Prototype Townie System

[manuq]

@JoniCeceri has come with an idea for bridging the gameplay and the narrative together. We are going to explore it.

Townie System

An “upgrade” system where at the end of quests, players will recount the quest to the townies via a dialogue tree, and will have multiple upgrade options that shape how the world expands.

• Players collect sacred element threads in the quests, and are able to “spend” them on new features during these retellings.
  • Can use other options besides the threads to embody the elements!
• Memory: Upgrades focused on lore and gameplay hints. (Townies start remembering more about the world and its history.)
• Imagination: Upgrades to the environment, townies expand the town and fix up long disused ruins/temples/shops/etc. Opens up shortcuts, new shops, many options.
• Spirit: Townies show up in combat/puzzle encounters, right alongside the player during future quests.

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• Focus of this system is to bridge the gameplay and narrative together in inventive ways. Give the player incentive to care about the NPCs!
• Many directions this can go in, can have established NPCs that build up over time.
• Can also have bespoke upgrades for specific narrative beats! Doesn’t have to lock us into a certain set of upgrades.
• Also set up the player to think more impactfully about their actions during quests, direct commentary on the game play.
  • Locked out of certain options depending on playstyle?
  • Various gags we can do. (if a player resets a quest and plays it again, townies respond “We already heard this one!”)

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Companions

• Leaving design space for us to include them, but current thinking is keep them simple.
  • Mechanically, should just give player stat buff/debuffs and/or ability modifications.
  • Open to them evolving as we solidify more of the game! Especially as we define the townie system, thinking of ways to make the player be more invested in the NPCs both narratively and mechanically should be our goals.

[manuq]

Hey @JoniCeceri! I started prototyping the Townie System with what's concrete: a cutscene with the retelling. But now I realize that I have many questions before I can continue.

The main question I have is about measurement unit of these upgrades, and their duration. The other question is about mapping the choice to an actual reward, in a way that is not so difficult to relate.

How will the player know what's the actual reward, upon selecting Memory/Imagination/Spirit? Let's suppose they select "Imagination", and the reward is "a shortcut opens up in the map". How do they find that shortcut? Also for gating we have the quest completion already, so is the townie system adding a new way of doing the same? Should it replace the former? #1934

Are the upgrades temporary or permanent? If a player selects "Spirit", does the townie appear to help once in the next combat, or forever? Or something in the middle, like "during the next quest"?

Back to mapping the selected option to the reward: Maybe a townie takes a step forward after hearing the retelling, then the same townie appears to help later in the game? I find it a bit hard to relate, but possible. Another option, the townie joins the crew and follows the StoryWeaver as companion. This raises the question of how many companions can the StoryWeaver have. If the answer to temporary/permanent is "temporary", then it would be simple, one temporary upgrade at a time, one companion at a time.

How do the upgrades rewarded by retelling work with the existing player abilities? Should they replace the powerups altogether? For example, instead of grabbing the "grapple longer thread" powerup, the player should complete a quest with the "grapple normal-size thread", then select "Spirit" in the dialogue tree, then they get the longer thread. This is a bit more indirect than powerups, in my opinion. But I think we should have only one, not both, for simplicity. Powerups have the advantage that their effect (buff or debuff) can happen in the middle of a quest.

In theory a quest can give zero to six sacred threads. #1234 . And they can be of any kind. How does this affect the options in the retelling dialogue tree? Let's suppose a quest gives:

• Zero threads. Should the dialogue tree be displayed at all?
• Two threads Memory, Imagination. Should the dialogue tree not present the Spirit option for this quest?
• Multiple threads of the same kind Spirit. Should the dialogue give multiple options for Spirit?
• Or the dialogue tree should display 3 options upon completing the quest, regardless of the collected threads?

What amount of rewards are we thinking? This number is important because we'll have to come up with ideas for them. If threads found in StoryQuests also count, then we have  13 x 3 = 39 upgrades to think about already. Unless we don't consider StoryQuests and the placeholder lore quest, in which case is 2 x 3 = 6.

[JoniCeceri]

How will the player know what's the actual reward, upon selecting Memory/Imagination/Spirit? Let's suppose they select "Imagination", and the reward is "a shortcut opens up in the map". How do they find that shortcut? Also for gating we have the quest completion already, so is the townie system adding a new way of doing the same? Should it replace the former? #1934

I think the easiest solution for now is for a townie to speak up and say explicitly what they're gonna go fix, like after the story is over they speak up and say something like "I am going to go to [X area] and fix the bridge!" This is something we should monitor playtesting and feedback if this will be enough for players, but I think it'll work well enough for the moment.

For gating, I think we should have this be an additional method for the quest completion system, I think both ways will have their uses so we can keep options open.

Are the upgrades temporary or permanent? If a player selects "Spirit", does the townie appear to help once in the next combat, or forever? Or something in the middle, like "during the next quest"?

My thought had been for all upgrades to be permanent at the moment, but you do bring up a possible option for us with the townies joining the next quest. It does add more complexity to figure out though. (How do we define "next quest" if the player can exit and restart quests at will? If we are only able to tell the stories a finite amount of times after a new quest, how do we renew the upgrade? etc.)

I think for now, let's keep it a binary on/off upgrade, and I'll give some thought if temporary upgrades would make work or add anything fun.

