A 2D RPG project set to release soon with a focus on puzzles, platforming, and narrative made by UCSD-VGDC that is set to release soon. In this short game, the player takes the role of Mariposa and The Unnamed. When Mariposa fixes a radio, it connects to The Unnamed years into the future long after a war has devastated the previously utopian world. We follow them as The Unnamed learns to regain the humanity that they had lost after years of pain and suffering. In this post, I'll explore some of the thoughts and ideas I had when designing the various levels and puzzles of this game.

frame them was the task. One of the main principles that I laid out early for everyone working on the design was that the Unnamed must do something. This is something that will become more apparent in the tutorial part. The main loop that was decided on early was Unnamed -> Mariposa -> Unnamed, and thus I start with the Unnamed. They arrive to a pier that is broken and untraversable for now. They have a conversation which deepens the Unnamed's development should the player make the right choices and we move to Mariposa. For Mariposa, 3 puzzles were offered and I wanted to try and incorporate all 3. Narratively, it was decided that she was sent to the pier to complete a job and so I first make the task something familiar to bring some gameplay continuity from the previous stage. There is a wire puzzle that is needed to be completed in order to unlock a panel that will go directly to the second puzzle. This second puzzle is a pipes puzzle where players are meant to rotate and add pipes to make water flow from one end to another. The pipe structure that the bot the player controls goes through is simple as that isn't the purpose of the puzzle. We deliberated and landed on 3 sets of this puzzle to complete with the third needing another part to complete it. This will lead to the third puzzle which is a balancing puzzle. Upon completing this one, the player receives that last piece to finish the third pipes puzzle and the entire stage is completed. There was little movement in this one for Mariposa's side to contrast it a bit from the previous stages and also due to the nature of the Unnamed's portion which will be more movement heavy than before. All together, it created almost 1 big puzzle that contained 3 main sections, something that I believe is important for more linear stories like this. Puzzles need to make sense and logical or else they simply feel like busy work.

Now that Mariposa's portion is complete, the Unnamed now has the means to complete their portion. The pier is now simply in disrepair as opposed to completely destroyed. To make things more interesting, we have crumbling parts that can break when you stand on it (this was later changed to also be breakable when something hits it). I wanted to make the stage more dynamic so I did two things: added enemies and made it two layers. There were some reasons for this. The enemies I put where ones that monitored the top level and ones that monitored the bottom level. They would be spaced apart and constantly scanning and the player needs to avoid them. This would make runs dynamic in that how you approach this will depend on the player. Some might try to speed run it, finding the pattern and zooming through as quickly as they can. Others will be methodical, waiting for each interval for when it's completely safe. In this iteration, the bots also moved and would change their timings depending on if they spot the player, making the stage even more dynamic (though this wasn't implemented due to constraints). The two level design gives more depth to the movement of the stage and allows for the easier integration of the grapple which I felt was important. The tutorial and stage 1 all included the grapple and so this felt like something that needed to be carried throughout the game. It is also one of the most unique mechanics the Unnamed has and so capitalizing and emphasizing it felt necessary. Another reason for the two levels was to incorporate the pipes that your go through during Mariposa's stage, adding a bit of continuity to the entire stage. This also opened up the ability to add obstacles that the player couldn't get through from one level adding another dimension to work with in fleshing out the details of the level. The stage ends with the player reaching a boat that will lead to the next stage.

Now the tutorial was a different beast. This was the first stage the team worked on and one that I only got to after working with the writing team on the narrative. Many of the ideas I initially floated for the tutorial were implemented, but the way in which things were ordered and framed were problematic in my view. This main issue was the principle that I mentioned for the pier stage. "The Unnamed must do something". The entire idea behind the narrative is the past effecting the future and this idea allows for a very creative implementation of the passage of time. For instance, in the pier stage, the pipes being repaired helped mitigate some of the effects of rusting and thus keeping some of the integrity of the pier for the Unnamed to start doing their portion. The problem with the initial tutorial was that it removed all sorts of agency from the Unnamed. Mariposa, by solving the single puzzle, solved every problem the Unnamed has. The proposed puzzle would also either get the train running or opened up a way, both of which were such massive changes that it removes any sort of feasibility in the Unnamed not being sure as to the nature of the radio they found. The original proposal also included the Unnamed solving a puzzle that would fix the radio they find and that connects them to Mariposa. This I found to be against the Unnamed's nature as they are a scavenger and would have no reason to fix this radio and will not do something of that nature again for the next few stages. Having them fix something and have the skills to do such puts the expectation of those skills be used through out the game, especially in a tutorial.

These were all massive issues. Issues that I believed needed to be fixed. And so I sat down for 2 hours in a voice call explaining these things and reworking the tutorial with the writing lead. What we ended up with created a better flow, a better narrative, and better readies the player for the game as a whole, something that is very important for a tutorial. In the new version, we start the stage with Mariposa (not the Unnamed) and we introduce puzzles with Mariposa, the one who will be doing the vast majority of them. In this puzzle, we introduce and incorporate the use of her bee companion, a crucial part of future puzzles. Then we go to the Unnamed and show the basics of platforming, something the Unnamed will do the vast majority of. They also pick up a grappling hook which both introduces the inventory system and the grapple hook mechanic. From here, the introduction part of the tutorial is finished and we move to transitioning from this stage to the next.

