Moodboard
Playlist
Narrative Directions
Direction 1: JRPG
Our first idea was to create a game that adheres to the standards of JRPGs. This would allow us to focus on the storytelling and use of space, while leaving the mechanics to an engine for JRPGs like RPG Paper Maker. I like this option because designing and developing game mechanics from scratch that challenge and involve players without discouraging them is very difficult within the short time frame we have. I’d rather use an RPG to create an incremental challenge that we can control the difficulty of by adjusting stat points.
Direction 2: 2D Puzzle-Platformer
Another option would be to center the story more around mechanical challenges and give the player less agency while maintaining the same setting. This way, the player could find out more or less about the world based on how thoroughly they explore it, but could also choose to focus exclusively on the puzzles and platforming if the story isn’t interesting to them. I think this concept would find more mainstream appeal because many people turn away from experiencing a game through its story, as seen in our assignments about walking simulators.
Direction 3: First-Person Horror Shooter
This would be, by far, the most difficult concept to implement. However, I think it would be the best way of eliciting emotions from the player, making them feel sacred and powerless, even when fighting the smallest of creatures early on. I also think that a space station or colony on a hostile planet is a great setting to make the player feel claustrophobic in an enclosed space and crave escape. Incorporating the story and player choice would also involve a lot more emotional weight than the JRPG setting, since the player understands the horrors that the prisoners are being subjected to.
