Playtesting

In the early version of our game which has only 1 level, we sent copies to our volunteers to feel the atmosphere and basic movement. The basic movement has slight problems like the dialogue scroll’s trigger box is a little bit bigger than expected.

And the real problem is not about the movement. First is unclear indicators. Because I build our level with free assets, it does not contain certain item showing different layers of the ground. Volunteer like my partner told me she did not understand what the main character was doing. The animation of digging is missing, so I used attack animation to replace it. It made players confused. And this problem can be fixed when the pixel art asset is ready.

Another problem during our first playtest is the lack of goal. I, as a designer, presumed player are familiar with the mining action and goal to find the jewel. But in fact, most of them are not aware of it. I tried to solve this by writing in the scroll by the wall. But only the experienced player will try to read it first. Players like my partner did not even try to read the scroll. And the solution is to put a tutorial at the beginning of the game. Show the goal loud and clear and make sure most player would understand. Also, the item inside the game should remind players to reach the goal. This can be fixed by arts and texts update.

In our final version of Trapped, unfortunately, we do not have sufficient to playtest it in a wide range. We will playtest it during development by ourselves. After submission, we will send copies and try to fix problems.

Experimentation

Metafictional element

In Trapped, we try to show players that the protagonist is trapped inside the mine as well as the game program. And each load player made, can cause a soulless protagonist’s born and death. This concept will only convey to players once they first went through the game. They will know that each load action will have a cost. And they will try to have a new game plus without load even once.

I’m not very sure if the new game plus mode would work as expected like in One Shot. If the levels are too long, the player would get tired of playing for the second time. But if it is too short, the feeling to sympathize protagonist might not raise that high. And it needs more playtesting.

Trapped has 2 endings, one for normal play like Neutral Route in Undertale. And one for a metafictional ending like True Pacifist Route and the Genocide Route. The first ending will trigger when the player ever loads the game. Loading the game in Trapped means a world will be created as no one to control the protagonist. And of course in that world, there is no function like loading, and the protagonist can only wait to die. That is why the bloodstain and skeleton exist – they are all dead protagonists. Game is created to amuse players, but they are hardly aware that character might have feelings and they might not have God’s ability – Save and load to the best ending.

The second ending is triggered when the player does not load even once. First, the protagonist will thank the player for not create more of them just for pleasure. And then he will mock the useless gems. The goal in every game might seem meaningful but to characters, they might be useless. There is no happy ending from gems and collectables. That is an indicator only meaningful to players.

In environmental storytelling, we tried scene change like in Layer of Fear. And a jump scare will be set in the middle of the gameplay. A heavy atmosphere can raise player’s curiosity about the truth. And hopefully, once they know about the truth, they will choose not to let the character suffer again.

In detailed graphic design, I tried bloodstain, crack on the wall, skeleton. Each of these will have its function. Blood can carry messages like letters or words. Skeleton can show how many corpses were left here. A crack on the wall will push the plot forward and a little jump scare.

At the beginning of the Trapped project, I thought I could finish all the development process on my own. But the narrative-heavy metafictional game needs detailed visual content. Though I can get a prototype using free pixel assets, to get impressive gameplay requires a pixel artist. I wish to find a coursemate who is capable and willing to do the job, but it still seemed impossible. Luckily Ziqi (Leefer) reach me and said she can do the pixel art and environment storytelling part.

Team Building

First, we talked a lot about the idea of this game. Trapped is a meta-game based on the Harvest Moon series’s mining mini-game. And the story is about the veteran miner finding the jewel he wants. Trapped have 2 meaning: the miner was trapped inside the mine; the character is trapped inside the game. Luckily Ziqi is a fan of mining game and shows me the former games she played. After several rounds of chatting about the prototype, a team of 2 is formed up.

Then the question is the job field. Metagame requires normal gameplay and discussion about the game itself. Though it has different ways to express it, with Ziqi’s help, we can use cut scenes instead of text only to show the thoughts. So in the end, I will handle the coding, writing and game design, and Ziqi will do the pixel art and environmental storytelling.

Cooperation needs the understanding of each other within the team. After talking about lifestyle and working routine, we decided to have a weekly meeting and daily talk about development progress.

