Interactive Narrative Design | Final Task
|| Tee Zi Tong, 0366165
|| Interactive Narrative Design | Final Task
|| Week 10 - Week 15
Task 4 required us to complete and polish the final interactive narrative in Unity.
We combined the improved story, revised UI, updated videos, character animation, sound and player interactions into the final version of The Working Dead.
The final project demonstrates how the concept developed through prototyping, testing and iteration.
The final experience follows this sequence:
The Rules only appear at the beginning of the game. From Scene 2 onwards, each scene automatically plays its cut scene before showing the next Dialogue panel.
The completed project includes:
- Main Page and Start button
- Rules panel
- 3D office environment
- Customized 3D protagonist
- Mixamo animations
- Edited cut scenes
- Dialogue system
- Decision-making points
- Good and bad outcomes
- Game Over panel
- Background music
- Video audio
- Button sound effects
- Scene transitions
These features work together to create a consistent interactive narrative.
During the prototype stage, we originally planned to create separate video scenes for the consequences of every incorrect decision. I also designed a manager character for these scenes.
However, this approach would have required many additional character animations, recordings and edited videos. To manage the project scope more effectively, we replaced the incorrect-choice videos with a redesigned Game Over panel.
This change created a more consistent response for wrong choices and allowed us to focus on polishing the main story progression. It also demonstrates how the final project was adapted based on production limitations and design priorities.
The cut scenes use framing, lighting and shot selection to communicate the protagonist's actions and emotional state.
Close-up shots show the character's nervous reactions. Wider shots introduce the office environment and important locations.
The dark lighting supports the horror atmosphere. The shot sequence also directs the player's attention towards important story information.
After user testing, I improved the pacing by shortening unnecessary pauses and adding missing story information.
The final project includes good and bad outcomes.
If the player follows the correct choices, the protagonist survives the night and reaches the final screen:
“Congratulations. You survived another day in this strange company.”
The player can then return to the Main Page.
If the player selects an incorrect action, the choice breaks one of the Rules and activates the Game Over panel.
The player is then given feedback that the decision was incorrect.
My main contributions to the final project included:
- Creating the original narrative concept
- Designing the protagonist
- Creating the character textures
- Integrating Mixamo animations
- Producing videos for every scene
- Editing the cut scenes in CapCut
- Fixing video pacing
- Adding missing narrative information
- Combining the final elements in Unity
- Connecting VideoPlayer and Dialogue sequences
- Fixing missing references and scene-transition problems
Ying Xuan's main contributions included:
- Designing the 3D office environment
- Arranging the office assets
- Designing the Dialogue UI
- Designing the Rules panel
- Designing the Game Over panel
- Developing the related scripts
FINAL OUTCOME
The final version allows players to experience the narrative through cut scenes, dialogue and meaningful choices.
Players need to understand the Rules and apply them to different situations. Correct choices allow the story to progress, while incorrect choices create visible consequences.
The combination of visual, audio and interactive elements creates a complete office-horror narrative experience.
REFLECTIONS
Task 4 gave me experience completing and polishing a project that combined 3D design, character animation, video editing, audio, UI and Unity scripting.
One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that every video, Dialogue panel and scene transition worked in the correct order.
I observed that the final project became clearer and more consistent after applying the feedback from Task 3.
The revised UI was easier to read, while the improved video pacing created smoother transitions between the cut scenes and player choices.
I learned that a final project requires both creative development and technical troubleshooting.
A successful interactive narrative depends on the connection between story, visuals, sound and player interaction. I also learned that repeated testing is necessary because small technical errors can affect the entire experience.
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