Context & Research

For this project I am to devise, develop and create my product based on evaluating the skills and processes I have learnt so far and how I would like to further explore & deploy in the creation of my own product. My project is going to explore the game elements of a Walking Simulator. I'm going to heavily focus on the story and build up in the involvement of my walking simulator. This includes an environment where I am going to include mystery and horror elements for the player to walk around and explore at their own will. I don't want my title to be too short or too long but I'm hoping to keep the gameplay time between the 10-15 minuet mark. To develop my project I'm going to use the software 3ds Max 2022 to produce my environment, furthermore I'm going to drag these assets into unreal and hopefully add my own menu, audio, and mechanics into my walking simulator.

In order to evidence my understanding and knowledge of context, I will start by applying the diamond as a way of analysing an opening sequence of my choice.

The effects and experiences I myself have had with a walking simulator have been almost like an escape from reality, an amazing way to help the player get away from stress, anger, sadness and everyday aching situations for some. I feel it creates a much needed space and environment for the player to roam around in and enjoy, a pure escape from their own world into a completely new one. Walking simulators are based initially around a story immersed in the environment, a key highlight/ technique used by a variety of developers in walking simulators is different levels of music depending on the locations of the environment. Music can dramatically change the experience for the player which is why I consider it a great technique. Furthermore walking simulator games often concludes of world building being scene of destruction to show violence or scene of a burnt house to show a fire has occurred slowly guiding the player to tell a story though acts of scenery.

Website Research

Examples & Diamond

Context - Today we took a look at a game called Everybody's Gone To The Rapture - (2015). This walking simulator game is set in the countryside of the United Kingdom in the year 1982.

Visual - The visuals of the game are very breath taking with the beautiful nature environment surrounding the player, I think the visuals of the environment are very eye catching as they are very photo realistic and really catch a visual look of England.

Interaction - The game includes basic mechanics with interaction with doors letting the player expand upon their story entering phone booths, houses and other buildings.

Narrative & Audio - Throughout the walking simulator immersive audio helps the player feel more evolved in the gameplay and the story, a voice talks to the player narrating throughout most of the gameplay.

Context - The game takes place in the Wyoming Wilderness in 1889, the player explored the world and communicates to another person through a radio slowly creating a story for the player.

Visual - The visuals of the game are very low poly and stylized, taking the tole of a more cartoony game than others with the short animation sequences that happen throughout the game.

Interaction - The game has a inspection of items feature, the level is very wide and open so the player has the accessibility of a map, a radio is a key highlight throughout the game as its used as an instruction set and a short brief on the objective.

Narrative & Audio - Dialogue is the highlight of which coming from walkie talkies, bird rustling the trees as the wind sways the branches, further ambient sounds in the background through your experience and the smooth sound of the water running down a river, waterfall or lake.

Refrence Images & Details

For this project I am to re-create a Subway or otherwise also know as Rapid Transit Station as my environment for my walking simulator, I have gathered some reference images on this environment so i can try replicate not only the main environment itself but even the smallest details that come with it. I have to pay close attention to these small details so the elements from the reference images look an exact mirror of how it should look in reality. I haven't yet decided whether I want to keep m environment low poly or not but either way capturing these details and looking over the reference images are a brilliant way to help myself recreate this for my walking simulator. The environment itself looks quite unique and easy to recreate as from as 3ds Max point of view recreating this is just a few shapes with small tweaks to them and textures. I think the main struggle i will have with this environment is recreated the actual tracks for the train to run through, they have such fine detail to them and I think I will struggle with that but I'm going to take a closer look into how I can easily replicate these tracks for myself.

I am also going to be recreating an actual subway train for my environment too as being a horror game I think it would be a brilliant choice for a jump scare as it roars past the player as they explore in the terrifying silent ambience. I have once again explored some reference images to help me get an idea of what a subway train really looks like and how I can replicate them. Since for now my subway will be speeding by the player I don't think there is much point in adding little too much detail to the train unless in the future I choose to have the train stop for the player at some point. The train concludes of a nice silver coating so I would gather a silver texture over the model, than id have to create the inner doors which I feel I can easily Boolean. I feel I will have a difficult time replicating the wheels but that depends on whether I want to go down the low poly path or not.

