During a Game Design class at New York University, we were made to pitch an idea based on an original IP, and what was born from excerpts of a pitch deck was my first interactive narrative. From the original idea, I challenged myself to create a prototype and to see what I could accomplish within a short duration using Twine.
In the initial stages, I learned to script logic in Twine, designed engaging puzzles, and conceptualized the central conflict. Prioritizing player agency, I implemented variables to track choices, aiming for meaningful outcomes. The project concluded with playtesting, iterative design adjustments, and proofreading.
Experience Overview
Inspired by Fighting Fantasy novels and the theme of forgotten friendships, The Ephemeral Rift is an interactive text adventure set in the present day. When the phantasm of an old friend reemerges, our protagonist must set aside their ordinary life to search for clues surrounding their sudden disappearance in a fantastical world they both once inhabited.
In this iteration, I plotted out the initial story beats for the game's first chapter, as well as core narrative design decisions (detailed below). I aim to transform the game's next iteration into a 3D action adventure soon.
Roles and responsibilities
Narrative Design
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Utilized Twine to fully write and develop an original IP with a branching narrative with 193 passages.
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Managed variables, scripted logic, and tweaked passages to control the flow of the narrative.
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Conducted rewrites based on feedback, refining the narrative for a smoother experience and readability.
Design Core Pillars
Pillars that guided my decisions about the adventure
Player agency
With every choice made, players feel like they are shaping the story, world, and characters they meet. Their choices feel meaningful and contribute to the outcome of the story.
Problems with multiple solutions
Believing that games are a form of self-expression, I designed the main combat in this story to be able to be resolved through multiple solutions, depending on a player's preferred playstyle.
Conflict between two worlds
I wanted the central conflict between the two worlds the protagonists found themselves between. Each choice the player made had to feel like it was bettering the protagonist's relationship with one world at the expense of the other.
Gameplay flowchart (Act 1)
In the game's first act, I established the setting of the two worlds, the ordinary and The Ephemeral Rift. I created the variables $TerryTrust and $NassirTrust to reflect the player's relationship with the two worlds.
I wanted to represent some form of puzzle-solving gameplay in the ordinary world to contrast the action in the Ephemeral Rift. I choose an escape room-style password puzzle because its slightly laborious nature.
Based on the original pitch, the player selects different attributes for Nassir that are related to archetypical fantasy classes which would then determine their options for combat in the later act.
Gameplay flowchart (Act 2)
Upon entering the second act, choices become more open-ended and the player can head to town to seek information about upcoming obstacles or down to the coast where their objective lies.
However, the more time spent investigating for information in the Ephemeral Rift, the more time would pass in the ordinary world. I used the variable $GameTime to keep track of these tradeoffs.
Based on the choices the player has made so far, they engage in a combat that could be successfully resolved in 7 different ways. I wanted each available gameplay option to feel different and had a lot of fun coming up with the ones that represented the different classes Nassir could be.
Gameplay flowchart (Act 3)
With the objective complete, the player returns to the ordinary world, and the $GameTime is tallied and affects their performance in the ordinary world accordingly.
I wrote different endings to reflect the player's choices: the protagonist remains an office worker in ordinary life, or they leave their job to further pursue Nassir in the Ephemeral RIft.
A third ending where the protagonist finds some balance between the two worlds was also written to reward players for 'optimal' play.
Reflection takeaways
The Ephemeral Rift was my first foray into interactive narrative and was hugely satisfying and rewarding. Looking back, here are a few lessons summarized:
Scope Management: Undertaking the project's ambitious scope, I realized there was more value in developing the core story than offering the player numerous choices. Focusing on the narrative's "trunk" rather than overwhelming branching options would result in a more cohesive experience and manageable development process.
Player Investment: My core design pillar, the conflict between the two worlds could have been better constructed. During the playtest, a tester remarked that they did not see any reason to support the ordinary world, as much of the investment for the world relied on reading text. On the other hand, they were much more invested in accomplishing goals and taking action within the fantasy world. This lesson may be rudimentary but served as a sound reminder that getting the player to be invested through action far exceeds relegating them to a passive viewer.
Creativity from Constraints: I had fun looking for ways to immerse the player by replicating what the protagonist was doing to the player by merely using text. Some worked, and some didn’t. For example, allowing the player to input a server name while the character was trying to log in to the game gave my tester the actual perception that they were about to enter a game. Others, like having the player scroll down to hit a prompt within a limited time to emulate the character sprinting did not translate quite as well. Having to create a game through a program such as Twine made me realize that restrictions are the key to creative design.
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