Port Umbra

My personal goal for this three month project was to create a world space where everything, from dialogue to quests to the environment – fit within a consistent theme. Instead of a single main quest, I developed three extensive quests whose characters, themes, and goals ran parallel to one another, with two supporting side quests that delved into the culture of corruption that infested the city.

To create the feel of a city with distinct disparity between the mass of impoverished Umbrans and the
rich but corrupt nobility who profit from the port’s smuggling, I designed the initial road leading to the
Castle as a division between the slums on the left and the richer merchants’ quarter on the right. I also developed nearly thirty NPCs using specific character archetypes that players would expect to
find in a place like Port Umbra – self-absorbed or scared noblemen in Castle Lark, smugglers and sailors
wandering the docks, and drunken rabble in the tavern, among others. I gave each of these one or two
topics for the player to choose from in conversation, with very specific responses that both matched the
character’s personality and the feel of the city.

The penultimate moment of Port Umbra was a riot within the castle walls themselves. I wrote scripts that sent various noblemen as well as the Count to the
banquet hall to sit and eat at a particular stage in one of the quests. When the player searched for the
Count to bring him information, prisoners would run into the room and attack the Count, his guests, his
guards, and the player.