Vampire: Bloodlines Designer Diary #5

Leonard Boyarsky, joint CEO of Troika Games, has dished up his fifth Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines designer diary over at GameSpot. This time, he talks about how Troika is working to achieve a feeling of nonlinearity in the game. An excerpt:

Another way we like to give the feel of nonlinearity is through letting players have their own motivations for going on certain quests in the game. Let’s say there’s a main quest that players need to accomplish in the game. If everyone needs to do it, won’t that make the game seem like a linear experience where you have to do the same thing every time? Actually, the way we add variety to this type of scenario is to let players choose their own motivation for performing the quest. Are they doing it to garner favor with someone? To pay off a debt? To betray someone down the line? In dealing with a main story arc, quests like this come up a lot, so we feel it is important for players to have clear-cut choices as to why they are doing something in the game. The worst thing is for players to feel like they’re going on a quest simply because the game dictates it. Motivation is extremely important in drawing players into the experience. The reasons that players have for doing things in the game can create a completely different feeling in the gameplay experience.