The Atlas Project – FMP

The Atlas Project Initial Thoughts

For the final project I became interested in making a detective true crime mystery that could be enjoyed easily by one player on their own or two or three players and does not require the use of any technology to play. My aim is to make the game take roughly an hour to solve.

Initially I was looking at mystery solving or escape room games for inspiration. I looked at Unlock!, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, What Next? and others to fully decide upon what kind of experience I wanted.

I enjoy discovering narratives and particularly like the idea of exploring narrative through examining case files, newspapers, interviews etc to piece together the plot. I was hence drawn to creating my own narrative for players to experience through their own deduction.

Thinking about what theme I wanted initially I was considering setting the game within a small town possibly set in the UK or the US. However, I quickly realised that this setting felt too overused for these types of mystery stories. Plus having a small town means there will need to be a multitude of characters and possibly too many leads. I felt like in order to scope the project correctly I would need to focus on a minimum set of characters and a smaller area for the story to unfold.

So Instead of using a small town setting, I have decided to very loosely base the game on the universe that can be found in the book ‘The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet’ by Becky Chambers.

Not only do I adore the setting and the types of world building that can be accomplished using this book but it also means I can apply the setting of a small crew on a ship traveling through space. This safely narrows the scope and complements the setting well.

I wrote down my initial thoughts on the story outline. I knew I wanted the captain to die and I wanted one of the crew to be responsible, but the crew member didn’t mean to kill the captain. I also wrote down the initial documents I wanted the player to have available to solve the mystery.

Below is the first draft of the story outline, the highlighted parts indicate documents the player has access too.

(If you would like to play the game be warned that there are spoilers ahead)

Applying my Thesis

I wanted the narrative to include some visible queer characters to provides some needed representation. This is personally very important to me as while I do feel that video games are getting more inclusive, there is still a notable lack of queer representation among games and those games that do include meaningful queer representation tend to be from smaller indie developers. Large developers are lacking in quantity and quality with regards to queer representation.

I also believe that the type of game I am creating would easily allow for a range of queer characters to be visible, as the game has plenty of opportunity given the number of characters available to me.

As discussed in my thesis, I am looking for a certain set of criteria which is shown in the table below.

Criteria	Description
Playable queer character	‘10% of gamers in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ+’. Nash (2021) A sizable population of gamers are queer and therefore it is important for them to not only see themselves in the lead role, but also allow others to see from a queer perspective.
Queer character inclusion	‘inserting representation into games in a way that is integral to the game text is one avenue for change’. Shaw (2015 p.230) By including queer characters developers can help to positively change broader society views on the queer community.
Minority gender identities inclusion	A Trevor Project study found that, ‘1 in 4 LGBTQ youth use pronouns […] that fall outside of the binary construction of gender’. (The Trevor Project, 2020) Meaning that media representation for transgender and non-binary people is vital in spreading awareness and understanding.
Queer romance’s	Games such as ‘Mass Effect 3 [is] much loved by fans for giving players the opportunity to pursue queer romances’. Ruberg (2019. P10) Showing queer romances also aids in normalizing queer relationships for a general audience.

Since my game is to be a physical table top game, the ‘playable queer character’ criteria does not apply in this case. All the other criteria is however still useful.

I intend to keep this criteria in mind and will apply the framework to the project towards the end.

Aims

My aims for this project are as follows:

• Create a game that can be enjoyed by one player and lasts roughly an hour.
• Include a range of queer characters that apply to my framework and allow queer players to see themselves in.
• Create a game that encourages the player to think critically, examine the case files and compare the evidence they see. Allowing them to become the investigator the way they see fit.
• I want the game to feel somewhat challenging, and I want the player to feel as though they are being thrown off, hopefully making when they do solve the crime feel more rewarding.

Creating the mystery

I wanted to include a range of different documents that all serve as useful information or as a way of understanding the crew and getting to know their character. Below is the initial range of documents I was looking to include.

additionally I wanted each member of the crew to feel distinct, I wanted the player to connect to them and empathise with certain characters. I began by writing out a brief summary of each character to get an idea of who they are and how I wanted to portray them.

The documents also needed to lead the player to the correct conclusion. Quill Ragon is guilty of the murder, in order to allow players to come to this conclusion there needs to be plenty of evidence to point in his direction without it becoming overwhelmingly obvious.

