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The story in adventure games traditionally plays a very important role. Some people even think
that adventure games are the perfect medium for storytelling. While other video game genres
focus on action, ability to react, dexterity or strategic planning, adventure games always
have been about the story of the acting characters. Following the story, solving tricky puzzles,
exploring the world and interacting with NPCs define adventure games. Uninteresting and
unnecessary stories that aren't essential for the game itself are often grafted onto
games in other genres. In adventure games, the opposite extreme can be true. The developers
often emphasize the development of the story too much and the actual gameplay elements
are grafted onto the story in a way that feels uninteresting and unnecessary. When story
and gameplay don't harmonise with each other, or in the worst case even compete with each
other, the overall product suffers. Too many and too complicated puzzles can cause the
players to be more and more separated from the actual story. It's especially serious
when the puzzles have little or even no direct connection to the story of the game. The absolute
worst case that can happen is when story and gameplay do not harmonise with each other
and appear as two separate entities to the player. Avoiding such a disharmony between
story and gameplay had a high priority when the plot for our game was crafted. But what
did we start with? Was the story developed first, and the game then built around it?
Or did the gameplay come first, and a fitting story was conceived later? Actually, it was
neither. The development of the story was strongly connected with the development of
the gameplay and all elements continuously influenced one another. When the gameplay
of our game was developed, we simultaneously looked for the kind of story that would fit
best. As possible plots took shape, they reversely also influenced the further development of
the gameplay, as well as all other elements of the game. In this way, all elements constantly
influenced each other over the years. Acting characters gained shape, the setting became
clearer and finally the cornerstones of the plot emerged. When this process eventually
reached its climax after a very long time, all pieces fit together perfectly and harmonised
as a greater whole. The basic cornerstones of the story were set and could finally be
elaborated in greater detail. But this was only the first step. The next challenge will
be to not only tell the story to the players by showing them cut scenes, presenting them
with sprawling dialogues with other characters or making them read text that explains what's
happening. The opposite should be the case. You're only going to get to know very little
of the actual story in our game, and only very indirectly. Information will be scarce.
There will always be more questions asked than answers given. Instead of getting the
story told, the players are supposed to use their imagination and their curiosity to sort
of tell the story to themselves. If this challenge can be successfully overcome, then an experience
that was rarely seen before will await the player. Instead of following a rigid predefined
story path and solving puzzles at its frayed edges, the players will find themselves in
a lively world in which their curiosity, their imagination and their love of experimentation
will lead them onwards. Experiencing a story comprises of more than passively following
consecutive events. You sort of have to find yourself in the story and have to have the
option to help shape its course. Giving the players this exact option, is the vision behind our game.
And this vision can only be reached if all elements harmonise perfectly with each other.