Meanderley

Meanderley
Last night, I dreamt I went to Meanderley again…

Abstract

Build a floor plan by adding rooms and navigate the resulting structure.
Heavily inspired by Tonda Ros’ game Blue Prince (BP).

TOC

Gameplay
Map
Rooms
Exploration
Appendix: Rooms
Appendix: Ideas
Appendix: Tests/Experiments
- FPV Panorama example :: Square bedroom
- FPV Flat study :: Outer Path with mansion entrance (floors, back walls).
Appendix: Blue Prince

Gameplay

Start
When the game begins, the map contains only a starting room called En Trance Hall (with the player inside, depicted as arrow), and a target room called Antichamber, which has to be reached. There’s also 2 marks for hidden jigsaw pieces.
General flow
In a 1st person view the player may explore local spaces, and enter neighbouring rooms through open doors. If adjacent cells are empty, all doors in that direction will be shown as closed.
By clicking on such a closed door, a dialogue pops up, and the player can "draft" (choose 1 out of 3) a room to be placed in that direction, automatically opening that door.
Game over condition
Once the number of available steps (stamina, effectively energy/HP) is completely exhausted, and the current room doesn’t offer a way to replenish this value, the game ends prematurely, because usually at this point no further progress is possible.
Win condition
The game is practically won as soon as the jigsaw puzzle in the target room is finished, by which the main exit opens, allowing the player to leave the estate - when this last step is done, the game finally ends.

Map

Based on a wrap-around 32×32 cell grid, each cell can hold a square room.

The

current room (player position) is always shown in the center.
In standard view (zoom ×4), an area of ~7×7 cells can be seen.
When zoomed out (zoom ×2), ~15×15 cells can be seen, which is about ¼ of the map.
Without magnification (zoom ×1), the entire map is visible.
The

target room sits at the antipode (opposite side) of the starting room.
Two

marks for jigsaw piece locations are horizontally and vertically midway between starting room and target room.

Although there’s 1024 (32×32) cells in the map, they don’t all have to be accessed. In fact, the player may choose any of the 4 diagonal directions (here: south-east) and focus on that quadrant to plant rooms, expanding towards

target room and the 2

jigsaw piece marks.

In theory, the quickest way to reach the 3 relevant cells would be to set long (rectangular) rooms whenever possible - effectively adding 24 rooms and consuming 33 steps (including backtracking) only.
However, less than ½ of the room types have a door configuration allowing straight lines, and only a small fraction of types are long rooms. Therefor statistically, rather 70+ rooms are likely to be added, consuming 100+ steps (including backtracking).

Rooms

Those are reminiscent of the square rooms in Blue Prince, though ours might also include a few rectangular types (area = 2 × square).

Rooms :: Colours

Our colour coding for categories is probably similar to BP, except we might prefer lighter hues than BP’s dark tones.
The Gray category contains only the 2 initially given rooms:

En Trance Hall and

Antechamber, both of which are un-draftable.

	BP	Ours
Gray Special		#888888
Blue Room	#005a8b	#0088ff
Purple Bedroom	#523752	#ff00dd
Orange Hallway	#894f20	#ff8800
Green Green Room	#296331	#00bb66
Gold/yellow Shop	#9f9353	#bbcc00
Red Red Room	#8b0100	#ff0000
Black Blackprint	#000000	#333333

Rooms :: Symbols

Standard room symbols are pre-rendered images of size 96×96 px, which may be scaled down to 48×48 px or 24×24 px if necessary, e.g. for thumbnails or zoomed out map view.

By default, walls are ~6 px thick, and doors are ~16 px wide.

For simplicity, rectangular rooms are door-wise just elongated versions of square rooms:

A symbol’s label comprises title (room name) and optional info (short description of room effects).

Rooms :: Effects

Most of the rooms have explicit properties/rules - either one-time, temporary, or permanent - usually executed automatically upon entering:

donate (or at least guarantee to contain) item(s), e.g. a key or a jigsaw piece
a mechanism, e.g. spreading items throughout the mansion
inventory modifier, e.g. doubling gem amount
draft pool modifier, e.g. adding new room types
a special ability, e.g. it can rotate, or modify other rooms

Exploration

The contents of a room can be investigated (in 1st person view) by point&click interactions.

Exploration :: Hints

Room visuals should embed clues supporting the accomplishment of a task/puzzle, some easily to spot, but most often only discernible/readable after zooming in on a specific part of the scene. These could be wall signs, photos, posters/charts, plates, objects (e.g. figurines), or recurring themes.

