Content

Most subpages of this page contain spoilers.

Almost all content of the game is conveyed through bits and pieces scattered in object, actor and terrain descriptions. Occasionally an object can be read or an actor repeats a set phrase, but most of the plot has to be reconstructed from the look and behaviour of the environment. The tricky part is that the order in which things are encountered, as well as their exact look, changes from game to game and the behaviour shaped by player actions. The manual and the in-game hint notes provide only enough of a backstory and basic explanation of game mechanics to get new players started. Then the player imagination takes over and the content should focus on not ruining that, first.

The game has a serious tone, so the depiction of the world should be fairly realistic, but needn't be very detailed. Gameplay over realism, any time. Humor is OK, in the same way it is in serious (English) nonfiction books. Abstract user interface strains the suspension of disbelief quite a lot, so any additional winking to the player or meta-jokes would ruin immersion. The texts should never refer to the 'game' and the 'player', but to the world and to the characters inhabiting it.

The world design should be guided by gameplay considerations, while remaining consistent. Even serious oversimplifications and holes are OK, as long as they can be mitigated as the game is developed further. Clearly unrealistic level of abstraction, like in unnamed generic pistols shooting in perfectly straight lines, is absolutely fine, at least at the start. Space opera cliches and sloppy physics (FTL, walking skeletons, time travel paradoxes, humanoid aliens, photos of ghosts, etc.) are not fine and could poison the mood permanently.

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Accompanying materials

• manual
• modding instructions

Fixed in-game content

• human object descriptions
• animal actor descriptions
• terrain tile descriptions
• hint notes

Building blocks of procedurally generated content

• alien object descriptions
• human actor descriptions
• robot actor descriptions
• alien actor descriptions
• room descriptions