BA4: Game Design Document #24

First Draft for Distorted Delirium’s In-Game Mechanics 
 (Text Heavy)

As you can see from my previous post with the table of contents for our design document, there is a large amount of contents dedicated to the ingame mechanics. I have spent the past few days trying to iron out these areas so that they make sense. These areas are, psyche, fear and health. All of which needed a system to back them up so that they would work in game. They are also the more complicated aspects of gameplay in Distorted Delirium so I felt I needed to take some time to write it up properly. 

This is only a first draft and there will be illustrations and visual examples to follow for the document, but for now you can read this if you are interested in our gameplay concept design. There are a few bits missing from this document but like I said, it’s a first draft! 

In Game Mechanics

Overview

Gameplay mechanics are going to be simple, players will have a DSLR camera and a battery powered torch at their disposal, both of which the player can operate at any time around the museum.

 

Players will need to use their camera to solve puzzles throughout the museum but it also acts as a means of documentation. Player will be able to take photographs whenever they like in the museum.

 

The player will assume a first person perspective in game and movement mechanics won't be complicated so that the player  feels fully immersed in the experience of the museum. A "peek" mechanic will be incorporated into the controls giving the player more realistic approaches to basic movement.

 

There is one mechanic which will affect the players control over their gameplay and that is Lianna's psyche. This will create various types of gameplay based obstacles for the player to overcome throughout the game.

 

Health & Damage | In Game Mechanics

Overview

During Lianna's experience in the museum she will experience a variety of different emotions which will affect the way the player passes through the world. These emotions will affect Lianna both mentally and physically during the game. There are 2 core fundamental elements which effect Lianna constantly throughout the game, the first one is HEALTH. (Of course, with health comes damage as damage needs to be dealt to Lianna in order for health to be a part of the game).

 

So, What Is Health? | In Game Mechanics

Health is the mechanic the player uses to measure how injured Lianna is in game. Lianna loses health when damage is dealt to her. Damage is calculated using a 100-point scale and, while the game isn't encouraging or enabling combat with enemies, it is possible that Lianna will become hurt from various enemies, actions or areas of the world/environments.

How Does Lianna Lose Health? | In Game Mechanics

Overview

Health and damage come hand in hand. Lianna will lose health when damage is dealt to her through various methods. These include environmental, physical and monster damage all of which vary in pattern, ferociousness, speed and severity. Examples are as follows:  
 

• Phobia and symptom monsters.
  
  
• Boss monsters.
  
• Environments which relate to Lianna's repressed memories and bad life (for example: the needle hallway which represents Lianna's parents abuse of drugs)
  
• Jumping from high areas to a floor (if Lianna was faced with an “infinite drop” she would die if the player forced her to jump off the edge).
  
• In-game elements the player might face in different areas of the museum as standard such as contact with fireplaces, trapdoors, gas pipe leaks, broken electrics, radiation, water damage, drowning, dropping through broken floors. (These are only examples of possible environmental hazards the world could have).
  

Environmental  Damage & Health | In Game Mechanics

Overview

Environmental damage is caused from various hazards encountered by the player throughout the museum. The museum itself will be presented as derelict, run down and dangerous location but there will still be active hazardous elements which will harm Lianna and reduce her health. 

 

Environmental Damage

The damage dealt from environmental hazards would be calculated on a damage per second model, where the longer the player remains in the damage radius of the hazard the more damage is sustained. The damage per second increases accordingly when the player is faced with a platforming section or an environment which is based on Lianna's past where the hazard might be larger in scale.

 

Each hazard also carries its own damage modifier, from the small fire of a torch to a more volatile electrical cable. For example, if the player comes into contact with a fireplace (small fire) then they would sustain 5 damage per second, but contact with electrified water would cause 20 damage per second indicating to the player that separate hazards can cause different damage.

 

The reason small time environmental hazards are included are to give a more realistic in-game world. They only deal small amounts of damage to Lianna but, while one or two hits are nothing to cause concern for the player at full health, extended contact would result in death.

 

Monster Damage & Health | In Game Mechanics

Overview

Monster damage will be harsh and unforgiving to the player if they find themselves in close quarter combat with a monster. The player needs to realise that these monsters are incredibly powerful and that if they catch the player, they will often attack viciously and fast; not leaving much time for the player to escape.

