GDC Vault is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC
This is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Level Design Workshop: Designing for Non-Linear Story Discovery in 'Tacoma'
Telling story through level design is crucial to many games, and when environmental storytelling is central to the experience, the shape of the level describes the shape of the story. But what happens when each major story segment is shaped in a completely non-linear way, while remaining tied directly to the environment? How can you design levels that both tell a story, and allow the player to explore that story in an organic, self-directed way? Designers Steve Gaynor and Nina Freeman from Fullbright share lessons learned during the development of their latest game, 'Tacoma', Fullbright's follow-up to the genre-defining 'Gone Home', and how you can apply these techniques to your own process.
Did you know free users get access to 30% of content from the last 2 years?