This has been quite tricky to do, indeed. I’ve written film scripts before, so the concept is not completely alien to me. However, games don’t always follow a very linear pattern that one might expect.

In my game, there’s no set route that the player must follow; each area is intentionally designed to be open for exploration and discovery. This kind of freedom means that any narrative threads I’ve established may not unfold exactly as I initially intended them to. While I’ve carefully crafted scenes and dialogues with specific pacing and emotional beats in mind, the interactive nature of gaming inevitably introduces an unpredictable element.

Players might bypass crucial moments or choose to engage with the story in entirely unexpected ways, which significantly challenges my traditional storytelling techniques and necessitates a thorough reevaluation of how to weave compelling narratives within this flexible and open framework.

Research into game narratives within a nonlinear framework explores how stories can unfold differently based on player choices, creating a dynamic narrative experience. In contrast to traditional linear storytelling, where events occur in a fixed sequence, nonlinear narratives allow players to influence the course of the story through their actions and decisions. This approach often incorporates branching paths, multiple endings, and character arcs that can change based on player interactions, promoting deeper engagement and replayability. By examining various game titles that employ nonlinear storytelling, researchers can identify effective techniques that enhance emotional investment and immersion, ultimately transforming how narratives are crafted and experienced in interactive media.

My solution was inspired by the innovative practices of the game development studio Bungie. In their renowned Halo games, a significant portion of the narrative is unveiled through various terminals that are thoughtfully scattered throughout the game world. This design choice rewards players for choosing to diverge from the main path of the storyline, encouraging exploration and curiosity. Additionally, at critical checkpoints, further dialogue exchanges between the iconic characters Master Chief and Cortana help to advance the overarching story in real time, thereby enhancing overall player engagement. Each chapter of the game opens and concludes with brief cutscenes that provide essential motivation for the upcoming act while also effectively wrapping up the previous one. I am confident that I can successfully implement this immersive approach as a dedicated solo developer. Looking ahead, I hope to invest in an affordable motion capture suit, like those offered by Rokoko, which will enable me to effectively block out the cutscenes and significantly expedite the animation process for my project.

Creating brief dialogues for gameplay checkpoints is challenging, as each exchange must be self-contained yet contribute to a larger story. I focus on writing short, meaningful lines that suggest ongoing stories without needing to follow a specific order. Each character’s voice should be unique but flexible, keeping the dialogue interesting no matter when players hear it. By balancing these aspects, I want to immerse players in the game world, helping them piece together the story as they move through it, whether they engage with a conversation at the start, middle, or end of their adventure.

This will be a continuing challenge that takes time and careful thought at each step. I will keep you posted on my progress while avoiding any spoilers since I know they are unwelcome. Until next time.

So… it’s been over a year since my last post. Unfortunately I have very little to show for it. Life happens and you don’t get what you want out of it.

Despite that I have made some minor progress I’ve successfully created a first-person shooter (FPS) character controller within Godot 4. This marks a significant milestone in the development process. With the controller fully functional, including smooth movement and camera controls, the next phase involves finalizing the modular assets for the main level areas. This preparation lays the groundwork for level design prototyping to commence. Allowing the exploration of layout and gameplay mechanics in a structured environment. Additionally, all keyboard and gamepad controls have been implemented and tested, players can navigate and interact seamlessly within the game world.

As my life is a bit more structured I hope to actually show the game running.

Next mile stone is starting a YouTube channel alongside the blog. The idea of sharing the process with an audience adds an extra layer of accountability, yet the thought of being in front of a camera… well I avoided it for years for good reason 😅. However, embracing this challenge is essential not only for personal growth but also for providing valuable insights and transparency to those following the journey. Each video will serve as a record of progress, setbacks, and lessons learned. It’s time to confront the fear and take this leap into a new form of expression.

Thank you for reading the recent posts and your support. I’ll share more updates soon, so stay tuned. Goodbye for now.

My prized SEGA Dreamcast copy of Rez 😊

I first had the pleasure of playing and owning this game on the Sega Dreamcast. Rez was one of many great games that launched on the ill fated console. It was a game inspired by a medical condition called Synesthesia.

