Editor: Creation Kit
Game: Fallout 4
Play Time: 40-50 mins
“Favor for Favorite” is a single-player quest in Fallout 4. The quest takes place in Tatoville where the villagers are invaded by Synths from the facility nearby. The player teams up with Nathan, a local hero, to defeat the synths in the facility. However, the truth seems to be more complicated than everyone thinks.
Gallery
Design Iteration
Design Goals
Engaging Character
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Nathan is the central character of the quest as well as the player companion, assisting in combat and provides necessary information for player to progress
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There are a lot of interesting dialogue with Nathan as well as some flavor texts showcasing his neighbor-friendly, goofy hero appearance on the surface and his obsession with being a hero, his lack of confidence and affection towards his sister deep down.
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The conflict between wanting to be a hero and ending up being a villain in Nathan’s desire is an interesting one, making Nathan more empathetic.
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At the end of the quest, the player has to choose either hiding what Nathan has done from the villagers or telling the truth, which decides Nathan's fate - Celebrated as a hero or beaten to death as the evil-doer.
Lie Route
Truth Route
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The side quest explores the relationship between Allie and Nathan, showing Nathan as someone who adores kids.
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With environmental storytelling such as Nathan’s basement, optional notes and logs, and the optional dialogue about Nathan's origin story, the player has a chance to learn more about Nathan's character.
Variety in Combat
Custom Weapon - Hack Rifle
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Hack rifle is created with multiple custom scripts
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Has the ability to turn off bubble turrets (1 shot) and turn them against enemies (2 shots)
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Turret enters a cooldown state before it can be affected by the hack rifle again
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Creates unique combat scenarios and is fun to use
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Creates interesting risk & reward opportunities
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E.g. Deciding to aim the next shot at a turret to hack it or shooting at an enemy
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Strive for clear and satisfying feedback
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Custom lights and shader effects are created for the turrets to showcase the transition between different states as well as the actual states (Hostile, Deactivated, Friendly)
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Engaging Combat Encounter
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Encounters have different combinations that encourage the player to adapt in different ways
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Ranged synth -> take cover
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Melee synth -> move out of cover
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Tripod turret -> move sneaky and hack the terminal to deactivate
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Bubble turrets -> use hack rifle to take advantage
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Encounters take place in different situations
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Initiatives
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In certain places, the player is ambushed and has to take cover and adapt to the situation
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Through preview windows, the player can take time to observe the enemies and environment to strategize
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Verticality
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In certain places, the player is under fire from enemies above, such as bubble turrets or Synths on a higher platform
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Sometimes, the player is the one with a height advantage and is encouraged to snipe enemies from above
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Level Clarity
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Exterior Landmark
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In the exterior space, the facility is a huge building at the top of a small hill, which makes it visible right after the player arrives at Tatoville
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Interior Landmark
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After the player gets into the facility, the player faces toward big windows, and, through the windows, the player sees a huge reactor
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The player can see the reactor from any floor and have multiple opportunities to preview it before actually entering the reactor room
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Framing
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Important game objects are in the center of the frame when the player sees through a door or a window
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E.g., After entering the facility, the player has a conversation scene with Nathan near the big window where the player is framed to see the final goal (reactor), and the immediate goals (catwalks and control room)
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Leading Lines
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Views through the windows draw leading lines to the important game element
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Cables connecting the terminal and tripod turret, suggesting the player that the player might be able to do something with the turret through the connected terminal
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Color
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Different statuses are indicated by different colors
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E.g., Door (Red - Locked | Green - Unlocked)
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E.g., Bubble turret (Red - Hostile | Yellow - Deactivated | Green - Hacked)
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Red is used to draw the player’s attention
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The crashed car at the beginning of the quest
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The front side of the facility is red so that the player can notice it from distance right away
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Red is also used to bring a sense of tension and danger
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Lights turn red during the later stage in the facility as the courser is about the blow up the facility with the reactor
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Signs
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Indicate what should the player expect
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E.g. Player should expect dangerous from a keep-out sign or a nuclear sign
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Player Mastery
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The difficulty of the level progressively become harder
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All enemies in the level are leveled actors with difficulty settings
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Set up to be balanced from level 1 to 40
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Higher-level enemies have more health and better weapons that do more damage
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The enemies in the first half of the level are easy, and gradually shift toward, medium and hard
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Enemies do not simply increase in number, but there are also trickier placements for the player to deal with
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In the final synth encounter, enemies come from two directions instead of one
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The final boss battle is a test of mastery in hack rifle as hacked turrets can expose the courser when invisible
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Postmortem
What Went Well
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Interesting Character. Nathan is created as a hero but also a villain, goofy yet morally ambiguous. He ends up as a well-received character among playtesters, especially during the final choice stage.
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Good Conveyance. Early in development, I made sure the reactor is a landmark in the level, and the player can preview through windows to gain advantages. In later stages, conveyance on specific interactions and lighting in general help the player to not get lost in the space.
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Successful Custom Scripts. While it was my first time using Creation Kit, I managed to get a lot of custom scripts done and those scripts add a lot of interesting interactions in the level, such as the hack rifle.
What Went Wrong
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Distracted by Details. In earlier milestones, I spent too much time on details that do not matter much until later stages, such as the cinematic camera. Upon realizing this issue, I tried to minimize my time working on details until they become necessary.
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Underestimating Time for Tasks. In my production plan, my estimated work hours are way below my actual time spent on this project. To solve this problem, I started to break down all the tasks that I need to do in the next milestone and provide an estimated time for each task.
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Lack of Technical Consideration During Planning. When I added shadow-casting lights to my level during the latter half of my development, the level's frame rate suffered due to the number of windows I have, which I spent a lot of time solving later.
What I Learned
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Doing Passes for Each Milestone. It's better to work on a specific aspect to the minimally acceptable quality, and work on the next aspect to the same level of polish, and so on than keep polishing one thing and have other things broken.
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Prepare before Communication. To make communication more effective, I started to list topics and issues beforehand. In addition, putting the questions in priorities helps me to get the most important problems solved first.
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Learning Tools before Implementation. While it is quite tempting to focus purely on implementation right away, it proves to be more effective to look into the Wikis to learn a bit more about the editor such as hot keys and shortcuts.