Holding On - Stealth based game on depression.

1. Planning Process

We were recently introduced to the Game Design module, and although we are asked to design a game, a new theme has also been added.

My two main objectives for this module are laid out as follows-

• Create a game in Unreal Engine.

• Create a game where player can build a skillset and upgrade accordingly.

• Have the game mechanics directly linked to the struggles of a person facing depression. In this case, the cause of it is a miscarriage.

• Have bits of story revealed as puzzles in a level are solved or when the whole level is crossed.

• Stealth stealth stealth

My reasoning behind these are quite simple, I really want to practice Unreal Engine again, since it's been quite a while since I used it. I have been majorly working on Unity, and now that I'm a little better at it, giving Unreal a try is a must. Especially when a lot of companies do desire a mix for this.

The rest of the objectives are majorly there since I desire to test my design skills in a territory I've never entered. Building skill sets sounds easy, and maybe, inclines towards pure math and balancing. But having it as something player can relate to while enjoying the story, isn't quite easy.

I also want to work on puzzles, something I haven't done in a year now, and use it in the stealth game format.

Now that I have my objectives laid out, I'll be moving on to my brainstorming and research phase soon!

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2. Brainstorming Time

I have recently finished part of my brainstorming session, and the results have been surprisingly interesting. My focus is driving towards choosing a simple mechanic and creating the entire level around it.

The first thing that popped up in my brain was - "LIGHTS". I'm thinking of designing my character who has light orbs in their inventory. Their objective would be to reach the end of level, and this would be marked again using special light bars. The light element can easily be expanded on by adding gameplay ingredients that can make use of this.

As they complete the level, or reach certain parts of the level, parts of the story will be revealed, so it's not exactly a narrative-heavy game, but an experience-dependent. I want the player to interpret the journey and create a story relative to them.

Early brainstorming with character abilities.

In the picture above, I've written about how the level would look like with the light bars, and the overall feel of it, blocky. Building on simplicity is quite a difficult task, but I'm guessing as I start building the game and level, it'll make more sense.

The badly drawn character will have a set of skills, and light orbs that'll help them cross the level.

Enemy and level planning.

The next picture mostly discusses the elements that will be present in the level, and how the narrative would go about in the game. I'm considering placing the level in a graveyard, to provide an eerie atmosphere.

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3. Learning and Creating the core mechanics

I have started doing a little testing in Unreal Engine, beginning with spooky lighting and set design. The initial level may kind of resemble the picture shown below, but this obviously requires a lot more work.

Since the first set was a bedroom, the assets have been added accordingly.

The story nodes will have basic interaction functionality, where the player will tap and a dialogue box will appear. These nodes will not appear as a separate bar in the level, but instead be a part of regular furniture, to enhance the story experience.

The charging stations work with two inputs to increase or decrease the brightness accordingly. These stations will also be added on to assets like lamps, toys or any other relevant furniture. UI feedback needs to implemented to help the player know the extent to which the brightness can tampered with.

4. Improvising and detailing

After understanding what the prototype requires, I have slowly started assembling the level and the furniture. Currently, the room looks quite spacious, but I'm planning on filling it with lots of clothes, paintings and random furniture lying everywhere. This will help in providing a cluttered feeling, that the player will need to escape.

As I mentioned earlier, the story nodes will not appear as separate nodes but instead be a part of the environment. In the picture below, the player is seen to be interacting with a cupboard, which pops a dialogue "Look at all these clothes I stored for...my baby". This dialogue will help spike the maternal feeling the character once felt for the unborn child.

Something completely new implemented recently was the addition of the enemy. In the GIF below, a character can be seen moving, and currently, it's programmed to randomly move around the level after every 5 seconds. Once I improvise on this, this enemy will have a patrol path, as well as a field of vision.

After speaking with my professors, I received a really helpful feedback in regards to what should the enemy look like. A narrative expert suggested that I use a black dog since it represents depression quite accurately. I'll be hunting for assets accordingly and make the changes.

Something that was crucial to the game was throwing and collecting light orbs. This mechanic will help the player distract enemies and also level themselves up. The basic system is set up, where the player can throw an orb where ever their mouse pointer is positioned at in-game.

The light orbs have been given a life of 5 seconds, after which they dim and die. Hence, it's important that the player collects them before it dims away.

Following up on the light orb throwing mechanic, the player can also collect light from light sources. This mechanic was already in place previously but appeared disconnected from the current systems. Now the player can throw orbs around, and collect new light orbs from these sources, such as a lamp (as seen below).

If the light source goes dim, and if the player has run out of light orbs, then they may need to look for more types of sources.