Treatment Sheet

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Synopsis:​​

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1000 years ago, an unknown apocalypse left the world abandoned and covered by mysterious plant-like mutations known by humans as The Growth. As this phenomenon seems to be becoming more sentient and spreading further, Hanna and her friends choose to venture from their hidden home to the nearby abandoned city to discover the meaning behind it all. Though as they explore the overgrown landscape, they are unprepared for the changes and realisations that await them in the city and in the stars.

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Narrative Draft:

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The story begins in The Grove, a self-sufficient human society built up of old pre-apocalypse cabins and new wooden structures. The area lays just outside an old city that is generally seen as off limits by the community in The Grove. Hanna, Yvonne and Esme are a group of friends who live in The Grove and are all currently preparing for their band's show that evening. Lately, the overgrown city's plants have been spreading towards the grove, with the vines specifically seeming to target the lanterns and lights that line the path from to the city, as well as ripping into the buildings people live in. While Hanna is out in a secluded zone painting a banner for the show, she spots a white cat with unnaturally piercing, starry eyes and flowers on its head, beckoning her with its glare. She decides to follow the cat, who leads her to the edge of the city and waits there as she hesitates to go any further; for now she turns back, wanting to get her friends before she goes on. Back at the show stage, Esme and Yvonne are prepping their instruments while Hanna begs them to follow the creature, telling them they should do go there since it could lead them to something cool to be scavenged. They tell her maybe after the show, if the cats still there. During her friends' performance, Hanna is able to ask around the crowd what they think of the city, with most saying they don't trust it after The Growth took over, allowing the player to learn more about the setting. After the show, Hanna leads them to where she last saw the cat, to see it still waiting there, staring. The other's are creeped out by this, Esme not wanting to break the rules and Yvonne just finding the whole thing ominous, but after some convincing they follow the cat into the city, hoping to maybe get some answers about why The Growth is coming for their home.

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The city is a ruined and sprawling landscape, covered in bright greenery and colourful flowers that all look slightly off. In the outskirts, most things have been scavenged or caved in, with the natural elements looking more like the regular forest where The Grove is than anything weird. After following the cat through the outskirts, the group begin debating turning back, it is very late at night at this point and they don't want to get lost, as one of them lights a lantern so they can try and see the way home,. the cat transforms and grows into a beast that lunges for their light and tries to prevent them from turning back. Not knowing how to fight it off, the group takes cover in a nearby building, deciding to wait it out until sunrise in the hopes it would leave, with Esme and Yvonne getting angry and Hanna for leading them to this. Morning comes and the cat is gone, so the group decide to leave, but find themselves unnaturally disorientated, like they have forgotten the way home and the landscape has changed to block any path but one deeper into the city, so that is where they are forced to go. The city landscape actually quite frightening looking in places, with old remains from people who lived before its destruction, and more strange animals the group now don't dare to follow. Trees and metal jut out from human remains, but one particular example of this catches Hanna's eye, as the lichen and moss that have grown over it have formed an almost skin layer. Esme desperately asks Hanna not to touch it, but curiosity gets the better of her and she reaches out.

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Upon her touch, the plant figures eyes open wide and a shock is sent up Hanna's arm, covering it in the same lichen and moss the girls skin is made of. This figure is Harlowe, who once was alive before the apocalypse but can't seem to remember anything of her life before, the only thing she feels is a strange hum inside, drawing her towards the centre of the city. As this happens, more plant beings circle in on the group and they must fight! This is the first fight where everyone uses their skills: Harlowe using plant magic in a mage class, Esme taking her guitar and using it as a heavy weapon as the tank, Yvonne using a makeshift wooden bow and Hanna using a mix of martial fighting and chaotic powers from her plant arm. After this fight, the party feels more assured of their ability to deal with the city, but they do wonder why Harlowe doesn't attack like the rest of them do. Both her and Hanna now feel the pulse to head deeper into the city, hoping it would give them a solution on how to get rid of The Growth spreading up her arm, find a way out of the city and maybe unlock some memories. As they continue on from the outskirts, more corrupted animals appear for them to battle. Harlowe finds that she subconsciously knows the way through the city but you are still given the option to explore other areas, where you might find new weapon upgrades and secret routes with side quests. As the group gets stronger, Hanna and Harlowe gain the ability to connect with the minds of The Growth's creatures, and learn they are expanding outwards to 'look for light'. This causes some memories for Harlowe, but she doesn't share it with the group for now.

