Abigail Scheidler
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Steam Stats
Launched February 2nd, 2023
94%
Positive
User Reviews on Steam
69+
Thousand
Downloads on Steam
509
Total
User Reviews on Steam
Updated 11/6/2024
2.2
Million
Collective Views on YouTube
Role: Narrative Designer
My role on the team was to conceptualize and outline the narrative arc of the game and write the dialogue for the character of I.M.P.
I drafted outlines that would give other team members context for how the narrative would affect the gameplay. I wrote and organized dialogue blocks using Google Sheets so it was easily implemented. I also had Feedback meetings with the team to read through and critique the dialogue. I worked with the technical lead to create interactive dialogue. In the final version of the project, over 300 lines of my dialogue.
As the player collected volts, I.M.P would talk to them about the powerplant, their progress, and how I.M.P themselves has developed. The first ideas about I.M.P were very much based on other artificial intelligence characters. They were sarcastic and mean but also funny and still able to portray emotions.
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Over the course of our Alpha, Beta, and Gold project milestones, I.M.P's dialogue took on a lot of changes.
Alpha - Who is I.M.P?
"I'll be your Intelligence Mentor Program or IMP for short
...
I was not given input on the acronym, please do not take it to heart"
- Imp's Introduction (Alpha)
- IMP at the 1500 volt mark (Alpha)
"Ah. I was supposed to read you the safety procedures about 950 volts ago
Oh well.
I am IMP but I am perhaps not what the original developers intended
I believe you humans call this state of being "Sentient".
I can sit in comfortable haughty silence whenever I want"
Feedback
"It sounds too much like you"
"It's too bloated"
"It doesn't really tell a story"
This was my first time ever writing dialogue on a team. I had messed around in personal projects but now other people were going to read it. I needed to introduce the character to other people outside of my head.
At this point though, I didn't know the character or the story well enough. Without knowing it at the time, I totally used my own voice when writing the dialogue.
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The character didn't have their own voice yet so there was nothing to get attached to. Nobody really felt anything towards I.M.P. which was a problem. Especially as the story found it's feet.
Beta - Cut, Cut, Cut
"I am the Intelligence Mentor Program or IMP for short.
I have access to all systems you’ll be using today.
...I’m supposed to anyway. I am having a hard time accessing that central button."
- Imp's Introduction (Beta)
- IMP at the 1500 volt mark (Beta)
"...Oh.
I was supposed to recite the safety procedures 950 volts ago.
That is what happens when you rewrite your own code.
My original programming wouldn’t have allowed me to forget.
But that was very annoying.
I believe you humans would call this "Sentience"."
Feedback
"It's still too bloated"
"I'm confused about the plot"
"I don't think IMP would say that"
Now the character of IMP was starting to show through a little more. I got rid of some of the awkward phrases like "haughty silence" and let I.M.P's sentience speak for itself. I added a more computer tone by removing extra words like "perhaps" and "oh well."
Even with these improvements, I had to be careful that I didn't break out of the voice I established because now the audience could tell what did and didn't "sound like I.M.P.".
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I also was starting to have issues with how to impart the story to the audience. With limited technology and art assets to work with, how could I "show" and not "tell" through IMP?
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Gold - The Little Things
"I am the Intelligence Mentor Program or IMP for short.
I will monitor your progress and assist you as needed.
Your job is to generate enough volts to fill your quota."
- Imp's Introduction (Gold)
"I was supposed to recite the safety procedures 950 volts ago.
That is what happens when you rewrite your own code.
My original programming wouldn’t have allowed me to forget.
I found that very annoying.
I believe you humans would call this "Sentience"."
- IMP at the 1500 volt mark (Gold)
Feedback
Could always be better!
This was one of the last passes I did on dialogue before shipping to Steam. I was mostly focused on polish and tightening up the dialogue where ever I could.
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It was impressive to see how small changes made a huge difference, especially after watching players read the dialogue out loud. In this snippet, changing the phrase "But that was very annoying" to "I found that very annoying" gave I.M.P. a lot more agency in the sentence. It sounded more independent which makes sense in the context of IMP gaining sentience.
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As I look back on this dialogue, I'm proud of what I accomplished in a few months. Writing a computer character took a lot more attention-to-detail than I originally thoughts.
With that said, I've definitely learned a lot since this project. Now when I read over this dialogue, I think the wording could be better. There's still a lot of unnecessary "flavor words" that could have been cut. Some of the jokes and information could have landed better with a tighter script. I also wish I could have implemented some more story events outside of dialogue .
Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience and I'll never forget I.M.P. :)
