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Polity is a casual and social cross-platform MMORPG set in a dynamic, player-driven world, created by JIB Games. Players have the opportunity to govern colonies, join other colonies, explore the world, uncover the lore or engage in diverse professions such as farming, forestry, and fishing. With a wide variety of features such as quests, achievements, puzzles, mini-games, and crafting, along with extensive customization options, Polity encourages players to forge their own path and create their own unique journey within its expansive virtual realm.
Type: MMORPG
Date: January 2024 - Current
Role: Game Designer & Narrative Designer
Tools: Confluence, Trello, Google Docs, Miro, draw.io
Link: Official Website
Polity
Features Trailer
Player Level Progression - 1
In Polity, player avatars have a primary level called 'Polity level' which determines their general progression. As they level up, players unlock new locations, quests, cosmetics, and various quality of life improvements. It was my responsibility to design the progression for player levels.
I created this table in collaboration with Project Manager that outlines the experience required for each level, calculated using Excel formulas and visualized with graphs to ensure a smooth, balanced leveling curve that enhances gameplay flow. Difficulty increases logarithmically to keep players engaged without overwhelming them. Every 10 levels serve as a milestone, unlocking a new map. Thus the scaling dials back at powers of 10 to reinforce a sense of achievement.
I created this table in collaboration with Project Manager that outlines the experience required for each level, calculated using Excel formulas and visualized with graphs to ensure a smooth, balanced leveling curve that enhances gameplay flow. Difficulty increases logarithmically to keep players engaged without overwhelming them. Every 10 levels serve as a milestone, unlocking a new map. Thus the scaling dials back at powers of 10 to reinforce a sense of achievement.
Player Level Progression - 2
I created this table to highlight the cosmetic rewards unlocked at each Polity level, carefully distributing them to ensure consistent progression. My method was to establish a pattern that allows players to anticipate the types of rewards they will receive at each level, giving them clear goals without needing to show every single reward. I also ensured that every level had at least one cosmetic reward, making all levels feel worthwhile, despite being constrained by an existing asset pool not designed for this many levels.
Progression for Farming Profession - 1
Polity features a diverse array of professions, each with its own progression path. It was my responsibility to design the progression for all professions.
This table showcases a comprehensive calculator I developed using Excel formulas to estimate the farming experience players can earn within a given playtime. By integrating data from the tables in picture 'Progression for Farming Profession - 2', this tool aided us in optimizing and balancing the game's progression system. I gathered data from our players and other farming games to understand how much time they are willing to spend on farming and ensured that progression aligns with both their and manager's expectations (e.g., reaching level 30 within one month).
This table showcases a comprehensive calculator I developed using Excel formulas to estimate the farming experience players can earn within a given playtime. By integrating data from the tables in picture 'Progression for Farming Profession - 2', this tool aided us in optimizing and balancing the game's progression system. I gathered data from our players and other farming games to understand how much time they are willing to spend on farming and ensured that progression aligns with both their and manager's expectations (e.g., reaching level 30 within one month).
Progression for Farming Profession - 2
In this table, I provided detailed information on farming products and machines within the game, including unlock levels, production times, XP-per-second values, trade values, and output rates, offering a comprehensive overview for optimizing skill progression.
Quest Management Sheet
Quest design was one of my main responsibilities as a game and narrative designer. I've led the entire development process for quests, including programming, writing, localization, art and design. I've made this table to lay out all details about the quests, making the communication with the team members and overseeing the process easier.
Quest List by Rewards
Together with Project Manager and developers, we formulated this table to plan out player levels as they progress through the main quest line while automating the experience calculations with Excel formulas. This also helped us to communicate better during the development process.
Puzzles and Mini-Games
Polity features numerous puzzles and mini-games integrated into the quest system. As part of my work on the quests, I was also responsible for designing these puzzles and mini-games for use in both quests and the open world. I analyzed many other games worked with developers and designers to identify the right mini-games that fit the narrative and gameplay.
Puzzle Management Sheet
While designing the puzzles and mini-games, I've additionally kept track of every puzzle and mini-game we have used or plan to use in Polity, along with their details, in a list. This also made it easier to communicate and track progress during the development phase, as well as to find existing puzzles and mini-games for future side quests.
Achievement List
I've also designed achievement quests to give players long terms goals and encourage exploration. Similar to quest design, I've also led the development process for achievements and create this table to make communication with the teams easier.
Location Maps
In-game locations in Polity have level requirements. I have created diagrams for each map to help everyone keep track of the requirements and special features of locations while working on them.
Location Lists by Level and Quest
While working on the quests, I was also involved in level design, determining at what level the locations would be accessible to the player. I've created several tables to keep track of the level requirements of in-game locations and to ensure that players can access all the locations they need to complete their current quest.
Quest List by Location
I used this table in combination with the location list tables from the previous image while designing quests, tracking the locations and NPCs players need to visit for each main quest, and ensuring they are accessible at the player's current level.
Crafting System - Cooking
Players can craft a wide variety of items in Polity, including food which restores their energy. The game features numerous materials that can be used as cooking ingredients, each with its own in-game value. I created this formulated table to track all the food items and automatically calculate both the market value and energy value of foods crafted with these ingredients. The formula ensures that the crafted food is always worth more than its ingredients in terms of both market and energy value, and that foods requiring more ingredients are always more valuable.
Crafting System - Upgrade Components
Players can craft a wide variety of items in Polity, including upgrade components used to enhance production machines across various professions. It's crucial that the value of each upgrade component aligns with the machine it upgrades and crafting cost is similar across professions. In this spreadsheet, I utilized Excel formulas to automatically calculate the value of all upgrade components based on the materials used. This approach allowed me to easily track the value and acquisition difficulty of each component, ensuring balance across different professions.
Loot System
Polity encourages exploration by offering a wide variety of lootable items from the environment. To better manage which sources provide specific items without manually updating each one, I developed a tagging system. This system organizes items into categories and labels them accordingly. By using this approach, instead of updating every loot source with each new item, I can simply tag the item based on where it should be looted from, significantly reducing the workload.
Narrative Resolution Flow
In addition to game design, I was also involved with the narrative design of the game. This flow illustrates the three main storylines of Polity and how they will be resolved as the narrative progresses. The flow begins with the initial information provided for each storyline and the questions they prompt. Each question builds upon the existing knowledge and leads to another question until the entire storyline is resolved.
NPC Dialogs
Writing in-game dialogues was another one of my responsibilities as a both game and narrative designer. Being an MMORPG, Polity has a vast world with dozens of quests and characters. I have written many dialogues with varying degrees of focus on lore and instruction.
In-Game Lore Book
World building was also one of my responsibilities as a game and narrative designer. Polity is a lore-driven game where players follow the main narrative through quests. This is an in-game lore book written by me and compiled by another designer, which players can acquire during a quest.
In-Game Lore Book
World building was also one of my responsibilities as a game and narrative designer. Polity is a lore-driven game where players follow the main narrative through quests. This is an in-game lore book written by me and compiled by another designer, which players can acquire during a quest.
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