Related Games

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Metro 2033 (2010) - Metro 2033 is a first-person shooter video game developed by 4A Games and published by THQ. In one of the mission there is a ruined like subway environment in which I'm using as another reference. Since my game is focusing on the theme of horror I'm hoping to also include a ruined subway including flickering light, spray paint, rubble everywhere, and smoke effects too. Although Metro captures a brilliant portrayal of a ruined subway I don't think I'm going to go too over board with a ruined effect but just a bit messy. I have chosen Metro as an example as I think i can really use this to help me while i am designing the environment as it catches many elements of a subway and concludes of a verity of destruction effects and features.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) - . Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a 2020 first-person shooter video game developed by Tryarch and Raven Software and published by Activision. U-Bahn is a multiplayer map exclusively designed for Gunfight Mode, or One on One battles, this explains why the map is so small compared to others. I love this environment as they have kept it yet so unique and so small at the same time. I'm going to strongly take up on this reference as I don't want my environment to be to big or too small but looking at this map i think will give me an idea on how big of scale i would like my environment to be. The spray paint on the carriages are perfect as they really catch that true subway astatic with vandalism all over. The tracks are kept simple in this map and also stand out well with the environment which gives me the impression that I don't have to make the tracks perfect to the reality of how they really look with wires and switches all over.

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Propagation VR (2020) - Propagation VR is a short VR experience combining survival, horror and shooting. The environment for this game is another perfect example as it really focuses on horror whilst also being enclosed in a large subway station. After playing this game for myself I have so many other ideas i would love to include in my game, the effects of fire burning from one side of the room, blood splats all over the walls, and many more ideas but like i said I don't want to go too insane with the idea of destruction and violence in my environment. Rather than raging with fire, rubble, crashes and burning walls i want to really make this a terrifying game with a horrible gloomy look and feel to it.

Swot Analysis

Strengths - I'm very confident in my skills to produce concept are as drawing has been a strong highlight for me in all of my projects, I haven't decided whether I will develop my concept art through Sketchbook or by hand. I am able to develop and create 3Ds Max assets, I'm more familiar with developing low poly but I'm going to try push my strengths and see what I can do.

Weaknesses - I'm not too fond in developing music and sounds as I don't enjoy it, its hard to create and work on something you don't enjoy doing but if its for my environment then ill try my best. Time management isn't so well as i always leave stuff till last minute.

Opportunities - I'm starting to produce much more work than usual from home including my website. I'm also starting to use my drawing pad prom home in case I decide to develop concept art from drawing pads. For time management I'm keeping up to date with everything and I'm going to create a Gantt Chart to help me with my time management.

Threats - I have a terrible habit of throwing away old pieces of work I don't use or failed work. When creating concept art if i get something wrong i will throw it away and restart when really i should keep it as progression and more proof. For me everything must be right and perfection, if its not i will restart and try again because in my eyes I notice small silly mistakes that no one could even realise and then i spend too much time trying to correct that same mistake.

Horror Genre

A week into out Final Project we have been assigned to create a pitch where we must discuss and evaluate what we have chosen to do for our final project and why. To help me get a clear understanding on how to make the perfect pitch I have watched a (30 - 55 minute) section of the Far Cry executive producer, Dan Hay, talk about his pitch.

Engagement - To grab the audiences attention Dan relates to the audience where he speaks about his teddy bear as a child where the audience could understand and be intrigued as they also think about their childhood as once having a teddy bear creating a good emotional connection with Dan and the audience giving them more reason to want to listen to his pitch. Furthermore he goes to make actual conversation with the audience keeping them more engaged asking them questions individually to make them feel actually included in the pitch further keeping them connected and entertained as such.

Generating Concepts and Interests - Hay talks about his interests of Greek Mythology a topic some audience would be familiar with and even interested with too, throughout he talks about how that for him inspired him and gave him an idea. He goes to talk about how he got the understanding and idea of exploration as a kid when travelling to a new school leaving his beloved Teddy Bear behind which inspired him of the concept of exploration.

Making Audiences Understand - Dan explains his first idea on how to get from A - B in short sentences to help the audiences get a better understanding. Once given from mythology to a bear in space like A - B the audiences starts to understand and further so Dan tells his pitch as if it was a story to engage the audiences. The use of pictures and arrows helps guide the audience throughout his pitch and makes his pitch not seem so bland and boring.

Pitch Research

Game Rating

In the pitch I had prevoisuly mentioned that Age Rating would be a difficult task for me as being my walking simulator a horror genre game. This includes blood, gore, fear and violence. Many of these in which would be held as an 18+ game. So i discussed win my pitch that those aspects are what make a true horror, but through discussion we also mentioned how I could possibly change that bright red 18+ rating to a lower rating. Viewing other games such as The Vanishing of Ethen Carter and What Remains of Edith Finch both being horror games in which without a 18+ rating tackles me to think maybe I don't need so much blood and gore and violence to create an immersive horror game. Both these games proved me wrong as both include gloomy aspects to them being dark, grim, and intense with terrifying build up. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter concludes of a horrifying jump scare tricking all players with a sudden undead humanlike creature leaching at you, i feel i could easily include something like this with an object falling over or maybe something rushing at you like a train. What remains of Ethan Cater does not involve jump scares and is not at all scary but concludes of cartoon like blood and tension throughout you play wondering what could be around the next corner, its a little spooky, not a horror game, but can also be used as a great example for me as a game to capture a little scare without being titles as a horror game. In conclusion for my horror i am going to include blood but not too much alongside roaring jump scares with no gore and little fog and silence to keep the player on the edge of their seat.

