World design is tough. Designing cohesive environments, characters, factions and meaning rarely comes easily. We approach it by first designing the most overarching themes and then let everything else be incluenced by those designs, kind of like a chain that unfolds. Having the high level frames set up really feeds creativity.
We try to focus on designing the world rather than the characters. I think I’ve mentioned earlier that the main character is a mere blip in the world and their backstory is left to the imagination of the player. The more interesting part is the dynamics of the world, its ecosystems and power structures. What is valued, what drives people living in it and so on. There will not likely be much, if any, narrative in the game, and the characters’ stories will not be unfolded by text, but rather by actions and events.
The design is of course ever-evolving, however, there are some things we like a lot currently:
- A kinda dystopian world with a scifi-industrial, maybe slightly religious, theme
- There is a megacorporation in the game that the player is involved with (kinda like Weyland Corporation in Alien)
- Energy, and harvesting energy, is a key driver in the world’s ecosystem
- Electricity is a core element in the game
- Cyborgs, mechs, mutants
It’s a world where energy has a near godlike status and the industry does anything it can to cultivate more energy. This means that energy is the most valuable asset in the world, and material that can be used as fuel comes second.
A dystopian world concept
The world is governed by megacorporations and the player works for one called the Grid Corp. The player’s mission is to find and activate power sources in the world to collect energy.
An in-game image of a power source
The game’s pacing will be designed around these power sources. The player will be sent on missions to find them around the open world. After each mission, more dangerous than the previous, the player can return to the corporation hub and have a chance to get rewards. After that, they can choose a new mission. In the spirit of Noita, the player can also wander off the paved path, however, it may not be incentivised to do so.
Right now we think this game is at its core mostly about shooting, exploration and discovery. All other mechanics will be designed to support those elements, like for example using material to upgrade your weaponry.
Interested to follow the project? Have feedback or just thoughts? Head to our Discord server.