 

Monster Damage

Monsters are the players biggest enemy, they can cause the most damage in the least amount of time. Monster damage is calculated by hits with both damage and attack patterns varying between monsters. For example, the Mother Monster could deal 25 damage per hit in very quick succession resulting in Lianna's death (from full health) if she is caught in extremely close proximity and unable to escape. This would indicate to the player that they will die very easily when engaged in close quarter combat with the monsters and fortifies why the game advises the player to avoid physical contact from the beginning. 

 

Health Mechanics | In Game Mechanics

How is health presented?

Health is not something that will be explained through tutorial to the player; they will only learn about it through exploration of the inventory screen and discovering the health illustration.

 

Health won't be represented by a health bar featured on the playing screen in-game. The player will have to enter their inventory to view their health status, represented by a context-sensitive illustration and a basic sentence. It is then up to the player to decide whether this sentence means they are in need of a health item.

 

>> NEED EXAMPLES OF HEALTH SENTENCES AND HEALTH ILLUSTRATION <<

 

How does the player know they are injured, being hurt or dying?

The main point at which the player will be aware of their health is when damage is caused. Losing health and taking damage wont effect playing mechanics, such as movement, but will cause Lianna to make a verbal sound as if she has been wounded when damage is dealt to her. This notifies the player that damage has been dealt. When Lianna is hit the sentence in the players inventory will change depending on the amount of damage she has taken.

 

There will be an on screen, in-game tell which will warn the player that Lianna could die if she suffers a couple more hits (the number of hits depends on Lianna's current health status at that time) and that they must escape to safety immediately in an attempt to survive. Once an monster has Lianna in their sights it isn't impossible for the player to escape but if the monster does catch up to it will be difficult to avoid being violently attacked causing a very fast death.

 

What is the in-game tell?

There will be various visual and audio evidence that Lianna is on the brink of death (for example, 70 points of damage sustained out of a possible 100). These will evoke fear and panic into the player and also act as a hint/warning  that they are in imminent danger if they do not escape and recuperate.

 

It is important to remember that these "damage hint phases" are usually triggered where players have engaged in combat (purposefully or not) with monsters and in return the monsters have been able to inflict large amounts of damage in short amounts of time onto Lianna, causing need for an in game hint that the player is seriously close to death. Often the player would be considered very lucky if they were able to escape death at these stages of damage/injury, this is not to frustrate the player but to emphasise just how dangerous these monsters actually are.

 

Damage hint phase 1 - Minor colour desaturation & a prominent heart beat: When Lianna is first headed quickly towards death (possibly around the 70/100 point damage mark and if the player hasn't used/got health regain items), in game colours will gradually start becoming desaturated as Lianna loses her health. This is the first visual on screen hint for the player. Lianna's heart will also begin to slowly thud out loud so that the player can hear it. This is the first audio hint for the player. These 2 mechanics happen simultaneously until Lianna sustains enough damage to push onto damage hint phase 2.

 

Damage hint phase 2 - Severe colour desaturation, louder, faster heartbeat & minor red pulsing border: Colours in game are now severely, if not completely, desaturated (possibly around the 80/100 damage point mark). Lianna's heart would continue to thud only now it would be beating much faster and louder causing a great sense of urgency in the player to use/find health or safety. The players first person view would also, at this point, begin pulsing alongside the beat of Lianna's heart. The edges of the screen would display a deep, dark red border which leaks like veins into the players field of vision (not so they can't see where they are going, just to show that this is now seriously affecting Lianna). 

 

Damage hint phase 3 - Total colour desaturation, incredibly loud, fast heartbeat & severe red pulse border: At this stage of the death phase Lianna would be 1 critical hit away from death (possibly around the 90/100 damage point mark). Any colour the game world had is now completely desaturated for the player. The main audio heard, other than monster audio, will be the deep heavy thud of Lianna's incredibly fast beating heart. The minor pulsing red boarder from the previous phase is now an incredibly dark red colour, almost as if Lianna were leaking blood from her eyes, and is pulsing viciously around the edge of the players view. It would pulse out of sync with the heart now to emphasise the panic and severity of the situation.

