The Experience I would like to capture is one related to Trust and Betrayal, It was an element I wanted to capture in my summer project but this time I want focus on this experience you will have in the game and build up around that before establishing the world and characters. I want the player to explore and manipulate a world with AI that give off real world emotions and actions. This experience could also be captured in possibly a multiplayer setting where players would have to put trust in their Co Op partners to perform actions.
I would want the game to show an Unsettling Experience through the depiction of mental health allowing characters and the player to feel like they inhabit a space with real humans with true emotions and feelings.
I feel the perfect setting to explore the Ideas of mental health and trust and betrayal would be a remote location fitting into the horror vibe as this is when a humans mental state is pushed to limit allowing me to explore this experience to its full potential.
I feel like making the main protagonists of the game be average people and not train soldiers could open the doors to having a more diverse group of characters, which would give off a broader range of emotions.
With this diverse and unique AI in the game I would want the player to be able to mess around with this sandbox a lot like in shadow of Mordor. Yet the survival elements would still be there and the main goal of the player would be survival, I would still like the game to cater to letting the player craft their own story.
Description Presented to Full Class
Essential Experience- My idea is to focus a game around the experience of trust and betrayal, focusing the game on a suspenseful tone. I want to carry over the idea of focusing A.I. around a mental health system yet this time I'm going for a completely different setting and play style.
Game Idea - Currently I'm thinking of setting the game in a remote area of England where a group of teens will be renting a house to get away while some sort of creature hunts them down. The idea is very nostalgic of old school slasher films and I do want to play into the stereotypes present in them old films such as a character being a Jock, one being nerdy character and another being a pot head. Although this area of the idea is quite cliché its the mechanic of each characters mental state which will add unique elements and situations to the gameplay.
Feedback
Phil:
I like the idea of your experience being about trusting and relying on team mates/ AI because so often they are a hinderance in video games and this idea puts a good twist that concept. I would like to hear more about how you plan on doing this.
Stefan:
talk about how you're going to make the AI give off "real world emotions", is this going to be carried off by the strength of the writing? I like the idea of a mental state being pushed to the limit, give some examples of this and what this could mean for the player.
Emilia:
I like the idea of having responsibility over the group of teens. Taking into consideration their mental health more than anything else. It would be good to learn a bit about the characters beforehand in order to feel empathy towards them and maybe understand each of their strengths/weaknesses?
Flora:
mental health system sounds interesting, I think it will use lens of projection in the players projecting onto the characters in the game in order to feel their emotions of betrayal, trust, and the suspense.
Nerice:
I feel that this is relatable but also not? having the idea of a modern twist on this type of experience would be interesting and i would like to see where this idea goes - Lens of projection
Molly:
I really like the idea of the mental health system regarding the characters. It would make the player project more onto the game as they would feel a higher level of responsibility for their wellbeing. I also like the potential aesthetic of an old school slasher game
Lio:
I like the idea of this applying to the old slasher films and how you plan to add in the stereotypes (it's tasteful). It feels like it will lend more to the lens of projection as you have the different stereotypical characters frequent in slasher movies. Would you be able to play as each one or would there be a multiplayer element? I like this idea and am interested to see how it develops!
Marvin:
if you wanna really play into the nostalgia idea or if you want to do some meta stuff you could really play up the stereotypical aspects of the game to the extend that the characters become aware of it, like with cabin in the woods, or some fourth wall breaking with the game being aware that they are in a horror movies and like goading them on, like a narrator, but alas i am saying words and this may contradict your current idea so :)
Patrick:
Sounds really good, it would be interesting to see how different disposition of a character can affect how they act. This brings in the idea of whether the player can relate or interpret certain behavioural patterns or indication to infer their state of mind and therefore by extension take the appropriate action to maintain a level of loyalty and stability.