Exploration :: Items

Collectables to restock inventory slots are either lying/hanging around in plain sight, or inside containers (e.g. chest or drawer), or covered by movable objects.

The usual consumables:

Keys
For unlocking certain doors or chests.
Gems
Act as admission charge for certain rooms.
Coins
Currency for buying things in shops.
Grabbed food is eaten immediately, thereby adding units to the inventory’s Step slot.

A dedicated inventory panel can hold unique items:

Jigsaw Key
For unlocking the jigsaw puzzle contraption.
Souvenir
... (for a deal with an NPC?) ...
Artefact (trinket)
Grants disclosure of Meanderley’s secret when exiting the mansion.

All text related items (e.g. found notes, papers, books) are stored in a virtual folder, accessible via button Text (#).

Jigsaw pieces (for the board in the Antichamber) are stored in a virtual bag, accessible via button #/64.

Found Room plans are automatically added to the draft pool.

Exploration :: Doors

As expected, doors/passages act as mutual transit points between rooms.

By clicking on an open doorway, the player will walk through - provided the

step account isn’t empty, of course.

A closed door usually means that the map cell behind is still empty, in which case an adjacent room has to be drafted before opening the passage.
Under rare circumstances, induced by a rule/effect, the door of an already open passage may get closed and locked.

A bricked up or similarly sealed doorway signifies there’s a room behind which doesn’t have a door in that wall.

Exploration ::

Drafting / Draft pool

Drafting is just a fancy word for choosing a new room (usually 1-out-of-3 via pop-up dialogue) to be placed in the map.

Once a choice is made, the room gets inserted, and the player may now enter it through the opened connecting doorway.

Draft pool

Initially, the list of available rooms contains only a basic assortment.
More types may appear by drafting in…

… Drawing Room
… The Pool (specifically: Locker Room, Sauna and Pump Room)
… Library (adds less common rooms)
… Drafting Studio (offers a brand-new room from a special list)
… Classroom (adds brand-new room for each (draft) room in the mansion)

Exploration :: Steps

This movement currency is needed to navigate through the mansion, where traversing from one room into another costs 1 step.

The initial value of 50 steps decreases either by walking into rooms, or by detrimental room rules. It increases either by consuming food, or by beneficial room rules.

Exploration :: Progress

A progress bar shows the current degree (in percent) of accomplishment.
These percentage points are the sum of just a handful of numbers:

	Points (max)
Expansion: how far the player could deviate from the starting room (manhattan distance)	32
Number of jigsaw pieces in inventory	64
Jigsaw Key in inventory	1
Jigsaw puzzle solved	1
Exit mansion	1
Secret of Meanderley disclosed*	1

%	100

*Note that the alternative/extended end is shown only if player possesses the Artefact.

Exploration :: Rank

Depending on how much the player could approach the target room so far (manhattan distance), his explorer rank/status rises, which has an influence on NPC interactions, shop offerings, or draft pool extensions.

	Rank	Info
1	Aspirant
2	Seeker
3	Prentice
4	Journeyman
5	Adventurer
6	Veteran
7	Master
8	Legend	upon entering the Antichamber

Exploration :: XP

While our progress bar merely counts actions needed for winning, XP not only takes difficulty nuances into account but also rewards optional achievements.

Exploration :: Locks & Keys

There’s a simple core concept in all adventures/ETRs: unlock a path by applying a suitable key.

The terms lock and key don’t have to be taken literally - most of the time, the lock stands for any kind of problem (task or puzzle), and the key is a way to solve it. This is factually true for all puzzle games, perhaps even games in general.

Minimal structure (no backtracking):

Start --Key 1--Lock 1-- End

Interwoven (contains backtracking):

Start --+--Lock 1--Key 2
        |
        +--Key 1--Lock 2-- End

Exploration :: Tasks

Credo: Tasks must have fixed and obvious solutions (e.g. building a path to a cell marked as 'jigsaw piece').

Restore electrical power supply for intranet access.
- Either find a fuse somewhere, or buy it in shop.
- Visit hallway X, open fuse box, apply/change fuse

Exploration ::

Puzzles

Credo: Puzzles cannot have fixed solutions (e.g. the code for opening a safe is never found in the same place).

Jigsaw (in Antichamber), 4 XP

All piece shapes are based on 4 decominoes…

… which happen to spell the leading 4 consonants in "SELF tiling", and although they’re indeed able to tile themselves,…

… this fun fact plays no role in solving the actual puzzle; it’s just a neat coincidence.

