The story can be read/played here: ArcWeave
The Project can be viewed here: ArcWeaveProject
For this project, I wanted to write a story where none of the choices the player makes are objectively wrong, they just have different consequenses. The choices change the world around the main character and their position in it. The player can decide wether those changes are good or bad. The story takes place in a fantasy world with a magic system. Gender is not a thing in this world, so every character is referred to using they.
World Building
The world of this story has three islands that float in the sky. Grozikal has started going through an industrial revolution because of the high amount of iron and other ores present on the island. Because of the limited vegetation on the island, they quickly ran out of fuel. They build zeppelins to colonize the less developed Cefarlo and take their coal and trees to continue developing their own island. Cefarlo has started to revolt against their colonizers, but it’s an unequal battle.
Magic System
This world has a hard magic system called Sweskel. People with Sweskel have the ability to temporarily exchange their hands for something related to their island of origin.
The types of Sweskel can be read in the ArcWeave components: ArcWeaveProject.
Because people with Sweskel are useful when it comes to mining and forestry, they are quickly taken from their homes and used to gather resources, in both Cefarlo and Grozikal.
The Branches
The main character, Célian, is from Cefarlo. Célian has Sweskel but can’t use it because the Grozikal soldiers would take them away.The choices the player makes dictate what Célians place in the rebellion will be.
The story has 3 main outcomes:
- The player doesn’t help the rebellion: The rebellion ultimately fails, but the player can keep themselves and the people around them safe.
- The player helps the rebellion without their Sweskel: The rebellion partially succeeds with a lot of casualties.
- The player helps the rebellion with their Sweskel: The rebellion goes well, but Célian is unable to save those they love.
The choices are about what the player prioritises, the collective good and their freedom or the people close to them. Neither is wrong, but it’s a choice with a lot of consequences.
What choices the player gets to see is determined by a variable that’s dependant on the conversational choices the player makes. As can be seen in the image below.
Sound Design
One scene of this story has been worked out in Unity. It has music and ambience that changes based on both location and choices made.
It has localized dialogue with voice recordings in two languages.