Communication process

Efficient communication requires certain software. According to our daily work, Trello and WeChat are selected as tools. Trello can be used as a public space to store our progress, meeting record. In case of the time difference between me and Ziqi, Trello becomes even more important. Each of us can leave messages, thoughts, or even specific function demands. And once the user set Trello as the homepage, each difference can be noticed at once and discussed afterwards. WeChat can act as a video meeting room and social media.

https://trello.com/b/gxp1Zpeb/trapped-the-game

Each week we will discuss our process, thoughts and other things. And records are documented on the Trello page in Chinese and English language. And also there are documents in Excel to record pixel art requirement and references. There is 2 excel file about character design and cutscenes so far.

About project management in Trapped, we arrange task into weeks. My major is public management with a bachelor degree, so this part should be my job. Feedback for each week is recorded and improvement has been made. In the last term, the Collaborative Unit had taken some time so the development time is limited.

Outcomes and difficulties

Trapped’s development, for now, has reached a point. It looks like a Harvest Moon mining game and has basic mechanics now. And in the metafictional part of Trapped, we’re trying to convey messages using text and images. The first version of Trapped will shortly be submitted and assessed.

In the environmental storytelling part. We have tried different elements to tell the story inside the mine. Bloodstain and skeletons will tell each player that the mine is extremely dangerous. And weird scratch on the wall can show there are strange things that happened before. The scene of the first levels can be mild-looking, and gradually the atmosphere will become heavy.

The main difficulty we meet together is the time difference. Ziqi is in London now while I’m still in the southern part of China. We have 8 hour’s time difference which limited real-time communication. Normally we will leave a message to each other and check after waking up. Fortunately, we have Trello and other application to ensure communication. From the outcome’s point of view, we have overcome the time difference and other minor difficulties.

The case study starts with the block-shoving puzzler game – Helltaker (Łukasz Piskorz, 2020)

Attributes: 

• 1 solution Sokoban, action game in the late-game boss fight
• AVG elements and the vivid character design

Helltaker is selected because of its character design and puzzle element. During gameplay, the motivation of the main character to continue is to build a demon harem. To achieve that, he has to Sokoban to reach each demon girl. And play an action game in the end. The dating system has an AVG element – 2 choices at the end of each level to demonstrate the personality of each demon girl.

In puzzle-solving, each action cost 1 step, and special action can cost 2. The player should arrange each step to reach the goal.

Elements can be used in Trapped:

• Character building by the dialogue system
• Puzzles with the only solution

Then I played the famous game jam version of There is no game (Draw Me A Pixel, 2015) which contains metafictional elements. In the later version, There is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Draw Me A Pixel, 2020), the game is completed with 6 and more levels and countless puzzles.

Attributes: 

• Fight against narrator
• Literally breaking the fourth wall and solve the puzzle
• Mocking free-to-play games and reflection of the game industry
• Using Credit panel to combine solution
• Play with actual developer’s footage
• Each element can be used as a solution

There is no game is based on Reverse psychology – People would desire forbidden things and action. Telling players that there is no game is to ask them to find the real game which is winning against the narrator or cooperate with him. During gameplay, the development honours the old-fashioned detective game and literally breaking the fourth wall by putting them on television and break its back. Then is an adventure game and interact with in-game characters. But the following level suddenly changes into a free play game which contains endless clicking, a cheating gambling system and, of course, loads of advertisements. But with mocking the F2P games, the player has to find a solution within the advertisement. Then there is different level using different element inside a game and developer’s daily life. The game experience is full of surprises and honouring of other games. Also, the hint system is really helpful which will not ruin the pleasure of puzzle-solving.

Elements can be used in Trapped:

• Breaking the fourth wall to solve puzzles
• Reverse psychology

The third case is the famous Undertale (Toby Fox, 2015), which has a phenomenal fandom culture. Analyzing Undertale is a huge project. So in this case study, I will focus on metafictional content and things that can be used in our game.

