Horror Game Concept

Introduction

For this assignment, we were asked to create a concept for a video game with a specific theme. We could choose between a horror story or fairy tale. I chose to do a horror story as this year I have become a lot more interested in the horror genre and I am not a big fan of fairy tales. For the assignment, we had to think of two characters; a Protagonist and an Antagonist and develop the story and other game elements around them. After a few weeks of developing my ideas, I am pleased with the ideas I came up with and would love to develop the game more.

Character profiles

Character 1: Protagonist

Name: Michael “Mikey” Wood

Age: 26

Height: 6'2

Weight: 13st 2lb

Body type: Slim and toned with muscular build

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Short, dark

Clothing style: Ghetto

An ex-convict, Mikey has only just been released from prison. But he doesn't remember being released. He was sentenced to life inprisonment after going on a killing rampage in a small, private town. He killed 57 elementary school children, 24 members of staff and badly injured another 19 people. He also killed a further 39 people at a train station nearby. Before this he has also been arrested for burglary and arson.

He looks like a common thug. He has short, dark hair and an earring in his left ear. He wears baggy jeans pulled down slightly showing his boxers, a vest and a bandana tied around his head. Tattoos featuring tribal shapes, gang tags and violent imagery cover his arms and he also has the words 'LOVE HATE' tattooed across his fingers.

Character 2: Antagonist

Name: Slammer

Age: Unknown

Height: 7'

Weight: 17st 6lb

Body type: Large build, very muscular

Eyes: White, staring eyes with some redness.

Hair: Short, dark

Clothing style: Ripped, dirty jeans

One of the main types of creatures. He walks in slow, heavy movements and is very powerful, breaking bones with his huge fists. His chest and arms are exposed revealing bulging muscles with his skin and clothes dirtied with blood and muck. His mouth is full of sharp, bloody fangs making it very easy for him to consume human flesh.

 

Story Synopsis

Mikey wakes up in a cold, empty room with a note on the floor. After reading the note, he realises he has been sent to a dreary place as part of a new government scheme. They are sending dangerous inmates to a small, abandoned town called Grayfield which has been completely cut off from the rest of the state, as mysterious beings roam the place, tearing apart everything that moves and feeding on their flesh.

Mikey is in a small, warehouse-type building at the edge of the town. He must escape the warehouse, meet up with other inmates and together fight to try and save the town.

Environments

Environment 1: Jail Cell

10ft x 10ft square room with grey, concrete walls and a floor to ceiling bar cell door.

Two single bunk beds are against the right wall with a sink and mirror on the opposite wall. On the wall to the right of the sink are some newspaper articles of how the inmates were put in prison. On the back wall, in the left corner, is a toilet and in the middle of the back wall is a barred window. A pipe goes across the top of the left and right walls, where Mikey is exercising at the beginning.

Environment 2: Small, warehouse room

12ft x 12ft square room with grey concrete walls. There is a metal door in the centre of one wall and a small cupboard on the floor to the right of it. A silenced, semi-automatic pistol, a crow bar, a torch, a map and a mobile phone are in the cupboard for the player to pick up. There is also a note on the floor in the centre of the room.

Environment 3: Basement

Large rectangular room with concrete walls and floor. The player enters via a door with stairs leading down to the room. The room is flooded with about a foot of water, slowing the player down as they walk and making water sounds. A small room at the back of the basement holds the power generator that the player needs to activate.

Game Mechanics

Some mechanics the player will be able to do:

-         Walk

-         Sprint

-         Jump

-         Climb

-         Take cover

-         Aim and shoot

-         Switch weapons

-         Melee attack

Unique Selling Points

-       Unusual story with abandoned town setting

-       Main and supporting characters are all prisoners with different attitudes

-       The player can wield 4 projectile/melee weapons at a time, with separate buttons to throw different types of grenades

-       In-game currency will be dollars that the player can find around the game and then spend on weapons, ammunition and health.

Game Overview

Genre

It will be a third-person, survival-horror game.

Target Audience

The target audience will be mainly males, aged between 18 and 25. They will be frequent gamers with an interest in horror/blockbuster games.

Players

The main campaign will be single-player but there will also be a multi-player mode that can be played locally, through system-link and online. The multi-player mode will have a competitive mode where players can fight against each other as inmates or beings with a variety of maps such as the prison, warehouse and areas of the town. There is also the option to play the game co-operatively with one more player.

 

Hero's Journey

1. The Ordinary World.

- In prison cell (home)

- Reads article in the paper about serial killers being sent to a dangerous warehouse full a violent, mutated beings.

2. The Call to Adventure

- Mikey wakes up in a small, dark room he’s never seen before.

- After reading a note left for him, he realises he is in the warehouse he read about.

3. Refusal of the Call

- Mikey is scared and cannot believe the government has sent him to this place.

- He finds a silenced, semi-automatic pistol, a crow bar, a torch, a map and a mobile phone in a cupboard in the corner of the room.

- He ponders whether or not to just take his own life, but stops and thinks he may as well try and make a difference.

4. Meeting with the Mentor

- The mobile rings and Mikey answers it.

- A woman on the phone informs Mikey with more information on his situation and feels sympathetic towards him.

- He also finds another inmate in the warehouse.

5. Crossing the Threshold

- Mikey manages to escape the warehouse as there are only few enemies

- He looks around and takes in the infected town.

6. Tests, Allies and Enemies

- Mikey finds more inmates and finds out new information from them and is able to trade with them.

- He also finds tougher enemies and boss fights to make him struggle.

- The woman phones and the team discuss and decide blowing up the town is best way of destroying the beings without possibilities of the disease spreading.

7. Approach to the In-most Cave

- The team must get to the explosives and place charges all over town

8. The Ordeal

- The team splits in two to set the charges quicker

- Once 70% of charges have been placed, Mikey's teammate is killed.

- After placing the next charge, Mikey runs into the other team to find there is also only one of them left.

9. The Reward

- They contact the woman from the government woman to say all the charges have been placed and they are leaving the town.

- The woman says that once they get checked out at a building not far from Grayfield, they will be free to carry on with their lives outside prison.

10. The Road Back

- They head towards the building and at a safe distance, they activate the charges and watch the town explode in a gigantic burst of flames and smoke.

- They head to the building, excited by freedom and the adrenaline rush from their mission

 

11. The Resurrection

- Reaching the building, it is eerily quiet, however this is the only building on the stretch of road.

12. Return with the Elixir

- Opening the door, Mikey's friend is dragged inside.

- Mikey runs in to find several beings eating his friend

- As he turns to leave, one is right behind him and kills him instantly.