- johnny.chang@futuregames.nu
- Stockholm, SWEDEN
Narrative design document I worked on during the 3rd game project at Futuregames.
The narrative underewent several changes during the entire course of the production, which was expected. Some of the original ideas can still be seen in the document.
My aim, as narrative designer, was for the gameplay to rely as little as possible on written texts and dialogues, and instead try to utilise discrete but impactful audiovisual means to help the player figure out what’s going on in the game, while allowing them to keep focusing on what they enjoy the most, which is to play the game, have fun, and hopefully also grow and get inspired in the process!
1. Overview
2. World Map
3. Timeline
4. Culture
5. Locations
6. Characters
7. Scenes & Dialogues
Intro
Scene 1
Scene 2
Transition to Cutscene
Scene 3
Scene 4
Scene 5
Ending Cutscene
The game takes place in a time when human civilization is gone. The reason for their disappearance is not fully understood. However, small mammals, insects and reptiles have evolved and learned to pick up and use old human remnants to benefit themselves and their societies.
The story focuses on an unfortunate mouse, called Mickey, who endures the hardships of living alone in a dangerous world, where food is scarce and tribal predators lurk in every corner. It begins with Mickey collecting food as usual, but is then chased away from his home by a giant beast. He is then found by a couple of mice strangers. And together, the mouse trio sets off with their wagon and precious map to find the promised land of Mousetopia.
Mice live alone or in groups in huts, caverns or holes of other structures. Each hut or cavity is inhabited by one mouse family, where they live tightly together. When the environment is rich in natural resources, they tend to use tree segments or giant acorns as the main bulk of their huts. They tend to leave the exterior of the original structure as intact as possible, since this way will attract less attention from predators, and instead focus more on designing and reshaping the interiors.
Mice are hardy and adaptable, which make them fit in almost any kind of environment. Forests, grasslands, and manmade structures, where they’re able to maintain a low profile, are ideal. Their ancestors used to dig burrows underground when making longer journeys out in the wild. After the discovery of fire, however, they were able to fend off bigger insects and beasts with just keeping the fireplace alive.
While mice have similar behavioral patterns and ideas, their appearances may vary, depending on the available resources in their immediate vicinity. They are mainly scavengers. Since they have limited physical abilities, they do not possess large quantities of raw materials. Instead, they rely on their creativity and imagination to craft and combine scraps into new useful items.
So, there are very little uniform looks within the mouse society, and each mouse wears different looking clothes and accessories. The clothes are sometimes patched together from different fabrics and components.
Food culture: Cheese, berries, nuts, corn, lettuce
Pointy and uninviting. Tribal style iron/medieval age.
Lizards favor shadows and darkness. They try to stay away from sunlight. Thus, you will most likely not find their settlements in the open, but rather deep in the forest, where the sunlight is blocked by thick layers of trees and bushes. However, lately, they have grown bolder and begun expanding into new territories.
The forest lizards are tribal and religious. They believe in sacrificing other living beings to please their Lods (Gods). The bigger and more powerful sacrifice the better. If possible, they prefer hunting down and bringing back their prey alive and putting them in cages. They believe the scream and fierce energy of the sacrifice pleases their Lods more than a silent and passive one. After the sacrificial ritual, the prey is feasted upon.
Mice are considered newbie prey. Often, senior lizards won’t bother hunting down mice, since it’s considered beneath them, and rather a weakness, to come home and show up with a little mouse. Instead, mouse hunting is reserved for junior lizards, who still need to practice their hunting skills, prove their worth, and impress “lizzies”.
Food ranking system:
There are several lizard tribes scattered across the land, and often there is an uneasy peace going on between them. If any of them shows signs of weakness, other tribes will surely come and try to grab a slice of their hunting grounds.