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As they learn this and reach the inner city, Esme and Yvonne start arguing they should turn back - if the creatures are expanding outward that means they could take The Grove and that puts their friends and family at risk. This devolves into a fight, where Esme and Yvonne argue that Hanna cares more about adventure and her new cool power than anything actually serious, they can't withstand as much fighting and danger as them and they didn't even want to come here in the first place, and that they barely know Harlowe but she has taken over their friendship. This results in the group splitting up, with Esme and Yvonne trying to find a way home and Hanna and Harlowe trying to press on. With them two heading deeper, they discover the core of the city, the centre of The Growth held under an old laboratory. The Core appears as a bright, star-like heart that all the roots in the city connect to, it is blinding and The Growth on their bodies is drawn to it. Struggling to resist its allure, the two pull back and run away. Meanwhile, the others start to try and navigate a way home, cutting through the thick layers of vine and moss. Yvonne starts to feel bad because of the argument, thinking it ended up becoming more petty and about jealousy rather than arguing to help others, but Esme is struggling to calm as she gets more frustrated trying to find a way through. They eventually give up, deciding they will turn back and meet the others and both realising that the whole group really has the same goals in the end, to deal with The Growth in one way or another. On their walk back, bright and colourful shooting stars colour the sky, and stardust falls around them, stopping them in their tracks. A bright star lands in between them both, it feels warm and inviting, a similar sensation the others described about the core of the city, so they take it in their bag and decide it is a sign to return back. As they meet back together, they are able to at least partially reconcile the argument and share all the information they've learnt. 

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Feeling guilty as her and Hanna almost got trapped, Harlowe explains the truth: she was once an astronomy student, who was tutored by her professor - Ara - who took her on an excursion to see these colourful falling stars that only appear once every 1000 years, believing they could be a secret to infinite energy or life. They were unnatural and able to be held, so they jarred one and Ara took it back to the lab. They both longed for the power it could hold and the constant experimentation on it and attempts to harness its energy and power led to an unhealthy obsession with it. One night, Harlowe came back to the lab late to work on the project and saw Ara absorbing the star, causing an explosion of light which she ran as far as she could from in fear, reaching the outer city where she couldn't run away anymore - this was the apocalypse event. There is a bit more fighting over lies and secrets kept, but it is put aside for now to focus on the quest. Combining their information, the group suspect part of Ara is within the core, she has become The Growth and wants to spread it as far as she can, beckoning all those she has affected to her to tell send them out to 'look for the light' of the star. She aims to invoke another apocalypse, but now they have the star, and the potential stop her. They also suspect that the reason Harlowe is not a thrall of hers like the other creatures and dead people is because of them awakening her before The Growth had fully spread to the outer city. Geared with this information and not wanting a second apocalypse, the party use the power of their star as a shield to resist The Growth's intentions and make their way to destroy the core. As a boss before the final fight, the party is re-met with the cat from the beginning and must slay it to enter the core, but they are stronger now so it is a fair fight. In this final battle, the choices made and results of the fight determine the games ending, which would be one of the following:

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• Decay Ending - The group have a successful final fight, they are able to find a way to utilise the star into an arrow that Yvonne shoots to pierce the core, destroying Ara and retracting the vines of The Growth.​ While they all celebrate having stopped the world ending again, the decay of The Growth means that Harlowe will decay too, as it is the only thing keeping her alive. It is bitter-sweet as she is able to except that is the natural course of life and nothing should live forever, or you'll end up a monster like Ara did. The Growth going also means Hanna's arm decays away too. The others return home, make up in their friendship and are thanked by the people at home as they destroyed the core just as The Growth's forces started attacking there. 

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• Starlight Ending - The fight is a struggle, and Esme is forced to absorb the group's star, in an attempt to give herself enough power to contain the core. She chooses to be the one to do it as she feels guilty for deterring the group from the goal and thinks this is the way she can make it right. She is successful, but cannot return to her form before and is eternally stuck holding Ara in place. The Growth does not go away, but it stops spreading and her enthralled animals and human servants are given free will. Harlowe and Hanna stay as they are (if neither are selected to be the star absorber) and the group are able to return home, one less but safe.

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• Ensnared Ending - The battle is lost, and Ara's forces claim The Grove and beyond, the party are ensnared by The Growth and join her never ending hunger for power and life as plant thralls. 

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For my narrative, I was inspired by lots of different points in my research such as the mentions of space and wants to expand and get more powerful in my future planning research, natural scenery and growth from my environments research and striking a balance between these two things, the visuals and mutations in Annihilation, the controlling and choking plants visuals and metaphors from The Crane Wives and the growth and decay visuals in Princess Mononoke. These all helped on the decay and renewal side of things, by allowing me to create a mixture of natural and tech elements as well as having these visuals be a catalyst for the story. The Growth is an environment, the whole city, a curse and multiple people and I think all these elements helped me come up with something that is a threat but also a source of life. In regards to my characters and apocalypse tropes, I was inspired by my research into Adventure Time and its historical apocalypse, Horizon and the threat of a repeating apocalypse, the primary location being a city in both games I looked at and a focus on female characters and relationships in Gwend of the World. While I plan on fleshing out character personalities more in my next section, I wanted my story to have moments of love and fighting with the characters and for all of the girls to have varying personalities, and I think this research has helped me start this off. I also wanted both of the more successful endings to have their friendship between each other solidified, but it has changed and grown, especially due to how they lose someone in the group either way. 