The Documents

Character Profiles

Firstly I started with the Character Profiles. I wanted to have these done first before starting on the others so I could have a strong understanding of how I wanted these characters portrayed.

I also wanted some suspicious characters to throw the player off the scent. However for these characters there would be either no motive or not the necessary training to commit the crime. Therefore would make the player re-evaluate. Hopefully this would help in fulfilling my aim of making the player feel challenged yet more rewarded for getting the correct conclusion.

I began by writing summaries of each character and then added specific information that I wanted the player to know.

This included their training and education which is important as this displays that Quill has AI training which allows him to edit the AI system.

I wanted the profiles to have a sci-fi aesthetic so I collected an asset from the Adobe Stock store that provided the ideal look.

Additionally I used this as a method to establish some queer characters into the game. Cassie has a wife who is mentioned as her emergency contact. Trix and Adora are also established to be in a relationship. This felt like a very effective way to introduce some of the queer characters to the player.

Additionally Species is a category on the profiles. This is because I wanted to include different species as part of the crew, later I concluded not to add this element since I felt there was already enough documents for the player to scan through. if I were to include different species I would also like a species book to explain the context, and this seemed like it could become too overwhelming so I scoped the project down to just human characters.

Below is the Character Profile Collection.

The Images of the characters were found online. Credit for them can be found here.

Newspapers

The newspapers would be something that all crew members had access too. I wanted key information related to Quill’s motive to be displayed here. I also wanted to make it clear that Quill was to be the new CEO of Ragon Industries and this would again be key in his motive.

The image in the middle would take up a lot of the page, but would help the player distinguish between the news stories and help illustrate them better.

Additionally I wanted to use the newspapers to build up an image of the outside world to the player. I wanted to allow the player to discover the context of the universe these characters are from. I would do this by including unrelated news stories that discuss the politics of this world, different planets, companies etc. all to allow for a greater understanding on behalf of the player.

To make the newspapers feel full and to make the documents feel more believable I made some company logos to use in various documents.

After the Hurtlock scandal the adverts in the newspaper change to Star Line as their stock prices rise.

The Autopsy

The captain was killed by suffocation, after doing some research into suffocation it turns out that suffocation is essentially impossible to detect without context as to where the body was found. An autopsy alone cannot detect this.

I decided instead of the autopsy concluding suffocation, the examiner would suggest suffocation. I have reservations on this since I don’t want this to throw the player off since the fact that the captain died of suffocation is very important to discovering how he was killed. I will re-examine this after playtesting.

AI Log

The AI Log is important since it acts as a method of checking the characters stories. The player can also use it as a reference to what each character was doing.

However the only necessary part is at the end of the log where the errors appear. This is signalling to the player that the logs were edited and this is key to discovering who killed the captain as only certain people are trained to use the AI. Log.

Crew and Captain Logs

The crew and captain logs act as methods for the player to better understand the characters and what they are like as people. The crew log is a series of messages that overall describe the relationship each crew member had with each other. They do not provide any evidence against Quill. The reason for the crew log is purely for the player to get to know the characters better.

The reason I wanted this is because I wanted the player to personally connect with the crew members and see them essentially as real people.

The captains log is where Percy Jordan, the captain, records his thoughts and the general mission so far. The player again can use this to gather information about the crew. This actually provides a better outlook to the mood of the crew as well as certain details that link to the death of the captain. For example the captain left his room the night of the murder because he could hear noises from the other room, this is something that happened previously when Percy found Adora tinkering which is also record in the log.

I hope these small details will help in revealing and building the narrative in the players mind.

Ship Navigation Map

This document is designed to provide basic information about the ship. Most important is that this guide includes a map/layout of the ship which is greatly useful in understanding the positions of all the characters and it also describes the safety features of the ship which includes the method Quill used to suffocate the captain. This documents also helps aid in the world building by providing details of one of the biggest ship manufactures in this fictional universe.

Interviews

The interviews are key in providing information about each character’s whereabouts, what each character does and what their thoughts are regarding the crime. Some characters also provide critical information on the mechanics of the ship and who has the power to access the AI. This is key in solving the crime.

Each interview I wrote from the perspective of the character and so it was important that I understood each character. By summarising each character and using the profile information I wrote for them it made it easier to write from their perspective. I quite enjoyed this part, I wanted the player to have the chance to relate to the characters through their interviews.

