Summitbound
The Summit is a choice-based, branching visual novel from Rat Magic Games. The player is a student mage from the venerable Scholomance School of Magic. They are sent to the Summit to sit their final exams before becoming licensed mages under the direction of the Mage Council. During their exam week, the player must decide to befriend or betray the other students at the Summit – making friends or enemies for life.
As one of the game writers and character designers, my role was:
- Writing dialogue
- Character development
- Working closely with game designer to craft story and character arcs
Notes on design:
Below is an excerpt of dialogue I wrote for the character of Aria. Aria is a mage deeply connected to the natural world. During her time at the Summit, she is thrown into constant doubt over her own magical abilities, which seem to grow out of her control. She always feels outmatched by her more ambitious rivals. Her character arc involves her coming into her own unique powers.
Below is an excerpt of dialogue I wrote for the character of Rex. He is angry and vengeful, ready to leave the Summit whether or not he passes his final exams. Rex harbours deep resentment towards institutionalized magic, which he holds responsible for separating him from his mother.
Dialogue branches are unlocked as the player progresses through the story. Much of the prototyping and planning for storylines was done using visual flowcharts. This allowed the writers to track the logical flow and the narrative dependencies of dialogues branches. Here are some examples of visual flowcharts used in the planning phase. One large flowchart was completed for each character.