Back to mapping the selected option to the reward: Maybe a townie takes a step forward after hearing the retelling, then the same townie appears to help later in the game? I find it a bit hard to relate, but possible. Another option, the townie joins the crew and follows the StoryWeaver as companion. This raises the question of how many companions can the StoryWeaver have. If the answer to temporary/permanent is "temporary", then it would be simple, one temporary upgrade at a time, one companion at a time.

As mentioned above, I think just having someone step forward and say what they're going to do is fine. I'm a bit wary of adding companions like that since I think that would be a much larger system (NPC AI, player control, etc) to figure out. (I think having townies just "go ahead" of the player and show up in the scenes they're needed will keep things easier.)

How do the upgrades rewarded by retelling work with the existing player abilities? Should they replace the powerups altogether? For example, instead of grabbing the "grapple longer thread" powerup, the player should complete a quest with the "grapple normal-size thread", then select "Spirit" in the dialogue tree, then they get the longer thread. This is a bit more indirect than powerups, in my opinion. But I think we should have only one, not both, for simplicity. Powerups have the advantage that their effect (buff or debuff) can happen in the middle of a quest.

So this is a complicated answer. For this prototype, I think we can have the powerups just be given to the player by a townie. But my overall thoughts were that those kinds of upgrades would be given at a shop location where the player could get a quick tutorial (or whatever we felt was needed.)

The powerups that are currently implemented in the game however feel more like either small temp buffs, which as mentioned above, the townie system is more for larger permanent upgrades. I at least see these as two separate types of upgrades, but it may just be a case-by-case thing with how powerups are used on quests.

In theory a quest can give zero to six sacred threads. #1234 . And they can be of any kind. How does this affect the options in the retelling dialogue tree? Let's suppose a quest gives:

* Zero threads. Should the dialogue tree be displayed at all?

* Two threads Memory, Imagination. Should the dialogue tree not present the Spirit option for this quest?

* Multiple threads of the same kind Spirit. Should the dialogue give multiple options for Spirit?

* Or the dialogue tree should display 3 options upon completing the quest, regardless of the collected threads?

What amount of rewards are we thinking? This number is important because we'll have to come up with ideas for them. If threads found in StoryQuests also count, then we have 13 x 3 = 39 upgrades to think about already. Unless we don't consider StoryQuests and the placeholder lore quest, in which case is 2 x 3 = 6.

Storyquests shouldn't count towards anything in this system (So the threads collected in there should be an isolated set from the LoreQuests)

There are two questions I think that we need to get locked in from narrative before we can fully answer this question:

1. If there are only three spools of thread in the entire game to get, or multiple instances? (This affects the cost of upgrades.)
2. What's the overall quest count? (This affects the pacing of the upgrades, how often the player is able to upgrade, and how many times.)

I think overall, that the player should always tell a story, and have the dialogue tree as part of it, but with the threads collected, they can be "bonuses" to the story. So like, the player can tell a story focusing on one of the three elements (Mechanically this may just not amount to anything besides adding to the narrative.) but if they have a memory thread for instance, selecting that option gives the upgrade as they tell it.

For the prototype.... This may be a conversation we just have tomorrow haha, but I think let's just go with having at least 1 of each element option available for a dialogue tree, and go from there. I think there's a lot of questions this part of the system is going to have come up anyway as we finalize it more. But some of this might be easier to answer once we have some more info from narrative.

[manuq]

Thanks @JoniCeceri !

I think the easiest solution for now is for a townie to speak up and say explicitly what they're gonna go fix, like after the story is over they speak up and say something like "I am going to go to [X area] and fix the bridge!"

I think that works for the world map. For townies helping in quests though, unless the quests are a linear sequence and the upgrade targets the next following quest, how is the townie supposed to know when will they appear? Or us developers :)

And if the help is for the next quest, a quest that the player hasn't played before... how will the player identify the townie's help as an actual reward? Suppose the townie brings a bridge that's a shortcut. The player may think that it has to be like this. Same as if the townie helps in combat, the player may think that this combat round was supposed to be as easy (not perceiving it as a difficulty helper).

I have an idea to solve this, but it requires the "townie help" to be a consumable/temporary boost. Think of Slay the Spire potions:

• Any quest or world map area can define zones in which a townie helper of a particular kind can be summoned. Let's call them "townie helper zone".
• StoryWeaver can equip only one helper townie at a time. They appear in the HUD, and start blinking/highlight when they can be used.

Then a game loop example can be:

• Player completes a quest with "Imagination" magical thread.
• Player retelling happens, selects option that has the Imagination bonus.
• One townie from the listeners group speaks up. Their face is added to the HUD, they are "equipped" as "helper for imagination".
• Player engages in a new quest. They enter a zone in which a helper for imagination can be used in a broken bridge. The townie face in the HUD starts blinking.
• Player can opt to use the townie here or not (we'll have to figure out the controls)
• If the player calls the townie, they are summoned to the level and fix the brigde.

This way, the player can decide when to use the townie's help. And the player understands that this is an actual reward.

The powerups that are currently implemented in the game however feel more like either small temp buffs

Not quite! Since #2032 we made them permanent. So once the player grabs "Repel", it stays.

[saspiers]

Here's a link to the narrative direction presentation. It's not complete yet (and when it is it'll be shared out via wiki) but we DO have side characters planned Slide Deck

[manuq]

@JoniCeceri #2129 is a prototype for my proposal in #2119 (comment) . As soon as I finish it, I will move to a prototype that is closer to your design (tech stack). For now I will come up with more examples for townies helping, which I think will be needed in any case.