The Narrative of Starweave

[p][/p][p]In today's devlog, we hear from Teddy, our narrative director & Ian, one of the game designers and programmers. For two perspectives on the story of Starweave, keep on reading! For our full launch schedule, check out our Steam page below:[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]⚠ Spoiler warning! There are spoilers for the game's story below. ⚠[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]Our first perspective...[/h2][p][/p][h3]Dreamer...[/h3][h3]This world, and your own, balance at the edge of a precipice,[/h3][h3]will you become what the stars have fated you to be?[/h3][h3]Or will you defy inevitability? [/h3][p][/p][p]My introduction to STARWEAVE happened in a screenwriting for games class that Rachel (our director) and I took together. I watched her develop the strongest thread in the world of STARWEAVE, seeing it unfold in the context of the class. It would be a proof of concept, as she tried to scale the project into something she could build with a smaller, more intimate team. [/p][p][/p][p]That way, we could be careful to keep the soul of the story alive, bringing the whimsy of the universe’s previous iterations into this game. As I understand it, full-scale production began shortly after, with an outline and cast that reflected a strong commitment to STARWEAVE’s vision. [/p][p][/p][p]Coming into the project, we were able to look over much of the concept work that brought STARWEAVE to the vision we were presented with: a portal universe where these kids were plopped from the real world into a dreamlike place where they would use their fate-assigned powers to save the world. The world you explore in-game always had this purpled, dreamlike atmosphere: as if we were overlooking the universe on these few islands in the middle of an endless abyss. This way, we would envision the real world, where our place in the universe, small and lonely as it is, is visually apparent, surrounded by stars on all sides. [/p][p][/p][p]We filled in the details of the setting from there to reflect the march of time through the game's events, while the backdrop remained ominous yet unchanging as our characters’ relationship with destiny emerged. The longer we sat with an unchanging sky, especially before and after our time underground, the more apparent it was that we were stuck with the universe we were placed in. We are stuck with both our physical place among the stars and the life we’ve been handed by fate. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I was familiar with a previous iteration of the game in which there were many more cast members associated with signs in the Western Astrological Zodiac. This way, our characters would represent very distinct roles, with inherent overlap in personality and function according to elements, fixation (cardinal, fixed, or mutable) and planetary associations. This created a direct connection between the physical placement of these constellations in the universe around our characters and their physicality and active role in the game universe. It draws a similar connection between our use of astrology and our physical bodies on earth. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Drawing the comparison further, in real life, we are given physicality along with familial and cultural context, and though star signs are not a literal metaphor for this diversity, we can see from this example that the source of everyone’s place in the world comes primarily from circumstance. All of us, as all of our teammates in-game, have inherent strengths, weaknesses, predispositions and perspectives that inform the ‘roles’ we are assigned in life. We wanted to explore the idea of being predestined or predisposed to the life you’ve been given in a way that very deliberately acknowledged differences, avoided stereotypes, and emphasized the often unfair ways these roles have been assigned. [/p][p][/p][p]Our cast brings their baggage into the dream world, and it blatantly impacts their ability to perform their ‘roles’. Our goal was to show, through the setting and narrative, that these roles are assigned to us in a similar way to our other life circumstances. Development began with the outline our director gave us, informed by the themes she had explored in many forms with these characters before. With the outline and inspiration, we could start using these more abstract concepts to inform our writing, line by line.[/p][p][/p][p] [/p][p]With this reduced scope, with our cast of four characters and our general plot beats (Troubadour and Blackguard’s fates, and the finale sequence) were already set in stone from a narrative and design perspective.  From there, all we, as the team of writers, had to do was fill in the scripts that would take us to those beats. We spent time in pre-production reviewing scripts Rachel had written previously, along with character sheets and a long history of concept art and smaller, supporting details about these characters’ lives back on earth. [/p][p][/p][p]From there, we would meet as a team a few times during the pre-production months to draft scenes that spoke to us and to spend time just getting to know the characters. I felt an attachment to Blackguard as a fellow often-frustrated transmasculine person, feeling at odds with a world that seemed very unresponsive to the life I wanted to live. Though I had no relation to Blackguard’s literal situation, and his being transmasculine was completely irrelevant to the story we were telling, it gave me a sort of confidence to explore his character in whatever messy direction I was pulled into. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I wanted us to spend preproduction drafting as much as possible and as quickly as possible to get a sense of who among us connected most with each cast member. These characters would be getting their voice from us, not from anything that really came before, so having the freedom to hop between scripts, characters, and beats in the story gave us all chances to feel out these arcs to see what we connected with most. We all read one another’s scripts and left commentary and questions. We emphasized the need to explore our peers’ writing as we left feedback, noting inconsistencies. Through questioning, it would become obvious who had answers for these characters that felt correct, and who wasn’t really connecting to who they were writing that week. [/p][p][/p][p]This would inherently be messy, wrought with uncomfortable and misfitting scenes, things that weren’t aligned with the author’s intentions or the team & director’s ideas about the characters. However, it also made it very clear who had a shining connection to a particular character and got all of us excited to see this character come to life on the page. We could get so excited at someone else’s representation of a character, go to that person with questions or to brainstorm, and really nail down the aspects of that person’s writing that were making that character. [/p][p][/p][p]Troubadour was our first priority, since his voice had to be distinctive and his arc had to be extremely clear, being the first source of major conflict and loss in the story. We found that rhythm quickly, and it set a good precedent for how we would work through the other characters. Blackguard took some trial and error, but the experience we had with troubadour helped us understand the spark we were looking for. