(Much of this will end up in my Document, just blogging it now)
Idea
The current idea is to craft around a 5-6 room level, with adjoining cross sections totaling in around 12 or so different interior sections Harland and the player will experience. Initially, I am unaware of the look, feel or content of these rooms an indeed the overall level, therefore research under the "Medical / Laboratory" theme, looking into various old style hospitals and asylums.
My research has taken me to various places, giving my both visual and written examples of just exactly how these places work:
www.28dayslater.com
http://logicmgmt.com/1876/overview/medicine/hospitals.htm
http://www.thetimechamber.co.uk/Sites/Hospital/History/Background.php
http://www.victorianlondon.org/
The list goes on but I'll explain in greater details inside the actual document.
Gleaned from this research, I have decided the best way to present the player will a visually stimulating and generally impressive level and world, is to give each room and section of the level its own individual theme and design; unique to each room in my over all level.
So far, I can only think of these rooms as examples:
- Surgery - Patient Rooms
- Wards - Mortuary
- Pediatric - Sanitarium
- Psychiatric - Neuro / Psychosurgery
- Shock / Trauma - Hematology (Blood)
Gleaned from this research, I have decided the best way to present the player will a visually stimulating and generally impressive level and world, is to give each room and section of the level its own individual theme and design; unique to each room in my over all level.
So far, I can only think of these rooms as examples:
- Surgery - Patient Rooms
- Wards - Mortuary
- Pediatric - Sanitarium
- Psychiatric - Neuro / Psychosurgery
- Shock / Trauma - Hematology (Blood)
Essentially a list of Hospital locations, although all of which carry a uniquely different style defined by the area of study and function they provide to the hospital.
Not all of them however, are relevant. Since the world of Spin Doctor is set in some kind of disused Military Base or Research Institute, certain areas do not follow with the concept.
I think I'm going to tailor my research to existing Military and Research areas to make the environment seem more believable, but for now, this is what I'm going on.
Not all of them however, are relevant. Since the world of Spin Doctor is set in some kind of disused Military Base or Research Institute, certain areas do not follow with the concept.
I think I'm going to tailor my research to existing Military and Research areas to make the environment seem more believable, but for now, this is what I'm going on.
My favorite locations and I think the most interesting for the project go something like:
Patient Rooms - Wards - Surgery - Mortuary - Sanitarium
Patient Rooms - Wards - Surgery - Mortuary - Sanitarium
It's worth noting, that I see the facility at one time existing as some kind of, Victorian era Black Mesa, before some kind of mass evacuation happened and the place was left abandoned and Reeves moves in. From the earlier story elements, perhaps Reeves had some connection to the institute and was somehow responsible for the clearance.
In any case, since its construction, the place has always housed weird experiments and goings on. Since Reeves moves in however, they take on a more hellish and sinister approach. I imagine through a combination of years in existence and the few years of research and testing by Doctor Reeves (prior to the invention of rotating rooms late in the Doctors life) has left the world stained with history; most of which unpleasant.
In any case, since its construction, the place has always housed weird experiments and goings on. Since Reeves moves in however, they take on a more hellish and sinister approach. I imagine through a combination of years in existence and the few years of research and testing by Doctor Reeves (prior to the invention of rotating rooms late in the Doctors life) has left the world stained with history; most of which unpleasant.
Purpose and FeatureI found this one difficult to write words about, mainly because I had a misunderstanding of what P&F was actually for in the game development process.
I've decide it to mean this:
Purpose: Each element of my game level needs to have a purpose and a reason for existence. There can be no random inclusions and everything must make sense in context of the story.
Feature: Each section of my level must have a unique and interesting feature that will break the minority of game play. On a grander scale and in bigger games, this would be done via a level by level process, (like in Portal 2, adding the goo elements slowly slowly) but because of the small size of Spin Doctor I want to include a new feature during each room the player encounters.
I've decide it to mean this:
Purpose: Each element of my game level needs to have a purpose and a reason for existence. There can be no random inclusions and everything must make sense in context of the story.
Feature: Each section of my level must have a unique and interesting feature that will break the minority of game play. On a grander scale and in bigger games, this would be done via a level by level process, (like in Portal 2, adding the goo elements slowly slowly) but because of the small size of Spin Doctor I want to include a new feature during each room the player encounters.
Features I want to somehow impact on game play and to be presented in a context base format; meaning that the style of the room will breed the style of the feature. To make for easier reading, I'll go through my initial thoughts on P&F below.
Room: Patient Room
Room: Patient Room
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: Themed around patient rooms, this area will be filled with beds etc where residents of the institute will be brought after operations and such.
