{"id":1844,"date":"2024-05-19T12:16:40","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T11:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/?p=1844"},"modified":"2026-03-31T07:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:30:27","slug":"layer-cake-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/layer-cake-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Layer Cake Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The layer cake conversation is a narrative design tool, that helps in overcoming the conflicts that arise when balancing\u00a0 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 :\u00a0<\/p>

First Layer<\/strong> : It is all about providing gameplay information as clearly as possible for the players.<\/p>

Second Layer<\/strong> : 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<\/p>

Third Layer<\/strong> : The third layer is all about story development and caters to players that are solely focused in the game’s plot<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The game world:\u00a0
<\/b>Setting<\/b>: Outer Space
<\/span>World<\/b>: Planet <\/span>Hyperion<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The game\/quest is set on a Planet that is on the brink of destruction due to imminent collision with its neighbouring planet.\u00a0<\/span>The player who is a freelancer is asked to go and investigate the distress signal being sent from Hyperion<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Character:<\/b> 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.\u00a0<\/span>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.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The NPC\u2019s quest \/ ask:<\/strong> Go to the Epsilon base and get the Ark functioning for evacuation<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The stakes of the quest: <\/b>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.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Layer 1:<\/b> Oh my goodness gracious! Finally someone competent. You there! Get your ass over here quick, we don\u2019t 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<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Layer 2:<\/b> In case you haven\u2019t noticed, this planet is about to blow up, and there\u2019s not much time left now. This mine was established to extract CE-40 a rare mineral that can only be found on Hyperion.\u00a0
<\/span>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\u2019s no other way out of this.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Layer 3:<\/b> 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\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Quest Design: <\/b><\/h3>\n

Using the above layer cake demonstration as the reference to designing a quest with a set of sub stages
Quest Design : <\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Reach the Epsilon base<\/b>
      \n
    1. Find Heather near the old mines, she knows a shorter route[optional]<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Speak to the Ark\u2019s captain to identify the problem<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    3. Get to the Asphy Center and find the Ark\u2019s control card<\/b>
        \n
      1. Get the mono-rail to Asphyr Center working [main]<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Search and rescue any survivor at Asphyr Center [optional]<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Find and Acquire the Arks control card[main]<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      4. Get back to the Ark<\/b>
          \n
        1. Find another way to get back to Epsilon Base (the mono-rail is now damaged)<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Use the control card to activate the Ark<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
        3. 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)<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Quest Outcome : <\/b><\/p>\n

          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 : <\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. The Ark gets functional and most of the planet\u2019s inhabitants manage to escape<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Else, if the player runs out of time, then the quest will fail and leads to : <\/span><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. 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<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              The layer cake conversation is a narrative design tool, that helps in overcoming the conflicts that arise when balancing\u00a0 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 :\u00a0 First Layer : It is all about providing gameplay information […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-narrative"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1844"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2010,"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844\/revisions\/2010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubedullaha.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}