Attributes: 

• Load game cannot erase certain character’s  memory
• Characters within the game can also save & load
• Interaction with UI
• Forced application quit
• Neutral Route/True Pacifist Route/Genocide Route
• LGBTQ community

In the metafictional aspect of Undertale, Toby Fox used it very cautiously. Most parts are to build a certain character. And in the most part, the meta content is about saving files. For example, if you choose Genocide Route, the save file will permanently remember the choice. And in replay mode, you will never access a True Pacifist Route but more like a detained Pacifist Route. The only way to solve this is to close the save file sync in Steam and reinstall the whole game. That will form a rule: Some characters will remember what the player did and know that player’s capable of saving and loading. That character design together with the mechanism is awesome.

In the boss fight with the King, he will destroy the player’s UI content which will allow the player to show mercy to enemies.

Elements can be used in Trapped:

• Use save & load mechanics to build the character’s personality.
• UI content change to build atmosphere

Last but not least, my favourite game in the metafictional area: One Shot(Future Cat, 2016). The game is first released with a harsh punishment system. Once the player closes the game in an inappropriate area, the main character will die instantly, and the program will accuse you of it. That is why the game is called One Shot because you only get one chance to make everything right. In the later version, the permanent death system was removed which I think should not happen.

Attributes:

• Solve puzzles using actual file system
• Instant death if you quit incorrectly in an early version
• The protagonist is aware of the existence of the player and will interact with the player
• Windowed mode is recommended concerning gameplay and mechanics

The thing I appreciate about it is that the protagonist Niko is aware that he/she does not belong in this game program. All we need to do is find a way to send him/her back. But after what we experienced during the whole game. We will feel lonely about the departure. And there is no way to a reunion. And puzzle-solving part is combined closely with the computer file system which is outside of the game. Messing with the file system is not welcomed in many players’ point of view, but One Shot manages to find a balance.

Furthermore, the puzzles and mechanics are combined with the windowed mode of the game, which is surprising. In the final scene, Niko walks outside the game window and then walk outside the screen is something I can remember for a long time.

Elements can be used in Trapped:

• New game plus to reach the True End.
• Puzzle-solving with the actual file system.

To begin with, Yun-Su Lee and Myoung-Jun Kim’s essay in 2020 collected important metafictional game from 1997 to 2018. The research is mainly about the directive features of metagames and how they affect the narrative method. In the paper, a mainly used directional method is summarized into different forms.

For example, in up to 12 metagames, there are methods like using platform and genre to affect narrative (eg. One Shot, Doki Doki Literature Club), and also deforming components of the game program (eg. Doki Doki Literature Club). The view that each game uses various directional methods to influence the narrative and gameplay is really helpful. During Trapped development, we can refer to each element and find which methods can be used in our game. Also, the analysis can help us to find out which elements have not yet been discovered. Unfortunately, the paper is written in Korean so I can only refer to each paragraph by translation software.

The Stanley Parable plays an important role in metafictional game-related essays. And Antranig Arek Sarian said in the paper about the specific game design elements and the metaphor behind them. In his theory, The Stanley Parable used common items from 2 doors to a museum to convey ideas. The paper summarized almost every choice that the player can make and analyze the meaning of each choice.

For example, the first impressive scene is the player will face 2 doors. If the player decides to perform as Stanley, the non-exist main character, they would go through the left door as the narrator said. But the right door seems like a “wrong choice” according to the narrator, it contains more endings than entering the left door. In a certain way, the game developer encourages the player to define the binary choice system of what is right or wrong. Also, the paper discusses the position of the narrator in the past medium of literature. In Adventures in Algebra, the narrator set a question to test readers, and the answer can only be revealed once the reader turns to certain pages. The answers are vague and have interactivity with the narrator’s speaking. In The Stanley Parable, the narrator interacts with the player differently. It seems like the narrator is telling the story of Stanley, but to players, it feels like the narrator is asking the player to do the exact thing as he said. When the story becomes order, what will the player choose to do? That is the core question during the gameplay.

Furthermore, Bradley J. Fest in 2016 talked more about The Stanley Parable. In the view of the author, postmodernism help develop the core conflict of the game. And the game also pushes the theory forward to form a new theory. Besides, the author also addresses that the game has made players and critics focus on how irony can be expressed in video games. The game and narrator constantly mocking players for what they did during gameplay. Some scenes themselves have an ironic metaphor like the famous baby saving level which requires nonstop clicking for 5 hours.

