Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Table of Contents
History 2
The Prior Attempts To Colonize Roanoke 2
The Lost Colony 2
The Croatan Natives 3
Potential Reasons For The Colony Disappearance 4
Characters 5
Consumer Information 7
Story Summary 8
The first ending 9
The second ending 10
Story 10
Chapter One 10
Chapter Two 11
Chapter Three 12
Chapter Four 12
Chapter Five A 13
Chapter Five B 13
Game Modes 14
Game Mechanics 15
Buttons 15
User Interface 16
General Systems 16
Saving and Checkpoints 16
Time 17
Building 17
Crafting 18
Quests 18
Character Mechanics 18
Movement 18
Health 19
Hunger 19
Hunting 20
Stealth 21
Contributions 21
Works Cited 22
2
History
Over the course of history, there were many attempts by England to colonize an island
called Roanoke. One of the main reasons England wanted to do this was so that they could have
an advantage when attacking Spanish fleets (Horn). The first voyage to create a colony on
Roanoke happened in 1578 and was led by Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Humphrey Gilbert
(Wolfe). There was no success until 1584 and the achievement had cost the life of Gilbert in a
prior attempt at crossing the seas (Wolfe). The success of the trip did not last long, as Raleigh
was forced to leave due to some hostile natives and a lack of sufficient food supplies (“The Lost
Colony A Local Legacy”). In 1585, Sir Richard Grenville, cousin of Raleigh, made another
attempt at colonizing Roanoke (Horn). This attempt seemed to have gone better; however, there
The most famous of the three failed Roanoke Island colonies was the third colony that is
now known as the Lost Colony. This attempt was led by John White in 1587 with hundreds of
people participating to settle on the island (Wolfe). According to James Horn, this expedition
originally had the purpose of setting up a colony “on the Chesapeake Bay called the City of
Raleigh.” This plan changed as the ones who brought them rejected going further than Roanoke
Island. After this issue, the colony members began to set up the Roanoke Colony. They were
able to build churches and homes to start a new life on the island; however, White had to head
back to England to obtain more supplies only a couple months after arrival on the island (“Lost
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Colony History”). Due to the Spanish Armada, White was unable to return to Roanoke until
1590 (Wolfe). When he had arrived, the colony was abandoned and the residents were never
found.
The Croatan natives are a group that inhabit the outer banks of North Carolina.
Upon White’s return to Roanoke in 1590, no colonists were to be found, only the word
“CROATOAN” carved into a post. (Hogeback) This being the only clue left behind as to where
the colonists had gone, there were a couple assumptions to be made about their whereabouts: The
carving could refer to the nearby Croatoan Island as well as the Croatan natives. While some
believe the Roanoke colonists assimilated into the nearby Croatan native tribes, there was no
trace of the colonists to be found during White’s return. Rather, there were reports of natives
supposedly possessing “white blood” with “some among [them] having grey eyes.” (Butler 10)
While caucasian features among natives would suggest some kind of interaction between them
and the colonists, the lack of concrete sightings of any colonists would imply that something else
happened to the majority of them with only a small number of the colonists being assimilated.
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Theories about what happened to the colonists have never stopped being made even after
over four hundred years. Some theories involve a zombie virus causing the colonists to eat each
other (Frazier). The most popular theory is that the colonists migrated to another place and were
not found in time before they merged with other colonies (Cascone). Another theory suggests
that some of the people in the colony were murdered, which could be related to the previous
theory (Frazier). Other theories involve a disease spreading in the colony, leading to their
untimely demise (Cascone). The issue with all these theories is that it could be that all of them, a
mix of them, or none of them are true. The correct answer has yet to be found and the
possibilities are endless when it comes to plausible disasters and reasons. With the evidence
currently available, it could have been aliens, supernatural creatures, severe weather, natives,
Characters
Eleanor White - She is the daughter of John White, wife of Ananias Dare, and mother of Virginia
Dare (Wolfe). Eleanor is less known than her daughter, as Virginia was “the first English child
born in the Americas,” making her an important part of history (Cunningham). In-game, Eleanor
has braided hair and a long dress that can hinder excessive movement.
