CROSSING
CROSSING
CROSSING
MICHAEL KIRBY
Below is a video of animatic with a mix of film an other game footage as well as my own work, this video was made for the use of my course work and was not made for commercial use. Recommend wearing headphones for the full immersion.
This is only a PROOF of concept of what the game could look and feel like.
This game concept was done in a pair. I worked on the gameplay mechanics and design, while my team mate Lynnett Perez created the visuals for the look of the game. This was apart of my coursework project at Goldsmiths University of London.
Our game concept is called Candlelit. It is a 2D side scrolling game with horror and metroidvania elements, with a pixel art style. The synopsis of our game is that you are a paranormal investigator searching a haunted mansion for ghosts and monsters. The Player uses a candle to traverse the mansion, the candle represents the Player’s safety and health.
For this concept we looked at early side scrolling games and through our research we could see their evolution and how they impacted the games industry. We also did further research on specific horror themed 2D side scrolling games, there were quite a few examples such as Clock Tower (1995) by Human Entertainment, Detention (2017) by Red Candle Games, Lone Survivor (2012) by Superflat Games and Vigil: Longest Night (2020) by Glass Heart Games.
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
For this concept, me and my team mate were tasked with researching the history of side scrolling games. We discovered what the first side scroller was and how the genre impacted the games industry, by eaither creating new genres, saving the industry or adapting with the times.
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For this we looked at Defender (1981), Kung-Fu Master (1984), Super Mario Bros (1985), Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) and several examples of modern side scrolling games that have tried to innovate the genre or pay homage to it.
ART VISUALS
Lynnett Perez created the visuals for our game, she used a software program called Aseprite to draw the main character, enemies, backgrounds and UI. She was set with the task to create a character that complements the candle that the Player uses, as it is very much a part of them. Perez demonstrated this through colour, as the main character’s colours match that of the warm coloured candle. For the enemies and backgrounds, she focused more on cooler colours such as blues and purples. For the enemies overall look she wanted to portray something that was unsettling and otherworldly, made up of distorted shapes and an impression on how they move.
GAMEPLAY MECHANICS
I designed the gameplay mechanics by taking on board what we had learnt from our research above. I designed the UI candle mechanic, the uses for the candle, safe rooms, enemies, puzzle designs and I also considered sound design. I knew from very early on that I wanted to have a time-based life mechanic, which would become the UI of the candle, which over time would melt indicating the Players time/life and the Player would need to find more candles to stay alive. As the candle is a major asset to the Player it made sense to build mechanics and uses around it, like Shovel Knight’s shovel or Mega Man’s arm cannon.
STORYBOARDS
Through storyboarding I was able to figure out the rules of what the Player can or cannot do with the candle. The two main uses are its guidance through the mansion and its use for health, the other three functions are its ability to burn certain objects, repel enemies and help solve puzzles. Safe rooms are a great way for the Player to have a break and collect themselves, especially after being chased by enemies. There would be two types of safe rooms; safe rooms that are lit by candles, which can allow the Player to stock up on items and safe rooms lit by moonlight, these would act more as checkpoints. Sometimes the moonlight can be used to block off enemies if the Player runs in front of a window.
Enemies would vary in design but so far, I have broken them down to big enemies that require a full lit candle to keep at bay, as soon as your candle starts to melt, they will chase. The next type of enemies are small ones that can be repelled despite the Player having a low light. However, this may cause unbalance in the gameplay, to solve this we would bring the hide mechanic that allows the player to hide while enemies go past. With regards to puzzles I believe three types of puzzles/challenges would fit in the setting, the first being a typical key to open a door to progress forward. The second are light puzzles that either involve the Players candle or other light sources. The last puzzle are colour puzzles involving matching colours. The last thing I considered is not a traditional mechanic but is key component to the gameplay and that’s sound design. Sound design in any game is important, but especially in horror, listing out for enemies in darkness is important as the candle can only give you so much visibility.
PRESENTATION
In summary this game concept has taken inspiration of both retro and modern side scrolling games, while maintaining a retro pixel art style seen in games of the 1990s. When coming up with an original idea it can be challenging as you must weigh up what has been done before and see if you can improve upon it or make something unique. This is truer with side scrolling games, as there are a large range of games each portraying something different and there are even more in the sub genres. Our thinking behind this was like the developers of Shovel Knight, that is to take an art style of an old game and give it modern mechanics. For us the best way to sum it up is Resident Evil but in 2D.
