions of other characters. However, something I wanted to emphasize with this was that although I wasn't interested in punishing the player for their choices, I did want to let them know that they couldn't run from their beliefs or who they chose to be. This will be apparent in future prototypes of the game that I upload, where you can actually see when those variables are checked and what writing they make available.

Next month's entry will ideally be uploaded on the 14th, but I'll be abroad for the first few weeks of July so I make no promises. Regardless, it'll happen! Til next time.