In June 2016, a youth camp was held at Hothersall Lodge, for young people who seek confirmation, but also for those who want to grow closer to God. Prior to the event, I was dropped a hint that it would be good to have a game that reflected the theme of the weekend; Pilgrims Progress.
I decided to use Minecraft as the base for the game design. I chose Minecraft because it is not only a game that I am comfortable with myself, meaning the building of the game would be more swift, but it is a very well known and popular game, that it would be likely that many of the young people would already be accustomed to the controls of the game, meaning they can engage more with the story. Using Minecraft also allowed for external help with the building of the world, allowing laborious builds to be completed quicker. There is also a piece of software called MCEdit, which allows a user to easily manipulate a Minecraft world and it's contents, allowing a larger world to be constructed easily, and the software tools allowed detail to be added easily.
As stated in a previous post, I have learnt from my previous research, the importance of understanding all aspects of an IP before creating a game. I therefore play-tested the Pilgrims Progress board game, watched the film, and read both the original and modern versions of the book.
Once I fully understood the story, I took to Minecraft, initially laying down coloured markers for where things needed to be built, and where the path would lead. I then proceeded, with the help of a friend, to work from the beginning to the end, building all the constructions necessary.
The World of Pilgrims Progress
Player Starting Area - Church Crypt
I decided to have the player start in the crypt of a church, an area that would never be used. Here they would find a number of signs describing the start of the story, the names of the map builders, and they would also be presented with the starting items needed for the story; a Bible and a heavy burden.
City of Destruction
To make the construction of villages easier, I decided to use the default Minecraft design for villager houses. This meant I didn't need to spend time designing appropriate houses, but also meant that the player could easily recognise the group of houses as a Minecraft Village. Each house only needed to be built once, and I was then able to duplicate them with MCEdit.
Swamp of Despair/Slough of Despond
The player will come across a swamp, which represents the sin that cuts us off from Christ. There is a path that leads across, but it is currently flooded.
Town of Earthly Ways/Carnal Policy
In the story, the protagonist meets a man named Mr Worldly Wiseman, who comes from the town of Earthly ways in the modern book, and from Carnal Policy in the original version. I added the town to the map as an area for the player to explore. I have also varied the type of wood used in the village houses, adding some variation to the game.
Town of Legality/Fiery Mountain
Mr Worldly Wiseman directs Christian (The Protagonist) to the town of Legality, so he can be rid of his heavy burden, but it means passing a dangerous a fiery mountain. I added boundaries to prevent the player from avoiding the mountain if they wish to explore the village, so they experience the story more fully. Unfortunately I did not have time to blend these boundaries into the scenery, as with the inaccessible area outside of the fences.
Beelzebub's Castle
The player will need to approach the wicket gate (The house of a man called Goodwill) in order to progress through the map. When they approach, they will be attached with arrows from Bee;Beelzebub's Castle, who does not want the player to reach their goal. This area has also been added for the player to explore, using materials that reflect the more dangerous realm of Minecraft; the Nether.
Wicket Gate - Goodwill's House
The player will approach the Wicket Gate, and in order for them to be attacked from the Castle, I added a great number of pressure-plates and tripwires. Each one sets off a number of dispensers on a tower at the castle. The tower is positioned so the arrows land around the door, and once the player enters the house, the arrows are stopped by a pressure-plate on the other side of the door. There is a possibility to sneak past the arrow triggers, which doesn't particularly reflect the story. But everyone's journey is supposed to be different, so if they take extra care to avoid being shot, then they will be more better off.
The Way
Goodwill's Job is to show people to the way, a path that leads all the way to the Celestial City. Here, I took literal inspiration from scripture, which tells of a straight and narrow path. The path is 100% straight, though does ascend and descend in places. The wall of salvation runs alongside the path.
Home of the Interpreter/Explainer
This is the home of the Interpreter, whom shows Christian a number of things that should help him on his journey,
Man in Cage
The Interpreter shows Christian a man in a cage. The man is imprisoned because he strayed so far from the way that there was no way he could redeem himself and return to the path.
Painting on the wall
Christian is shown a painting on a wall of a man with his eyes lifted to heaven, held the holy book in his hands, and had a crown of Gold on his head. Here, the player will step on the pressure-plates to make a gold block appear above the man (jack-o-lantern) at the rear of the room.