 

How do I regain my health?

Exploring the museum thoroughly will result in players finding medi-pill bottles, these medi-pills can be used to heal Lianna. Some medi-pills will be in more obvious places so that player who do not chose to explore won't be left without ways to heal, however, players who do explore will be rewarded.

 

Medi-pills are medication, they restore health when used. As to not make the health system anymore complex, medi-pills will simply restore a percentage of Lianna's health when used, this is calculated in-game and will adjust the players health status accordingly if enough health is restored.

 

Medi-pills will be fairly rare, as to not make the players experience a constant walk in the park. The more the player explores the more likely they are to find medi-pills. This both encourages the player to fully explore the museum world so that they can take a small comfort in finding some extra medi-pills and highlights the dangers they might face if attacked with no way to regain health.

 

Another way in which players can regain health is by using a safe-bed. When used, an safe-bed will bestow health back onto the player provided there is a light above the bed. This action is immediate and will not need to be activated by the player. The only determining factor is the light, safe-beds won't deal health if there is no light.

 

How the health mechanics affect the player

When cornered, captured or in close proximity to monsters Lianna will die easily. She will take minimal hits before falling to the floor dead causing the player to restart from a previous checkpoint or saved game. The game will be unforgiving as there needs to be a severe sense of fear if the player is being chased or pursued by an monster. If a monster does attack Lianna and the player can't escape fast enough to hide, the monster will strike quickly, precisely and often won't leave much room for the player to escape which will enforce more fear and panic towards monsters. 

 

Psyche | In Game Mechanics

Mentioned previously in the mechanic overview, psyche is a core factor in Distorted Delirium which can greatly affect gameplay. It will often lead to, and result in, Lianna responding differently to a variety of situations throughout the game. Psyche is the term used to describe Lianna's mental stability as the game focuses on her developing and suffering from an  psychotic episode "inside her own head". It will affect her both mentally and physically.

 

How Does Psyche Work? | In Game Mechanics

The idea behind psyche is that it's a way of physically presenting Lianna's  fear and mental stability presenting it through various gameplay mechanics. Psyche is supposed to represent the amount of darkness Lianna consumes (metaphorically and literally speaking) while in the alternate museum.

 

Psyche will be affected by various actions in game such as having repeat associations/encounters with monsters, witnessing randomised paranormal events in game, remembering repressed memories, travelling through environments linked to her past and having flashbacks etc.

 

With the inventory screen open, the player will be presented with a psyche gauge informing them on how mentally stable Lianna is. The player will learn that maintaining a low level of psyche is best for stealthy movement around the museum. Sustaining a high level of psyche will result in randomly generated paranormal events occurring live, in game.  Gameplay will also become altered in conjunction with the severity of the psyche level. The higher psyche Lianna has, the more noticeable by monsters she is.

 

Okay, So How is the Psyche Calculated? | In Game Mechanics

Because there are an assortment of features that can alter the way psyche is dealt to Lianna, there needs to be an overall psyche damage model for the game to calculate how mentally stable the player is at any given point in game. To do this, the game will use the same calculating system as health. Using an 100-point scale, each specific factor listed can deal psyche damage which will be calculated on an damage per second(s) basis. For example, if Lianna's psyche takes no damage it would be calculated at 0 points signifying that she is completely mentally stable. In this situation, the gameplay wouldn't need to alter. Alternatively, if Lianna has a psyche damage of 100 points it renders her completely mentally unstable.

 

What Factors Effect Lianna's Psyche? | In Game Mechanics

The 3 predominant factors which will effect Lianna's psyche are darkness, monsters and paranormal activity. Of course these are very basic descriptions which can be separated into many specific areas, each having an varying effect on Lianna's psyche, often fluctuating in severity depending on the situation. Specific examples include the following:

• Scripted jump scares
  
• Non scripted jump scares
  
• Randomised/paranormal in game situations (examples include: doors opening and closing, exhibitions falling over and moving around off their own accord, sinister museum PA audio etc)
  
• Random encounters with "boss" monsters
  
• Random encounters with phobia symptom monsters.
  
