BA4: Game Design Document #17

Game Progress & Team Talk

Today has been fantastic in terms of progression for myself and my group. We were discussing gameplay (as we are happy with how solid our back story is) and how we actually wanted our game to be played. A bit late I hear you say, well no, we have had a lot of ideas swimming around among our minds but we always seemed to choose the most complicated path possible which would often result in complete confusion among us to the point where our brains hurt from the over thinking. 

The Camera!

I am in charge of gameplay and as I have been focusing more on the story of our game and what we want the finished piece to be like I haven’t been firm in wanting gameplay sorted. Today all of this changed. I posted briefly last night about how the camera and its uses/functions will be directly affecting one of our endings in the game, well that is still true however the camera now does not affect any of the other endings what so ever. 

Why will I need a camera?

The camera will serve as our unique “combat” element, unique in that it’s not really combat worthy at all, its more artistic. You see a monster? Oh heck, run. Or better yet, do you feel brave? I mean, this monster will destroy your sanity and worse yet, it’ll tear you apart, do you REALLY want to go near it? You do? Okay, go take a photograph of it, see how far you get! This sort of “will you, wont you” attitude towards the camera is unique. It’s given to the player to do with as they wish. It will not bare impact on the ending of the game, it will serve merely to fulfil your curiosity towards the monsters. And your surroundings. 

What else can my camera do?

The camera will also be a useful tool when you need to solve those pesky puzzles to progress through the game. For example, you might need to take a series of images from around the hell museum of particular portraits which are a part of the exhibitions. Perhaps photographing them shows you a number in your image and once you have photographed all the portraits needed, you’ll have the full code to unlock the door or perhaps even unlock a random chest you have seen around the museum. The puzzles are still under heavy development so this is purely an example but you get the idea!

Does my camera come with any equipment?

Why yes! Yes it does! During your experience in the hell museum you’ll unlock different types of lenses for your camera (don’t worry, you will NOT need to be a camera geek to understand the lenses and camera functions, everything will be simple)! These lenses will act as helpers so, for example, if you needed to take a photograph of a code scribbled onto a wall  but you are unable to reach the room its in, you could use your zoom lens (provided you have it unlocked/found) which will mean you can zoom in to photograph it! Handy right?

You will also be able to experiment taking different photographs of the hell museum and its monsters (if you dare, I mean, I really wouldn’t risk it y’know haha).  

You will also have a camera bag which will act as your inventory, this is where all your camera equipment (and other items found in the museum) will be stored. Perhaps running with your camera out slows you down? We don’t know yet, but this will be your inventory. 

 

My camera sounds really fun and cool, will it distract me from the scary game?

Absolutely not. This game is scary as hell and you certainly wont find any comfort in your camera of photographs. If you do chose to photograph the monsters it wont be a pleasant experience, we suggest you leave them alone and run away (Amnesia style!). It will of course serve as a key in many ways, providing you with a tool to progress further in the game. You can of course to use your camera whenever you like to take photographs of whatever you like but ultimately, in the hell museum, you wont want to capture or remember what you're seeing and experiencing, you're camera isn't going to save you. 

  

Is my camera & equipment unlimited then?

Yes luckily your cameras power is unlimited, we have been having a lot of group discussions and have decided that this is the best way to have the camera. You will need it to solve puzzles and endure basic gameplay so to have it run out of batteries with the possibility of the player not being able to use their camera is very bad. Your camera will have an on screen/view finder battery gauge but this will never run out. Your lenses are all unlimited too, they can’t run out! Yay. 

Is there anything else I need to know right now about the camera?

The camera will become more of a focus point for us when we have ironed out other key areas but ultimately it is all here. One major thing you should know is that the camera will help you find “safe beds”. Safe beds are areas un-finadable by monsters and the light over the bed restores some of your sanity/psyche. These will be found randomly throughout the museum however, there will be areas that you can photograph in order to “find” a bed. This is another key use for your camera! Your camera may also be able to help you open chests, boxes, doors and other “off the main path” areas of the hell museum. More specific details will be coming.

