Dissertation Proposal

Grimm Dreams

My game will be a 3rd person exploration adventure game in which the player must navigate their way through a maze of different rooms, whist trying to stay ahead of the enemy who is constantly behind them. There will be puzzle elements in each room that the player must overcome to progress through the game.   

Research
To better explain what my game is going to be like I have decided to review the game that inspired its design, Amnesia the Dark Decent. I will look into the mechanics that made it so successful. 
Amnesia is a 1st person exploration survival horror. You play as Daniel who awakens in the darkened halls of a castle with no memories of who he is. The player has to explore the vast environment to find clues as to why they are there. It’s not as easy as that though; the environment is a dark and creepy place with a creature roaming around that cannot be defeated, only avoided.  The more time the player spends in pitch blackness the more insane they become thus making them more vulnerable. They have to collect tinder boxes and oil for their lamp as they progress to help keep their sanity bar down. Physic based puzzles block the path forcing the player to explore the level for a solution, the catch to this though is that they are more likely to encounter the monster as they explore.
I really enjoyed playing this game, the atmosphere it created really pulled you into the game and the gameplay experience. I found myself immersed in the game very quickly, the creepy atmosphere alongside the games mechanics kept the tension high as I was playing, affecting the way I played the game. In Grimm Dreams I hope to create a similar tension filled atmosphere so that the player becomes engrossed quickly in the game. I want Grimm Dreams to have an abstract but haunting aesthetic feel rather than Amnesia’s dark dingy and disturbing feel.   

Story

The games story is loosely inspired by the well known fairy tale little red riding hood.
Play as red, who finds herself in a mysterious manor house. She has no idea why she is there but it soon becomes clear she is not alone. A demonic wolf soon appears and it seems he is after one thing: her life. She must navigate her way through the maze of rooms solving riddles to escape the house and ultimately the wolf.  

Objectives

Main objectives – avoid the wolf, escapes the manor house.

1)      The player starts here. They encounter the wolf and escape via the unlocked door

2)      The player encounters their first chess based puzzle that they must solve it to unlock the next door

3)      The player discovers a riddle, the solution is in room 6 (point 4).

4)      The player finds a switch which they pull to unlock door 5.

5)       The player encounters a riddle ‘The Key to freedom always lies in the heart’. The answer is located in the chest of a torn open teddy bear.

6)      The player encounters their second chess based puzzle, once completed the door behind them swings open as the wolf bursts through and they must run to the next door.

7)         Once in library the player must find and collect 3 fairy tale books; three little pigs, the wolf and the seven young kids and finally little red riding hood. They will be provided clues to where the books are located within the library.

8)      The player must place the books into the allotted square engraved into the door. Once this is done they escape the building. 

Mechanics

The core mechanics that are used throughout the game are:

·         It will be possible for the player to run

·         It will be possible for the player to interact with objects within the environment

·         It will be possible for the player to open/close unlocked doors

·         It will be possible for the player to hide.

·         If the player is caught by the wolf they will die instantly

In the first section of the game that I will refer to as ‘Hallway’, the player will experience the constant pressure to move forward. This is because in this section of the game they will be confronted more by the enemy (The Wolf). The atmosphere created will make the player feel pressured to move forward to avoid The Wolf as I will use sounds to give the illusion that the wolf is right behind them. I want the player to become fully immersed in the game almost instantly, and adding this pressure on them will achieve that as they will have to be alert. Hallway will have a haunting but abstract feel as the player progresses through this environment. I indent for this atmosphere to continue throughout the entirety of the game.

In the second section of the game or ‘Library’ the pressure will ease off the player as the illusion of The Wolf being right behind them will stop. The aim of this change of pace is not only to keep the player interested, but also to increase tension and excitement thus improving player experience.  The environment changes from interior to exterior back to interior, this is so that the game doesn’t become too repetitive and boring to the player. The change in environment also suits the pace change within the game as it allows ‘cheap shocks’ to be achieved more effectively as the tension is higher.