JUNE // 2020

SAFETY PROTOCOL

Team of 10 ( 2 designers ) • 7 weeks • Unity

SAFETY PROTOCOL is a narrative-driven, environmental puzzle game that lets you explore an eerie space station while chatting with the stations AI. Reactivate the hidden fuse boxes to increase your power supply. Distribute the power to the different areas inside the station to unlock new paths letting you delve deeper into the story.

Download on itch.io

THINGS THAT I DID

LEVEL DESIGN: I was responsible for all the level design in the game. I worked on everything from 2D-sketching, to grayboxing, to implementing final 3D assets.

NARRATIVE: I co-authored the narrative design and wrote all of the game's dialogue trees and message logs. I also planned the environmental storytelling.

COLLABORATION: Working closely with the other team disciplines in creating the UX, UI, power management mechanic, and overall game feel and mood.

DESIGN PILLARS

EXPLORATION AND LIGHT PLATFORMING:
The player explores the station and traverses it in interesting ways while interacting with objects that unlock new paths and tell the story.

SUSPICION: The narrative is what drives the player forward. As you delve deeper into the space station you gradually begin to distrust the station's AI and its maker.

FIND POWER AND BUILD YOUR PATH:

The station's available power is a precious resource to the player which they must allocate carefully in order to open locked doors or power up rooms.

CONTENT

GAME LOOP

LEVEL DESIGN

ITERATIONS

NARRATIVE

GAME LOOP

Find fuse boxes to increase the station's power. Interact with consoles to distribute the power to rooms and hallways.

Gradually unlock the broken space station and find out what happened to the missing crew.

REACH A CONSOLE

FIND THE NEXT FUSE BOX

Increase power supply

ENVIRONMENT

PUZZLES

CONSOLE UI //

CHAT TAB

New dialogue options

CONSOLE UI //

POWER SUPPLY TAB

Distribute power to rooms and doors

LEVEL DESIGN PROCESS

Exploration and building your own path with the power management mechanic were parts of our core design pillars. Therefore, we designed the space station in a non-linear way that gave the player freedom to explore.

PLAN

Mind-mapping how the player could move about and manage the power supply.

2D LAYOUT

Drawing in Miro meant that the map was accessible to all team members as we were working from home.

GRAYBOX

Making a very rough version of the space station, playtesting it, and iterating, using ProBuilder.

GRID

We opted for a grid-based level. This made iterating fast and easy since we could use snapping.

ITERATE

Implementing 3D assets, playtesting, and tweaking. Rinse and repeat.

TOP-DOWN

6a57570e43cdea80e963a3753e82c6be_2 (1).p

HUB

GREENHOUSE

CARGO HOLD

Swipe left/right for examples.

Click the arrow ">" for examples.

2. HUB AREA

The HUB is probably the most important area in the game and where the player has the first encounter with the console.
To highlight its importance, we placed it dead center at the end of an eerie hallway, on a lit up and elevated platform.
The tomb-like terminals on the sides add to the atmosphere and create a pleasing parallax effect.

3. INTRODUCING THE FUSE BOX

We needed to teach the player early on that the station's power supply is the main resource in the game.
That's why the console is unpowered. The wiring leading back to a lit up fuse box is a subtle clue.
After activating it, you're able to return to the console and use its power management system.

4. THE CONSOLE

The console is the home of two key features of the game. The chat, and the power management system.
For each fuse box activated, the player gains more power to distribute across the different areas of the ship.
The greenhouse (left side) is already powered-on from the start. A hint telling the player what's worth exploring first.

5. ENTERING THE GREENHOUSE

By now, the player knows that the fuse box is the key to progressing in the game.
Immediately after entering the greenhouse, we foreshadow the next one through a window.

6. FRAMING THE FUSE BOX

When entering the main greenhouse room, we remind the player of the objective again.
The stairs leading into the area force you to look up, and the narrow doorframe helps focus the field of view.
The light panels in the ceiling also point toward the fuse box, and the player feels rewarded when spotting it again.

7. THE CLEANING ROBOT

The robot fills a narrative purpose but is mainly there to guide the player into the ventilation shafts.
It switches from an "idle sound" to a "scared sound" to help draw the player's attention.

8. ENTERING THE VENTS

The spinning propeller blocking the path is a puzzle that can be solved later using the power management mechanic.
To help the player take note of this area, we placed an unreachable message terminal on the other side as a hint.
When the player makes a forced U-turn, he's able to spot another vent hole leading to the second floor.

9. PLATFORMING

We didn't want our game to feel like just another walking sim, so we included some platforming elements as well.
In this section, the light panels from earlier are re-used as jumping platforms leading to the fuse box.

10. THE SECOND FUSE BOX

The player activates the fuse box and increases the power supply.
I placed another vent hole right next to the fuse box to let the player know where to go next.

11. LOOPBACK

The vent provides the player with a shortcut.
Suddenly you're at the entrance again leading back to the HUB.

1. TUTORIAL

Teaching the player how to jump and crawl.

⚑

GUIDING THE PLAYER

Click the arrow ">" for examples.

1. ENTERING THE CARGO HOLD

One of our goals was to have each area feel unique and fill a purpose both for the narrative and gameplay.
The cargo hold is where the air breach happened that killed the crew. That's why the containers are tossed around.
We wanted the player to understand right away that he somehow needed to form a bridge leading to the fuse box.

2. TERMINAL PLACEMENT

The message terminals scattered around the station mainly fill a narrative purpose.
However, the zoomed-in view leaves a small space on the left where you can see the background.
We used this space to highlight different points of interest. In this case, the flickering light leading to the next vent hole.

3. FOLLOW THE LIGHT

The flickering light leads the player into the vents.

