Initial work, storytelling and audio

We have now worked on Remembrance for more than three weeks. A lot of things happened already during the first few days. Many decisions and changes were made, both big and small ones, especially when it came to the actual gameplay design. To be honest, in the original design document made before the initial pitch we didn’t include any specific design decisions at all, since we had no designers in the group at that point.

From the start we had an idea of the player being able to collect something to help explain the world and story; perhaps tokens or runestones with a weird foreign language written on it. Despite the fact that we wrote in the design document that we wanted to break conventions, the part about collecting physical objects didn’t really fit into the game. We also wrote that we wanted to explore the possibility of different disciplines working together in unusual ways – for example audio or music helping to tell a story in a more significant way. That idea gave birth to one of the biggest initial changes: the idea of “collecting” audio.

After refining the idea we agreed on telling the story solely via audio. No text, no (clear) voices, nothing except sound. We also agreed on creating seven unique “points of interest” in the world, each with a unique meaning for the main storyline. These points could be old temples, caves, or perhaps a giant tree in the middle of a field. The storyline is not something that is happening as you’re there, but rather something that you all of a sudden can recall happened on the spot. Hence the title of the game, Remembrance. Exactly what happened, or the main character's connection to the events, remains vague and unclear. It is up to the player to interpret.

Telling a story only via sound is an odd idea, and we still don’t know how well it will work. As a game writer, had I not been the project leader, I would probably still have no clue how the sound engineers would solve it. I gave them a manuscript, and told them to rework it into an audio file without voice acting. At the moment they’re making something that reminds me of a radio drama with sound effects.

The process is ongoing, and hopefully we’ll be able to find out soon enough how well it will work. If there’s a lot of problems, then on to plan B! But what is plan B? We’re not quite sure yet.

Next blog post, focusing on the initial graphical concept work, will be written by our lead graphical atist and art director Gabriel. Stay tuned!

- Lukas