A lot of horror games are very scary because when we play them, our vision is restricted. Sometimes it is too dark and we need to look for a flashlight. Then the circular illuminated area in front of us is the only thing we can see which keeps us constantly moving our aim to look in the areas that remain dark – just to make sure everything is as expected.
Yet, it is equally important for the game to be relatable, in that the things you experience can actually happen to us. Which got me thinking, “when was the last time I picked up a flashlight?”. I couldn’t think of an instance. Which is why, on the note of being relatable, AIYH will not feature a flashlight. Instead, we will have access to what we all have access to all the time – a cell phone!
With this, I will expand on this cellphone mechanic to provide a little more than just a flashlight. But that’s a work-in-progress. I want to limit this functionality because I would rather focus on the game’s story. I certainly don’t want to spend most of my time making an in-game phone OS. 😀
Question: What kind of features do you think a cellphone should be able to provide in a horror game?
Progress Update
Apart from the cell phone flash light, this week AIYH has managed to scare 3 people with its first ever story event! Yay!
The level
I shared the (almost) completed level design with my brother and friends to test out the whole tone of the game. The feedback was great because we managed to make a lot of improvements and spook-up the overall ambience of the level.
Characters
There’ll be a lack of characters in the game, since we as the players are secluded. However, the story needs to drive forward with some sort of hints and events. This is achieved by the characters interacting. Full disclosure – still need voice acting done. But the few people in this game and their personalities are final. Hurray!
Music & SFX
Music is the hard part, I will not settle for mediocrity! But the ambience – slight sounds effects around the map are taken care of!
Upcoming
A big shout out to PlatformingPangolin – their comment on my reddit post made me realise that I need to set up the steam store page asap. So that’s going to be the focus of my micro-work time throughout the week.
And that’s it for this week’s update. I hope that catches you up to the progress so far. If you’d like to know specific details, let me know because it’s just my first time sharing and a little feedback could go a long way! *fingers crossed*
See you in the next update,
Usama
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