• Being in areas of utter darkness for prolonged amounts of time (with no torch, ambient lighting or environment lights such as fireplaces, fire torches, windows with moonlight etc)
   

Scripted scares
Distorted Delirium includes pre-written/coded scares. When witnessed, these scares will cause Lianna's psyche gauge to increase. Because they are scripted, the psyche would adjust a pre-determined amount (provided there is enough room in the 100 point scale to do so, otherwise it would just fill to maximum) so that it relates to the nature and severity of the scare. A creaky door opening on its own accord in front of Lianna would not increase her psyche as much as if she imagined an monster tearing through a wall behind her. Each pre-determined event would deal its own amount of psyche damage.

 

Non scripted scares
Psyche damage is dealt similarly to scripted scares however, these scares are randomly generated and come in two varieties, standard non scripted scares and psyche related non scripted scares. Standard non scripted scares, for example, can occur any time during the game regardless of the players psyche level, of course witnessing these scares will have an impact on the psyche, but they can happen even if the players psyche is rock bottom. Psyche related non scripted jump scares will gradually occur more and more around the player the worse their psyche gets, raising the psyche level higher in accordance to the severity of the scare. 

 

Paranormal/mentally unstable related activities
Activities which can't be explained fall into this category, doors shutting on their own, random objects moving, witnessing silhouettes, hearing disturbing noises, voices, imagining monsters and other similar actions for example. These will be a mixture of normal behaviour as part of museum gameplay as well as being a direct result of heightened psyche/fear which will only get worse the more the player sees.  
 

Random/Scripted encounters with boss/phobia monsters
Distorted Delirium will force the player to encounter monsters (both boss and related to Lianna's phobias and possible mental health symptoms) at both pre determined times (during the story) as well as allowing the player to randomly encounter them throughout their exploration of the museum.

 

Some of these encounters will force player monster interaction which will obviously raise Lianna's psyche/fear. However, other encounters might suggest embracing the monster isn't necessary, this means the player can avoid the monster and not have their psyche raised as much.

 

Scripted encounters will raise psyche a pre determined amount. Non scripted is based encounters take into account radius, eye contact, prolonged  viewing, photographs, camera flashes, movement and sound (etc). The time spent embracing the monsters in these ways will determine how fast Lianna's psyche and fear rise as well as by how much (if the player moves away and hides from the monster then Lianna's psyche will stop increasing).

Darkness

There will be environments in Distorted Delirium which are pitch black. The game is very dark generally anyway, but spending prolonged amounts of time in the pitch black environments will cause Lianna's psyche and fear to rise.

 

As stated, all these elements contribute to Lianna's psyche in different manners. It often depends on the situation when calculating the psyche and fear damage. Gameplay mechanics will become effected depending on the amount of psyche damage Lianna has taken and will be represented through a mirror image of Lianna for the player to see whenever they wish.

 

One way psyche is effected is through monster encounters, both scripted and non scripted. These will result in Lianna's psyche increasing depending on her proximity to the monster. Ultimately it depends on the situation the player is in as to how much psyche damage they take.

 

How is Psyche Damage Dealt? | In Game Mechanics

Monsters have a circular "psyche radius" surrounding them so that the game can calculate the amount of psyche damage to deal to Lianna depending on where she is situated within that radius. The closer she is to the monster, the faster and higher her psyche becomes. For example, if the player is near the edges of the psyche radius, far away from the monster and generally out of sight, Lianna's psyche will only increase slowly and in small amounts such as 5points every 40 seconds. However, if she is in incredibly close proximity to the monster (the inner section  radius) Lianna's safety, presence and mentality is compromised so her psyche will increase much faster. 

 

As previously stated, there are a variety of small mechanics which can alter how severe a situation is. Maintaining eye contact with a monster, approaching it, photographing it, running past it and flashing the torch near it, for example, will all increase the severity of the situation making the monster increasingly more aware of Lianna. All these extra mechanics contribute to Lianna's psyche raising faster and becoming worse.  

 

How Does Psyche Affect Gameplay for the Player? | In Game Mechanics

Psyche will become more apparent the higher it becomes but it won't affect physical elements, such as player control and commands, it will control mental aspects of the game. As Lianna's psyche rises, there will be greater chances of randomly generated in game content such as more frequent encounters with monsters, sudden jump scares (e.g. doors opening and slamming shut, items falling over, windows and exhibition displays shattering) and delusion based elements such as the player witnessing "ghosts", silhouettes moving in dark places and strange noises.

