Firewatch
A narrative adventure game from Campo Santo, set in a Wyoming fire lookout.
Where Firewatch comes up2 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit, with the designer of Islanders and Thronefall testHow to find amazing game ideas
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Power of Invisible ChoicesFirewatch's tiny team dropped 3D hiker characters it couldn't afford to model, texture or animate, and moved the story to a walkie-talkie, which kept the core idea intact. It also tracked actions like tossing the teenagers' boombox into the water, paired with walkie-talkie dialogue. Lesson: cut scope you can't afford without losing the idea, and build robust systems before promising reactions. No figures are given.
- Other characters, such as hikers
- 3D modelling, texturing, animating
- Beyond a small team
- Story only over walkie-talkie
- No 3D hikers
- Same idea, feasible size
Idea stayed intact at a feasible size
From Campo Santo on Firewatch's development
What was said about Firewatch
1Firewatch's walkie-talkie and the choices it tracks
Campo Santo cut 3D hikers and moved the story to a walkie-talkie. Firewatch originally planned other characters such as hikers. Modelling, texturing and animating 3D characters was beyond a small team like Campo Santo, so the story was moved entirely to a walkie-talkie conversation.
The idea stayed intact at a feasible size. The lesson is to check an idea against real resources and trim features that exceed them. Quote: "the story was pushed to happen exclusively over the walkie-talkie."
Firewatch pairs tracked actions with a walkie-talkie dialogue system. The game tracks actions like picking up objects and also offers dialogue over the walkie-talkie. Players get two different ways to express themselves.
Mixing both lets players make nuanced decisions that a single input cannot carry. Quote: "That gives you two very different ways to express yourself."
Reacting to many player actions in Firewatch needed a robust system. In the skinny-dipping teenagers scene, the game reacts to many actions, including tossing the teenagers' boombox into the water. Covering them required the programmers to build a complex, robust system.
Honoring invisible choices is hard because players can do almost anything. Quote: "the programmers had to create a very complex and robust system to account for all of these different actions."
How to find amazing game ideas
It dropped hikers on the trail because a tiny team couldn't model, texture and animate 3D characters. The story moved to a walkie-talkie, keeping the idea intact at a feasible size.
Campo Santo cut 3D hikers and moved the story to a walkie-talkie. Firewatch originally planned other characters such as hikers. Modelling, texturing and animating 3D characters was beyond a small team like Campo Santo, so the story was moved entirely to a walkie-talkie conversation.
The idea stayed intact at a feasible size. The lesson is to check an idea against real resources and trim features that exceed them. Quote: "the story was pushed to happen exclusively over the walkie-talkie."
The Power of Invisible Choices
It reacts to actions like tossing the teenagers' boombox into the water, which needed a complex, robust system. It also pairs tracked actions with a walkie-talkie dialogue system.
Firewatch pairs tracked actions with a walkie-talkie dialogue system. The game tracks actions like picking up objects and also offers dialogue over the walkie-talkie. Players get two different ways to express themselves.
Mixing both lets players make nuanced decisions that a single input cannot carry. Quote: "That gives you two very different ways to express yourself."
Reacting to many player actions in Firewatch needed a robust system. In the skinny-dipping teenagers scene, the game reacts to many actions, including tossing the teenagers' boombox into the water. Covering them required the programmers to build a complex, robust system.
Honoring invisible choices is hard because players can do almost anything. Quote: "the programmers had to create a very complex and robust system to account for all of these different actions."
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