The layer cake conversation is a narrative design tool, that helps in overcoming the conflicts that arise when balancing gameplay and story development. It helps to create a balance between providing gameplay instructions and story development for the player using the layer based setup :
First Layer : It is all about providing gameplay information as clearly as possible for the players.
Second Layer : Its a mix of 50% gameplay and 50% story elements, on this layer the player is given additional gameplay information(eg: if the player continues interaction with npc after the first layer, then the npc might reveal a secret location or a shorter route). Along with this the player is also given story information such as info about the world or introducing a second character that the player might encounter
Third Layer : The third layer is all about story development and caters to players that are solely focused in the game’s plot
The game world:
Setting: Outer Space
World: Planet Hyperion
The game/quest is set on a Planet that is on the brink of destruction due to imminent collision with its neighbouring planet. The player who is a freelancer is asked to go and investigate the distress signal being sent from Hyperion
Character: Walter is the supervisor assigned to Hyperion, he is a workaholic in his late 30s and has a rugged look and a clear sign of his declining hairline. His nose is a bit long and crooked almost resembling that of an old scrawny witch, while his eye after years of working is sucked in and feels soul-less. He has a habit of stressing certain words when he speaks. He is often in a state of worry and due to his pessimistic nature he is more than often despised by the workers assigned under him.
The NPC’s quest / ask: Go to the Epsilon base and get the Ark functioning for evacuation
The stakes of the quest: The planet blows up after a set period, thus leading to the inhabitants perishing and eventually the quest failing if the player has not completed the main quest stages within the set time.
Layer 1: Oh my goodness gracious! Finally someone competent. You there! Get your ass over here quick, we don’t have much time to lose. I need you to get to the Ark located at the Epsilon base and get it working. I am needed in the town to support the evacuation and get as many people as possible to the Ark
Layer 2: In case you haven’t noticed, this planet is about to blow up, and there’s not much time left now. This mine was established to extract CE-40 a rare mineral that can only be found on Hyperion.
You should probably go find Heather first, she is near the mines, and is the chief engineer. Heather knows a shorter route to reach the Ark. Now move along, there’s no other way out of this.
Layer 3: What are you still doing here? If you meet Heather on your way, let her know how sorry I am to ignore her warnings about the Ark’s testing, a decision that I truly regret now. The industrial town and the mine are being evacuated right now as we speak, but I fear it might be too late for the people at Asphyr Center in the south.
Additional Work:
Using the above layer cake demonstration as the reference to designing a quest with a set of sub stages
Quest Design :
- Reach the Epsilon base
- Find Heather near the old mines, she knows a shorter route[optional]
- Speak to the Ark’s captain to identify the problem
- Get to the Asphy Center and find the Ark’s control card
- Get the mono-rail to Asphyr Center working [main]
- Search and rescue any survivor at Asphyr Center [optional]
- Find and Acquire the Arks control card[main]
- Get back to the Ark
- Find another way to get back to Epsilon Base (the mono-rail is now damaged)
- Use the control card to activate the Ark
- A – Report back to Walter
B – Return to your ship and escape (when the player fails the main quest stages by running out of time)
Quest Outcome :
The quest is time-limited, if the player manages to complete the main stages of the quest, then the quest will completed successfully and leads to :
- The Ark gets functional and most of the planet’s inhabitants manage to escape
Else, if the player runs out of time, then the quest will fail and leads to :
- The Ark is not functional and we see the planet colliding and getting shattered. At this point, a new quest stage appears for the player: i.e. to escape the planet. This will later have consequences in the main story