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‘Baron Wittard is
a game that can be creepy, fascinating and intimidating all at the
same time’ so says a beta tester of the game. As development
now reaches its final stages, I am at last able to sit back to play
the game and to see it through a gamer’s eyes, as opposed to
a developer’s eyes. In so doing, I think there is much truth
in what that beta tester said about the game. The game can be creepy,
fascinating, and intimidating. Creepy because the game requires the
player to explore dark and foreboding places that have an undertone
of menace throughout; places no person has visited or dared to visit
for years. These range from long and claustrophobic sewer tunnels
to damp and abandoned secret passageways. It can be a fascinating
game because the story centres both on an eccentric and off-beat architect
that built a giant maze of a city out of a fear about impending catastrophe,
and on the malevolent and electrical entity that now inhabits the
ruins of that city. It is also likely to be intimidating because the
game features puzzles; lots and lots of puzzles. Some are straightforward
and simple in comparison to some others that are complex and detailed
and which are likely to keep the veteran puzzle-lover occupied.

In recent weeks, I have
been particularly impressed by the volume of email I have received
from gamers interested in the Baron Wittard story; gamers wanting
to know more about the game. Who is Baron Wittard? How large is his
city? And will there be dangerous encounters with evil creatures?
I would like to answer all of these story related questions in this
part of the development diary. Subsequent parts will focus on puzzles
and exportation; two other key ingredients of this game.

Crafting the Story

We (Marlies and I) were
from the outset of development inspired by other genre classics, such
as the Myst and Shivers series. We not only loved each of these games
as complete entities, but we also loved their style. And it was that
style that we wanted to import into Baron Wittard. I think there are
two key ingredients or rules that must be obeyed by any adventure
game if it is to belong successfully to the style found in Myst and
Shivers. In developing Baron Wittard, and especially in crafting its
story, we made sure as developers that we took notice of those rules.
Those two rules are the non-linear rule and the solitary-exploration
rule.

The Non-linear rule states
that the story should not get in the way of the gamer. It should not
put limitations on the locations that the gamer can explore at any
one time. We observed that rule stringently in developing Baron Wittard,
by making sure that no place in the game is inaccessible to the gamer
simply because it would have been inconvenient to the story. If the
player cannot enter a room, it might be because the door leading there
is locked, or because it is accessible only via a secret passageway
that is yet to be discovered. The gamer could enter that room
if they found the key, or if they found the entrance
to the secret passageway, but the location would certainly not
be locked because the story requires that is must be until a certain
time.

The second rule is the
solitary exploration rule, and this states that character interaction,
such as conversations with other characters, does not play a key role
in the game. There are NPCS (Non Player Characters) in Baron Wittard,
certainly. There is Baron Wittard himself, and there is Kate who is
a magazine editor, and there is an evil presence too. But conversations
with these characters are intentionally kept to a minimum, both to
heighten the dramatic effect of those interactions when they do occur,
and to allow the player more time for exploration, to uncover the
mystery of exactly what terrible thing lurks at this desolate and
isolated city and how it simply cannot be ignored.

Taking the Story Further

When creating the story
for this game, we had to keep in mind these two key rules, and to
create a story that was compatible with them both. It is only during
the latter half of the testing phase that I am now able to appreciate
fully how we have succeeded in creating such a story, and I am also
pleased to hear that many testers agree with me in reaching that conclusion.
The story centres on three important elements: Baron Wittard, The
‘Presence’, and The Utopia.

Baron Wittard was, on the
surface, a cosy English gentleman and architect who enjoyed interesting
conversation with friends by the fireside on a winter evening. But
beneath that veneer was a bookish man with a secret, a man preoccupied
with legends, and specifically with Viking legends surrounding the
great event of Ragnarok. I first came across the term ‘Ragnarok’
while watching an old Sylvester McCoy episode of Doctor Who in which
the doctor must prevent the Gods of Ragnarok from destroying a ‘Psychic
Circus’. I later came to realise long after watching the show
that ‘Ragnarok’ was not just a term invented by the programme
writers simply because they thought it sounded stylish and fun, but
that it was really a word from Norse mythology. ‘Ragnarok’
is a term used to describe an event in the future that is the end
of the world; a time at which Gods come to Earth and do battle. It
is this event that played on Wittard’s mind and imagination.
He knew something about it, something terrible. He took that secret
with him to the grave shortly after building his great city, the Utopia.
And now the player is left to explore the remains of that vast city.
In exploring that place, they will need to uncover what it was that
Baron Wittard knew or did before his death, and also his reasons for
building his great city at all. And perhaps more importantly, the
player must discover how all of this mystery relates to them, the
main character.

One of the
first things that a gamer is likely to notice when they play Baron
Wittard and start to explore the surroundings is the sound and experience
of whooshes and electrical disturbances. This is because the Utopia
is a city inhabited by a supernatural and evil entity (a presence)
with electrical affiliations. Bringing that creature to life in the
game was a real developmental challenge for me. It consisted in a
balancing act. On the one hand, in a solitary exploration game, it
is important not to push the story too much into the gamer’s
face, because a lot of the game is about their exploration. But on
the other it is important to bring that world and story to life. I
think that we have struck a solid and interesting balance in Baron
Wittard regarding the delivery of the story. As the player explores
further, more and more of the story is unravelled and pieced together.
This story and its unfolding is also complemented with a varied and
comprehensive sound track. Each location in the Utopia has its own
unique sound track used to convey an emotion, and theme, and a set
of associated events. Step into one room and there will be signs and
signals of something inhabiting that place, or something waiting to
happen. Creaking floorboards, distant movement, and menacing incidental
music are used frequently. All of them a prelude to an event.

So, to answer
the three questions at the beginning of this diary: Who is Baron Wittard?
How large is his city? And will there be dangerous encounters with
evil creatures? I will say: Baron Wittard was a fascinating and multi-dimensional
architect who built a vast city with plenty to see and do. But unfortunately,
Baron Wittard died and left behind him a city that time forgot, forgotten
by all except the evil thing which inhabits that city. There will
be encounters with dangerous creatures, and furthermore, there will
need to be momentous choices made.

Thank you
for reading this first entry in the developer diary. It has been a
pleasure discussing development with you and in parts 2 and 3 I hope
to be discussing puzzles and exploration respectively. Please stay
tuned.