The First Ending

June 14, 2019

There are many tasks that need to be done to make even a modest game (and Sleuthhounds: Cruise has definitely gone beyond modest). From design, to writing, to coding, to artwork, to sound effects, to voice recordings, the To Do list on a game can be a bit mind boggling when considered in its entirety. With such a lot to do, I find it best to start chipping away at it and to try not to think too hard about how much is left. One of the weird side effects of this is that sometimes finishing work on these different tasks can sort of sneak up on me. Such was the case this week with the first (but not the last) ending I reached.

Sleuthounds: Cruise is set on a cruise ship. Part of the reason for choosing such a setting was that it was a closed environment. There are only so many different places a person can go aboard a ship. Even so, one of rewarding things about playing an adventure game is being able to explore and find new locations. When I started designing the game I knew that I wanted there to be a sense of progression obtained by being able to access new locations. In Act 1 only a handful of locations are available. Act 2 opens up most of the public locations and a number of the guest cabins. Act 3 delves a bit into the crew only areas below decks and opens a few more public areas. Act 4 makes the entirety of the ship available by going even farther below decks and making the bridge and captain’s quarter accessible.

Early on in the game’s design I knew that I wanted to have this expanding progression through the ship. However, I didn’t really know it in any more depth than what’s described in the preceding paragraph. I didn’t know the specifics of which rooms would be available. Generally speaking, the particular rooms that I’ve added into the game have come in as I’ve reached the acts in which they are used. In particular I didn’t go into the details of what rooms made up the crew only areas until I reached Act 3 and again with Act 4.

Map of the cruise ship, shrunken to avoid spoilers.

Given this approach, ever since the start of work proper on the game a year and a half ago I’ve always known there has been more of the ship for me to discover. That’s all changed now because just this week I’ve completed the story plotting of Act 4, which carries the game from the end of Act 3 through to the very closing scenes. In so doing I’ve now laid out the last few rooms on the ship. The corners of the map have all been filled in.

It was a weird feeling to realize that the ship was complete. There are no more locations to be added and, in fact, one or two that I thought I was going to use but ended up not needing that will probably be dropped (unless I can think of some side quests/investigations that can take advantage of them). It wasn’t actually a planned development milestone to get all the rooms laid out but it still feels like a significant achievement nonetheless. It also, in a weird way, feels a little melancholy. It signifies the beginning of the end for the game; even though the end end is still months away. The edges are all in place. All that remains is to fill in the rest of the puzzle.

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