The Sandbox Christmas Event - December 2022

I developed Elventown as part of the special December seasonal event. Most of my maps are 1x1 (96x96x128) using the full verticality available, with Elventown having the particularity of the player spawning at the very top of it. This was an important point to consider from the beginning of planning since the engine didn’t support checkpoints and I didn’t want players climbing all the way back to the top just to complete quests over and over again. To avoid this, I used a branch system where players can easily jump from branch to branch, as well as a ‘hacky’ respawn area in the bottom that automatically teleports players to the top.

Elventown’s narrative is based around the giant Sacred Tree that surrounds the map and connects its different areas through its roots. The rich, upper Elven area with two-floor houses contrasts with the more modest bottom area, home to the Gingerbread men and their houses. Both groups have a conflict of interest with the use of the Sacred Tree, which the Elves claim to themselves despite sharing the land with the Gingerbread men, who are only allowed to do manual tasks during Christmas. Tensions regarding this conflict are rising when the player arrives to the land.

Quests

The first part of the experience mimics the standard dialogues + collection dialogues we use for multiplayer maps as the engine had some constraints regarding multiplayer gameplay. The second part turns more interesting as the player must choose a faction and participate in a secret coup to overthrow the other group, helping them gather resources and deliver messages. There are two resolutions to the conflict, although both of them are peaceful. I tried to work around some constraints to make both quests completable by the same message, meaning no matter what side the player chooses, they will get the same amount of points for the Season Leaderboard. This was a big breakthrough in what we were doing thus far in terms of linear narrative.

Architecture & Themes

Architecturally I was inspired by Gaudi’s perception of nature as intertwined with the buildings he created. I was also heavily studying the concept of the Gordian Knot, a complex type of knot that can only be broken when cut through, as a metaphor for complex conflict resolution. I took inspiration from artist Henrique Oliveira’s installation in the Palais de Tokyo in Paris as I tried to incorporate roots into the landscape.