4. ENTERING THE CONTROL ROOM

The player exits the vents and drops into the cargo control room.
We used gating here to ensure that the player wouldn't leave the room by going back through the vents again.

5. FRAMING THE MOVING CARGO CRANE

We wanted to avoid cutscenes that took control away from the player.
Instead, we always tried to frame important events so that the players would see the results of their actions in-game.

6. CONTAINER DROP

We discovered during playtesting that some players had trouble finding their way out of the control room.
To solve this we added a sign and a colored stripe to help players get a better understanding of the space.
The exit is facing the dropping container to make sure the player sees it.

7. A PATH IS MADE

Once dropped the container creates a path leading to the fuse box.

ITERATIONS

Initially, we had the first console interaction take place in a separate, smaller room.

That didn't give it the prominence needed, so we opted for the corridor-like HUB layout instead.

NARRATIVE

NARRATIVE + ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING

WATCH A PLAYTHROUGH

If you feel like enjoying the full story you're better off either playing the game or watching one of the many positive playthroughs of SAFETY PROTOCOL on Youtube.

Or click the button below.

"It's your first day onboard the

VASA Space Station. But the ship has broken down and the crew is missing."

SUSPICION IN STORYTELLING

Suspicion was one of our core design pillars. We aimed to make the player feel a growing distrust throughout the game and present the story in puzzle pieces that the player needs to put together in order to uncover the truth.

INTRO

I focused on establishing a connection between the player and the missing crew. We track in on their portrait while seeing a formal welcome message from the commander. The tone of the message contrasts with the unsettling glitches and eerie music.

The rumbling at the end lets the player know that something terrible has happened, but we don't know what just yet.

Video editing by Erika Hennel

TED ENGQVIST, COMMANDER

Reliable man in charge. Dead.

HANK BONNER, LAB TECH

Young and likes to gossip. Has a love affair with Chiara. Dead.

Concept art by Erika Hennel

CHIARA GUZMAN, CARGO OPS

Trusty co-worker onboard despite her alcoholic tendencies. Dead.

ALFRED SCHMIDT, SCIENTIST

The creator of the station's AI; Alice, and antagonist of the game. Still alive.

VASA CREW

ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING

Early on, the player learns that the station has broken down because of a disastrous airlock breach that nearly flushed out every crew member on board. That's why the player is met by tossed around containers and deformed catwalks.

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DIALOGUE OPTIONS

We wanted Alfred to come across as a suspicious character. Not only in the way he's written, but also by providing interesting dialogue options for the player. You can choose to either comply with him or question him.

Cutting the text into short chat messages made the reading feel engaging and snappy.

TWO SIDES OF THE STORY

The information the player receives through the console contradicts information found elsewhere in the game. The more you inspect your surroundings, the more suspecting you become.

CONSOLE INTERACTIONS

When interacting with the console the player only receives information from Alfred and the AI.

Example: Alfred blames Chiara for having caused the airlock breach that killed the crew.

6d075515bedf18010af54cd2c076ad95 (2).png

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Concept art by Axel Nilsson

MESSAGE TERMINALS

Message terminals are scattered around the space station. They contain logs that were sent before the accident happened. The information the player gets through the terminals contradicts the information received from the consoles.

Example: Chiara informs Ted that Alfred has access to the airlock.

NARRATIVE PROPS

When interacting with the terminals the camera zooms in on the message. But you're still able to see parts of the background. We used this space to place props that served the story.

Example: The player enters Alfred's office and sees the airlock codes on his desk. Without any doubt, he's our culprit.

6d075515bedf18010af54cd2c076ad95 (1).png

DIALOGUE TREE

Zoom and drag.

JUNE // 2020

SAFETY PROTOCOL

THINGS THAT I DID

DESIGN PILLARS

CONTENT

GAME LOOP

LEVEL DESIGN

ITERATIONS

NARRATIVE

GAME LOOP

Find fuse boxes to increase the station's power. Interact with consoles to distribute the power to rooms and hallways.

Gradually unlock the broken space station and find out what happened to the missing crew.

REACH A CONSOLE

FIND THE NEXT FUSE BOX

Increase power supply

ENVIRONMENT

PUZZLES

CONSOLE UI //

CHAT TAB​

New dialogue options

CONSOLE UI //

POWER SUPPLY TAB

Distribute power to rooms and doors

LEVEL DESIGN PROCESS

Exploration and building your own path with the power management mechanic were parts of our core design pillars. Therefore, we designed the space station in a non-linear way that gave the player freedom to explore.

PLAN

Mind-mapping how the player could move about and manage the power supply.

2D LAYOUT

Drawing in Miro meant that the map was accessible to all team members as we were working from home.

GRAYBOX

Making a very rough version of the space station, playtesting it, and iterating, using ProBuilder.

GRID

We opted for a grid-based level. This made iterating fast and easy since we could use snapping.

ITERATE

Implementing 3D assets, playtesting, and tweaking. Rinse and repeat.

TOP-DOWN

HUB

GREENHOUSE

CARGO HOLD

GUIDING THE PLAYER

ITERATIONS

Initially, we had the first console interaction take place in a separate, smaller room.

That didn't give it the prominence needed, so we opted for the corridor-like HUB layout instead.

NARRATIVE

NARRATIVE + ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING

WATCH A PLAYTHROUGH

"It's your first day onboard the

VASA Space Station. But the ship has broken down and the crew is missing."

SUSPICION IN STORYTELLING

INTRO

VASA CREW

ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING

DIALOGUE OPTIONS

TWO SIDES OF THE STORY

CONSOLE INTERACTIONS

MESSAGE TERMINALS

NARRATIVE PROPS

DIALOGUE TREE

CHAT TAB