Each tribe and their members typically distinguish themselves from one another in terms of appearance and features, since lizards within the same tribe often share the same common ancestor.
| Character Data |
|---|
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NAME: Mickey |
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AGE: - |
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SEX: Male |
|
HEIGHT: 10 cm |
|
WEIGHT: 22 g |
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EYE COLOR: Black |
|
FUR COLOR: Light brown |
|
SCARS: - |
|
TATOOS: - |
|
ROLE: Fighter (offensive) |
Mickey lost his parents when he was very young. He has since then learned to manage on his own. He knows very little about the outside world, but what he knows, he knows very well. He’s good at the things he does. Mickey lives a simple life with fixed routines. He often dreams of a better life, but at the same time understands the dangers of the world outside, and that he’s most safe sticking to what he already knows.
Since he’s not had many opportunities to socialize with friendlies, he’s not very good at filtering and formulating words with care, but rather speaks whatever comes to his mind.
| Character Data |
|---|
|
NAME: Tickie |
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AGE: - |
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SEX: Female |
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HEIGHT: 9.8 cm |
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WEIGHT: 20 g |
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EYE COLOR: Dark brown |
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FUR COLOR: Light brown |
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SCARS: - |
|
TATOOS: - |
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ROLE: Scavenger (runner) |
Ticky claims she was born and raised in a big mouse family in Mousetopia, where mice live in big castles, and towers are made of cheese! She says she was once on a school trip, but got separated from her group, because she was chasing an angel (bat). Instead, she got caught by an eagle, but accidently got dropped on the way to its nest. She has since then tried to find her way back home to Mousetopia and reunite with her family.
Tickie has survived until now by being small, elegant, and discreet. But mostly, she relies on her incredible speed and quick thinking.
Tickie can sometimes be harsh and temperamental towards less focused peers, because she understands what the most important or urgent things to do at the moment are. This is how she helps the team stay focused on the tasks at hand, so they can get things done quickly. Conversely, when it is time to rest and relax, or when things go according to plan, no berry in the forest can match her sweetness!
| Character Data |
|---|
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NAME: Stitchy |
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AGE: - |
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SEX: Male |
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HEIGHT: 10.2 cm |
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WEIGHT: 25 g |
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EYE COLOR: Dark brown |
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FUR COLOR: Brown or light grey |
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SCARS: Left eye, vert. scratch mark |
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TATOOS: - |
|
ROLE: Tank (defensive) |
Stitchy grew up by the Swamp Lands. He lost his entire family in a toad-raid, and he himself was kept as a house mouse at the Toad Baron’s court. He was later forced to participate in sick games and fight in arenas against frogs, crickets, and other poor creatures, for the sake of toad amusement. One day, when the toads were all drunk from consuming too much dragonfly juice, he stole a snail from the stables and escaped. Stitchy despises oppression. He wants to avenge his family, but seriously doubts he has what it takes to make it happen. But his deepest wish is to once again feel the warmth of just being close to family.
During his time with the toads, he managed to pick up a few useful survival techniques from those horrible arena fights, such as focusing on the matter at hand, and disabling and knocking down his enemies, as well as withstand pain. He won’t easily let down his guard for strangers. However, for family… he’ll gladly do whatever it takes to keep them all safe!
[Camera panning from the sky down towards the ground]. Mickey enters the shot, walking, looking for something.
[Camera switches to zoom in on Mickey, who looks hungry]. Stomach growls. [Camera switches to show food some distance away]. [Camera switches back on Mickey] Mickey sees the food and gets excited. [Camera zooms out to standard position]. Game starts.
💭 [Thought bubble] Mickey thinking about the food.
Icons pop up to show where and which mouse button the player is supposed to press, in order to get to the food and pick it up.
MICKEY: *sniffing the food and happy sound* (after picking it up).
💭 [Thought bubble] Mickey thinking about home.
Icons pop up to show where and which mouse button the player is supposed to click, in order to leave the area.
Enemy appears behind the player.
