We take a look into behind the scenes of Nightingale with this Developer update from Kirsten Yu, the Narrative Designer. This month we’re talking to Kristen about designing quests in Nightingale in this Developer Spotlight.
Developer spotlight
Another month, another developer eager to share their work on Nightingale. This time we’re talking to Kristen Yu, Narrative Designer on the game and giver of gifts across the realms. She’s the quest maestro working across many of the fun adventures our Realmwalkers will embark upon once they step through the portals. Developer spotlight
Q: What is your name and job title?
A: My name is Kristen Yu and I am a Narrative Designer.
Q: When did you join Inflexion Games?
A: I joined in May 2020! So I have been working here about 2 and a half years now.
Q: What was your background before Inflexion?
A: I am an academic – I have a masters degree in computer science and I am currently doing my PhD in game design! I had always done game development across various passion projects since my undergrad though.
Q: Tell us what you do on Nightingale?
A: I do a lot of things! The overall thing I do is help design the narrative for the game, but practically that means I select characters to use for the game, design quests and story for the characters, implement and iterate on the content in the engine. I also help get other teams on board with the vision, so I coordinate directly with art and gameplay to ensure that the quests and story come to life in a way that players can enjoy.
Q: What excites you most about working on Nightingale?
A: I love my co-workers! I have the best team, and I know that I would not have been able to make anything as good as what we have if I had to do it by myself.
Q: Can you give an example of something you’ve contributed to Nightingale that you’re most proud of?
A: All of the quests in the game! Though I didn’t do all the design of them by myself (I have a wonderful team that I work with), I had a hand in making and shaping all of them. They’re my babies. I hope that players can feel a sense of living world with our quests. You, as the player, aren’t the hero of the story, but instead you’re stranded in the realms just like everyone else. And you can choose to help and support your fellow Realmwalkers through quests to help each of our NPCs accomplish their own goals.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your role working on Nightingale?
A: Honestly, for me it’s been speaking up and feeling confident enough to have a voice in the project. I was a lot more shy when I first started, and I was much more nervous about sharing my opinions.
Q: What are you going to be working on in the coming weeks/months for the game?
A: I am getting together a fun cast of characters with compelling motivations and interesting quests. I can’t wait for everyone to meet them.
Q: Tell us an interesting experience you’ve had whilst playing the game.
A: There are chests that you can interact with in the game at different areas of the map, and we fill them full of items. Most people just come up to the chest and take things out of it, but I kind of like to leave things in them. One time I was playing with some of the other designers and someone found some stuff I left in a chest and they were so excited about it! It was not really designed that way, but I was just using the systems as the game allowed me and it really highlighted a cool collaborative opportunity in the game.
Q: What was the last game you played?
A: Literally the last game I played was Valorant, but I have been enjoying Griftlands and Cult of the Lamb as well.
Q: You’re lost in the mystical Fae Realms…what’s the one thing that’s likely to kill you first?
A: Honestly, I’m probably gonna get eaten by a bear.
Q: What is the one thing that you need to survive being lost in the Fae Realms?
A: I get cold really easily, so a big fluffy blanket would be nice.
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