Context And Research

Examples Of Walking Simulators

'Everybodys gone to the rapture' is a game set in 1984 England, the art style is very soft. It has a welcoming feel to it, it feels simple but it's complex at the same time. Some game mechanics I can see are opening doors, interacting with objects (radios and phones), trigger boxes. Without sound the game wouldn't work, you hear the orbs talking like memories, there are sounds when walking around and ambiance sounds. The HUD is very simplistic, the only thing on the screen is the subtitles, which makes it closer to a film.

'Firewatch' is a game set in 1989 America Wyoming, it has a low poly art style, some mechanics are doors, picking up items, interacting with things, and talking on the radio. The HUD is very simplistic, the only thing on the screen is the subtitles, which makes it closer to a film. The sounds in-game are well done, like windy sounds, find in trees, nature sounds, and occasional small songs. The ways you can tell its set in the 80s is the lack of technology, old radios, walkie talkies, no smartphones.

Above is a power point on the work futher up the page.

SWOT Analysis

Skills I am confident with are 3D modeling in Blender basic understanding of Unreal Engine. I can do both Blender and Unreal Engine at home, this is good because I enjoy doing the work. I have always liked horror games, anything dark and creepy I like working with.

I'm not the best at blueprints in Unreal Engine, I would like to get better at this because this is how I'm am going to be doing the game mechanics.

To get this skill better I have to watch more videos helping me and learn to figure it out myself if possible, I haven't seen anything before like my game. If I have the time I will be able to take pictures of places that look like Liminal Spaces.

Things that would stop me from doing the work would be bad weather (can't get into college), and disruptive people in the class. I cannot guarantee that the people I ask for help know what I'm asking for. The deadline for the game is May 2022. I'm going to have to work very hard.

Liminal Spaces

The word "liminal" comes from the Latin word “limen,” which means threshold. To be in a liminal space means to be on the precipice of something new but not quite there yet. You can be in a liminal space physically, emotionally, or metaphorically. Being in a liminal space can be incredibly uncomfortable for most people.

For my final game for year one, I want to make a game with the theme Liminal Spaces. The definition is on the left. I thought of this because although there are no jumpscares you still feel creeped out. I'm going to use textures, not Low Poly. The images below are examples of Liminal Spaces.

Mood Board

Mind Map

Examples of Liminal Spaces

Inevitable_end_of_corridor_2098072225-e1621016378265.jpg

Stanley Parable

Stanley parable is a game where you have to follow what the narrator is saying but though out the game you go against him and the game gets very weird. Forgetting about the story the environment is quite liminal, empty, and washout rooms. It isn’t a horror game but the place feels so empty. Everything is still there just like everyone vanished. The game progressively gets more and more strange and mind-boggling.

The Shining

On the right, there is the corridor from The Shining. The corridor is very similar to the images above with simple assets, long corridors, plain walls, patterned carpet, and spooky. I went to the extent of watching The Shining and making notes and taking screenshots of the liminal spaces that came up. Watching it was a lot more useful than I initially thought now having that knowledge from this has helped me compose and finalize my work.

P.T Horror game (playable teaser)

Above is a game called P.T it is a horror game where you are in a house you walk around. You keep going in a circle/loop and each time it gets worse and worse. I have played this and there are many jumpscares. The style is kind of liminal spaces, with the long corridors and the horror theme.

Colours

I got 2 colour palettes that fit with the liminal spaces. The palette on the right is darker and Erie but the one on the left is more washed-out colours. Using Washed out colours and darker colours are going to give me horror vibes rather then neon and vibrant colours.

Textures

Before I started modeling I wanted to find some textures ready for when I did start. Below are the textures I found and what I wanted to use them for.

Subway

Tactile Paving

Subway Tiles

Crazy Golf

Brick Walls

Carpet

Gas Station

Gas Station pump screen

Gas Station pump

Soft play

centre

TexturesCom_Wall_BrickPainted7_2x2_1K_height.tif

Soft play foam floor

Brick Wall for soft play

My pictures of liminal spaces

I went around the college and took some pictures. It looks liminal because it's a place that normally looks busy in pictures but isn't in the ones I took (click to scroll through them). Doing this helps with ideas and also helps with looking for materials and how the lighting would look.