“A phenomenon that causes sensory crossovers, such as tasting colours or feeling sounds. Some people describe it as having wires crossed in their brain because it activates two or more senses when there's only a reason for one sense to activate.”

Clevelandclinic.org

More information about the condition can be found at the link above.

At its core, REZ is an on rails shooter. Each level is split into 10 layers (sections) if you take down a special enemy at the end of each section the level and music evolves. if you miss this enemy the game continues but the music and level remains the same unless you eliminate the next special enemy. The game is very old school SEGA. simple mechanics, hard to master. The pursuit of perfection, attain 100% rank on all the areas. There’s 5 areas in total. All with unique music and environments. Most actions in the game go with the beat. Although it doesn’t affect your score if you don’t nail shots on the beat. Most of your actions are automatically beat matched.

So how does this relate to my game Phantom Complex? I’m hoping to make a game that’s as simple as possible to play. Gamers can have a lot of fun trying to get really good at it just for the sake of enjoyment. I don’t see this a lot in games these days. Games have such high budgets today, they simply can’t afford to fail. So creative was lost and a lot of blueprint games emerge. Copying what’s trending at the time. I’ve purposely looked towards SEGA Dreamcast, Sony PS2, Microsoft XBOX and Nintendo Game Cube games for inspiration. For me this was the last time it didn’t matter which console you had. Each one was stacked with cool original games to play. For me Rez was one of them.

I’m currently trying to get 100% again on Rez Infinite on my Meta Quest 2. Got 100% for Rez on the Dreamcast, PS2 and XBOX 360 versions. Rez always seemed like it was designed for VR and it’s cool to play that way. Rez was the Only reason I bought a Meta Quest 2. Could say I’m a bit addicted to this game.

The main player controlled character Garrett was designed by Mio Furukawa. A talented graphic designer I met after I moved to Prague, Czech Republic from London, UK.

After a few false starts looking for a character concept artist. I’m so glad Mio lent her skills to my project.

I wasn’t looking for super detailed character sheets and turnarounds. I had a rough idea what I was looking for. I knew Mio could nail it with the right reference images, creative space and time.

I met Mio while she was doing life drawing sketches of people at my local church. So I knew her style was a match, luckily I was able to convince her to give my project a try.

So far, the main character Garrett has been finalised in 3D. I’m currently rigging the character for animation. This will be a full character rig including facial controls for full performance animation.

Mio now resides in Japan continuing to do awesome work of witch you can see here - Mio Furukawa. You can also buy some of her work here - Mio's Art | By Furukawa.

As you can see the main character is a black guy. The reason… I’m a black guy too. I’d like to make a game where the main character looks like me that’s it. That’s not to say Garretts story can’t be relatable to other people I believe it can. This is not a woke game there’s no agendas being pushed in this game. I’m personally sick of the woke agenda nonsense in all forms of media now, I’m not adding to it. My focus is to make an awesome super cool character in a very bold and enjoyable game.

Lastly, bit of a spoiler the black guy survives the game. No dying first or in the worst way 😂.

This a quick update. I’m doing it… I’m going to try and learn Houdini. Run out of road to run away. It’s the best tool for what I need to do.

Side FX Houdini is a quality tool, that I honestly find daunting. There’s a variety of assets I’d like to add to my environment art that simply makes more sense moving it to Houdini.

I jumped the first hurdle, bought a year long license. Now I just need to find the courage and time to learn it. Need to make a lot of random rocks, damaged walls and tiles, broken glass etc. Thanks to some kind masters of Houdini and Youtube there’s a wealth of free learning material out there. I just need to narrow my search. Hopefully I can find some specific tutorials that cater to my needs or close enough. I could just models these parts one by one but It’s better to work smarter.

Houdini has some amazing tools for procedural generation of assets. I’ll make sure to post an update of my progress, wish me luck.

The biggest influences on my game would be Exhumed and Metroid Prime for gameplay. Neon Genesis Evangelion Rebuild and Second Sight for art style. Halo 4 for Narrative style and delivery. I’ll go over each IP to explain fully.