Below is the character summaries, this helped in writing from the characters perspective and how they would behave.

An example of one of the interviews can be found below. I wanted the interview to be as easy to read as possible and so split it into sections, so it appeared like an interview transcript with the speaker on the left and the transcript on the right.

Mission Document

So the player understood what the mission was about it was important to write up a document addressed to the captain that summarised this.

The document was written from the perspective of one of the scientists working for The Atlas Project who gave the captain the mission. The letter eluded to the secretive nature of the research, its importance and the fact that the board of The Atlas Project had some reservations over certain members of the crew. This is all meant to intrigue the player and is intended to be one of the first documents the player reads.

With the documents prepared I took it for a first playtest to see if players could determine the SUSPECT, MOTIVE and METHOD. I did so by introducing the concept myself first as I was undecided on how to present the case to players at the time.

Playtest Round One

I had some people play the first version of the game separately. To introduce the game, I explained their role and from there it was up to the players to solve the case. Once they had a theory I then confirmed it.

Here are the result of the playtest:

Positive

• Players liked the setting of the game.
• There was an intrigue to solve the mystery from the players.
• Players felt rewarded for solving the crime.
• Players were able to solve the mystery in just over an hour.

Negative

• Players feel a lack of direction at the start.
• Presentation of the information could be greatly improved.
• Players were struggling to understand some aspects of the crime scene, such as why does the captain have bruises on chest and cuts on hands etc.
• Organisation of the documents needs to be clearer.
• Some players expressed a desire for a method to make notes.
• Needs to be a method of confirming the players suspicions.

Changes

Lack of direction fix

To solve the lack of direction at the start of the game, it was important to find a natural way to introduce the player into the game while still retaining the theme and immersion.

I decided to introduce the player by giving them a clear role in the case. The player is a told they are a new investigative journalist who’s first task is to solve the case before them. The letter explains that their job depends on getting the case solved to provide some stakes for the player.

Below is the letter the player would read.

Presentation and Organisation Fix

The presentation is lacking and is causing the files to become confusing as some share folders when they are separate documents. I was using brown folders but the paper tends to not only get stuck inside but there is not a lot of room and too few folders.

Instead I decided to use black folders and a storage box to allow for a more professional and immersive feeling.

Crime Scene Photos

To help contextualise the crime scene I decided to add some crime scene photos. These would also allow for more clues to be added to direct the player towards the killer.

Notetaking

To allow players to fully immerse themselves into the case I decided to add a notebook and marker stickers as well as string and pins so if players have access to a board they could hang evidence up and fully commit themselves to solving the case.

Finishing the Game

To finish the game the players must first find the Suspect, Motive and Method. Once they do so they are able to open the brown envelope at the very end of the box labelled ‘The Atlas Project’. This envelope will reveal the correct answer along with the evidence and the suspects confession.

The Investigation results explains the story of the crime and references the evidence which can be found in the second document of the folder. The confession is also available for the player to read if they desire, this will tell the story from the perspective of the perpetrator.

Playtest Round Two

The second playtest was tested with different people and went well, and helped reveal some other issues players were having.

Positive

• Again, players really liked the setting.
• Players seem to respond to the new instructions better. However some inaccuracies in the directions is hold it back.
• The black folders helped keep everything organised and the folder intros helped greatly to describe the content of each folder to the player.
• the reactions from the players were positive in terms of intrigue.

Negative

• Some players felt the outside of the folders could also be labelled so information can be found quicker.
• The introduction letter still needs to be clearer, some players read it and wondered if they were able to touch the other files yet.
• Some spelling mistakes were noticed.
• Some of the interviews felt lacking in detail or noticeably smaller than others.

Changes

Organisation fix

To better organise the files I labelled the outside as well as numbered them. This is intended to make the folders quicker to navigate thus aiding the player in reviewing documents.

The number also refers to the order the documents should be placed within the box. I want the player to be introduced to some files first, such as the mission information hence this folder is labelled 1 and so on.

The player may still view the files in any order they wish but the numbering will hopefully help encourage the player to read the documents in order.

The introduction Letter fix

The introduction letter had some inaccuracies, such as it describing the notebook being within the brown envelope which actually contained the ending documents. The letter also didn’t describe what to do when the player finished the game.

