Project Madison

Office simulation, strategy, and petty revenge in 1960s Madison Avenue. 

Featured on itch.io and Rock Paper Shotgun in June 2019!

About

Unity / Fungus Plug-In || C# || 2019 || Collaboration

Graduation project combining narrative and multi-layered systems design in an iconic 1960s setting.

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• Dynamic setting featuring NPCs, objects to interact with, and work tasks to achieve.

• One winning goal that can be achieved in multiple ways over the course of three in-game days and nights.

• Multiple game phases allowing for different, specific actions.

• NPC schedules and conversations that change daily.

• NPC trust and gifting system.

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    - - Click HERE to view the Game Design Document (PDF) - -​

Team

• Pauline Martyn: Narrative Design / Writing, Co-Game Design, Programming (AI, Dialogue Logic)
  

• Taylor Adams-Harriott: Art & UI Design, Co-Game Design, Principal Programming (core gameplay, UI). Please click here to see her portfolio!

Design Challenges

With Project Madison we wanted to create a game with an iconic setting, and strong narrative and gameplay mechanics working to support and enhance each other:

• Build a world with a strong visual identity, full of interactive elements for players to discover (locked objects, paintings, broken machines, coffee/water dispensers, containers, etc.)

• Structure the narrative around one single goal that could be achieved in multiple ways (multiple scenarions and interactions)

• Create NPCs complete with schedules and trust systems, offering dynamic conversations (changing depending on day, trust level)

Narrative Challenges

As the narrative designer on this project, my tasks and challenges were to:

• Create compelling NPCs: I used dialogue to communicate personality traits and help players navigate work relationships, and worked with the artist/level designer to ensure visuals supported the narrative needs. I also created basic AI (schedule, movement) and made the dialogues change every day to make NPCs more dynamic and exciting to watch / talk to.

• Design a trust level system: I implemented a trust level and gifting requests / objects to embed the narrative in minute-to-minute gameplay. This allowing players to try different options and gradually learn how to best handle NPCs.

• Make the narrative elements thematically relevant: I used language and historical elements of the era in text and item descriptions, with some references to 1960s office objects (liquid ink) and pop culture (paintings).

• Co-create and advise on winning and losing scenarios, ensuring they supported the overall themes and narrative needs.