Interactive Narrative Design | Task 2
|| Tee Zi Tong, 0366165
|| Interactive Narrative Design | Task 2
|| Week 3 - Week 10
Task 2 required us to transform the concept into an early playable prototype using Unity.
For this task, I worked with Ying Xuan. We selected my Task 1 concept, The Working Dead, and developed it into an interactive 3D narrative.
My main responsibilities were:
- Developing the original concept
- Designing the character
- Creating customized character textures
- Finding and applying character animations
- Producing videos for every scene
- Editing the cut scenes
- Importing the videos into Unity
- Combining the final elements in Unity
Ying Xuan's main responsibilities were:
- Designing the office environment
- Arranging the 3D office assets
- Designing the Dialogue panel
- Designing the Rules panel
- Designing the Game Over panel
- Developing the related scripts
We combined our responsibilities to develop the playable prototype.
We began by finding a suitable office environment. After selecting the main setting, we searched for individual 3D furniture models and office props.
The assets were imported and arranged in Unity to create the necessary narrative locations. These included the protagonist's desk, manager's office, file rack, meeting area and office exit.
Lighting was adjusted to create a dark office atmosphere. The environment needed to look functional while still feeling cold, empty and dangerous.
3D Character Development
I initially designed two characters for the prototype: main character Mia and the manager.
For Mia, I first found a suitable base character model. I then created and applied customized textures to make the character match the visual direction of The Working Dead. She was designed as a young office employee wearing professional clothing, with a slightly tired and nervous appearance.
After completing the character design, I uploaded the model to Mixamo and downloaded suitable animations. These animations were imported into Unity and applied to actions such as walking, standing, working and reacting to unusual events.
I also prepared a character design for the manager. The manager was originally intended to appear in the video scenes that showed the consequences of incorrect choices.
However, producing a separate video for every wrong choice would have increased the workload and made the project scope too large. After discussing the issue, we decided to replace the incorrect-choice videos with a Game Over panel.
This allowed us to communicate the negative outcome more clearly and consistently while keeping the project manageable. Because of this change, the manager character was not used in the final prototype.
I produced the cut scenes required for every section of the narrative.
First, I prepared the necessary shots and images based on the storyboard. After arranging the materials, I imported them into CapCut for editing.
In CapCut, I arranged the shot sequence, controlled the timing and combined the visual and audio elements. The completed videos were exported and imported into Unity using VideoPlayer.
Player interaction is mainly achieved through UI buttons and narrative choices.
The player begins at the Main Page and presses the Start button to enter the game. In Scene 1, the player reads the Rules and closes the Rules panel before the first video begins.
After each cut scene, a Dialogue panel appears. The player selects one of the available buttons to make a decision.
Unity's Button component and EventSystem were used to detect the player's input. Each button is connected to a function that either loads the next scene or activates the Game Over panel.
The narrative is communicated through cut scenes, Rules, dialogue text and choice buttons.
We created a Dialogue Manager using TextMeshPro. Each scene contains Dialogue Data with the question, button text and corresponding action.
When a video ends, the Dialogue panel appears and displays the next part of the story. This structure allows the cut scenes and dialogue system to work together.
Decision-making is the main interactive mechanic of The Working Dead.
At the end of each video, the player must select an action. The choices are connected to the Rules introduced at the beginning.
A correct decision allows the player to progress to the next scene. An incorrect decision breaks one of the Rules and activates a Game Over outcome.
The prototype contains two main outcome categories:
- Good outcome: The protagonist survives and reaches the next day.
- Bad outcome: The player selects an incorrect option and receives a Game Over result.
The 3D office provides the main setting for the interactive narrative.
Instead of using a flat background, the world was created using office models, furniture, props and lighting. Important story events take place in specific locations such as the desk, file rack and manager's office.
The empty layout and dark lighting help establish suspense and reinforce the feeling that the protagonist is alone.
The customized 3D character represents the protagonist throughout the cut scenes.
The original character model was modified using customized textures. Mixamo animations were added to show actions such as walking, standing, working and reacting.
Combining the model, textures and animations made the character more suitable for the narrative and visual style.
The cut scenes communicate the main story events and show the protagonist's actions.
They also connect the different decision-making points. After each video ends, the game displays the next Dialogue panel.
The interactive sequence is:
Cut Scene → Dialogue → Player Choice → Next Scene or Game Over
The cut scenes help the player understand the situation before making a decision.
After preparing the character, environment, UI and videos, I combined the final elements in Unity.
Each scene contained:
- VideoPlayer
- Dialogue panel
- Dialogue Manager
- UI Controller
- Dialogue Data
- Choice buttons
- Game Over panel
I encountered technical problems such as missing VideoPlayer references, duplicated scripts, Dialogue panels not appearing and incorrect Scene transitions.
I corrected the references and scripts so that Scene 1 displays the Rules before the video, while later scenes automatically begin with their videos.
Task 2 was my first experience combining character design, animation, cut-scene editing, UI and Unity interaction in one project.
I enjoyed designing the protagonist and producing the videos. However, combining all the elements in Unity was challenging because every scene required the correct references and scripts.
I observed that individual assets could work correctly on their own but create new problems when combined.
For example, the video could play successfully while the Dialogue panel failed to appear because one reference was missing. Small technical issues could interrupt the entire narrative flow.
I learned how to use VideoPlayer, Dialogue Data, Unity UI and scene management to create an interactive story.
I also found that clear organization and consistent naming are important when a Unity project contains several scenes and repeated components. And I also learned the importance of managing the project scope. Although I had already designed the manager character, creating individual cut scenes for every incorrect choice would have required too much production time. Replacing these videos with a consistent Game Over panel allowed us to simplify the development process without removing the consequences of the player's decisions.
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