To fix this I re-wrote the letter taking into account the instructions of the game and implementing them into the text. I then made sure to check the content of the letter felt believable to the narrative of the game. Again writing from the perspective of a a higher up writing to an employee at a news paper. I still wanted the player to feel convinced of the world and narrative to the furthest extent they can be.

Spelling Mistakes

I Checked over the files and documents again and attempted to fix any spelling mistakes and grammar errors. This is important as I want to minimise the chance of a miscommunication. Miscommunications could cause the player to misinterpret the evidence.

Interview Fix

Some of the interviews felt a little bit lacking in detail. Most notably Gordon’s Interview. Therefore I decided to revisit these interviews and beef up the detail. I wanted the player to feel as though the interviewees have equal weight and so keeping all under suspicion until the player determines who is responsible.

To improve the interviews I added more dialogue, making sure the characters mentioned their movements aboard the ship, little details that either add to the overall narrative or the suspect. To make it feel natural, the detectives ask plenty of questions to pry information from the character.

Playtest Round Three

Positive

• Again the player showed intrigue.
• The game seems to encourage the player to closely examine the files and also initially fall for some of the red herrings as desired.
• The player appeared to focus on the correct information to do with the method almost instantly.

Negative

• Some of the files are unnecessarily hard to read. the AI Log for example can be simplified.
• It seems as though players understand how the captain died but get hung up on some of the details that are unimportant. This could lead to too much player focus on this area which will distract from more important information.
• The notebook hasn’t been used by many of the players yet.

Changes

AI.Log Fix

Players felt the AI.Log was unnecessarily difficult to read. Previous players also seemed to struggle with the codes used.

To fix this I changed the codes to feel more inline with the characters names and the rooms of the ship. For example the character Adora Au became AA, Drew Biggs became BD. This would hopefully help the player to read the AI.Log quickly and efficiently as well as encouraging the player to learn the crew members names.

The room codes also changed. These were the most needed since it was likely the most confusing part for most players. The room codes now reflect the room of the ship. For example, the Captains Quarters is now CAP, The Navigation room is now NAV. Potentially now the players will have a much easier time reviewing the AI.Log documents.

Confusion about the captains death fix

Most players were getting hung up on certain details surrounding the captains death. In order to fix this I decided to include a document that described the crime scene and the detectives conclusion to where the blood came from and the bruises on the captain. This would help clear up some details that players were focusing too much attention on as well as fixing this detail since there was no clear explanation for it in the documents of the game.

Reflection

Taking the game further

If I were to take the game further, I’d like to re-evaluate the methods I used to communicate key information to the player. I originally wanted the game to feel somewhat realistic in its approach, such as reading the documents and case files to gather information. And while I personally like this approach I do feel as though this kind of gameplay is somewhat niche. I think having some more mini game elements, such as puzzles could interest more players for example. The way these puzzles could be implemented could help intrigue players further and allow for more satisfaction on solving the overall crime.

What I would do differently

If I were to repeat the process of creating The Atlas Project, some of the things I would do differently would include the following:

Focus on a shorter experience: The hour long playtime of the game made it time consuming to test. It meant that the editing process was slower and tedious when testing new elements. A shorter experience would speed the playtest up significantly meaning more changes could be made to refine the experience further. This also made recording playtests useless, I relied on making thorough notes instead.

Include mini games: To improve the game and make it more appealing to a wider audience I would include the use of mini games and puzzles into the experience. This not only would better hold players attention but it will also challenge the player. However I do still like the method I used, I do however realise that reading and comparing files is not to everyone’s tastes.

What went well

While I do think the game can still be greatly improved in ways, I still enjoyed the experience of making The Atlas Project. I think the narrative that can be discovered is interesting and fun. I also very much like the characters I created for the game. Creating a game around the narrative and characters is by far my favourite aspect of this project.

I think the project ran well overall, even though playtesting was a slow process it gathered plenty of useful feedback that greatly helped to improve the game. The general feedback I received was also positive which is very encouraging.

Also having the opportunity to loosely base my game on Becky Chambers book is also rewarding.