With the radio and the noise is makes as Mariposa speaks from it, the Unnamed, under threat of death by robot, will run into a storage room whose exit is locked. They try to find a way out, but there's nothing in the room but scraps. We go back to Mariposa who wanders the platform as the train is currently having issues. She stumbles upon a charging station meant for maintenance bots in disrepair and decides to fix it on her own volition (introducing her as a character and her helpful nature). This will utilize the bee to show what the bee puzzles would look like. This will cause a change in the future where the previously empty room now has a deactivated maintenance bot. The Unnamed can now find a battery in the room and use that to power the bot which lets him out of the room completing the stage.

The changes ensure both narrative cohesion as to the personality of the two characters and provides interaction and gameplay in both POVs for the player's engagement. It also teaches the player in a flow that makes sense and doesn't try to throw too many things at the player at once, something that is dangerous and can often overwhelm to the player, leading to lack of retention and failing as a tutorial. It also allows for more narrative moments with the robot and the interaction between Mariposa and the Unnamed in different situations, something the tutorial didn't have.

Art, Audio, and Programming teams weren't difficult at all. A few questions and clarifications were all that were needed and my technical background ensured that I always kept myself in check in regards to the technical constraints. The biggest struggle was with my fellow designers and the fact that I was the only narrative designer. 

One of the first things I had to clamp down on were the mechanics that were being proposed. As a designer, there is a tendency to simply look at the cool factor of an idea and fail to think about how its inclusion affects things like puzzle design, level design, and narrative. One of these mechanics, for instance, was Mariposa, the handy-girl and very much human girl, having movement options like a double-jump or wall-jumps. It sounds alright at face value. It's a way to keep consistency between the two characters so movement doesn't feel different. However, they are fundamentally two different characters and removing these from Mariposa does wonders for the narrative of the game. It reinforces the fact that Mariposa is a normal girl and it gives the two characters distinct feelings when played. The Unnamed is a lot more fast paced and chaotic while Mariposa is calm much like their worlds. It was these reason that I insisted that Mariposa not be allowed to do such actions. To not stifle creativity, Mariposa's bee companion was included to do the more humanly impossible tasks to maintain narrative cohesiveness.

Another example was with level design. I already mentioned the tutorial and the narrative thought that went into that, but the pier as well as stage 2 (downtown) also have much revisions to improve narrative and gameplay. For the pier, I had a lot more control as I worked on it from the ground up and thus putting parts for narrative moments and keeping consistency was relatively easy. The downtown was another a whole other ordeal. As I was working on fixing the tutorial, the downtown was already being mocked up. When I received it, I saw immediately issues that needed to changed.

Something that I think is often overlooked is just how important cohesion between narrative and gameplay is for the player experience. Though some may claim that they don't care for something like that, intrinsically, there is this dissonance that occurs if narrative and gameplay clash. This dissonance directly impacts enjoyment of the game and is important to minimize when possible. Some examples of this in the downtown stage is the puzzle layout. One of the puzzles involves a billboard and to get to the billboard requires a series of lifts that need to manipulated which is already stretching things. Furthermore, the power supply for the billboard is on another building that is considerably a way aways, connected by a single powerline. There are no other powerlines in the entire scene. Things like this make these puzzles feel like puzzles for the sake of being puzzles. Arbitrary roadblocks tossed in to extend playtime. It is my belief that if a player ever asks themselves why something exists, then I've failed as a designer.

Fixing these issues, however, was difficult. I was under a strict time constraint so vast overhauls that would need new art, new or updated mechanics, or new audio would be difficult to obtain at best. The main tactic here was altering the script to try and smooth over the cracks. When you can't change the contents, you move on to changing the context. One mistake that I see people often make is that when something doesn't feel right in a scene or a moment, they draw attention to it by admitting that its abnormal in an attempt to recontextualize it. I would argue the best way to handle something like that is to simply act as if its normal and if anything, double down. This was early on enough into the game that the player would still be open to world building and so these sorts of concessions could be pushed through without interrupting the player experience too much. 

Another way is to distract from these rough edges. Utilize the moments you can to emphasize characters and create character moments which I did by having Mariposa go out of her way to help an old friend, making almost absurd nature of the puzzles at hand more character building. At the same time, this serves as a moment for the Unnamed to learn more about Mariposa and be exposed to her humanity. 

More on the Unnamed, there were the same issues as the tutorial where they functionally had nothing to do. They would get to a roadblock, it would switch to Mariposa, and she would solve the problem. In this case, there were bots on the ground and rooftop blocking the path. The original design was that Mariposa fixing the billboard would somehow erect a wall that blocked LOS of the bot on the rooftop and the billboard itself would contain an advert for the pier which would be the next stage. This, however, made no sense to me. Not only did the Unnamed have no agency, the cause and effect felt like a stretch in a stage with so many stretches already.

So I made changes. I kept the bots where they were, but the goal this time was to find another means of escape. The billboard would be one for a construction company in Mariposa's world and by fixing that billboard, cranes would appear in the Unnamed's time. These cranes would have blocks attached to them that the player can manipulate to block certain LOS of the enemy bots allowing you to take batteries from them to power the final crane which will drop its payload at a target. This will open the way to the sewer that the Unnamed can enter and head toward the pier. In this way, the Unnamed has agency and the player in turn has, well, gameplay. The cause and effect here is more sensible and all the parts to solve the problem are now available. It's just that the Unnamed has to put the solution together. 

These were some of the ways that I tied gameplay and level design to the narrative in order to create one cohesive experience. Narrative design and level design is not an easy task and it involves communication with all parts of development, but it is something that I immensely enjoy.