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Station Research

In my pitch I spoke upon how I would visit a near by train station or possibly subway to help me get a better clear visual idea on small details and close ups. If I am wanting to re-create a subway station I am going to have to pay close attention to detail on the photos I have taken. Support stands wont be a problem but my support stand will look different to my stands but looking through fewer photos looking at small details stands conclude of small bolts and possibly live location signs attached to the side in which ill will be trying to combine the two together. Furthermore thankfully stations do not conclude of a large variety of furniture but only fewer benches, bins and possibly as seen in this photo electrical boxes which I would include in my station. The objects are important to replace the station as I want to replicate that same aesthetic and feel. I will also be trying to get the lightning properties as accurate as possible since it'll be a dark environment in which the flashing lights will stand out really well with the assets of lighting beams hovering over the station platform.

Trucks wont be too difficult either as I find it'll be a long thin cube strip where I would also then involve the wood planks. I talked about attention to detail earlier but not too far into detail as I have come to the conclusion that it'll be dark in my environment so too much detail isn't needed as the player wouldn't be able to notice this detail in the dark as such. I'm hoping to add textures to all of these assets but worry they my stretch with adding minor detail but hopefully that wont be the case.

USA & UK

I've taken a look at the United Kington stations and how differently they look to USA subway stations and i wanted to compare the two to get an answer on what style of Subway Station will i be designing and basing my game location in, will it be UK classic London Underground Subway, or will it be the USA New York Underground. The stations in the UK I have notice are very clean and have that same familiar London colour palette the classic blue, red and white colours being relation to the London flag. The colour palette i feel gives a very happy and joyful mood as they are bright and visually attracting. This is not what I want for my game. My Walking Simulator game is essentially a horror game, horror games are supposedly set in gritty, miserably, dirty and upsetting environments to try put the player in a certain mood when playing. The London underground wouldn't work in my situation, I could do a London Subway and try my hardest to make the environment look horribly, rotting, destroyed but that would take up plenty of time in my project as USA station already preform this for the location.

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After looking at fewer reference images of USA New York Subway Stations I have noticed a variety of there stations are quite grim, almost depressing. There is always some type of rot or deterioration, benches chipped, paint slowly fading, walls with disgusting like fungus, and really just a very dark colour palette. These images feel dark green, mustard yellow and just a pale grey. I did some research on why the New York environments look like this and give such miserable vibes and i found out that New York Subway Stations are cheaper than UK stations. But furthermore I feel more confident using the USA subway environments over the UK London Subway Environment. The colour palette is perfect as it represents death and decay as the darker colours are more involved in the USA stations. It gives a sickening feeling with an upsetting impression and with that being said i think that would be perfect for my environment. For my game to be a suitable environment for a horror themed game I think the USA station concludes of a variety of different aspects that are negative and leads to a more miserable feeling compared to the UK station which is exactly what I want for my game.

Textures & Materials

These materials help make the object look different; this is really good in case of change in environment or level in games for e.g. if it was to be a rocky level the object would have a material set as a more rocky texture to make the level look more comfortable with its environment. The glowing own is a high level of emission to make the cyan blue colour glow, the gold object I used a matte yellow material same with the pink.

After my Progress Interview with my lecture which you will find on my Final Product & Evaluation page i have created and made a few notes listing all of the individual things that will help my website and my project and further improve my work and get a successful grade. This also helps me show hope i am managing my work and how I go about get my work done. I made time stamps for each note that I went over on my website to help me look back at each one when getting them done. I gonna explore 3Ds and Unreal Engine 4 through the duration of the Easter Holiday, that way I have time to explore tutorial videos to help me throughout learning. Im further going to continue gathering research through my process of modelling and my final project.

Managing Work

In games such as Resident Evil you are left to explore an abandoned environment but what makes the game so immersive isn't just the environment you explore but the audio. In any typical you never really now when these sharp petrifying audio drops are coming and when they do they will instantly give you chills down your spine which fills the player with adrenaline or a feeling of unease, constantly leaving the player on edge throughout the whole game. Take this horrifying scene for example from Resident Evil Village, no matter how much you don't want to listen to these upsetting and disturbing cries of a baby you are forced to get up close and personal to continue further into the campaign. Its a gameplay mechanic that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I am hoping to add this same element in a way to rally make the player feel on edge and disturbed as they are forced to walk towards the cries at the end of the hallway if they are wanting to continue foward.

