This is the third devlog of the Final Major Project, which would mainly discuss the project reduction and specific scenes in the game.
Project reduction
The game was abridged and rewritten based on its length, and David felt that a game length of 3 to 5 minutes would be appropriate for a better presentation at the graduation exhibition. At the same time, the approaching deadline and the unfinished content of the current project also forced me to remove parts of the game and shorten the time needed for the respective scenes. It was clear from this that there was a lack of personal time management and time allocation skills, as well as a lack of an accurate estimate of the approximate time needed to complete the project.
It was a difficult decision to cut some of the game’s content, as the game would have a narrative theme and my storytelling skills were not sufficient to express my ideas in a short playthrough. The changed vision is for the game to take about five to thirty minutes, depending on the player’s choices at key points in the story, and the decision whether to go and talk to more side NPCs.
The specific cuts and changes will be mentioned specifically below.
Art
Some of the textures for this project come from the Internet, but to better suit my ideas, some are made by myself. Including crosses, beds, tables and chairs with wood texture, large crosses more in line with the theme, auspicious clouds floating with Nuwa etc.
Lake in Cave
A lake has been added to the right of the cave. Here the player will find the water elemental stones. The original plan was for players to be able to jump from the boat into the sea to find the water elemental stones, but in order to cut down on play time, the two maps have been combined into one.
In the lake, there will be a shark constantly chasing the player. However, the player does not die or end the game when he is caught. Here, I’ve used an unconventional design where the shark chases the player and opens a hidden dialogue about the relationship between the shark and the creatures on the ark and part of the background to Nuwa. The purpose of this is to make the creatures in the game seem more friendly and kind. Before the player come to the lake, the player might learn some information about the shark if they have previously spoken to a side NPC on the ark, to suggest that the shark’s presence is not a danger.
Ark inside
The ark will consist of five parts: Noah’s bedroom, the confessional, the storeroom, New Eden and the hidden access to the right-hand deck.
In Noah’s bedroom, the interactable objects will be Noah’s diary and a bed. Noah’s diary consists of seven days of the story of the seven days after Noah learns from God that the flood is coming. (Seven days because according to Genesis, God told Noah that a flood would occur seven days later). The bed is available for the player to rest on. After the player has rested for the first time, the player will find the arrival of Nuwa. Nuwa will then give a quest line for Noah. At this point, the player can either follow Nuwa’s lead to repair the sky or choose to go back to sleep and let the story unfold as it was written in Genesis. When the player has slept 5 times, they will enter the first ending. Specific instructions on the ending will be explained in the future.
The interactable objects in the confessional are mainly crosses and bats. Most bats would indeed dislike the sun, but bats cannot do without it and research has shown that bats use the sun to calibrate their geomagnetic compass to pinpoint the direction of their flight. Bruce the bat is a warmth-loving bat. He will show his urgency to miss his people in the game. The brave man will sacrifice himself in the later scene to refine the fire elemental stone to help Noah mend the sky and save his people. After that, players can find a letter left by the bat near the hidden pathway leading to the right deck. In addition, most of the crosses in the confessional are interactive and players can find confessions left by different creatures on them. These include Noah, Noah’s uncle and some of the animals.
The interactable object in the storeroom is the wolf. At the very beginning of the game, the storage room is closed. When the player accepts the quest provided by Nuwa, the room will be opened and the player can find the gold elemental stone inside. This hidden clue can be found by talking to the wolf.
The New Eden is inhabited by various animals. They were all conversable. However, at first, the player cannot understand what the animals are saying when he talks to them. When Noah first meets Nuwa, Nuwa will give Noah the ability to communicate with the animals in the hope that Noah will understand his animal friends better. All of these conversations with the animals are not necessary and are included as optional gameplay content to help the player better understand this one game.
The right side of Ark’s deck
When the player has collected all five elemental stones, the pathway to the right deck will be opened. The player will say goodbye to Nuwa on the deck and go up to the sky alone to repair the sky.