A Blue Thumb - Thesis/Starfield
Level Design Document
Details
“A Blue Thumb” is a single-player mod developed for Starfield. I utilized a literary technique, defamiliarization, on an NPC to test if players prefer an NPC with the techniques utilized or without. I created two levels, one with the techniques utilized and one without, to achieve the best basis for testing the techniques.
Team Size: 1 Developer
Software: Starfield: Creation Kit
Development Time:
Focus: Narrative Design, Defamiliarization Techniques
Hypothesis
Utilizing defamiliarization techniques on a Non-Player Character (NPC) creates a more memorable character to players.
To test this hypothesis, I created two quests:
“A Blue Thumb,” the quest with the defamiliarization techniques on an NPC &
“A Green Thumb,” the quest without the techniques but the same narrative beats
Developed by Dr. Alex Mitchell, “poetic gameplay” - gameplay that is intentionally made strange or unfamiliar- is categorized by how they defamiliarize the player and expectations. From this, Dr. Mitchell created five categories of literary devices and techniques that are found in video games to create poetic gameplay. Below are three techniques I’ve chosen to highlight.
Imperfect Information
Under the Agency category, Imperfect Information is most recognized by a blind or uninformed choice. By not giving the player enough information to form and act on an intention, I defamiliarized the player’s agency by not giving enough information and forcing the player to make a choice.
Only Provide the Inevitable Choice
Also under the Agency category, Only Provide the Inevitable Choice defamiliarized the player’s agency by providing an “unchoice,” only providing one option and making the player take this action. Either by the narrative or context, the action will be dissonant from what the player wants to do.
Game Objective Is Not What It Seems
Under the Gameplay category, Game Objective Is Not What It Seems defamiliarizes the player’s expectations of the gameplay loop and mechanics itself. Through a change during gameplay, the objective twists and undermines the player’s understanding of the objective itself.
Design Goals
Centering the NPC
Memorability + Techniques
Narrative Continuity
Centering the NPC
The NPC with the techniques being used, Isaac, is the focal point of both the quest and thesis topic. To ensure players would associate the literary techniques to the NPC, every use of the technique was either shown to the player by him or centering him in some way.
For example, for the Imperfect Information, Isaac presents the player with blind choices throughout the quest. Based on these choices, Isaac’s behavior changes in a strange/defamiliar way.
Memorability + Techniques
Because two of my techniques - Game Objective Is Not What It Seems & Only Provide The Inevitable Choice - are very memorable and impactful, having multiple uses of these techniques would lessen the impact.
To alleviate this, I utilized Imperfect Information three times, following the Teach -> Reinforce -> Master methodology. The player encounters three blind choices, while also encountering Game Objective Is Not What It Seems twice, once during the initial receiving of the objective and another when it is twisted through gameplay. At the climax of the quest, the player is presented with the inevitable choice.
Narrative Continuity
To ensure players will only focus on the literary techniques across the two quests, I made the both quest’s narratives nearly identical and the only difference is the techniques being used on the NPC.
To ensure narrative continuity, I created “A Blue Thumb” codex. I wrote a timeline for what happens across both levels, where they diverge, and the fate of each character based on the actions in which quest. Keeping this codex helped me ensure the narrative remains the same and not ruin player’s immersion, detracting from the thesis and test itself.