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]By the end of the game, when we were working with just Dreamer and Lighthouse, we had found a very quiet understanding of these characters that had naturally blossomed. This was my favorite discovery, by far, in exploring the cast. [/p][p][/p][p]We knew Dreamer and Lighthouse would be close just by necessity at the end of the story, but I think that their distinct strategies for guiding the group made for a reciprocal relationship that was quiet at the beginning of the story, then became apparently extremely compatible after seeing both of them grow into their roles and develop real respect (an affectionate reverence at times, honestly) for one another. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][c]Teddy Sullivan was the Narrative Director for STARWEAVE’s production as a thesis project at the University of Southern California, working remotely to organize the narrative team and writing feedback, facilitating critique, and writing scripts. He studied Interactive Media at USC. He’s currently a mixed media artist and writer, living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania working to develop community spaces for the LGBT community in his hometown. He creates event-specific art installations, paints and does physical artwork for commission, and has been working on a variety of creative writing projects. He has way too many cats and is currently playing Psychonauts 2. [/c][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p][/p][h2]...and our second perspective![/h2][p][/p][p]What inspired the world and story of Starweave?[/p][p][/p][p]At its core, Starweave is a story about fate. In our world, the idea manifests in different ways: it can be a purpose you decide for yourself, or a role others expect of you. It can be as comforting for some as it is stifling for others, and what often matters most in that regard is who's deciding this fate for you. What we wanted to accomplish with Starweave is to change the way the players think about fate, both their own and what they expect of others. We wanted to comfort those who feel they're locked on a path and encourage them that the only fate they should follow is the one they decide for themselves.[/p][p][/p][p]Central to this is the player's role as Dreamer, and how that relates to your companions. Everyone in your party is in the same situation as you, stuck in a strange world with a preordained role, but fate decides that you get to be in a position above them as leader. We want the player to think about how that role weighs on both them and their companions, both as characters and as units you give orders to in combat.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]What can players expect from the story of Starweave?[/p][p][/p][p]The core of Starweave is the journey the player and their party go on through the world of Lucid. Starting as strangers with the sudden goal of saving a world they know nothing about, they learn how to fight together, listen to each other, and eventually trust one another. Some struggle with their assigned roles, while others struggle to break free of them when they have to. The player’s journey is about learning to work with their fellow travellers, recognizing their struggles, and seeing them as friends rather than just pawns of fate.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Did you face any challenges you had to overcome on this project?[/p][p][/p][p]The main challenge, central to our goal in making the game, was to help the player empathize with their companions. They aren't just game pieces on a strategy board; they're people with their own goals, fears, and aspirations. From the moment they first refuse one of the player's orders and act on their own, it's supposed to highlight for the player that although they're fated to be in charge, their companions don't have to follow that fate.[/p][p][/p][p]Of course, this presents a very direct challenge to us as game developers, as party members refusing orders can be very, very annoying. That's where empathy comes in, and where our narrative has to work the hardest. We want players to understand why a party member might not like what they're told to do, learn how to work with them, and trust them to help in their own way. This is where design and narrative both share the spotlight; if a party member acts on their own, they should at least be doing something useful. Troubadour, for example, is great at healing and really bad at fighting, so whenever he refuses an order and heals someone instead, he's still performing a helpful role. That's something we wanted to emphasize to the player: that their companions aren't trying to waste their turn or sabotage the party's efforts. They want to be helpful; they're still trying to work together, just in the way they feel is best. The dialogue plays a huge part in this, with each character's refusal dialogue trying to convey why they think their choice is better. [/p][p][/p][p]If the player listens to their companions, figures out what they want to do and supports them in that, they're rewarded by their companions learning to trust them back. Eventually, they trust Dreamer's orders enough to accept them even in situations they're not usually comfortable with. The player is rewarded for empathizing with their companions and treating them as friends rather than mindless soldiers.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Is there any lore or worldbuilding that didn’t make it into the game that you could share here?[/p][p][/p][p]Definitely, the most significant cut was in the number of party members. In the game's earliest concept stages, there were as many as 12 different companions representing different RPG archetypes. Of course, given the scope of a student project, we had to cut back; we considered just 5 and eventually settled on the 4 we have now. Some characters and roles got mixed together, too; amusingly enough, Troubadour was originally an explosives expert of sorts before being changed to a healer.[/p][p][/p][p]I think we settled on a good party size for the game we ended up making. Even without accounting for extra development effort, having more companions would have diluted the player's interactions with them, making it feel more like a chore to understand their refusal conditions and hindering how much the player ends up understanding them as people.[/p][p][/p][p][c]The OG twelve, see if you can spot who turned into our party![/c][/p][p]
Is there still a story you’d like to tell in the world of Starweave?[/p][p][/p][p]I think there's a lot of potential to see the impact that Dreamer and their companions will have on the world after their journey. The world of Lucid is marked by cycles, with countless others making the same journey as the player. Seeing how future cycles change and how one struggles with fate can inspire another, which would be a great way to explore the world further.
[/p][hr][/hr][p][c]Hi, I’m Ian Ouellette. I'm currently a freelance game designer and programmer working on Starweave as a passion project. I graduated from New York University in 2019 and have been working on contracts as a technical designer, UI engineer, and generalist programmer since. On Starweave I was responsible for a lot of cutscene and UI programming, as well as general bugfixing and polish. In my spare time I like cooking and running tabletop RPGs.[/c][/p]