John White - According to Michael G. Moran, he was an artist that had led the third successful
attempt at reaching and colonizing Roanoke Island. During his various trips to Roanoke, he
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“produced watercolor portraits of Virginia Indians” and these can still be found today as a great
visual representation of the natives (Moran). White is the father of the protagonist for Survival
Of The Lost Colony, known as his daughter Eleanor Dare or Eleanor White in the game (Wolfe).
Socrates Valentina - a man with supplies that comes to the colony in their time of need.
Valentina is the most important character to the story's two endings. He is secretly Spanish,
which is why he seems untrustworthy to Eleanor. Valentina chose to betray his people and help
Roanoke; however, deciding not to trust him results in him attacking the colony.
London Pamela - she is the blacksmith of the colony. The player can come to her for any metal
St John Chuckie - he is a shop keeper of the colony’s inventory. The player can obtain items
Monday Waverly - he is a manager of constructing the colony’s buildings. The player can come
Jacquelyn Jaynie - she is a retired hunter that can teach the player skills in multiple categories.
Houston Desirae - an old man who only speaks about nonsense. Despite his craziness, Desirae
may end up being the most useful colonist to Eleanor in the story.
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Consumer Information
● As the game will include survival mechanics and the story is about the Lost Colony, the
● The genre of the game is a survival based, resource management, mystery game. Some of
the key features to the game are surviving on an island, collecting and using resources
wisely, and solving the mystery of the secretive Valentina who suddenly appears with no
documentation.
● The style used for the game is 3D with textures that are supposed to look more realistic
than fake. Nothing in the game will have hyper realistic graphics or looks; however,
realism will be replicated to an extent with how each texture looks around other textures.
● This game will require all the buttons on a generic Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo
controller. Explanations of what buttons do will be done through an Xbox controller for
consistency.
● The target audience that would enjoy this game most would be teens around the age of 13
and above. Those who have read the original story of the Roanoke colony will likely get
more enjoyment than those who have not, for story mode at least.
● This game’s age rating is T for teens due to some of the violence and blood content in the
game.
● The max number of players for the game is eight and depends on the gamemode selected.
● Currently, there are only plans to sell the game digitally on Steam and all other major
platforms.
● The asking price for the game at launch will be $19.99 in the United States.
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Story Summary
On a random day in 1587, John White gains the ability to leave England and create a
colony. He chooses to take his daughter, Eleanor, with him and the rest of the people wanting to
be a part of the colony. They set sail and end up on a barren island named Roanoke, which is
why White names the new colony “Roanoke Colony.” Eleanor wanders around the new island
and helps the various new colonists set up buildings while getting to know them. After all the
main buildings and lodgings are created, Eleanor goes to sleep as time fast forwards a few
weeks. Eleanor wakes up to learn that her father needs to return to England so that he can obtain
more supplies for their new colony. Only a few hours later, White heads back to England and
leaves Eleanor in charge of helping the colony grow while he is away. She goes to the different
people she had met over the past few days to ask if there is anything they needed and searches
the island for the requested materials. After a few months of helping the colonists, it becomes
obvious to Eleanor that they are running out of the supplies they need to survive. She knows that
the only way they could be helped is if her father comes back soon. The next day, a miracle
occurs as Eleanor starts to wake up. A small ship approaches the island, causing all the colonists
to gather in hopes that the ship is owned by White. To everyone’s surprise, the boat was owned
by a mysterious man who came to give them supplies in their time of need. His name was
Socrates Valentina, a name that no one on the island had heard of. Eleanor thought Valentina
was suspicious as he did not have any proper identification or documents; however, the colony
needed his supplies enough that they had to trust him to survive. It was obvious that he was
hiding something and Eleanor knew she needed to find out what his secret was. After a few days,
Valentina left to get more supplies for their colony and promised to be back soon. Eleanor saw
this as the perfect time to get any information she could on him through the other colonists.