Inside the jigsaw, every tile will appear in exactly its 8 variations (4 × rotated, all mirrored) twice, hence making the total number of 64 (4 decominoes × 8 × 2) pieces.

The rather simple motif - a winded cable/pipe - refers to the puzzle board’s symbolic function as a switch to open the exit, thus depicting a connection between its inbound and outbound lines.

In a (very) simplified version the board looks like so,…

… and assuming these were our pieces,…

… then this would be a valid solution:

Appendix: Room list

##	Name	Doors	Info
Special
1	En Trance Hall	4	...
2	Antichamber	4	...
3	Outer Path	4	...
Blueprints
Bedrooms
Hallways
Green Rooms
Shops
Red Rooms
Studio Additions
Found Plans
Outer Rooms

Appendix: Ideas

Collection of ideas about features, variations and extensions.

Appendix: Ideas :: Rooms

Considering visual content, category, door configuration, benefit/detriment, effects, rules, mechanisms, and special abilities.

Backroom: Liminal space, apparently empty, 3 doors in total. Yellow/brown wallpaper and carpet, flat unlocked doors are wallpapered as well. One of the 2 doors will offer only another Backroom to be drafted.

Appendix: Ideas :: Items

Consumables, tools/trinkets, collections, and metaphorical keys.

Appendix: Ideas :: NPCs

(foe) :: Hostile creature
- Source:
  - Statue that springs to life under certain circumstances.
  - Room "Cage": Can’t be entered (e.g. to get a precious item) as long as its own (lattice) door is closed. N steps after drafting, the detained creature will break the door open.
- Behaviour: Tries to approach player, attacks upon contact, steals energy (steps), ...
- Function: Challenging the player’s abilities to dodge/defense/fight, or to lure the creature into a room containing a deadly trap.

Appendix: Ideas :: Story

Title
Hinting at the estate Manderley in Daphne du Maurier’s book Rebecca (1938). The added "e" in our Meanderley refers to the meander of paths arising from the house’s floor plan during gameplay.
Ending cutscenes :: Events
- Player solves jigsaw: Increase of progress (to 98%) and XP. Zoom out from view(board) to view(room). Turn to exit wall. Exit door slides open, revealing empty dark shaded opening (which is different from the usual glimpse into the room behind).
- Player clicks exit opening: Increase of progress (to 99%) and XP. Zoom into opening (dark shade fades to white, filling the entire view). Pause of ~2 sec.
If player possesses the Artefact, the following bonus cutscene is inserted:
- Flashback: White view fades to a scenery from the past. Animations show what happened back then, culminating in an enlightening moment disclosing the secret of Meanderley. Increase of progress (to 100%) and XP.
- View fades to dark gray. Credits start scrolling up from the bottom.

Appendix: Blue Prince

Statistical data about BP’s room library (categories, infos, doors).

Appendix: Blue Prince :: Room categories

Category	Count	Info
Room (blue)	46	Blueprints: Blue-border rooms are the most common, and indicate neutral or beneficial rooms. They make up the first 46 rooms of the directory, and can contain Items, Keys and/or Gems.
Bedroom (purple)	8	Bedrooms: Purple-border rooms are the personal rooms of the Sinclair Family and Staff, and tend to grant extra Steps.
Hallway (orange)	8	Hallways: Orange-border rooms often have doors to connect adjoining rooms and have a small influence on what rooms you draw from them.
Green Room (green)	8	Green Rooms: Green-border rooms are outdoor or garden rooms, and usually have Dig Spots. They reward Gems fairly often and can grow flower-Gems during certain situations.
Shop (gold)	8	Shops: Yellow-border rooms allow the explorer to exchange Gold or Items for other Items and/or services.
Red Room (red)	8	Red Rooms: Red-border rooms are usually detrimental, either being a Dead End or having a negative effect on the explorer.
Secret Rooms
Studio Addition	8	Includes 3 Blackprints: Black-border rooms are rare and valuable, and often need to be found or unlocked first.
Found Floorplan	9
Outer Room	8

	111

Appendix: Blue Prince :: Room list

111	Name	Doors	Info
Blueprints
1	The Foundation	3	Does not reset each day.

Appendix: Blue Prince :: Door stats

Door type	1		2		2		3		4
Blueprints
Count	13		7		13		9		4
Ratio	~4	:	2	:	~4	:	~2.5	:	~1
All
Count	37		14		28		21		11
Ratio	~5	:	2	:	4	:	3	:	~1.5