Feature: Moving beds on wheels perhaps add an element of challenge as they move with the rotating room potentially harming the player. Likewise perhaps they could be used as transport.
Purpose: Themed around patient rooms, this area will be filled with beds etc where residents of the institute will be brought after operations and such.
Feature: Moving beds on wheels perhaps add an element of challenge as they move with the rotating room potentially harming the player. Likewise perhaps they could be used as transport.
Room: Surgery
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: Area where much of the medical and biological experiments took place and perhaps the most grim and grotesque area of the level.
Feature: Surgical equipment. I figure there is still a chap on the operating table and the player has to do something with him, something along those lines.
Room: Mortuary
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: The part of the world where subjects are brought when they have lived out their need. Perhaps used years ago by the facility and continued usage by Reeves. (resulting in different styles of decay in each of the corpses. Eww)
Feature: Perhaps some kind of terribly morbid and totally disgusting puzzling involving the moving bodies of the long since deceased. I can only think of weight based puzzle which sounds hilariously macabre.
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: Area where much of the medical and biological experiments took place and perhaps the most grim and grotesque area of the level.
Feature: Surgical equipment. I figure there is still a chap on the operating table and the player has to do something with him, something along those lines.
Room: Mortuary
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: The part of the world where subjects are brought when they have lived out their need. Perhaps used years ago by the facility and continued usage by Reeves. (resulting in different styles of decay in each of the corpses. Eww)
Feature: Perhaps some kind of terribly morbid and totally disgusting puzzling involving the moving bodies of the long since deceased. I can only think of weight based puzzle which sounds hilariously macabre.
Room: Sanitarium
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: Once this area would house the patients and subjects deemed unfit for social interaction. The usual "padded white walls" thing here.
Feature: I figure the padded walls could be used to cushion the blows of the players fall, perhaps allowing the player to jump and fall greater distances before death.
Room: Psychiatric
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: Sort of a, rehabilitation area I suppose. I see this themed in a similar way to the Study area, although found within the Medical Facility section. Long couches and Rorschach tests, that sort of thing.
Feature: I think there is a cool puzzle in here with the rotating of Rorschach tests on walls, although I'm not 100%. Something related to Psychology though, obviously.
Room: Wards
Rotating: No
Purpose: Used as a connecting point between rotating rooms, could even have markers on the walls and arrows which give the player a sense of direction and the feeling they are inside a large living facility.
Feature: More environment based puzzles in terms of traversing the worn environment. These sections are designed to be quick and I can extend them in length by adding obstacles the player needs to jump and swing past.
Room: Hematology
Rotating: No
Purpose: Hematology is research into blood malignancies so I figure large tanks full of the stuff would be a fitting style for this room. I want to have some cross sections that go beyond just "corridors" and walking from A to B. This can aide me in pacing out my level and ensuring its long-lived.
Feature: Thinking some kind of puzzle to do with liters of water here to open the door and continue. I figure something along the lines of Die Hard 3, like with the jugs of water, one, three and five liters? Replace the water for blood and the jugs for tanks and we are golden.
Room: Pediatric
Rotating: No
Purpose: Another cross section. This was more an aesthetics inclusion but I wanted a room filled with kids toys and decoration, since I think that would be terrifying in the final game.
Feature: Something to do with children's toys, or maybe this is just a simple section the player can walk through for aesthetics.
Ill think of specific features from a game play point of view, when I come to designing the levels on paper, since they need to make sense structurally with the rest of the level and world. But for now, these are my starting ideas and dreams.
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: Once this area would house the patients and subjects deemed unfit for social interaction. The usual "padded white walls" thing here.
Feature: I figure the padded walls could be used to cushion the blows of the players fall, perhaps allowing the player to jump and fall greater distances before death.
Room: Psychiatric
Rotating: Yes
Purpose: Sort of a, rehabilitation area I suppose. I see this themed in a similar way to the Study area, although found within the Medical Facility section. Long couches and Rorschach tests, that sort of thing.
Feature: I think there is a cool puzzle in here with the rotating of Rorschach tests on walls, although I'm not 100%. Something related to Psychology though, obviously.
Room: Wards
Rotating: No
Purpose: Used as a connecting point between rotating rooms, could even have markers on the walls and arrows which give the player a sense of direction and the feeling they are inside a large living facility.
Feature: More environment based puzzles in terms of traversing the worn environment. These sections are designed to be quick and I can extend them in length by adding obstacles the player needs to jump and swing past.