Room of Dust
Christian is shown a room covered in dust, and a man that is constantly trying to sweep the dust away. The dust represents the sin in our hearts, and how we cannot remove it in our own strength. The story then tells of a woman who enters, and sprays the room with water, making it possible to clean away the dust. The water is representative of Jesus, and we can only become clean through him. In this room, the snow represents the dust, and when the player steps on the pressure-plates, water will cover the room and wash away the snow.
Treasure on Earth and Heaven
The third room that Christian is shown to is one where two people are sat. One saves up treasure on earth, such as money, property and personal belonging. The other saves up treasure in heaven, by doing good, and following the way. The player can step on the pressure-plate, and the Gold will be removed from the Earthly person, since they wont have it in heaven. A Diamond block will then be presented to the other person, a better treasure than the Gold that they will receive when they go to heaven.
Fire of the Heart
In this room there is a fire that represents the heart, burning with desire to follow the way. Satan is constantly putting water on the fire, trying to discourage people. However, unbeknownst to him, Jesus is adding fuel to the fire from the other side, allowing the fire to keep burning. There are two villages named as Satan and Jesus, each one will randomly wander in their enclosure, triggering a pressure-plate to dispense water or coal.
Battle for the Gate
This room presents a number of guards guarding the entrance to the celestial city, showing that there will be difficulties to overcome before you can enter the kingdom.
Revelation Dream
In this room a man speaks of his dream; how he dreamt about the end of the world, and how people were gathered together and taken to heaven, and those that were left being were destined for hell... he was left behind.
The Tomb
The player will come across a tomb, being the tomb in which Jesus was buried. It is presented more as an open grave in the book, but I chose to show this as a tomb to make it more understandable to the player. The story tells of how Christian climbs the hill and finds the cross, whereupon he falls to his knees, and his heavy burden falls from his back, and rolls into the grave, which is then sealed shut. The player would simply deposit their heavy burden into the hopper at the base of the cross, and the tomb would then be sealed.
The Cross
Once the heavy burden is lost, Christian receives a new set of clothes, and a scroll containing encouraging words for his journey. Later in the story, Christian remembers he was given a key of promise, though it does not state when he received this key, so I decided to give the player this key along with the scroll and garments. As well as sealing the tomb when the heavy burden is placed in the hopper, six droppers will deposit a lever (key), paper (scroll), and a set of dyed leather armour. The colours of armour a player receives is random, meaning there is some variation, and also allows multiple players to trade for preferred colours.
Hill Difficulty
After the cross, Christian comes across a hill called difficulty. To the right of the path is rocky terrain, where a pilgrim is said to have fallen and died. To the left of the path is an expansive forest, where many pilgrims have become lost forever. Halfway up the hill is a place for pilgrims to rest; in the story, this is where Christian loses his scroll.
Castle Beautiful
At the top of difficulty hill, there stands a Castle called Beautiful. As Christian arrives, he is confronted with lions (dogs) on either side of the path. Players can either pass straight through the castle and miss the treasures within, or explore upstairs to find the Armour of God; the Helmet of Salvation, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Belt of Truth, the Shoes of Peace, the Shield of Faith, and the Sword of the Word of God. There are also a number of Christian artifacts on display, such as the staff of Moses, and the sling and stone David used to kill Goliath.
The Valley of Humiliation
In this valley, Christian faces Apollyon, but the story also tells of his friends; ........... In this valley, each of these enemies is represented by some form of monster, with Apollyon being the last one the player encounters. The story states that Apollyon fires flaming arrows, so there are dispensers with fire charges in the hands of the Apollyon figure. There is also a skeleton spawned with red leather armour, a fire aspect bow, and with the name 'Apollyon'. This gives the player a physical entity to battle against.
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
This valley is representative of the difficult times a Christian goes through in their lives. In the valley, there are a number of monsters. It was here that I found an issue, as even with armour, hostile mobs would die after prolonged exposure to sunlight; so I ensured the enemies placed were not affected the light of day. Half way across the valley is the gateway to hell, and at the end of the valley, is a giant that is said to eat pilgrims who stray too close.