LIZARD: *Hsss…*
MICKEY: *Screaming*
Emergency icon pops up to remind the player to leave the area immediately.
Mickey has arrived outside his home and is in full panic.
💬 MICKEY: *mumbling for himself*.
💭 [Thought bubble] Mickey thinking about various objects he can use against the pursuing lizard.
It is then up to the player to identify and pick up objects to hit the lizard with (preferably throwable objects).
Mickey runs around in his garden picking up stuff and throws them at the lizard.
When the lizard’s health is reduced to almost 0…
LIZARD: *Hss Hs Hsss* (I’ll be back!)
…the lizard then leaves
[Thought bubble] Mickey thinking about going inside and hide under his bed (picture of cave entrance and him under his bed.
Low angle perspective on Mickey, staring up at the camera in terror.
High angle perspective from behind Mickey, revealing two big glowing eyes from inside the cave…
TICKIE & STITCHY: *incomprehensive mumbling*
TICKIE: Stitchy, stop poking him with that filthy stick!
STITCHY: I just want to see if he’s… Hey, look! He’s waking up!
STITCHY: Ok, let’s get a move on, Tickie. We have no time to waste.
TICKIE: Wait..! We can’t just leave him here in the open, like food bait..!?
All three mice standing and talking to each other:
TICKIE: Com’on! We need to gather 3 pieces of food now, before we can leave for Mousetopia, my birthplace!
STITCHY: I hope he’s worth the extra effort…
MICKEY: Uh… food… *sniff sniff* an’… an’… *squeal*
LIZARD: What’s this! THREE of you?!
…and you brought us a little wagon to put you all in! How considerate…!
STITCHY: Tickie, go get the food. NOW!! I’ll hold’em off!
TUTORIAL TEXT: [Gather food…]
STITCHY: Yo’ Mike… pretty cool moves you pulled off back there!
MICKEY: Thanks Stitch!
And where did you learn to take a beating without even blinkin’?
TICKIE: Boys, food restocking first!
Stitchy can tell you everything about toad arena later…
MICKEY: Hey, Tickie. Could you tell me a bit about your home?
TICKIE: Mouetopia? Well… it’s huge… and super-duper safe!
There’s mice everywhere… having fun all day! And endless stockpile of cheese!
MICKEY: Woah! Sounds like a city of angels…! Can’t wait to see your home! How much further?!
TICKIE: Mm, not far from here, I believe.
We might see it from the hilltop up ahead! Let’s go!
Frontal (or side) high angle view of the three mice struggling up a mountain.
Suddenly: Transition to smiley faces (while looking ahead).
Tickie rushes forward (overjoyed) out of the shot.
View from the back, Tickie running forward/upwards (away from the camera) towards the edge of the mountain, because she can see the towers of Mousetopia sticking up at the other side of the “cliff edge”.
Camera shifts to Mickey and Stitchy. They look at each other, a bit stunned, then happily also run to catch up with Tickie, who is already standing at the edge of the mountain top.
Backshot of Tickie standing at the mountain top edge looking ahead at Mousetopia (resemblance of the ruins of Disneyland-like structure, a.k.a. Mouse version of Atlantis).
The other two enters the shot and joins her at either side, looking ahead (Tickie standing in the middle).
Side shot (half body or shoulder) of all three mice in a row, looking enthusiastic and touched… but not too happy (mixed feelings).
Tickie removes a tear from her face (hand gesture) – Happy, but also trying to not get herself overexcited.
Medium high angle view from the back of the mice, just enough to reveal a lively swamp valley filled with lizard villages and well-equipped lizard patrols marching between them. The lizard valley is right between their current location and Mousetopia.
From standing with hands down in a horizontal row at the edge of the mountain top, with their focus constantly maintained at the front, the three mice transition into holding each other’s hands. [Emotional dramatic drum sounds…]
Ending transition to black (fast or slow).
© 2020, Johnny Chang. All Rights Reserved.