The Longevity Zoo
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Western RPG / FPS
Creation Kit
5 Months
1 Developer
Technical Mission Designer
available on request
Responsibilities
Technical Designer | Mission Designer
Commentary Video
High Concept
My Fallout 4 mod, "The Longevity Zoo" tells two chapters of a story set in the Fallout universe. Each chapter had its own development cycle that spanned 8-10 weeks. I created the world space from scratch in Creation Kit, scripted over 100 events in the Papyrus language, wrote a cast of eight significant characters, and designed a computational system to enhance the narrative.
Chapters one and two had slightly different production goals: while chapter one was intended to appeal to a wide range of Fallout players by incorporating a breadth of Fallout 4 conventions, chapter two dove deeper into narrative systems and demonstrated the computational narrative potential of Creation Kit.
Development Timeline
Chapter One: "The Longevity Zoo"
Weeks 1-2
Week 3
Weeks 4-5
Weeks 6-8
Week 9
Week 10
Level Design Document
Whitebox
Initial Gameplay
Gameplay Complete
Aesthetics
Launch
Drafted up maps for interior and exterior world space.
Planned out all dialogue trees.
Implemented world geometry and basic quest structure.
Included combat encounters and representative dialogue.
Finished implementing first pass at quest content.
Added a side quest.
Continued refining the mission's narrative and combat.
Finished all scripted events.
Lighting, environmental storytelling, background LOD, character appearances, sound effects.
Made sure the quest was as polished as possible.
Chapter Two: "Synthesis"
Week 1
Weeks 2-3
Weeks 4-5
Weeks 6-7
Week 8
Level Design Document
Whitebox
Initial Gameplay
Gameplay Complete
Aesthetics & Launch
Set forward production goals & created narrative systems.
Maps, plot overview, dialogue trees, development plan.
Modified existing world space for the new chapter.
Implemented initial quest dialogue trees.
Refined the layout, scripted events, decorated the space, and finished the dialogue trees.
Added moving entities to the space.
Implemented post-quest content.
Made the space watertight and added quest fail states.
Improved the background LOD.