GAME WRITING

What is ROSETIA?

ROSETIA (a portmanteau of ROSETTA and SETI) is a conversation-based sci-fi RPG in which the player must convince the denizens of an alien world to establish diplomatic relations with humanity.

It came about, quite simply, because I love Star Trek: a television series about talking to aliens and the moral quandaries of interfering in their worlds.

To me, this premise seemed ripe for gamification. I wanted to make a Star Trek video game driven by branching dialogues and impactful choices—like Mass Effect or Fallout: New Vegas, but on a much smaller scale (obviously), and without all the war. I love phasers and photon torpedoes as much as the next person, but it's not what Star Trek is really about; the series has much more in common with the first-contact stories of Ursula K. Le Guin: quiet, contemplative, anthropological in focus.

That is ROSETIA. It's taken me my entire life (and two years of a global pandemic) just to set the groundwork for it, but I'm still so proud of what I've accomplished so far. I hope you like it, too.

Click here to visit ROSETIA's STEAM Page

Development Documents

2022-03-17

Design Document

Communicates my vision for the game in more detail than the STEAM page allows. Covers the basic pitch, design pillars, character archetypes, progression, choice philosophy and gameplay systems (reputation, tracking hunger/sleep/money, etc.). Slightly outdated, as I originally thought the game would span multiple worlds; then the realities of solo-development set in. I have since pared things down, and will continue to viciously cut features as I hone in on the core of the game.

2022-03-17

Trenton's Ultimate RPG Writing Guide

To direct my writing of player choices and NPC dialogues, sourced from various online narrative design blogs and GDC talks (e.g. Josh Sawyer’s "Choice Architecture, Player Expression, and Narrative Design in Fallout New Vegas").

2022-03-17

Worldbuilding Bible

Details every aspect of ROSETIA’s world: the Tortan solar system, the ecology of their planet, the biology of their species, and their three dominant cultural areas: the SUNSIDE, the TWILIGHT STRIP, and the STARSIDE (I am not a fan of Tolkien-esque fantasy names that nobody can remember). For scope reasons, only the STRIP and one small outpost of the STARSIDE culture will be visually represented in the final game.

Writing Excerpts

I have written a little bit of everything for this game: character profiles, quest outlines, dialogue trees, found lore items, books of mythology—all in varying states of completeness. Here’s what I’ve polished for show:

2022-04-18

Ambient NPC Dialogue Barks

Pop-up speech bubbles randomly triggered when player walks by select non-named NPCs.

2022-04-18

SETIA Field Agent Guidebook - Found Lore

Designed to inform the player’s first contact approach; provide hints that will aid them in the immediately proceeding dialogues; and do some world-building about the human backstory / history of your agency. Word-count is appropriate for my game, but in a AAA title it would obviously need to be reduced.

2022-04-18

"The Hanging Tree" - Quest Design and Dialogue

A young political activist cuts down a single old-growth tree (a heinous crime in Tortan society), hoping it will start a revolution led by the player. They are instead jailed, and the PC has to decide whether or not to intervene. In a shocking twist (!), the activist is sentenced to replace the tree by violently growing a new one upon their back via a ritual that will surely tear apart their body. Does the player condone this execution (which the jailor insists is an ecstatic experience), or do they use their ship’s tractor beam to liberate the activist, risking their reputation with the elders whose support they’ll need to succeed in their mission?

Visual Development

HUMANS: SETIA iconography, uniforms, technology, and spacecraft (SETIA bernal sphere, player’s personal saucer, main ARECIBO starship—interiors and exteriors)
TORTANS: Alien race design, clothing, objects, architecture, written languages
SETTING:Triune planet design, map, biomes, vegetation, creatures
USER INTERFACE: menus, inventory items, heads-up-display