One of the main challenges of this project, when it came to creating something tangible, was figuring out how to represent it.
The game spans the entire lifespan of a character, from birth to death, flashing through key moments and allowing players to make choices that affect not only their own lives but also the lives of those around them. This requires an editor that can visualize everyone’s choices simultaneously and track them across time.
Once we had a clear enough concept, I created an initial sketch of how the game editor might look. The primary goal was to provide a clear view of what has been simulated while enabling me to edit and resimulate as needed. To achieve this, the editor needed to:
- Allow the selection of any event for any agent at any point in time.
- Display detailed information about the event, the agent, and the reasoning behind their choice.
- Enable changes to a single event and show the resulting repercussions.
After many iterations, we arrived at the first version of the editor, as shown below.
The top navigation menu includes controls to move forward and backward through time (the cycles).
Below that, the interface is divided into two distinct areas. The left section displays a slice of the timeline (e.g., cycle 5 of 11), while the right section shows all the details of the selected event, including where the agent lives, works, their hobbies, relationships, and more.
The next step is to focus on the player’s perspective of these events. Players will experience the life of a single agent, and I need to clearly communicate what is happening around them to ensure they understand the consequences of their choices.
I like to see that!