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Characters:

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• Hanna - The protagonist and player character, Hanna is a curious and adventurous character who finds herself being directly affected by The Growth. She begins the story as disorganised and spontaneous, encouraging her friends to follow her to the city, but once she is affected by The Growth and falls out with her friends she becomes more reflective and group-minded. She does all the odd jobs in the groups band - which is called Allura - like making their signs, organising shows and if the others need it, playing whatever instrument they ask her to. She also likes to keep a journal where she writes down and draws anything she can think of. In combat, she is more of a half-caster who utilises both magic powers from her Growth arm and uses boxing moves like punches and kicks. She fits into the hero character archetype as she is going on a journey of self-discovery and to help save her home and eventually restore it to something new. 

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• Yvonne - One of the friends from home, Yvonne plays drums in Allura, loves playing into the conspiracy theories in the community and spends a lot of her time in nature, hunting for The Grove. She is a quite dramatic and emotive person when with others, but has her quiet and calm moments too. In battle, she uses a bow made of Growth branches and arrows with different abilities, as well as summoning some of the creatures in the city to fight by her side, like a ranger. You also play from her perspective during the party split. She fits into the ally archetype as she provides moral support and friendship, and even during the argument she is the one who feels more sympathetic. 

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• Esme - Esme is another friend from home who sings and plays guitar in the band, then uses her guitar reinforced with vines or other dangerous materials you can find in the city in battle, acting as a tank. She is more cautious than the others, being more scared to break the rules, but simultaneously is the most likely to confront something she doesn't agree with, just with a lot of pep talk needed. She spends her time crafting and writing as well as collecting any cool older things she can find, which she got into after finding instruments and doing them up for the group. She is also apart of the ally archetype, but due to her kicking off the arguments in the group, could also be seen as the shapeshifter role as she causes tension.

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• Harlowe - Harlowe is the fourth member of the main party, who takes up a mage role in battle with her plant and starry powers. In her life before, she was an astronomy student, who encouraged Ara's pursuit of knowledge and expansion, but in her rebirth and seeing the destruction that has befallen the land and her own body, has doubts about what they did. She acts as a guide for the others through the city, fitting into both the mentor and ally archetypes as she stays by their side. She wants to deal with the mistakes she made in the past but feels scared that her truth will push away the friends she has made, opting to lie about what she knows about herself for the most part of the journey. Overall her personality is quite bright, as she learns about her new body and life, but she is also shocked and unsure about lots of what is going on. 

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• The Growth / Ara - The Growth and Ara are essentially the same, they are both the environment, a curse and a person who is reaching for power all in one. In her life before, Ara believed humanity could be pushed further, and that we were stunted by being stuck on Earth, which is why she looked to the stars for the power to advance. In the game, you would be able to find some of her old notes while exploring the lab and there would be many on her superstitions about the coloured stars and notes about her desire for human advancement. From these notes, she seems to be someone who wants desperately for validation and influence in a modern world where she couldn't get it, so turns to drastic measures of science to help her feel accepted. As The Growth, she becomes only her minds deepest desires, the want to expand and have power, but it is presented in this beautiful natural way as her real emotional want was for acceptance and growth in a world that stifled her - she wanted to grow and be seen as the unnatural plants are now. She fits into the villain archetype but also the princess, as the group needs to free her to rescue their world. ​

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Settings and Enemies:

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• The Grove - This is the place where the adventure starts, a small community nestled in and grown as apart of a forest, built around new and old architecture. The grove thrives off of community and everyone takes up their role to keep things running, as well as letting everyone have creative fun. It is supposed to contrast the society before that led Ara to her destruction, which was more reflective of our world now, something new and refreshing came from her villainy but she cannot see it in her mindset of power. In the game, you will get to explore the performance stage, Hanna's art studio and the pathway to the city. The place would be full of nature and colours, as well as bright gold lights that get darker and more snuffed out as The Growth comes in. This area would fit the garden archetype as it is an area of innocence and life, in harmony with nature, that starts to get more ruined as the group leaves.

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• The City - The City is the main setting for the game, it contains both the remnants of the old world and the expansion of The Growth, making it wild, dangerous and eerie in certain lights. There are rumours from the people in the grove that the place is haunted, cursed or too dangerous to go, due to the amount of death and The Growth there. The landscape is littered with overgrown remains, flowering vines and abandoned items, as well as being full of the creatures enthralled by The Growth, both human and animal. It also gets more dangerous and thickly covered with plants the closer to the core you get. It would fit into the forest archetype as it is a place full of wild and dangerous things as well as being full of nature and history.

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• The Core - This is the centre of the city, where the starry heart of Ara lies as well as the truth of her motives. This would fit into the mountain archetype as it is the place the party have been fighting to reach, where their answers and salvation lie and allows for self-discovery and the return of memories. This area takes up both the centre of the growth and the lab above, so will look very cracked and covered by the plants and pose as an environmental challenge to travel through.  

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This is my current narrative design for my game, where I opted for a linear story with a choice ending, depending on the outcome of your final battle and the stance you choose in it. I know part of my previous FMP feedback was to keep an open mind and that the journey matters more than the outcome, so I plan to keep revising this narrative as I go into my game design, audience analysis and design work if I have any new ideas, but I will use this as a baseline that I am happy with for now. I will write any revisions I make as I come up with them in real time on my website, which I will signal with the below marker, then before I move onto my final piece, I will make a final draft of my story. ​