Horror games take the step further with chilling music in the background to set the mood. Ambient tunes can make any location feel uncomfortable or unsettling and therefore make it harder for the player to progress through. Ambience changes the game completely and almost makes the game more difficult for the player to progress through in sense that no player wants to progress further into the game. The player doesn't want to explore or progress when the music makes you feel like the enemy could just be right around the corner or even worse getting closer, closer, and closer. A great example of this is the game Five Nights at Freddy's 2, you the player try survive the night in a terrifying pizzeria as animatronic enemy's try stop you. In this game as you dive further into the night the ambient gets louder and aggressive as the animatronics get further towards you. I am hoping to add ambience to my game and hope to get this same feeling that players feel. I want to have the player know they have to work through it all while it gets louder and more horrifying with Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Audio Design

Jump scares have been one of the most basic builds for any type of horror. Taking the viewer by surprise where the audio is quiet and the viewer is expecting anything to happen nor to alarm them, or maybe even just a sudden payoff to a long period of suspense. But its not just the jump scare alone, the unexpected unusual creature with long tentacles and a gruesome torn face surprises the viewer worse as we don't expect these jarring effects.

Low lighting or even just a flickering light hypes up the tense and adrenaline for the viewer. The dim lit lighting or maybe even the shadows create tension to its mysterious and dark atmosphere. Lightning can even having control over the player or character by guidance or controlling there surroundings adn how much can be revealed to the viewer. Making the viewer ask numerous questions such as who is there? Why is it so dark? What hides behind that dark anonymous area? Could it be something trying to kill me? Or is something just watching me?

Flashbacks are important to the lore of the story, allowing to send either the viewer, player or reader back to the moment of a character or event, helping the player have abetter understanding of the ever so confusing situation they are in at the moment and a visual idea of what put you in that terrible situation in the first place.

Dark Colour Pallets are often used in horror as the viewer can associate colour to a pacific emotion or feeling and these emotions are what really power up the scene or environment. Take red and black, the most used colours in any horror as red obvious relates to the gruesome blood splats and scares, or black in which relates to the terrifying unknown and mysterious mood. Each of these colours often lead the viewer to a chilling or tense mood. Colour also can tell you about a character, seeing a character in a red spotlight could say they are evil or an enemy as thinking of red we think of anger or hate.

Young Children are most terrifying in a horror, there unpredictability leads you to a number of question as to what they might do next. No one likes the sound of children screaming or crying but hearing these in a horror game just makes the experience even more horrifying.

Religion Iconography in horror is to install the belief of demons or un-natural, godly like creature into the story. The use of religious imagery in religious horror films, with symbols and rituals familiar to many others worldwide, create haunting stories.

Secluded Locations are a strong highlight in horror, we as humans are known to socialise highly with others and interact plenty, especially in times of stress we require a need to assistance an a hand and some to listen to, without that will lead to further anxiety and on constant ease. Including this in horror makes the viewer feel this beside the character, as they're alone in a dark secluded place you feel what the character feels. In any game when you are alone in either a forest, house, or yard you feel something is constantly present or watching you and your always thinking there could be.

Visual Codes & Conventions of Horror Games

Techincal & Symbolic

Two different types of codes are Technical and Symbolic. Technical are the ways in which the ways in which some aspects like menu screes, loading screens, maybe even cinematic scenes and possibly trailer or teasers help tell a further story. This means in my situations i would be pointing out anything of its literal meaning and using in short (denotation).

Symbolic are the more hidden meanings behind the vase scenes taking, teasing images or trailers for example the colours, lighting, and environment. I would be further exploring the possibilities the scene and using (connotations) as things may have a different tone, energy or mood to them.

Technical:

Symbolic:

Lightning

Lighting is very important in a horror game, the way how a dim spotlight can control the player and lead them towards something like a guidance. Lighting can determine the entire mood and feel for a scene, level or environment and to overall set the emotion for the player and how they should be feeling. Creating shadows and dimly lit areas create tension and panic. The way the light flickers when your in a dark secluded area when you need the light the most just sends shivers down the players neck. I want to include and provider all different types of lighting into my horror walking simulator game, this will help me set the mood for the game, the atmosphere and maybe help tell a story if I'm going to include one. In my horror game i am going to go for dimly lit spaces and flickering lights, yes this may have an impact on my textures but for my walking simulator I am after a photo realistic texture style and I want to show this with the reflection of lighting and how the texture may react too with the lighting that I am going to provide and include in my game.

Take this image for example from a UR4 demo scene for realistic lighting, this is exactly what i want for my game. I want to have the lighting reflect straight down at the metallic textures that i may include on my stands, or maybe the spotlight reflecting onto a puddle i may add on the floor. As the train speeds past the players I want to have the windows reflect straight back to the platform as it speeds past creating a cinematic scene for the player. To do all of this i would need to create the lighting in unreal and add right 3d textures into unreal.