Exhumed aka Power Slave

I probably the biggest influence on my game overall. Properly showing my age with this one, I was playing this game in my teenage years on the Sega Saturn. I picked it up cheap in a saturday marking in Kent England no clue what type of game it was. Boy was I lucky, a real surprise for me. It’s basically a mix of old school Doom, Egypt history and Castlevania style progression. The graphics weren’t ground breaking but the execution of the gameplay was so good. My brother and I played this for hours. It’s still very good today, worth a play on PC if you have the chance. Loved the exploration and puzzles. A good amount of gun battles and actually worked pretty well on the Sega Satrun control pad before analogue sticks became common place.

Metroid Prime

I played the original release on the Nintendo Game Cube. Now I’m enjoying the remaster on the Switch. The game still holds up today. It’s a lofty goal but I’d like the graphic quality of Phantom Complex to be at this level. The remaster looks excellent on The switch and runs at 60fps. So there’s hope I can achieve the same level of graphical quality and performance.

At it’s core Metroid Prime is an adventure / exploration type of game. It just so happens to be an FPS. It’s similar to Exhumed. Lots of platforming sections, back tracking to open up new areas, solve simple puzzles etc. choosing to be an FPS cuts down on the amount of animation to be done. Also saves a lot of headaches getting the player camera to play nice with the environment. Whilst designing Phantom Complex I came to similar conclusions. I’m a team of one for now so I need to play to my strengths. An FPS adventure game makes a lot of sense for Metroid Prime and I’ll look to replicate some of it’s success in Phantom Complex.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Rebuild

This one is for all the die hard anime fans out there. This anime series / film series had a profound effect on me. I watch the Rebuild movie series at least once a year and still find interesting visual and story elements over a decade later.

You can find out more about this film series here - Evangelion: 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 + 1.01

I simply love the aesthetics of the film series. It’s very minimal with great composition and use of subtle nad vibrant colours. The world has a massive sense of scale through out. While presented largely in wide screen format. I really hope to replicate this with my game. I feel the visual style lends itself to low poly scene construction. I hope to bring my game project to switch platforms without out compromise.

Second Sight

I was very fortunate to see this game before it came out. Although I didn’t know the game at the time. Pretty sure the guy broke NDA to show us but I’m grateful. While at university we had various industry professionals come in. We got to chat to a 3D animator from Free Radical Design. Really cool experience. What stuck with me was the character designs and the animation style. Characters from their games had humanoid proportions but the animation was similar to classic animated films like The Iron Giant, Titan A.E. or Anistasia. It was over expressive like Disney but not aiming for photorealism. In modern gaming Over Watch, Fortnite and league of legends would be the closest in terms of animation. I hope to get to this level of quality with my project Phantom Complex.

Halo 4

I’m probably in the minority for this, but I really like Halo 4 for it story delivery. The interactions between Master Chief and Cortana is just incredible to me. The cut scenes are just pure cinematic gold. The writing is so beautiful the voice actors for Master chief and Cortana really brought their “A” game. What I love most about Halo in general is the in game voice acting that helps to progress the story while not overriding the gameplay. I’m not a fan of modern day heavy narrative driven games. They end up being more film than a game. This has spilled over in to 2.5D platform games that prioritise cinematography over gameplay. Great to look at but gameplay just seem like a chore only to get to the next visually pleasing shot. Even with film the cinematography is meant to serve the story not its own gratification. For me cinematography / cut scene in games is meant to serve the gameplay progression. I get the heavy swing towards film like features but this comes at a cost of game identity. Modern games have spent too much time trying to get acceptance from fellow piers in film than just solidifying it’s own place. The games industry is now bigger than Hollywood. Games industry no longer needs their acceptance it’s probably the other way round now.

I’ve set out some high marks to achieve with Phantom Complex. If I aim for the stars but only reach Mars that’s still a massive achievement. Instead of standing still on the pavement in Croydon town centre.

Onwards and upwards.