Vanity Fair
Vanity fair is placed so to distract pilgrims from their journey, and tempt them into believing that riches and personal gain are more important that the final destination. Here, there are a number of attractions, including a Merry-go-Round, water slides, a roller coaster, a Bouncy Castle, and a Helter Skelter. There are also attractions where players can win tickets, including Hood a Duck (Chicken), a Dunking Booth, and an Archery Range. Players are able to spend these tokens to buy items at the stalls, though there is nothing preventing them from simply using any item as payment, or stealing from the food vendors. This is all built in order to distract the player.
Court and Lord Hate-Good
This is the court where, in the story, Faithful is sentenced to be burnt at the stake. Inside the court there are a number of villagers that each correspond to characters in the story, including the witnesses and the jury. The judge himself is known as Lord Hate-Good
Lucre Hill
Lucre hill is a silver mine, and it is placed to tempt players to stray from the path. In the mine, the story tells of pilgrims falling down a mine shaft to their death. In this mine, there is a trapped chest full of silver (iron ingots) which activates a number of sticky pistons, that move the floor away, thus making the player fall into a put. There is a lever in this pit that reveals a secret passage way back to the surface, so that players can continue. This will prevent players from having to restart the entire game in order to proceed.
Pillar of Salt/Lot's Wife
The bible tells of how Lot's wife didn't obey the Lord's commands, so she was turned into a pillar of salt. In the story, this pillar is placed to warn pilgrims on their journey, not to stray away from what God has instructed for you.
Relaxing Plain
The story tells of a plain that pilgrims walk through, with a river on the left of the path, fruit trees on either side of the river, and fields of purple flowers on either side. Players are able to take apples from the trees in this area.
Doubting Castle
Along the journey, a player may choose to divert from the path. If they climb the stile that leads to doubting castle, then they are instantly teleported into the dungeon of Doubting Castle. In the story, a Giant named Despair provides them with three options with which to kill themselves; a knife, a rope and some poison. The player can however, escape from the prison cell. When they deposited their Heavy Burden at the foot of the cross, they were given a Key of Promise (Lever), and they can now use this lever on an iron door to escape. The players can explore all areas in the castle, including upstairs. Ladders and blocks have been placed so players are able to climb up to the upper floors. Players can make their way back to the path, passing an angry giant on the way, and piles of bones from the giant's victims.
Delectable Mountains
After passing Doubting Castle, the player will come to the delectable mountains, where there area orchards, vineyards and gardens. There are also four mountains, each with their own name, and each has a different shepherd at the top, to explain about certain features of the mountains.
First Mountain
On top of this mountain, one of the shepherds explains about how people have fallen off the edge of the cliff, having not looked where they were going. Their remains are left as a reminder to Pilgrims
Second Mountain
Here, the player can see the victims of Giant Despair. They have been blinded, and are left to wander among graves for eternity.
Third Mountain
This mountain has a doorway that is a shortcut to Hell.
Fourth Mountain
From the top of this mountain, pilgrims are supposed to be able to see all the way to the Celestial City, which can be just about visible in the game.
The Flatterer
The player will come across the Flatterer, a person that attempt to lead them down the wrong path, and away from the Celestial City.
Enchanted Ground
The player is warned not to sleep on the enchanted ground, and to reflect this, I placed beds in the ground. As punishment for players who attempt to approach the beds, I placed pressure plates linked to TNT. If a player approaches a bed they will get quite a surprise, as it is difficult to see in the tall grass.
Gardens, Vineyards and Orchards
Towards the end of the story, they player will come across a number of a number of gardens, orchards and vineyards. Here the player can take fruit from the trees, and recover from their journey so far.
River
The final challenge in the story is the crossing of a mighty river. Pilgrims whose faith is strong will find the river to be shallow, and can easily travel across. But for those with a weak faith, the crossing will be difficult, as the river will be deep.
The Celestial City
When the player finally reaches the celestial City, they must place their scroll in the dispenser as indicated. This will open the way for them to enter, and will also trigger a number of fireworks to celebrate their arrival. At the top of the City, there are a number of buttons that can be used to Teleport players back to various points in the story, if they wish to explore areas they missed.