Aims Revisited

My aims for this project are as follows:

• Create a game that can be enjoyed by one player and lasts roughly an hour.
• Include a range of queer characters that apply to my framework and allow queer players to see themselves in.
• Create a game that encourages the player to think critically, examine the case files and compare the evidence they see. Allowing them to become the investigator the way they see fit.
• I want the game to feel somewhat challenging, and I want the player to feel as though they are being thrown off, hopefully making when they do solve the crime feel more rewarding.

Create a single player game

The game was tested mostly by people playing solo. Each player seemed intrigued and engaged and most were able to solve the case successfully. The Atlas Project works well as a single player game as it does not require a second person, however other people can join in to help solve the case. This is ideal as I wanted to make a game that can be enjoyed no matter how many people are playing.

As seen in the testing the game also takes roughly an hour to complete depending on how the player wishes to play.

Include queer characters

I made sure to include some queer characters into my game for some needed representation. half of the characters are queer. Adora and Trix are in a lesbian relationship, Cassie is in a gay relationship also and Marcus refers to having dated a man previously.

However, the game lacks in minority gender identities. I unfortunately put too much focus on queer relationships over that of gender identities and so therefore I failed in that respect.

If I were to repeat the process again I would absolutely include more representation. I was considering making a series of shorter mystery solving games all in the same universe as The Atlas Project. Here I would do my best to have a wide range of representative characters.

Players as the investigator

I do think the game encourages players to think and closely examine the documents. I also think that players are encouraged to use the documents how they see fit. Some players for example opted to use the notebook to record evidence, many also chose not too and instead decided to keep information to the side and examine it all together. I think this is part of the freedom the game has, to allow the player to play how they see fit. The game has the option available to the player but they are also free to not use items and this does not affect the game outcome.

However I do again think the gameplay can be improved with the use of mini games and puzzles to help challenge the player further.

Challenging the player

From playtesting it is clear that The Atlas Project does challenge the players in terms of who they suspect throughout the game. This is something that was important to me as I didn’t want the mystery to be clear cut. I wanted the player to have a reason to question almost everyone. The playtesting was interesting since players would often cite their suspicions only to realise that they could not have been the perpetrator and then cite again and so on. I think in this respect the aim has been met.

Applying my Thesis

I removed the first criteria as it does not apply to my game. The rest however can still be analysed.

Criteria	Description
Queer character inclusion	‘inserting representation into games in a way that is integral to the game text is one avenue for change’. Shaw (2015 p.230) By including queer characters developers can help to positively change broader society views on the queer community.
Minority gender identities inclusion	A Trevor Project study found that, ‘1 in 4 LGBTQ youth use pronouns […] that fall outside of the binary construction of gender’. (The Trevor Project, 2020) Meaning that media representation for transgender and non-binary people is vital in spreading awareness and understanding.
Queer romance’s	Games such as ‘Mass Effect 3 [is] much loved by fans for giving players the opportunity to pursue queer romances’. Ruberg (2019. P10) Showing queer romances also aids in normalizing queer relationships for a general audience.

Queer Character Inclusion

The Atlas Project includes four queer characters. That being Adora and Trix who are in a lesbian relationship. Cassie who is also queer being married to another women and Marcus who mentions dating a man previously.

The most notable of all the relationships is that of Adora and Trix, it is mentioned many times within the dialogue and the specific word girlfriend is used to refer to Adora in Trix’s interview. Cassie is mentioned to have a wife on her crew profile as well as in some of the dialogue in various documents. Marcus mentions dating another man in his interview.

If played correctly players will not be able to miss the queer content within the game, so therefore making the queer characters present and known to the player.

Minority Gender Inclusion

As stated previously I failed to include any characters of a gender minority and this is a huge fault on my behalf.

I did later realise that the game was lacking characters from gender minorities but did not want to just change one of the established characters. I’d much rather have dedicated characters and well thought out characters in a later game.

Queer Romances

The game includes a lesbian relationship between Trix and Adora that is present throughout the game with multiple mentions of their relationship throughout the documents. since the game is a narrative and with no option but to review all documents, the queer relationship is present to all players and cannot be avoided if played correctly.

Score

The overall queer representation is positive and good however the lack of minority gender identities is holding the project back from being truly inclusive.

Going Forward

To take this project further, as I said previously I am looking to make a series of short mysteries that are quick to solve. I really engaged with constructing the narrative for The Atlas Project and as I have said before I love the theme and setting of the game. I intend to create this short series based off this game and upload this series online for players to enjoy and engage with.