NUGATORY | robgreengames

Project Overview

Nugatory is a short story-based game created to induce emotions within players in a bid to recreate the experience of a person living in war-torn Syria. While the experience can be quite distressing and is delivered in a harsh way, I feel like it is the best representation of what I wanted to convey.

This was created as part of a 48-hour charity game jam, with the theme being 'Superpowers' - my interpretation was that of military "superpowers". I wanted to create a game that was more about the narrative rather than my usual learning of tools or mechanics.

The video above was a surprise "Let's play" response to the game by 'Jonboy Games', it offers perfect camera shots of the key events and brilliant feedback.

My covering of the project spoils the surprises which ruins the effect. I suggest playing the game or watching the video first to fully understand the experience.

Design Objectives

Recreate emotions which are felt by those affected by war in Syria.
Build characters that the player connects with.
Focus explicit narrative on key events in the story (imply or covertly plant explicit narrative in less important parts of the experience).
Create an entire experience (with a start and end) in 48 hours.

Platform:

Windows/PC

Engine:

Unity 5

Scripting Language:

Pipeline:

Unity 5, Visual Studio 2015, Maya 2016, Photoshop CC, Audacity

Project Completed:

October 2016

Team Size:

SpecialEffect Game Jam 2016

Theme of 'superpowers' fit a concept I already had in my head.
Game ends on a very political note because of the theme but overall achieved what I wanted.
During the test session players had the strong reactions I was hoping for.

Gameplay Mechanics

Focusing more on narrative kept the mechanics very simple.
Simple movement and interactive objects create story sequences.
Offers a lot using a little with two buttons so players can learn quickly.
Interaction mechanic was introduced with simple everyday tasks - then was used for more distressing actions later in the game (ex. burying bodies).

User Interface

Kept as minimal as possible to prevent distraction.
Distraction was only used to explicitly tell the player to do something specific.
Different types of interactions had different icons that were easy to read and could be seen from anywhere in the level.

Level Design

A small level was created but the layout offered variation for different levels.
Big streets for NPC waypoints to give life and movement to the town.
Alleyway for smaller story elements, playground for bigger elements.
Sightlines are blocked to make level feel larger and helps with loading.
Buildings are built from bricks so destruction could play a part.
Level changes with each "day" in the game to accommodate new gameplay.
Gameplay also drives changes in level design.

Level Design (Narrative)

Level also changes each day for narrative effect.
The air gets smokier, buildings are destroyed, friendly people disappear, unfriendly people appear and the sun gets darker each day.
Builds up the tension and contrast between "Day 1" and "Day 5".

Implying The Explicit

Death plays a big part in the narrative but it isn't shown explicitly.
NPCs turn grey in death (lose their colour) - also takes away distinguishing markers of who the body once belonged to and implies human mortality.
When burying the bodies the carry mechanic becomes sluggish to convey the weight of the action - some players unconsciously displayed more respect when carrying a body.
Red "unfriendlies" are added to show that something bad has happened or will happen and implicitly warn the player.
"Superpowers" are represented by silhouettes and dialogue to imply identities.

Character Development

A conversation mechanic gives direct access to characters and their identities.
3 different NPCs can be spoken to and are designed to have their own levels of attachment with the player:
- Jodee - Family member (closest)
- Ammar - Family friend (mid-closest)
- Burhan - Friendly neighbour (furthest)
To experience the levels of grief and loss that come later, it is imperative that the characters are interacted with in the right places and in the right amounts.
Burhan is only briefly interacted with but offered some emotional connection.
Jodee and Ammar are interacted with a lot to convey a lot of character so that the player could see them as something more than just an NPC.
The final deaths really hit players emotionally proving the characters developed a lot in a short time.

Capturing Emotion

Three events frame the whole experience and shock the player into feeling how I want them to feel:
- Day 2 - "Unfriendlies" are seen as an omen for Burhan's death in a crossfire.
- Day 3 - Red silhouette bombs a crowd of "unfriendlies" and anyone in their close proximity.
- Day 5 - Blue silhouette bombs another crowd of "unfriendlies" outside of the players home which kills Ammar and Jodee in the process.
The latter two were kept very shock and awe because of the raw emotion involved.
My interpretation of how a Syrian civilian would feel involved their not wanting to be a part of the war, but they are the ones who suffer.
Grief, fear and helplessness were the main emotions drawn from to create the game.
The "Day 3" event faded out quickly to let the player deal with the shock and move onto "Day 4" - the final event is prolonged to capture the helplessness and allow the player to walk over to Jodee and experience loss and grief.