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Every day, she would go around the colony trying to get any leads on who the mysterious
Valentina was. After running many errands and gaining as much information as she could,
Eleanor still did not have any information that she could trust. Some of the colonists were helped
in many ways by Valentina during his stay and never noticed anything odd about him. A few
colonists had suspicions that he was a Spanish spy due to his slight accent and unusual name. It
was not long before Eleanor had asked almost everyone in the colony and ran out of time to
search for a definitive answer. Suddenly, all the information Eleanor heard about was that the
weather seemed strange and that there could be a deadly storm approaching the island. Valentina
returned like he had said and told them that there truly was a catastrophic storm that would hit
the island soon. He urged Eleanor to talk to him in private about something that would be
important to the colony, and she was forced to agree. In a small house a few minutes from the
colony, Valentina started to explain that he needed Eleanor to completely trust him with the lives
of the colony. He refused to give too many details until Eleanor gave her word that she trusted
Eleanor decided she could not trust Valentina due to his suspicious aura. Valentina
suddenly became enraged and told her that he would destroy her colony since she could not trust
him. In an attempt to warn the others, Eleanor runs as fast as she can towards the colony to warn
them of the danger awaiting them; however, she was not fast enough, and Valentina had started
setting the colony on fire. Many of the residents tried to put the fires out to no success. Eleanor
took it upon herself to strike Valentina down and was able to succeed. The damage caused by the
attack left the colony vulnerable and it would not be long before the deadly storm hit their colony
with no mercy. Most of the residents were heavily injured and some had not survived; however,
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the true disaster was what the storm had brought with it. The storm had carried a disease that
quickly spread across the colonists, causing the Roanoke Colony to be eradicated.
Eleanor chose to entrust the colony’s survival with Valentina, leading to him showing her
a secret cave. The cave was large enough to barely hold the entire colony and had enough
supplies to last them a few days. Valentina told her that he had betrayed his Spanish homeland
and chose to help the people of Roanoke in surviving. Eleanor knew that some of the colonists
would not trust him if they knew this information and promised to keep it a secret. Quickly, the
two of them left the cave to gather as many people as possible so that they could be saved from
the storm. With the help of Valentina, almost everyone in the colony was able to survive;
however, the catastrophic damage from the storm left their colony in shambles. Everyone knew
there was no hope in surviving in Roanoke any longer with their current supplies. Eleanor
decided it would be best if they left the island and attempted to join other colonies. This resulted
in the colonists spreading out and heading to different places, causing the Roanoke Colony to be
abandoned.
Story
Chapter One
The gameplay starts with the perspective of Eleanor White waking up on a boat that has
just arrived at its destination. The player will take control and walk around the beach to explore
where the colony of Roanoke will be built. This will act as a tutorial for gathering resources,
talking to non-playable characters, and constructing buildings. At the end of the tutorial, John
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White will return to England to obtain more supplies for the colony. At this point in the chapter,
the player has full control over what to do next. The primary goal, however, is to look for food,
gather firewood, and search for signs of danger. After exploring and gaining supplies for a few
in-game days, time will move forward by three months. As Eleanor wakes up, a small boat gets
Chapter Two
The player takes control again and gets given the mission to investigate if the small boat
is hostile. The boat is captained by Socrates Valentina who says he was sent to give them extra
supplies; however, he has no identification or evidence to back up his claims. Despite his
suspicious information, the colony accepts him and his support with open arms. The player then
will gain access to more specific missions based on the needs of the colony’s construction and
residents. Structures such as houses and shops become available to build at this point. As the
player completes these missions, they will gain tools to explore more areas of the land
surrounding the colony. One of the main dangers the player will encounter is hostile
natives/cannibals that, at this point in the game, can be fought using weapons or avoided using
stealth. Other dangers the player may experience include traps, unstable terrain, and hostile
wildlife. After sufficient progress has been made in the colony or too much time has passed, the
Valentine will leave to gain more supplies. With the departure of the colony’s new hope, Eleanor
Chapter Three
The goal of chapter three is for the player to search for information regarding Valentina
and any actions he did while in the colony. There are still other missions that can upgrade tools
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and gain more supplies; however, any mission not related to gathering information will not move
the story forward. As Eleanor starts learning more about Valentina, it becomes up to the player to
decide if he is an ally, enemy, or general threat. What the player ends up deciding will become
important by the end of the fourth chapter. Chapter three ends as warning signs of a bad storm
start to appear.
