The Final Core System. (Patreon)

I’m sure that the gamers out there have wondered:  “Why do quest-givers in indie open-world games live such static lives?”  

For example: the Hearthians in “The Outer Wilds” are indeed stuck in a 22-minute time loop, but wouldn’t you think that someone among that species (aside from yourself) actually might want to move a bit during one of those 22 minutes?  Nope - in each of those cycles, everyone lives a life so sedentary, they make the AnglerFish aliens of Dark Bramble look downright outgoing.

To be fair: I can see why most indie open-world games avoid NPC movement.  You have to get a multitude of systems working together, in tandem:

• Player controller
• Dialogue System
• Quest system
• NPC AI

All need to work together as flawlessly as possible.  In addition: if you only have to worry about the movement of the Player, you can get away with a lot more as far as navigation bugs go.  If you have to make an NPC move similarly within the view of the player, you have to be a LOT more diligent.

Thankfully, we’ve been able to accomplish just about all of this - and getting this done was the Final Core System we needed for the Beta!  It’s one thing to have an NPC follow a player - it’s another to get the player to follow the NPC.

Using Lance's original NPC AI controller, Laura is about 60% done with the mechanics of this first mission, and barring any huge delays, we should have the bare bones of it ready in time for the final playtest build (due out Monday of Next Week!)

The first mission in any game is pretty much THE most important one.  In fact, I’d argue that the opening sewer crawl in “Oblivion” was far more consequential than the final boss battles at the end, because that is the mission where the main story points are introduced, and the player learns how to navigate the world around them.

From the very start, we wanted to create a short initial outdoor mission that precedes the player’s full autonomy within the game.  The purpose of this mission was (as it was in the aforementioned sewer crawl) to familiarize the player with their place in the world, how to navigate it, and - along the way - introduce the story.

What was more: we wanted to take a page from the original “Fallout” playbook - if you are not familiar:  In Fallout 1, the player’s first mission is to leave their post-apocalyptic underground home (Vault 13) and head east to Vault 15.  As the situation is kinda dire (and if they want to follow the main story,) the player immediately does so upon entering the wasteland.

But then - something happens: About 55% of the way towards Vault 15, the player catches a glimpse of a small settlement slightly to the north, by the name of “Shady Sands.”

As simple as this sounds, this design served two very important purposes:

Firstly, it gave the player the thrill of “accidentally” discovering something as a result of their own (admittedly limited) agency. This prompted the player to keep their eye out for similar stuff, going forward.

Secondly, it immediately branched the narrative and introduced the first side quests.  If you have not played Fallout 1, it stands alongside Disco Elysium and Planescape:Torment as a masterclass in giving the player agency in determining how their story plays out.

Likewise, over the course of this initial mission, we wanted to introduce a number of “trailheads” along the way that will allow the player to decide how they want to engage with the narrative.

Lance has continued smoothing out character controller issues, and coming up with brilliant improvisation when the situation demands it - most of the navigation problems in the last Playtest version have already been addressed!

I am personally THRILLED to see this finally coming together!!!

We shipped out 125 postcard sets to patrons over the past week - Another 100 will be going out this coming monday, along with the next Playtest Version!

Also: if you are in the Portland, Maine area - it looks like the weather still will be good for our July 4th trip out to Cliff Island! We will be meeting up near the departing gate (either 3 or 4 - look for the guy with the PI Logo sign) at the Casco Bay Lines terminal at 5:40 PM.

A round-trip ticket out to Cliff Island is $11.55, but we’ll be giving free tickets to the first four who show up!

See you next monday- Thanks so much for your continued support, patience, and confidence!!!