August 24th – 12:30am
I found myself up past midnight realizing it was technically Monday and that I could start on the first week of my game a week project, so I did. The theme I chose at random from my lunch box was fear.
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side.
To get myself started thinking about how to make a game based on this theme I’ll work through some questions I have prepared.
What is the first thing you thought of after reading the prompt for this week?
Jump scare games like Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Can you think of a situation that you’ve been in that made you feel fear strongly?
There is a small mountain in the town I grew up in called Mount Solo, it’s more of a big hill, really. A road runs through it, the mountain having been blasted some time before I was born to create the throughway. There are very steep hills on each side of the road, practically cliffs. When I was 7 or 8 I climbed up there with my brother and cousin and got stuck. I eventually got to safety, but I remember being terrified of falling and unable to move.
Can you think of any art, movies, literature or music that illustrate the theme?
I think of suspense movies like Cape Fear or Fatal Attraction. Books that I’ve read by Stephen King or Dean Koontz which also rely on the building of anticipation to produce the fear feeling. I associate the jaws theme with fear as well as some scores from horror movies.
How will you try to illustrate this theme in a video game?
I will try to make a game that builds suspense to create a feeling of apprehension and fear in the player.
10:30 pm
The avatar and companions will need to be expressive and easy for the player to identify with. The player’s sense of presence in the game will determine how strongly they feel what the game is designed to make them feel.
There should be a sense of uncertainty. The player should never know exactly what to expect.