Final Station
Engine: Creation Engine
Genre: Action Adventure
Design Goals: Create a narrative driven quest that focuses on complex character relationships. Construct and populate a small settlement that feels authentic and lived in.
Design Overview
“The Final Station” is a narrative driven plugin for Fallout 4. The quest begins when the Sole Survivor finds a note on the Diamond City noticeboard asking for an experienced gunslinger to find a missing person. Following the note, the player travels to a subway station re-purposed as a small settlement (The Burrow). There, the Sole Survivor meets Matilda, who posted the notice for her uncle, Tommy. She claims he disappeared while hunting in the subway tunnels. The Sole Survivor must explore the area to find Tommy, encountering opposition from raiders along the way. When the player finds him, they realize he didn’t disappear, but rather left of his own accord. Depending on the player’s actions during the quest, he may be convinced to return to his niece.
Design Process
The Burrow
The Burrow is a small settlement built in the remains of a pre-war metro station. Inspiration for the space came from the Metro games. The Burrow was originally a large settlement, but fell into decline after their supply chain disappeared. My intention was to make the level feel empty and overly large. For example, the cafeteria could sit a dozen people but only one is present. The guard house has bunks for half a dozen but there are only 4 guards present. In addition, half the houses have been boarded or left empty.
The intended player path provides the minimum necessary information to comprehend the quest. However, exploring the area and talking to NPCs reveals more information about the location and its inhabitants.
Each residence features unique environmental storytelling, suggestive of its current or past residents. For example, the
junk dealer's house is filled with odds and ends that he's collected over the course of his career. The doctor keeps medical journals beside her bed with a small reading lamp for late night studying and there's a chalk doodle on the wall of the kitchen where the one resident child used to help wash dishes.
Abandoned Factory
The player's way through an abandoned metro tunnel is blocked by a complete cave in. The only available detour is a small hole dug into the wall, sloping up to the surface. Once through, players find themselves in the basement of an old brewery. Warding off several raiders, the player explores the rubble to access the other side of the metro blockage.
Final Station
At the Final Station, players are confronted with a mine field. They are so closely packed that any mistake causes a fatal mass explosion. Having either diffused or avoided the traps, the player finally meets the NPC they were looking for. The character (Matilda's missing uncle) has been called a masterful gunslinger several times throughout the course of the quest. I wanted meeting him to feel dramatic. The minefield was meant to create anticipation. A narrow path widens into a large room. The dark area is illuminated by a bright fire that casts bold shadows.
Post Mortem
What Went Well
Iteration on feedback: During play testing I received consistent feedback that the main story arc was not satisfying. I overhauled the final act of my quest without needing to extend any deadlines in order to deliver a more complete story.
Environment design: I created a relatively large area inhabited by multiple NPCs which complemented the tone of my quest.
Pragmatic solutions: I was able to create all my desired gameplay moments quickly and easily by finding solutions within Creation Kit's built in scripting fragments.
What Went Wrong
Lack of experience: Final Station was my first narrative driven quest. Having little experience I greatly over-scoped myself and had to scale back the dialogue.
Inconsistent cluttering: While the edges of most spaces were well cluttered and decorated, the interior areas were somewhat barren. Spending more time in the base game could help inspire more fitting decoration.
Poor time management: I was not at all satisfied with the original lighting conditions in the Abandoned Factory. Rather than trouble shoot the existing space, I rebuilt the cell twice in an effort to improve it.
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What Would Be Better
Better understanding of scope: Planning for a more streamline narrative would help reduce scope to a more realistic level.
Create test areas: Having small zoos to experiment in would expose major issues (such as lighting limitations) early in the project before too much time is wasted.
Playtest more frequently: During development I added a large narrative branch in response to playtester feedback. While iteration lead to a much more satisfying quest, adding it earlier would have given more time to iteration.
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