Lead- Narrative Design and Content Writing
Drafted an outline with clear narrative direction using Lovecraft horror
Presented proof of concept, mid-scope, and final product to investors and peers
Built a complex, but uncomplicated plot/world players can easily get immersed in
Used plot devices (journal entries) hidden in the game world to help players connect the story dots
Used the Agile Frameworks to map out important deadlines/milestones for my team of four writers
Iterated on item descriptions, voice acting, and journal entries based on executive feedback
Stepped into a higher leadership position when needed
Created meaningful characters and motivations
Communicated between 5 departments for shared vision and scope
Quick Summary:
Premise: After losing her father at a young age and watching her mother get dragged underneath the surface by something terrible, Grace Havenshroud was left scared and alone. Equipped with her dual revolvers and the sun necklace gifted in her mother's final moments, Grace is determined to find out what took her mother.
Genre: Horror Rogue-Lite
Contribution: Lead Writer, Director, Video Editor, and Designer
Team: 3 Writers, 21 Developers, 6 Artists, 7 Designers, and 3 Sound Designers.
Fun Fact: Whispering Abyss has been released on Steam!
Game Trailer
Detailed Overview of My Role
Whispering Abyss was the culmination of my undergraduate career as a Games and Emerging Media student and I wanted this one to be something really cool. I was hired as the Lead Narrative Writer for the game and as such, I came up with the premise and setting for the game. Furthermore, I played to our developers' strengths and interests to pitch a game I believed everyone would be excited to work on. I created the journal entries and along with my narrative team came up with item descriptions and thoughts that Grace would have to help push a clearer narrative and get players invested in exploring. Throughout this process, I found myself helping out other departments as needed especially at the beginning and end of development because we wanted everything to be as collaborative as possible. I like to say that I was a big proponent of "game juice" by giving ideas and helping add that little extra touch that made our game shine. For example, adding an animation at the end of our trailer just to hype people up and really connect with the mission Grace believes in. Speaking of Grace, I put out another casting call (after the voice work done in Aierlon) for her, and with my directing and our wonderful talent, I was very happy with the end result. Before you is what we accomplished under a 15-week schedule!
The Protagonist: Grace
Grace, now 22 years old, grew up being raised by her mother in the fishing town of Duluth, Minnesota. She was brought up to be a kind, compassionate, and selfless person by her mom, who was an artist. Her mom always talked about how much she misses Grace’s dad and how she hopes he's still with her. When a mysterious force took over and corrupted the town, Grace just barely escaped thanks to her mother who gave her a sun necklace before she was dragged underground. Now, Grace wears the necklace as a remembrance of both her parents. She returns ten years later to rid the town of the corruption that drove her out for the first time. Still haunted by the image of her mother being taken from her, Grace never forgot Duluth and now she wants to cleanse it of all evil. Blood for blood.
Grace, at first glance, looks very feminine, adorned in bright colors by day but darker colors by night. The necklace she wears offers a light in the darkest of places and serves as the source of her courage and decisiveness. She’s able to fight through all of these enemies because while she's in Duluth, all she can think about and see is her being that scared child unable to help as her mother was dragged underground. Voiced by Jennifer DiTomasso, Grace's unwillingness to give up comes to life when a player dies. She'll often say something like "I can't stop fighting..." in order to let the player know she's not done yet.
The Journals and Traveler's Guide!
Since the rogue-lite format of the game made it difficult to tell a story, I wanted to do something fun and outside the box. I came up with the idea of using a journal of an older resident of Duluth to describe what had happened in the protagonist's absence. The trick here is that the author of these pages knew Grace before she fled the town and, most importantly, shows a timeline so that players can fill in the missing pieces. These journal entries can be found in the abyss with a chance to drop in every item chest. They drop out of order so that players can try to fill in the gaps themselves before finding out the true story. The "Traveler's Guide" was written as a promotional piece for the official release of the game on Steam and I really liked the way it turned out. Honestly, I had a ton of fun world-building with both the guide and the entries, and venturing into Lovecraftian themes and horror, in general, was really rewarding.
Item Descriptions
Another avenue for lore snippets actually came from the item descriptions. We found when writing them that if the perspective came from Grace's own head we could tell a lot about the surrounding world without Grace ever actually talking to anyone. Having this internal dialogue for Grace's helped us to flesh her out as well seeing as if a character is all alone for most of the game there's only so much a player can learn about them. These item descriptions also served to lighten the mood and show that Grace has thoughts and feelings other than rage.