First Microsoft Form

After doing this form it was interesting to see the results I got. Seeing what people thought of the levels I have made and what I could do to improve them. People said that the flooded subway was that favourite so far. People said that more sound design and jumpscares could be better, also a better movement for the monster. Most people think that the Soft Play Centre should be the next level. People thinks at the end of the game it should loop back to the start (never-ending).

Camera Overlay In Games

Outlast

Five Nights At Freddys

GTA 5

In my game I wanted to add an 80s home video camera style overlay, just to make it that much creepier. I looked at games that had camera overlays. The game outlast was most useful, the camera overlay is very in-depth like the blinking recording sign, the room in the slider at the top, battery and night vision and some random camera information at the bottom left. The game fight nights and Freddys was also useful for looking at the camera having a tearing effect. the last example is gta, it is a cinematic view out of a police helicopter camera.

Main Menus In Games

Alien Isolation

Lethe - Episode One

Five Nights At Freddys

When researching for main menu screens I came across a couple that stood out to me. The first one being Alien Isolation, it looks very simple but very creepy. It feels very lonely and cold. The second being a game called Lethe (a horror game), the menu also looks very simple and it looks so dark and only lit by candlelight. It feels like your eyes might focus on a face or figure in the background. Finally, Five Nights At Freddy's menu is very simple and looks like it could be on a camera or security camera. But the static makes it very eerie.

Main Images I Used

This is the main image I used for the flooded subway level. There are others but I like the long path that ends in 2 ways, it feels like something could be around the corners. I like how the image looks quite grainy, it makes it that little bit more creepy. When making this I will get textures similar and try and make it look as good as this image.

This image is of an abandoned crazy golf course. I based my second level on this picture. I love the darkness of this, you can tell once it was a hectic and alive place, now it's dead. The 80s carpet and the graffiti on the walls also add to the creepy feeling of this.

This picture allowed me to come up with the vision to make my third level. Although I wanted to have a retro gas station instead of the modern one in the picture, the atmosphere with the snow and the black fog all around the outside. The glow from the lights is something I wanted to have to almost make it seem like a safe haven in the darkness.

The final image is this one, when I first saw the soft play picture I knew I wanted to have it for the final level in my game. This is another one that would normally be very busy and hectic but now there is nothing there. I love how there are bright colours and a joyful place but it's shown as dark and scary. Once again not knowing what's hiding.

More About My Walking Sim

Unlike other horror games where you have to work out puzzles and have combat, mine is very simple and straightforward. The main reason for this is because it is a walking simulator and this is my second time working in unreal. If I were doing another horror game I would like to add more complex mechanics. An example of my game not being a typical horror game would be the fact there are only five keys you need to press, just moving and ctrl for crouching for the soft play level. Another thing in my game that I have had as feedback is that there isn't a point in the game where the player is too confused about where to go.

Asset List

Subway

Tiled walls
Tiled floor
Stone ceiling
Doors
Handrails
Water
posters
metro map
clock
graffiti
Monster

Gas Station

Snow on floor
Gas Pumps
Rusty metal supports
Metal roof
Car headlights

Cazy Golf

Brick walls
80s carpet floor
metal beam ceiling
many different holes
obstacles for the holes
arcade machines
windmill
glowing arrow
monster

Soft Play

brick walls
carpet
clipart on walls
foam flooring
soft posts
netting
tunnels
slides
train
train track
play equipment
ball pit
Smile room
benches
wooden supports

Second Microsoft Form

In the form above is for people that have played my game and are able to give me some feedback, it is very useful to have this information. With the information, I can make final adjustments to my game. some people said the was too long, I think I'm going to keep it because it keeps the player on the edge. Out of all the ratings it came out as 9.80 out of 10.

Making The Game An .EXE

I wanted to make my game an exe so anyone could play it without having to play it through the editor.

I had a problem where I had to add the maps I made into the Packaged exe file. I'm not sure I would have to do this every time but it fixed the problem this time.