Chapter Four
Chapter four will have the player make a decision once Valentina appears again. As his
boat reaches land, he will meet with Eleanor in private to discuss information he deems
important. In this private conversation, Valentina will tell Eleanor that there is a place he wants
to take her to. He will claim that what she will find there is the only way to survive the coming
storm; however, the decision on what to do is up to the player. This chapter acts as a last chance
to do any missions before the turning point happens. There are two different versions of chapter
five, each with their own endings. According to Paul Nelson, this is called a branching narrative.
There could have been more branches added to the story; however, only two endings were made
so that the player would not be confused. There are variables that can slightly affect the result of
the ending, such as if certain non-playable characters die. These do not cause the ending to
Chapter Five A
If the player chooses not to trust Valentina, he will turn against Eleanor and attempt to
fight the player. The resources available to fight Valentina depend on the player’s progress in
building up the colony in the story thus far. Fighting the enemy Valentina will be difficult as he
causes critical damage to the buildings, resources, and residents in the colony; however,
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successfully killing him will end the chapter and start the ending scenes of the game. This ending
has the colony barely surviving the deadly storm at the cost of their supplies and buildings being
destroyed. All the residents of the Roanoke Colony die of sickness after being weakened by the
storm.
Chapter Five B
If the player chooses to trust Valentina, Eleanor will be taken to an island where a cave
shelter has been made for the storm. The cave is large enough to fit the entire colony and has
emergency supplies to last a while. The player is then given a mission to save as many of the
colony residents as possible before the storm hits. The ability to save a particular resident
depends on the interactions the player has had with them throughout the story. Once the storm is
about to hit, Eleanor is forced to abandon any of the residents that could not make it and head
back to the cave shelter. This will end the chapter and start the ending scene of the aftermath
caused by the storm. All of the members of Roanoke Colony that did not take shelter are killed in
the deadly storm. The remaining colony members all spread out to join other colonies and live
Game Modes
There are two main game modes to choose from in Survival Of The Lost Colony: story
and custom. Story mode is single player and follows the game’s main story. The player must
survive while also completing quests, interacting with non-playable characters, and building up
the colony. Alternatively, custom mode allows the player to simply survive without following
the main story of the game. Quests are not present in custom games; however, major non-
playable characters, such as the blacksmith and shopkeeper, are still available to the player. The
player can choose the difficulty, like in the main game mode, or set specific parameters for
various hazards, resources, and events in the game. The player can adjust these parameters:
● Natural disasters and weather events: number, strength, duration and types
This mode is intended to extend the game’s replay value as well as attract players that want to
enjoy the survival mechanics in the game that do not necessarily care about the story. Custom
mode also introduces local and online multiplayer where two players can survive together. All of
the game mechanics function in multiplayer as they would in the story mode or single player
custom mode except for sleeping; both players must sleep at the same time in order to advance
the time. Multiplayer also introduces the ability to create your character. Players can each create
a survivor with a custom appearance by changing its skin tone, hair style and color, and facial
features. These characters are only for appearance and do not give players different abilities
based on what character they choose. Each player has their own inventory of resources that they
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can choose to share with one another. Players can also choose to fight against each other; the
Game Mechanics
Buttons
For the purposes of keeping things simple, all controls will have an Xbox controller as
the example. Using the A button will allow the player to jump into the air or, if pressed near a
ledge while on the ground or in the air, it can be used to grab onto ledges for climbing. The A
button will also be used for selecting anything in menus, such as the pause menu. The B button is
used to cancel actions, such as climbing or entering a menu. The X button will use the currently
equipped item that is not a weapon. Some of these items can include food, water, medicine,
bandages, and torches. To interact with the world, such as talking to a non-playable character,
sleeping in a bed, or opening a storage chest, the player must use the Y button. Right trigger and
left trigger will be used to attack with held weapons, such as knives, bows, machetes, or spears.
Each trigger will do a different action related to attacking. Using the left trigger with a bow will
slash with an arrow and holding the right trigger will charge the bow. Left and right bumpers will
cycle through a hot bar user interface with equipped weapons. The left stick moves the player
while the right stick changes the player's view. Pressing down on the left stick like a button while
also moving will let the player sprint. Pressing down on the right stick like a button will cause
the player to crouch. Up on the directional pad will open the inventory and let the player equip
items and weapons. Down on the directional pad will open a menu for crafting; however, this
menu can also be reached through the inventory. Left and right on the directional pad will cause
the player’s point of view and character to lean in the button’s direction. This action works great
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for sneaking and looking behind cover. The start button opens up the pause menu and the select
button will have the player view a compass with a quest log.
