Story-TellingSo there's a particular tale that is meant to tie the Blight experience together. The game starts off in a pristine environmental setting. Each locale you visit will be increasingly covered with mechanical parts, pollution, and general corruption. Something along the lines of how Donkey Kong Country did it, but I'm shooting for more poignancy and some other small sub-themes. There will be a brief intro cinematic and a brief cinematic at the end of the game. Otherwise, I want things to be unobtrusive, but still delivering on the theme. This will be done partly through the environments as you see them progress, and then the level titles will reflect an overarching, poetic story. Each level title is a short line in an overall poem, but each line also corresponds with the theme of the level it represents as well. A tough writing task, to be sure, but I think it'll make a big difference.
The level titles for the first world are as follows:
At the Outset
The Future was Steeped
With Sprawling Vistas
And Heights Unknown
But Below the Surface
Lurked a Danger
Sealed Deep Within
And no, they're not going to rhyme.
The text gets more corrupted as the game progresses to match the environments.
Here's a first look at the level selection for Blight. It's still early and more will be added to it, but it shows a great way to get into levels.
As you can see, while level 1 is selected, you can see a blurry forest in the background. When that level is selected, it seamlessly fades into the corresponding level. Also, while switching between which level is selected, the background crossfades between each. Lastly, the music continues from the selection on into the level and continues when you head back to level selection until you begin a level with a different theme. So no real gaps in the music, but a cohesive experience.
And yes, this is the first world--there are more levels than just seven.
I'll save the rest of the titles for when you play the game!
On a side note, if you've made it through the wall of text, I'm planning on a mid-july to early august alpha release on Desura, so keep it in mind!