FPE [project]

A prototype for a game inspired by the genre and setting of The Hobbit. The game will be a first person horror game in which the player is required to find collectables in a forest. The game uses atmosphere and sound to make the game scary, however there are no actual enemies or violence, anything seen is the imagination of the player character. The player is required to explore the forest at night to collect all the items on a checklist with the usage of a torch

The art style will be low poly, replicating the style of old horror games, pixelated. This art style is inspired by some of the low poly horror games on itch.io, such as security booth and the VHS paradise. It is also inspired by retro horror games, such as silent hill 1 and the 2002 resident evil remake. It is also inspired by half-life

Mechanics

- basic movement. Forwards and backwards.

- head turn, for the player to look around the area.

- open checklist. to keep track of tasks. Items required will be automatically ticked off when collected.

- climb. The forest level will require climbing to reach certain areas, e.g. up trees or over obstacles.

- open inventory. The player will be carrying a bag which acts as an inventory section.

- pick up. to pick up items.

- place item in inventory.

- turn on torch 

The game will be set within a forest, which the player is required to explore – the level will be set up in a way that is intentionally difficult to navigate, subjecting the player to retracing and coming across locations they have already been in rather than the level having one clear straight forward path, like a maze of sorts, the difficulty heightened by the darkness. The game will be set during the night-time, darkness requiring the player to use a torch, limiting the player’s sight. The sound design will add to the atmosphere, eerie silence except for the occasional movement within the forest to frighten the player, and the occasional usage of creepy music.  The game will have a dark colour palette, and the level will offer an ominous atmosphere.  

As this game is intended to be frightening, It’s target audience should not include young children. It would be similar to games such as phantasmophobia [Pegi 12] and dead by daylight [18] though there will not be bad language, discrimination, drugs, gambling, or sex. The game focuses mostly on the fear factor, though since it is designed to scare the player, it is not targeted towards children, meaning it should have a Pegi 12 rating. The target audience is anybody who enjoys either horror or retro games, I imagine it being popular with older players for the nostalgia factor of old retro games, ideally the game would even include references to these retro games, that a younger player may not understand. It is also targeted towards players of the horror genre, though not as scary as something rated 18. 

The UI will follow the horror theming of the game and will take inspiration from other horror games.

This game takes inspiration from the hobbit in its setting, using book’s nature to inspire the location of the level – the forest. The genre of the game entirely changes when set at night, becoming grounds for a horror game rather than a calming daytime setting creating a more calming feel, better grounds for a fantasy genre game. 

This game takes inspiration from/is like:

- security booth [art, genre]

- VHS paradise [art, genre]

- half-life [art]

-silent hill 1 [art, genre]

-resident evil [art, genre]

-phantasmophobia [genre, audience, mechanics]

-dead by daylight [genre, audience, mechanics]