Room: Hematology
Rotating: No
Purpose: Hematology is research into blood malignancies so I figure large tanks full of the stuff would be a fitting style for this room. I want to have some cross sections that go beyond just "corridors" and walking from A to B. This can aide me in pacing out my level and ensuring its long-lived.
Feature: Thinking some kind of puzzle to do with liters of water here to open the door and continue. I figure something along the lines of Die Hard 3, like with the jugs of water, one, three and five liters? Replace the water for blood and the jugs for tanks and we are golden.
Room: Pediatric
Rotating: No
Purpose: Another cross section. This was more an aesthetics inclusion but I wanted a room filled with kids toys and decoration, since I think that would be terrifying in the final game.
Feature: Something to do with children's toys, or maybe this is just a simple section the player can walk through for aesthetics.
Ill think of specific features from a game play point of view, when I come to designing the levels on paper, since they need to make sense structurally with the rest of the level and world. But for now, these are my starting ideas and dreams.
In addition to the strange why I've included Purpose and Feature regarding each room as a separate section, I also want the whole level to have an overall purpose to exist.
The Medical section needs to be about discovering just how evil and disturbed Dr Reeves is. By the design of the level and the challenges the player will face, I want it to be so that by the end of this section, the player literally hates Reeves. It is about building up an image of the Doctor so that it is clear just who the player is dealing with and showing the antagonist in his entirety.
The level is about realisation.
Location and Environment
I suppose this section will focus more on the actual visual style of the level as a whole and each individual room section. I'll go through some of the key factors when defining visual style and simply talk briefly about each category.
I suppose this section will focus more on the actual visual style of the level as a whole and each individual room section. I'll go through some of the key factors when defining visual style and simply talk briefly about each category.
Decor / ThemeInvariably, the level is set in the Medical / Libratory zone and therefore must inherit the connotations in look and design we image when picturing these types of environments. That for me, means heavy on the white wash and sterile feel hospitals bring.
I think this will create an interesting visual aesthetic when combined with the decayed and disused environment ideas in creating the old and creepy facility.
I'm also very interested in creating interesting visual moments that stir the player with emotional visual imagery. Games like Limbo did this very well and its essentially the driving point behind visual Photography. I want certain sections to have an impact on the player.
I feel like I can explain this better with images than I could with words, so here are some examples:
Victims hanging from meat hooks (Fear 3)
Hanging Child in the distance (Limbo)
I have no freaking idea whats going on (Amnesia: The Dark Descent)
Corpse in the sand (Spec Ops: The Line)
Reapers attacking London (Mass Effect 3)
The last one wasn't really in the backdrop of a horror setting but it was just to get my point across. One thing the images have in common, is that they are emotionally jarring. Sometimes from sheer shock value but other times it's a story related feeling.
Areas like Pediatrics etc in my level will work in my favor to create visually intense room designs that aide the purpose of my overall level.
Atmosphere Spin Doctor to me has always been first and foremost a horror game. Everything about it screams horror, from the setting and characters to the levels and designs. As such, the atmosphere of the game bleeds into this horror genre and theme. Rooms will be dimly lit, environments, whilst having the sterile white wash feel of hospitals will be strain with grunge and age. Everything about the level will scream to the player that it is a place they do not belong to.
Music is a key factor in increasing the tension and pressure of a level. During the main rotating action sequences the music will need to be played dimly in the background however convey the same sense of panic as the rest of the world.
Likewise during the slower cross section areas, the music will need to fall to a slower and more creepy tone, allowing the player to calmly navigate these areas.
It is during the cross sections I want to induce much of the "horror" aspects of my level, with creepy music and imagery in abundance. The rotating room sections will focus more on action and interesting level game play features.
Colour Scheme I would like the world to change its colour scheme as the player progresses through the levels. Showing a change in area. For the medical zone at least, harsh whites and greys will be used to instantly imply the medical feeling of style to the player. Combined with the rusted and ancient feel, browns and reds of dirt and blood will add elements of horror and make certain sections stand out on the blank canvas of the concrete walls.
LightingLighting is a good way to usher the player along and create easy focal points for the designers. Since our rooms rotate there can be some interesting inclusion of dynamic lighting illuminating different areas as the world moves.
I think this will create some impressive sections for the player to experience. Additionally, the medical section by nature will be bright and well lit, to combat this I want to include areas of harsh light, almost blinding the player, which in turn creates areas of harsh shadow.
Much like the contrast of white and red in the colour scheme, the light and dark areas will make the medical zone stand out from other sections of the game.
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I suppose that's enough for now, this at least covers the initial section for the deadline and my thoughts on it. I'll be adding much of this (probably in less detail) into the document.
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