Concept Art - Environments

Here is my concept art for the environments within the game. I produced these pieces using Corel Painter. They did take rather a long time but I was pleased with how they turned out as they were exactly what I had envisaged. 

I decided that the environment would be an abandoned hospital, I think that this would add to the eeriness. I have done a lot of research and have carefully chosen a style that I think is appropriate. 

Concept Art - Characters

For this project, I have to produce three characters, a male, a female and a creature.

Female character:

The female character will be the main character in the game, I decided to do this because I think it would appeal to both genders.

Male character: 

I decided to make the male character an evil doctor that lurks within the game, essentially he's the 'bad guy'. I decided to name my character Dr. Death and then decided to google the name to see whether there were any people nicknamed this. It turned out that there was a Nazi doctor nicknamed Dr Death who performed experiments on innocent people which was coincidental. 

I decided to make the creature in the game an 'experiment'. The character is a 'failed' experiment that the evil doctors have performed, the character has been mutated. Because of this I wanted to produce a 'creepy' looking creature. Silent Hill was a huge influence on this character as their monsters were exactly the kind of style that I envisaged. 

Gameplay Map

This is a map of the first level of the game:

High Concept - Game Pitch

Game Name: ExperiMental.

High Concept

Third person female character. Unravel the horrific plot in which you must to escape an abandoned hospital full of mutant experiments and twisted doctors.

Game Genre

Interactive Intense Psychological Survival Horror

Target Audience

18+

Platform

Lead on Playstation 4 with Xbox One and Pc to follow

Unique Selling Points (USPs)

• Characters based on real people, Environments based on real locations.  
• Main character voiced by Megan Fox
• Cinematic soundtrack composed by Horror composer Krzysztof Penderecki
• An evolving thriller where your actions shape the story
• Unique customisable stealth mode

Game Overview:

In ExperiMental the player takes the role of a third person female character that has been kidnapped and had her memory erased. The game begins with the character waking up in an abandoned hospital but the character is not alone. The character will encounter the macabre individuals that have imprisoned her and unimaginable suffering lies ahead.

The gripping action moves through the grounds of the hospital, which appears to be a torturous labyrinth. Each decision the player makes affects the storyline and the outcome. They must escape by using intense violence, avoiding evil and comprehending the chilling maze in which they are trapped.

Research - Urban Exploration

My project is based on an abandoned building, I researched into Urban Exploring and discovered some very helpful imagery and references. I also decided to do some exploring of my own and researched into derelict buildings in my area. I found that there was a building that was very similar to the aesthetic I was looking for, it was an abandoned Barracks in Eastney. I went there and took some pictures, I did not explore all of the structure as I was not sure if I was permitted to be there, here are the photos:

Research: Environments and Characters

Research - Concept Art

Introduction

This project with focus on the early stages of production of a game. As part of my degree, one of the units I have undertaken is entitled 'Create Worlds':

Unit abstract This unit examines the creation of imaginary architecture suitable for use in computer games. After researching architecture and characters both real and imaginary, students design their own imaginary architecture and characters, showing influences from the real world and knowledge of game technologies and worlds. Unit aims 1 To develop architecture and characters for imaginary environments. 2 To assess suitablity of architecture for imaginary (game) environments.

I am excited about this project as gaming is a huge passion of mine and it is the first time I will have attempted to produce a game concept and design. I am also anticipating developing my 3D skills.

I have decided on a concept for a game and have considered many different factors whilst creating the idea. I have several games that I am heavily influenced by and would like to combine the factors that I like from each. In particular Heavy Rain is a favourite of mine not only because of the outstanding visuals but the unique gameplay which caused me to become heavily emotionally involved with the game. I have also considered what makes games popular, a hugely popular game when I was growing up was Tomb Raider which had a female main character. I don't think there are many highly successful games with female characters therefore I wanted to go down this route.

Another factor that I wanted to incorporate the horror theme, I have watched countless horror films and now find it a struggle to find anything that shocks me therefore I wanted to make this game shocking and emotionally involve the player as I feel that it enhances the experience of the game.