I shared months ago the opening scenes of the game. Today I share some screenshots of Mabel, the opening village that our hero Casey wakes up in when he and his friends are transported inside the video game. I made up the town to have a homely feeling to it, somewhere that players will want to come back to because of how warm and cozy it feels.
One of the things I wanted in Legends of Adrigal was to have a living world. While it's not in my capability to do something like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask with the manpower I have (or lack, that is), what I can do is have the world feel like it is one connected kingdom. I have done this by updating NPC (non-playable character) dialogue as different major events in the game take place. This is not only to make it seem like the NPCs are living their lives like the player's party, but also to keep dialogue feeling fresh. I want there to be a reason for the player to continue chatting with NPCs.
Another way to keep players engaged with NPCs to create entertaining dialogue that doesn't feel like a machine wrote it. My previous game, Super Push Adventure, used dialogue in a way to make for some fun scenarios and conversations. While the story of Legends of Adrigal is somewhat serious overall, the NPCs allow me to get wacky and sassy with my dialogue. I want the player to speak with NPCs not because out of a necessity and duty, but because they want to see what entertaining things the characters will say.
NPCs also talk about events that happen in other places. For instance, this next screenshot shows a miner from Dorter talking about an issue with the mine. I wish to have it where countless NPCs will help create a feeling of cohesiveness with the world of Legends of Adrigal, helping to build the game's lore in the process.
Another important thing to have in an RPG for longevity is that of side quests. Legends of Adrigal will have a quest system that is incorporated into Adrigal City, the central hub of the game. However there are also side tasks that can be done in the game just by talking to specific NPCs. An early example is a game where a Mabel child hides three coins in three patches of grass. In finding them all, Casey receives a Healthy Steroid, a vitamin that grants permanent upgraded attack strength. Though it is a bit humorous that a child would take a steroid from his father's drawer to give as a prize to a stranger. That's just my goofy sense of humor chiming in here.
There is also fun to be had with exploring and investigating different objects in town. While not everything that the player examines will have text to it, there are some interesting discoveries to be found.
The latest events I've done story-wise are when Casey introduces himself to the mayor of Mabel, Mayor Wendell. He suggests that Casey go to Adrigal Castle to meet with the king to ask for any leads on where his friends might be, and also how to get home. He then offers advice that Casey should visit Mabel Academy for battle advice, and asks his grandson Nemus to tag along as a chaperon along the dangerous Mabel and West Adrigal Roads.
My next duty will be filling Adrigal City with NPCs and creating houses for the east side of the metropolis. This city is the most crowded and largest in the game, but I find it fun to inhabit it with different NPCs with updated dialogue as the game goes on. I hope you'll look forward to the next Legends of Adrigal progress report, as much as I am looking forward to continuing work on the game!
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