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Minqi Huang
Level Design
Quests Design to Construct a Nonlinear Branch Narrative Experience
My thesis designed different types of meaningful choices in a series of quests for the player to create a branch narrative experience that could make players feel how their actions influence the story .
In my artifact level constructed in The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim , a mage tells players that his family was killed by an evil dragon and begs players to change the past through time travel magic to save his family . When players travel back , they discover the real truth and how to influence events and the characters until they find a way to return to the future and see how they influenced all characters ’ fate . The main quest is designed in Three Act Structure . In each act , there are 1-2 side quests , including a branching point that can cause 2-3 different results . The results also have an instant impact or a longterm impact on the story and characters ’ condition . Players also need to learn more backstory during exploration to know more details about the characters and what happened between them .
I worked on this one-hour mod project for about seven months . During research and production , I developed skills related to story construction , choice design , gameplay scripting , and AI behavior scripting . I learned more about player motivations and what kinds of factors can let them feel their decisions are meaningful . Meanwhile , I also developed a better understanding of how to influence players ’ standpoint toward the character by the conflict information and contradictory traits . My favorite game type is RPG . I believe the most interesting part of a story-based game is that players get the ability to influence the world in the way they like . That is why I choose this topic for my thesis project . Many developers use moral choice , predictable choice , or unpredictable choice with different kinds of feedback to create interesting moments for branching points . From my best practices on those moments ’ design , I hope players can be engaged in the game world when they find their role is important to affect the characters and the storyline .
50 LEVEL DESIGN