User Interface
The main user interface element that can be seen during gameplay is the hot bar near the
bottom middle of the screen. There will also be a user interface gauge for different player stats
and actions. This includes the character’s hunger, health, and stamina each getting an individual
gauge. Certain button prompts might appear over interactables during gameplay, such as a Y for
chests or A for climbable ledges. When a player approaches a non-playable character, text will
appear above the character’s head saying their name. Text boxes will replace the hot bar during
conversations with non-playable characters, including choice boxes if needed. The inventory
user interface will be grid based and have a button that takes the view directly to the crafting
menu. Crafting menus will change based on if the player is near specific objects, such as a
furnace. The start menu includes the resume, options, save, and quit buttons. The save button
will save the current progress of the player and the quit button will exit to the main menu after
asking if the player wants to save before quitting. The option menu is extensive in what each
setting can change, such as the user interface placement, audio levels, and brightness settings.
While all of the in-game user interfaces will be detailed, the main menu will be simplistic and
easy to navigate.
General Systems
The game has an autosave feature that saves the game during major events. The game is
automatically saved after accepting quests, completing quests, lighting a campfire, cooking,
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sleeping, and completing repairs to the colony. The player can also manually save the game at
campfires, which are spread throughout the map and work as fast-travel points. Each campfire
must first be found and lit before it is available as a fast-travel or save point.
Time
Throughout each day, the player is tasked with managing their time by choosing what
specific actions to take. There are only a certain number of actions that can be done in one day as
dictated by Eleanor’s tiredness. While tiredness is not explicitly represented on the UI, there is a
set amount of fatigue associated with all major actions. Major actions include completing quests,
constructing and repairing areas of the colony, and cooking. Over time, the player will learn to
read the cues of tiredness, which are expressed by Eleanor in the way of her body language; her
animations become more sluggish as her tiredness increases. The player can choose to sleep,
which will decrease her tiredness as well as advance the current time by 6 hours. Sleeping can
also be useful if the player wishes to be awake at certain times of the day to perform time-
specific tasks, such as hunting nocturnal animals. There are certain quests and events that are
only accessible during certain times of day or weeks, so choosing when to sleep and how to pass
Building
Various new buildings can be placed around the colony to fortify defenses or add new
shops. New buildings can be added by talking to Monday Waverly. There are certain types and
amounts of resources that are needed for each type of building. After acquiring all the necessary
resources, the player can choose the location of the new building. Construction will begin after a
location has been chosen. Smaller buildings, like houses, take only one in-game day to complete.
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Larger buildings, like shops, take three in-game days to complete and can only be built once for
Crafting
Crafting allows the player to combine raw materials to create tools. Craftable items
include arrows and basic weapons such as bows and spears. Weapons can also be upgraded
through crafting, like using cloth to give a knife handle better grip. Crafting materials are
generally found through exploration, however some may be bought from shops, like gunpowder.
These materials are useless on their own and must be combined to create something.
Quests
Every colonist on the island will be able to talk with Eleanor and give various useful
information. Some of them might hint towards the location of something interesting; however, a
few of the main colonists can give quests for Eleanor along with information on how to complete
the quest. Quests from the blacksmith will have Eleanor obtaining minerals and rocks to increase
the smithing repertoire. The shopkeeper will request specialized items that can only be obtained
and used for their quests. Quests for the hunter will require Eleanor to use specific skills a
specified amount of times to upgrade the skill level. The old man will request items at random
Character Mechanics
Movement
There are a number of ways to traverse the environment besides walking. Eleanor has the
ability to sprint, crouch, and climb. Each of these movement abilities changes as the story
progresses. Eleanor will have increased sprinting duration and speed, as well as increased crouch
walking and climbing speed as the player gets further in the game. These abilities cannot be used
19
infinitely, however, particularly when it comes to sprinting. Stamina controls how long Eleanor
can continuously sprint. The stamina bar will decrease as Eleanor sprints and stops her from
sprinting once depleted. The player can sprint so long as the stamina bar is not completely
empty, however, closely managing stamina will be essential to surviving combat situations.