 

Of course, all these elements will occur naturally throughout the game regardless of psyche however, players will notice an definite increase in these activities when psyche is higher. A Higher psyche results in higher fear, and fear will begin to take control, literally.

 

Fear...What is Fear!? | In Game Mechanics

Fear is the apple of the psyche tree, they both grow in strength together. The bigger the psyche tree, the riper the fear apple. Fear is a part of Lianna's psyche, the two naturally come hand in hand. Fear has the ability to disrupt the players physical controls in game depending on its severity. 

 

Raised psyche is always a result of something scary happening  in game, such as darkness, monsters or jump scares. The more of these elements consumed and embraced by the player, the higher Lianna's psyche level will become and thus the more scared she'll become.

 

How Does Fear Affect the Player? | In Game Mechanics

The player will have a fear gauge in their inventory, closely aligned with the psyche gauge, which will signify the level of fear at which Lianna is at, at any given point in the game.

 

Fear, although directly linked to psyche, gets its own gauge because it can separately affect the players physical control over the game. The stage which Lianna's fear is at will define how severely the controls are affected which each stage of fear bringing different alterations to control. 

 

How is Fear Defined, What are the Stages? | In Game Mechanics

There will be five fear stages, from mildly nervous through to extremely terrified. The game is never supposed to render Lianna, or the player, "comfortable" therefore there will be no inclusion of a stage at which Lianna isn't scared of the museum. The whole concept of the game is the strong suggestion that she is becoming mentally ill, therefore not feeling scared, or at least un-easy, wouldn't make sense.

 

Stage 1: Un-Easy

This will be the state in which players remain mostly, so long as they keep their psyche level down. This stage brings no alterations to gameplay, players will proceed as normal. Normal will include audio/sound design elements such as hearing Lianna breathe/sigh/exhale (depending on gameplay and situation) as well as footsteps, these won't be altered at this stage of fear.  
 

Stage 2: Anxious

This stage will display changes to normal sound design. Lianna's breathing pattern will change slightly and will become louder. When running, the player will find that Lianna will remain out of breath for a prolonged period of time, often resulting in her breathing being heavier as she moves around the game.

 

Stage 3: Panic

Stage three brings a heartbeat sound mechanic into play. At this level of fear, the player will be able to faintly hear a heartbeat when they encounter anything scary in the museum. Footsteps while running will become even louder and Lianna will have considerably louder breathing.

At this stage, Lianna will gradually become more noticeable to monsters in the museum; they will sense her fear and be drawn towards her. Her psyche level will be around 50% full, this is where the mental side effects mentioned earlier start to creep in.

 

For example, the player will now begin witnessing randomly generated scares/encounters and suffering delusions (thinking they see/hear things which aren't actually there or happening such as ghosts, strange silhouettes and odd noises) as a direct impact of her heightened psyche. As a result, these randomly generated scenarios, when embraced by the player, will also cause Lianna's fear level to increase simultaneously with her psyche.

 

Consider it a vicious circle, the more scary things happen the higher her psyche & fear is raised. The higher her psyche the greater chance she has of witnessing extra randomly generated scares which, if embraced by the player, will keep BOTH her fear and psyche rising until she reaches the maximum.

 

Stage 4: Overwhelmed

This is the stage at which fear will become more severe regarding player control and mechanics. Of course the obvious will occur, Lianna will now be breathing much heavier than previously, she will hear monsters from further away as a result of her heightened senses through fear, her footsteps will sound much heavier too. When the player runs, Lianna will remain short of breath much longer through sheer panic. Lianna will often find herself panting and exhaling in shock when menial tasks are taken out such as opening doors to new room and discovering new locations. The player will also find that Lianna's heart beats much faster and louder when in the presence of monsters or when witnessing paranormal activities. These elements combined make her far more obvious to monsters which will  make sneaking past un detected much harder.

