Homework 4

Please answer the following questions related to game experience and game objectives, based on Chapters two (The Designer Creates an Experience) and three (The Experience Rises out of Game). Use your blog.

Chapter 2

Forgetting about the game, think about your player. What are the experience(s) you want your player to have.

·         We want to submerge the player in an environment that promotes fear, anxiety and paranoia. Told from the perspective of the main character Sara, Purgatory, a horror game that promises to makes the player feel hounded as if something or someone is stalking you. Ideally we would like the player to also feel addicted, with the promised of liberation as it break out of Purgatory.

What are the essential element(s) of that experience?

·         Most importantly atmosphere

·         Fine tune Game controls

·         Immersive Sound

·         Lighting.

·         Staging.

Suggest a few ways your game might capture those experiences.

·         Researching other successful video game franchises such as Silent Hill, a giant in the Horror genre, we established a feel for what we are looking for in terms of sound design. This last example proved that a simple but powerful music choice can set a mood that would make players feel frightened and scared. Also sound effects besides background music, can set the mood to a jumpy more up to pace or slower and dreadful. Such attention to detail in music selection and sound effects can give away the horror that the main character is experiencing and translate this to the player.

·         Staging and lighting are also crucial. A well-orchestrated horror game as a good horror film,

 has to inspire a sense of being watched or followed, so by setting the light to be reflecting with worm colors drastic contrast of light and shadows, this can be achieved.

Chapter 3

Discuss a few ways in which you might include surprise in your game

A great example to apply is the classical term use in music of tension and release. By promoting fear through the game play = (Tension) achieved by the various music choices and scary lighting of the world, and jumpy moments of sudden surprises such as the apparition of a monster around a corner = (Release) this could give the player gratifying surprises.

How will your game be fun?

For most people, Adrenalin is released when they are put through difficult situations. The fact that our players would be scared or put in a situation that promotes fear, has its rewards by secreting Adrenalin, which some find to be a very powerful narcotic that promotes the sensation of fun.

Discuss the goals of your game (as it stands now).

The main idea is to make our video game unique to the player, this could be achieved by making them feel immersed in a cinematic experience that promises a rewarding ending or a satisfactory game play. We are still working the details.   

State your thoughts on how you will make the player attached to your game, or motivated to play the game.

The cinematic intro would set the narrative to be so unquestionably interesting that the player would have no choice than to find out what is next for Sara.

What problems do you expect the players to solve in your game?

Evading the various monsters and how the system of collecting items work in combination with a reward system of points are among the mayor problems players have to solve to successfully finish the game.

Contributions made to the team:

The contributions I’ve made to the teams game for the period of Sept. 8th through Sept. 15th, Involve helping with the art direction, implementing a design oriented aesthetic look and preliminary sketches for the game main character. I am leading team 4 by providing a line of communication that is open 24/7 allowing them to stay in touch and post their progress on both Google email & drive services. I've been checking daily on both of my teammates while organizing the way we apply lighting and textures to game assets as well as keeping the overall look of the game consistent to the horror genre.

It is my belief that by setting a mood which exploits the player's fear of the unknown, this would add to the player’s interest in wanting to explore the world and increase the addictive nature of the game. This would provide an opportunity to give the viewers a more immerse and rich gaming experience. So in general I have written the original concept for the game in a elevator pitch format, created the game document for my team and modified the downloaded assets by making them better fit our game.