Health
Health is the most basic yet one of the most important mechanics in the game. Eleanor’s
health is represented on the UI as a bar. Her health will go up and down based on the player’s
decisions during gameplay; It can go down from eating poisonous food, being attacked, or
starving, and go up from eating non-poisonous food, using medicine, or sleeping. If Eleanor’s
health is completely depleted she will faint. Fainting will return the player to their last
checkpoint as well as cause them to lose some items. The items lost and amount will be random,
however, the player will never lose items that have been crafted, such as weapons and meals.
Hunger
Over time, Eleanor’s fullness will decrease and she will require food to continue to
function at full capacity. She will move slower and her health will deplete faster if attacked. Her
attacks will also do less damage and overall she is more at risk of being seriously harmed by
enemies or other hostile creatures. To regain fullness the player must cook, find, or purchase
food to eat. Eleanor can cook at campfires and hearths. Cooking requires recipes that can be
learned through foraging or from non-playable characters. Different food items will restore
different amounts of fullness; common, smaller meals like berries and raw meats restore only a
little health, while larger, more complex, multi-ingredient meals restore a large amount of health
and may even grant buffs. Potential buffs include increased strength, stamina, and health, and
fullness. Larger meals will always require cooking for Eleanor to make them herself, however,
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some meals may be offered by non-playable characters upon completing quests. If Eleanor’s
fullness is completely depleted, she will gradually lose health until she faints.
Hunting
Hunting is one of the ways that the player can acquire ingredients. A weapon is required
in order to hunt. Eleanor can carry two weapons at a time: one melee and one ranged. Melee
weapons include knives, machetes, and spears. Ranged weapons include longbows, crossbows,
and firearms. Each weapon has different strength, speed, and range attributes associated with
them. Melee weapons tend to be quicker but weaker, while ranged weapons are stronger and
slower. Different weapons have different effectiveness levels depending on the animal that is
being hunted. For example: a melee weapon such as a knife would not be effective against
flighted animals.
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Animals have different temperaments that impact the difficulty of hunting them. Passive
animals will not attack the player and will run away when approached. Passive animals include
deer, squirrels, birds, and raccoons. While these animals won’t attack, they are generally harder
to track as they attempt to flee while being hunted. There are also aggressive animals such as
bears and coyotes which will attack the player when approached. Foxes are a mix between
passive and aggressive; they will not attack unless attacked first.
Stealth
Stealth can be used to strengthen attacks or avoid confrontation altogether. Eleanor can
sneak past hostiles by staying out of their line of sight. Bushes, trees, and tall grass can be used
as cover. Crouching is also an effective way to stay out of sight, especially when combined with
using cover. While hostiles are unalerted and in close proximity, the player can do stealth attacks
that quickly take down enemies. While sneaking up on enemies generally takes more time,
stealth attacks are safer as they instantly kill the target. Not all stealth attempts are successful,
however. If caught, enemies will alert others nearby, if any, and attack.
Contributions
Kristen Brown: History (Croatoan natives), Story, Game Modes, General Systems, and Character
Mechanics
Connor Phillips: History, Characters, Story, Story Summary, Consumer Information, Buttons,
User Interface, and General systems (Quests)
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Works Cited
Butler, George Edwin. The Croatan Indians of Sampson County. Durham, The Seeman
Printery, 1916.
Cascone, Sarah. “Archaeologists May Have Finally Solved the Mystery of the
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/archaeologists-mystery-lost-roanoke-lost-colony-
Frazier, Brionne. “What Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke?” ThoughtCo., 28 Nov.
Apr. 2022
https://www.britannica.com/story/75th-anniversary-of-the-lithuanian-holocaust.
Horn, James. “The Roanoke Colonies.” First Colony Foundation, 30 July 2017,
https://www.firstcolonyfoundation.org/history/the-roanoke-colonies/. Accessed 18
Apr. 2022
Moran, Michael G. “John White (d. 1593).” Encyclopedia Virginia, 22 Dec. 2021,
Nelson, Paul. “Designing Branching Narrative.” The Story Element, 11 Feb. 2015,
https://thestoryelement.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/designing-branching-narrative/.
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