Visual Storytelling Assignment 1

Brand

As my first game will be heavily inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s work, i felt it would be appropriate to include some of his themes in my logo such as sea monsters and death. In addition to this, my logo also reflects my personal connection to the sea as I live close to the River Thames and participate in a lot of water activities such as Kayaking and Power Boating.

Furthermore, the skull represents my affinity for rock music; I’m a big fan of classic bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival and Guns ‘n’ Roses. The contrast in colour between the skull and the background also reflect a changeable attitude and my vision for my brand going forward in that I don’t want to be tied down to one specific type of game. What is meant by that is there are a lot of game developers who only develop one type of game, for example FromSoftware are only known for making the Darksouls games. Whilst these companies are still successful, I don’t see the need to limit myself or my brand.

Target Audience

My target audience is players of age 18 and over. This would mean a PEGI rating of 18 and an ESRB rating of Mature. The reason for this is because these higher age ratings will allow me to include intense and impactful violence to fit in the action/horror genre which I am attempting to imitate. Furthermore, it allows me to include and explore more mature themes such as mental illness, which is extremely relevant to my plot and also a key mechanic of the game. Finally, a higher age rating will allow for a darker, scarier and more visceral aesthetic which would not be suitable for younger audiences.

Semiotics & Colour Scheme

Atmospheric

To capture the atmosphere, a lot of the buildings we be comprised of washed out blues and greys. This will create a drab and dreary feel to the environment which will showcase the general hopelessness of the town and its inhabitants. Furthermore, it will have the effect of making the environment seem very cold and harsh which is another key aspect to creating the right mood for the game.

Tension

In order to create tension with the colour design, a lot of the environment will be dark with obscured nooks and alleyways cast into shadow so that the player cannot see what lurks within them. This will make use of the players innate fear of the unknown as some of these alleyways will hide monsters and other horrific sites and so the player will always be weary of what lurks in the shadows. Furthermore, this will have the effect of making the player feel enclosed creating a sense of claustrophobia as they progress through the games levels.

Action

In order to illustrate action and danger, entering combat will trigger some of the lighting to turn a deep red. This will further intensify the action in a more abstract way rather than just the usual explosions and violence as this will act subconsciously on the player by associating the danger and action with the change in colour. In addition to this, areas which are more strange and unusual, such as sections will deal with insanity and visions will be lit in an unnatural green as to convey the strangeness of this section of the narrative.

Environment

My environment is a currently unnamed city located on the East Coast of America, somewhere in Massachusetts. This environment has a very Gothic style architecture in that its very ornate with a lot of tall and thin buildings such as those seen in games like Thief as well as the Batman Arkham series. This was a very particular design choice as this type of architecture is a major horror trope because of how angular and sharp it looks whilst still being able to look warped or distorted. It is this aspect of the design which makes it perfect for the horror genre.

In addition to this, the city and its inhabitants will seem very grim as if struck by extreme poverty and desperation. These dire situations will illustrate the stakes of the game as well as how much of a toll that the events leading up to the game have taken on the city. To accompany this, the city will also be constantly under attack from a barrage of harsh weather like storms and fog.

Story

1945 – V.E. Day:

• Our main character returns home from a harsh war in Europe with not only physical scars, but also psychological scars which run deep, serving as a constant reminder of the horrors of war. Hopefully with the help of his darling wife, he can begin to rebuild himself

5 Years Later (1950)

• As an exercise to cope with his diagnosed shell shock, our main character decides to take a short fishing trip alone in order to combat his debilitating fear of water.
• All of a sudden, the Earth and water around him begins to shake and buckle as an almost unnatural earthquake begins to shake the small town.
• Taking this as his cue to leave, our main character rushes back into town to find that the entire populace has become hysteric and plunged into untold chaos
• Fearing the worst, he rushes home to check on his wife, only to find she has been killed in the chaos
• At this moment, he is pulled into a vision where he feels our villain, Cthulhu attempt to reach him
• Our main character is able to repel Cthulhus influence
• He doesn’t know who he is, he doesn’t know what he wants – All he knows is that he will kill this monster if its the last thing he does
• Our hero grabs his old service rifle and marches out the door, taking one last glance at the body of his dead wife

Mechanics

• Rage: This mechanic is similar to that seen in the recent God of War for the PS4. Once the player fills the Rage meter by consecutively killing enemies, they can activate Rage mode for a short period which allows the player to trigger deadly and brutal melee executions whilst providing a huge damage resistance
• FPS: At its core, this game will be a rudimentary first person shooter with a first person view of the game. This will immerse the player in the story as well as intensify the perceived threat to the player
• Stamina: Running and performing heavy melee attacks will consume stamina. Furthermore, it will also be used up in actions such as jumping and throwing objects such as grenades so te player will have to be cautious with their use of it.
• Sanity Meter: Due to the main characters ongoing battle with PTSD or ‘Shell-Shock,’ the player will have to monitor the character sanity which deteriorates as the player takes more damage. Lower sanity will increase the strength of enemies, cause the character to have visions and will also decrease the Rage meter. In order to restore sanity, the player must either kill all of the enemies present or find an area to regroup and recover.
• Skill Tree: All pre-mentioned mechanics can be improved or altered with a skill progression system.

Merchandise

Posters

T-Shirts & Hoodies