Galen Sipes
Candyland (Project)
Description
You are Princess Lolly of Candyland. Your kingdom has been attacked by mysterious creatures, and your father has gone missing. Following a lead that he may be in the castle of Lord Licorice, you infiltrate the castle, only to find that the workers inside need your help as well...
This non-linear interactive narrative level was made as a final project for my senior game writing class. Our task was to take a sample of a level from a hypothetical Candyland game and turn it into a playable segment with meaningful choices and some elements of gameplay.
I wanted to make my version of the level 3D with items that could be collected, areas for the player to explore the ability to have deep conversations with NPCs. I used Unreal Engine to build the level, write the dialogue and create conversations, and script NPCs and cutscenes.
My Roles
My roles on this project include the following:
Narrative Designer
I took the narrative outlined in the game doc, and worked the level around it, keeping the overall story goals and beats while adding in side quests and NPC conversations.
Writer
I wrote dialogue, thoughts, and self-talk for characters and implemented them into the level.
Level Designer
I designed, built, placed objects into, and scripted the whole level. I spent a weekend building the level, and then spent a second weekend scripting sequences, characters, dialogue, and transitions.
Quest Designer
I designed and wrote the side quests the character can complete. I also programmed the underlying systems and scripted the events of the side quests using blueprints.
My Process
Level Design Process
I decided from the start to use a pre-made mod and level kit so I could rapidly build the level in a matter of days, and found a free fantasy modkit on the Unreal Marketplace.
I started the level with a quick sketch of it appeared in mind, taking into consideration how the narrative is delivered to the player and how that would change the overall layout. Since Princess Lolly starts on the second level, overhears characters on the first, and eventually gets down to the first level, I decided to have the second floor simply be a catwalk with various sections to go to.
Initial Sketch
I drew a quick sketch idea of the level including hallways, towers, rooms and staircases. The second floor has more areas to explore and is meant to help give the player a sense of scale to the castle. I wanted the player to feel a sense of awe once they walked out onto the catwalk, and to draw their attention to the ultimate goal of the level segment: a door on the first floor that leads to the basement.
The first floor is larger and grander than the second, with a larger area to walk around in and walls that tower over the player. Two main side rooms lie on either side of the foyer; the dining room and the kitchen. The player can interact with NPC's in the foyer and the side rooms over the course of the side quests.
To make sure the player would know where to go on the first floor, I placed lights and signs over the important areas and left the rest of the floor in darkness.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to draw out a full level map due to time constraints, so I took my sketch went straight to whiteboxing the level using the asset pack. It took me about 3 days to build.
Building the Level
I tested the scale of the level as I built it to make sure sections weren't too long to get from one point to the other, but still large enough give a sense of grand scale to the level. Princess Lolly, the PC, is a pre-teen and is smaller than the NPC's, so finding the right scale took some time.
Once testing was done, I began working on the systems of the level: pickup items, NPC's, doors, dialogue systems, conversation UI, and basic blueprints of the objectives. While not difficult, I spent many hours bug hunting and polishing the systems so the level was fun to play.
Once most of the systems were in place, I worked on the scripted events, transitions, and cutscenes throughout the level.
Writing Process
Since I already had an outline for the major story beats of the level, I mostly focused on the side-quests and conversations the player could have with NPC's.
We were challenged to add in impactful choices to each quest that could have consequences later on in the level (the consequences are told to the player, rather than shown). As such, the choices had a large role in designing the characters featured in the quests and how each quest played out. I was inspired by The Witcher 3 and how CDPR created their quests with choices and consequences.
I started out by first coming up with the different kinds of quests I wanted the player to complete: finding several items, interacting with objects, collecting an object important to the NPC, etc. After coming up with the general idea of the quest, I outlined the characters who would be partaking in each side quest, the conflict going on between NPC's, and the choice the player would have to make.
Scripting the conversations took the longest amount of time on the project, followed up by writing the dialogue of the level. NPC's greet and say different things to the player depending on the actions they've taken, whether the player has a quest active at the time, who the player has already talked to, etc.
One challenge I gave myself was writing an interactive, non-linear conversation that took place during a scripted event at the end of the level. I wanted to write the conversation in a way where the player could choose any question and get a response that would both answer the question and refer to a previous state of the conversation. This proved to be difficult, but it was a fulfilling experience that built my understanding of writing interesting conversations with NPC's.
Gameplay
Mr. Nutters Quest
This is a quest for the character Mr. Nutters that demonstrates quest initiation, the choice the player must make, and the consequences of those choices. Some choices affect the narrative of the level, while others would change the gameplay of the level if it were worked on by a full team.
Mrs. Twisters Quest
This is a quest for the character Mrs. Puffs that demonstrates quest initiation, the choice the player must make, and the consequences of those choices. Some choices affect the narrative of the level, while others would change the gameplay of the level if it were worked on by a full team.
Level Playthrough Part 1
This is part of a playthrough of the level. This video demonstrates scripted events, cutscenes, conversations, quests, and impactful choices. Part 1 of 2.
Level Playthrough Part 2
This is part of a playthrough of the level. This video demonstrates scripted events, cutscenes, conversations, quests, and impactful choices. Part 2 of 2.