 

Stage 5: Terrified

This is the worst stage to be at and players will not want to find themselves with this much fear, it is at this stage that control is relinquished, slightly, from the player.. Lianna's footsteps will be feel much heavier and clumsy, they will also sound much louder making her hard to miss, even in the dark.

 

Every task performed in the museum, opening doors, exploring new rooms, viewing exhibitions, reading notes, encountering scares/monsters and travelling through darkness, for example, will cause the player to hear a viscous  heart beat indicating that they are far too terrified to perform these tasks.

 

Monsters will become incredibly drawn to the fear in Lianna, moving past them will prove incredibly difficult and often the results will be fatal for the player. This is an indication that they cannot carry on with such a high level of psyche and fear as at this stage, everything will keep getting worse until Lianna dies or the player finds light.

 

If the player engages in any combat with monsters whilst at this level of fear (either on purpose or by accident) it will be harder to escape as stage 5 fear affects the players controls. Running will still remain the same, however Lianna will be much more verbal. She will pant and whimper loudly as she run, possibly alerting more unwanted attention as the player tries to hide. 
 

Whilst running away, if the player moves Lianna past an environment bursting with objects (bookcases, exhibitions, pots, desks etc) then there will be a high chance her clumsy running will knock these over, causing more noise (of course this will work only if the player is near these objects. They won't just be flying over un-realistically). This will cause a sense of urgency in the player to find light.

 

Lastly, there is the stumble mechanic. When at this level of fear, there will be a small chance that Lianna will stumble and the players view would look down to clarify that they haven't fallen over. There would be an animation, in real time, showing Lianna's hands push out as if she were to fall, as well as her feet stumble. She won't fall over, but she will appear to trip up, hindering escape shortly. The chance of this happening is small, however, as to not become annoying for the player.

 

So, do Fear and Psyche Adjust Simultaneously? | In Game Mechanics

Yes, they do. The simple way to view this system is to just consider psyche. Psyche will increase under scary situation. The higher the psyche, the higher the fear. The catch comes in the form of mental disturbances such as randomly generated jump scares and monster encounter (which might not have occurred, had your psyche been lower at that time) which are caused by a higher psyche. Obviously monster encounters can be "dodged", and if so, nothing will happen. Your Psyche remains the same. However, if you embrace the monster encounters, or are unlucky enough to witness multiple randomly generated jump scares, then your psyche will increase (because you are scared) alongside your fear.

 

This viscous circle can only end in 2 ways. Either the player ignores psyche and tried to survive until psyche and fear are maxed out (not recommended) or, they find light to heal their psyche and return to gameplay. Keeping psyche low keeps fear low. It also reduces the chances of randomly generated events occurring purely to aggravate Lianna's psyche. Of course there will be randomly generated events which will happen throughout the game anyway, but they will get progressively worse if the players psyche remains high.

 

How do you Reduce Psyche and Fear?

It's very simple to reduce psyche and fear. Throughout the game players will discover safe beds and so long as the safe bed has a light above it, Lianna can crawl in and "absorb" the light which will reduce her psyche and fear until it "runs out of light".

 

Players can also discover light switches and lamps in certain rooms, testing them to see if there are any lights remaining which work in the seemingly derelict museum. Some lights will turn straight on and provide light while others may flicker but ultimately they will all fade out eventually and need time to regenerate before being used again (preventing unlimited use). Lights that work will be seemingly rare and lamps/light switches can be well hidden and easily missed so players will need to keep retain a sharp eye if they wish to diffuse their psyche and fear.

 

There will also be a few opportunities to stand near windows which flood moonlight into the area providing another way reduce psyche and fear, although most windows will be boarded up or obstructed in various ways as to not let light flood in.

 

Ambient light sources located around the museum will also provide psyche and fear regeneration, fireplaces, fire torch light, lit up exhibition cabinets for example will all provide enough light for Lianna to absorb. These ambient light sources are only small, however, and can only restore set amounts of psyche as they aren't proper or large scale sources of light.

 

It is also worth noting that the torch is far too small to use as a source of light and cannot reduce psyche or fear. Another crucial factor to consider is that whilst Lianna baths in any temporary light source she can find, it will also alert any nearby monsters, they will find themselves attacked to the light source which can be dangerous to Lianna and the player.