The Linear Narrative of The Turing Test
(This is a continuation of part 2 of this series of articles)
Alan Turing and all that he worked on has had a massive impact in many fields, such as computing and philosophy. Therefore, a lot is required of Bulkhead Interactive in order for them to deliver on this simulation. Philpott elaborates on the process, "our writer, David Jones, has been scouring loads of material to find interesting things and create this story. One of the interesting things he did was speak to a virologist about the potential life that could be found on Europa. We've tried to go to that next level in terms of making it authentic and make the story real. Other influences are things like Interstellar for stuff like the setting and the landings they go through and suits that they wear. Then, of course, we looked at Alan Turing himself and his story and how we can tie that into The Turing Test." (For more puzzle games, check out PuzzleCubesWorld – amazing teraminx cubes and more)
As mentioned much earlier, the puzzles are presented in a linear fashion. One of the reasons this is useful is that it aids the player through the narrative. Philpott expounds on this, "every puzzle teaches you a bit more about what is going on. Tom will talk to you and Ava will talk back and some other characters may jump in at some point, too. So, yes, the linear progression allows us to tell the story we want to tell, but it also allows us to refine the gameplay curve to make it really fun and intuitive. People should know what they should be doing; they have the tools and it's up to them to work out how they should use them, but we don't want them to feel overwhelmed and not knowing what is going on."
The game also has optional puzzles that are placed in the middle of chapters. These extra puzzles provide a slightly higher level of difficulty than the ones found in normal gameplay. Successfully getting through these puzzles will unlock more parts of the story.
(To be continued in the next article)