Problems With the Flashgun :/

We thought it would be cool for our character to have a flashgun on her camera, not only would it  modernise the game and the gameplay but she is supposed to be a serious photography student and most photography students have a flashguns.

Our main reason for putting this feature in was that it hasn’t really been done before and that we could have fun with how the light works in game. However today we realise this was just going to be too complicated. Not only do flashguns run off their own power source (removable batteries) but they run out quicker than cameras. So, if you were playing the game and wanted to take a photo but your flashgun was out of battery because you used the last battery in your torch then you would be in a bad way. 

I wrote this up earlier to go along with the questions on the camera to discuss the flashguns (remember, this is an old idea, we are NOT doing this anymore, I am only putting this here to show the progression of our work!)

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The camera will also come with a flash gun (we think) although it’s uses are yet to be finalised. I have been talking to a photographer friend of mine who has given me some tips on the different uses of flash guns (I never actually used flash guns when I studied photography so I am sadly useless in this department). Some of these functions are as follows: strobe lighting (flashes of light), constant lighting (perhaps an alternate use instead of a torch?), bulb flash (where the user determines the length of the flash depending on how much light they need) and finally flash gun light gels (these can be applied to create different colours of light which tint the image). 

 

 

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After discussions with my group we realised this was just going to be more complications we didn’t need. Why does the  player need a “quirky flashgun torch” when they have an ACTUAL torch and surely if they find batteries for the torch which also work in the flashgun surely they will chose to top up the torch over the flashgun. But then wont the player need the flashgun to take photographs in the dark? Yes, they will, so now we need a second source of battery for the flashgun too…(the list goes on)

So yes, its too complicated (sadly). A cool concept/idea but that is all it is for now. So that you have a better understanding of where the game stands currently regarding extra equipment, cameras and batteries, here is a summary of what we went over today! 

A camera, torch and some batteries huh?

Your camera is unlimited. Sure there is a battery power gauge when you look through the view finder but don’t worry about that, it wont ever run out! It might not even be there in the final design but ultimately the camera is unlimited! 

 

You will find a torch early on in the game, that’s pretty handy cos this game is dangerously dark! Unfortunately this torch will run out of batteries so you’ll need to top it up and try to keep stock. 

Batteries will be found by the player the more the rummage around the museum; inside cabinets, desks, draws, under things, on top of stuff, hidden and carefully placed here there and everywhere. Remember those tinderboxes in Amnesia? Yeah, its like that! 

As a group we started a gameplay flow chart today which basically documented the gameplay we have so far. This will be posted up at a later date. We also went through Amnesia and picked about with its gameplay, documenting what the player does, why they do it, how they do it, if they are told or taught how to do it etc and Stacey is going to write this up soon. 

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So, What’s Next?

Today we also came to another conclusion. Instead of aiming out title to appeal to a triple A studio or audience, we are going to keep it small. Amnesia became famous from its terrifying experience, not because it was a massive release. The graphics are very good but ultimately it’s a PC release game only and that is how we are going to market our game. So, what now? 

Okay so next I am going to further research the gameplay, I will be looking at other indie horror games and taking notes on their gameplay mechanics and how they work (God bless you Halloween steam sale!) I will take these notes into consideration when designing the rest of our gameplay. We still need to work on the following: 

• How the character will actually move and how this will be activated through the keyboard.
  

• How you will activate things such as health mirrors, safe beds and other puzzles/camera elements.
  
• How will the character react when in the presence of a monster and how/when/why will the monster react to the character.
  
  
• Determine how the game will monitor the players stats and play style to determine the endings.
  
• How does she go insane? Does anything happen visually which could also affect the controls? (Think about fear, health, insanity, symptoms and mental health!)
• Consider smaller mechanics such as breathing, how weight could affect the movement, how her insanity affects her movements and gameplay generally, the “sneak peek” mechanics (from under the safe bed sheets for example.
  
• How do we measure the girls health if she is hit by a monster and how would the player heal themselves?