Over the past two days I finished the newly released Resident Evil 9: Requiem. The section in the sanatorium basement where you repair the fuses was particularly interesting to me. The map design there is not exactly stunning, but it is quite clever. I have been thinking about whether we could adapt a similar approach into the game we are currently developing.

Since many important items are given to the player directly by NPCs, for example the compass, I do not feel like I have much room to intervene in that aspect. So I started thinking that perhaps I could instead design small puzzle elements around the items that the player gives to NPCs in exchange for important story-related items, or items that significantly increase NPC reputation.

Right now, I am thinking about Sierra’s bracelet. First, I need to confirm in which scene we want the bracelet to be obtained, and whether we allow the player to return to previous scenes.

I should confirm with Alex:

• In which scene does Sierra’s bracelet appear? I want the narrative logic to be as solid as possible.
• Do you think NPCs might have passed through certain locations before arriving at Basecamp, other than Basecamp itself? This will determine where Sierra’s bracelet should appear. Alternatively, we could also say that some wild animal dropped the bracelet there.

I may need to confirm with Yansong:

• If the bracelet is not in the initial scene, what will the later maps look like?

My current idea is that the bracelet could be located somewhere that the player cannot initially access. For example, if the bracelet falls onto a small island in the middle of a lake, the player would need to build a simple wooden bridge before reaching it. The player might need to search for wooden planks or find a hatchet to construct the bridge. The hatchet, in turn, might require the player to investigate an abandoned campsite.

If we go with the ‘obtain the hatchet’ route, we could also lock the hatchet inside a simple locked box. The player would need to acquire a basic lockpicking tool to open it. The lockpicks could be limited in number, while there are more locked boxes than lockpicks available. In that case, the player would need to decide which box to use the lockpick on.

I just discussed it with Alex, and the other party proposed that “we have ghost” in the cabin, which allows ghost to hold Sierra’s bracelet, and then in exchange, the player needs to submit something to ghost

To be honest, I feel that this kind of mechanism has been cut a lot… It was getting harder and harder for me to find what I could do

Based on the above, we will tentatively let the ghost keep Sierra’s bracelet. So my goal now is to figure out what the ghost wants and how the player can get it.

Regarding the Timer:

A hard time limit might be too restrictive for a narrative-driven game. Since the GDD also mentions that exploration is an important element, we probably should not make this too strict. The passage of time could instead be driven by events rather than by a rigid countdown

Postscript：

I just discussed this with Alex, and they suggested that “we have a ghost” in the cabin. The ghost could be holding Sierra’s bracelet, and in exchange, the player would need to give something to the ghost.

To be honest, I feel that this cuts down quite a lot of the mechanics, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to identify what I can actually do.

Based on the situation above, we have temporarily decided that the ghost will keep Sierra’s bracelet. My current goal is therefore to figure out what the ghost wants, and how the player can obtain that item.