Same as There is no game: Wrong dimension (2020, Draw me a pixel), which also has a certain level mocking free to play clicking game. Each element of the modern game industry is deformed into levels to express irony. The paper further discusses postmodern metafiction and how the Stanley Parable became its legacy. In our development of Trapped, we will refer to this game and paper about how they convey irony by video game mechanics.

The last literature is not exactly a paper about video games. But it can also bring certain thinking about strategy making in games. Nicholas S. Kovach, Alan S. Gibson, and Gary B. Lamont wrote in 2015 about the game theory. The research focuses on how player acquire strategy when they are not aware. Metafictional games are about breaking the rules of regular games and discuss video game themselves. In the puzzle-solving part, like There is no game: Wrong dimension (2020, Draw me a pixel), players often get confused about how they could interact with the game within a game. In the first level, the player should get water from the raindrop. But the only raindrop is inside the radio background image.

The solution is different from regular games so the player should learn how the solving logic should be. During the process, the hint system is really helpful. First, it will show which object the player is supposed to interact with. Then there are up to 3 hints can be provided, and time interval is 10 second which grant player time to think. Normally players will not need all 3 hints to find the solution, but it brings a difficulty curve into an impressive metagame. The game theory is about getting information and decision making which also highly required in metagames.

References

[1]Lee, Y.S. and Kim, M.J., 2020. Narrative and Directive Features of Metafiction Games. Journal of Digital Contents Society, 21(9), pp.1607-1616.

[2]Sarian, A.A., 2020. Paradox and Pedagogy in The Stanley Parable. Games and Culture, 15(2), pp.179-197.

[3]Fest, B.J., 2016. Metaproceduralism: the Stanley Parable and the legacies of postmodern metafiction. Wide Screen, 6(1).

[4]Kovach, N.S., Gibson, A.S. and Lamont, G.B., 2015. Hypergame theory: a model for conflict, misperception, and deception. Game Theory, 2015.

lit the fire

So the idea of making a game about trapped miners’ revenge was a flash during my shower time. I really like the game Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (2003) on Game Boy. It was my memory of boring and hot as hell summer vacation. I can still remember lots of details and the season flow inside the game.

One of the core mechanism of the game is to go mining on 2 different mines in order to obtaion different coal and materials to forge powerful tools. Besides, there’s events and precious item hidden in different floor of these mines. To get all floor’s different item, player have to manage their energy and stemina during throughout mining. According to the Havest Moon Wiki,

 If you are having troubles finding the jewel and are using a lot of stamina, revert back to your old save. That way, you save yourself the energy, and the floor will be reloaded when you load up your save

https://harvestmoon.fandom.com/wiki/Kappa_Jewels_(FoMT), Line 10

Basically, once you decided to collect certain item, Save and Load system becomes critical due to limited energy. And Lets go back to my shower time. I thought an idea that what will happen if each save you made can be a independent world and have its own main character and eco system. And they are all deprived of the capability of Save and Load.

that’s the rough idea of Trapped: the game, and I am extremely uncertainly about its future. But after finishing my shower, I ran out to write down all my thoughts.

A helping hand and prototyping

About assets and art style of the game, I can only say that my drawing will have 99% chance to ruin the story. and thank god my course mate Ziqi (Leefer) Wang is finding a working partner to finish the assignment. After our first discussion, the 2 person group formed up. Knowing that she likes mining game and pixel arts, I am more than grateful.

This Trello page https://trello.com/b/gxp1Zpeb/trapped-the-game will record our thoughts and meeting discussion. For now we’ve had 2 meetings about the plots and character design. And in this assignment, Leefer will focus more on enviornmental storytelling and art design, and I will be the programmer and writer. Also I wil try to dig out every mechanic about Save&Load, and see which one suit the best.

For fast prototyping, we decided to use free assets to test gameplay and other possible solutions. Gamemaker’s Toolkit had one video about a theme “Game will tell you how to design” and it inspired me a lot. Next thing I would do is to develop different version of the game and playtest it.