Re-imagining 'Mystery House'

Key game aspects of the original 
Mystery House

• The illusion of freedom, choice and movement, held back by specific key-words
• Simple gameplay mechanics, solely reliant on intuition and a keen eye
• Replayability with multiple outcomes
• Intrigue and mystery surrounding the cast
• Somewhat unintentionally(?) witty and humourous line art (great at the time)

So my goal will be to take the soul of Mystery House and transfer it into a shiny new shell, capable of drawing in modern gamers. How will I do this?

With all due respect, text adventures are dead. The majority of gamers (including gamers/non-gamers that I know) in the last 10 years haven't even seen or heard of them, so with this in mind, I will have to say goodbye to the original mechanic.
Modern games need to be visceral, visual, fairly rapid, progressive and addictive. Lets look at a conversion table I made, featuring possible evolutions of the original concept:

• Simple black and white line art > Colourful, friendly and interesting art
• Text-input gameplay > Point and click. Turn-based. 3D Environment. Truly 'open' world.
• High learning curve > Low learning curve
• Unfriendly UI and lack AI response > Clean, sharp UI with a diverse library of words

'Potential' characters for Mystery House

The above concepts outline my need for some vibrancy to be injected into the new version of the game. I used bright indentifiable colours so players could easily associate characters with their names, roles or attitude. Im still not sure how these characters would react in a 2D or 3D environment.

Upon much internal debate, I decided to follow the path of the 3D game route.

Some further research on the original Mystery House and the novel the game was based on proved very helpful indeed. From Wiki:

History/Research

'In the novel, ten people, who have previously been complicit in the deaths of others but have escaped notice or punishment, are tricked into coming onto an island. Even though the guests are the only people on the island, they are all mysteriously murdered one by one[...]'

This could help me figure out interesting ways to finish off the characters.

The rhyme plus new interpretations:

The original piece, then called "10 Little Injuns", was written by songwriter Septimus Winner in 1868 for a minstrel show and was much more elaborate:

Ten little Injuns standin' in a line,

One toddled home and then there were nine;

(Walks away from fear)

Nine little Injuns swingin' on a gate,

One tumbled off and then there were eight.

(Pushed down a flight of stairs or into a well or off a cliff)

One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injun boys,

Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injun boys.

-

Eight little Injuns gayest under heav'n.

One went to sleep and then there were seven;

(Poisoned/stabbed/suffocated in sleep)

Seven little Injuns cuttin' up their tricks,

One broke his neck and then there were six.

(Broken neck)

Six little Injuns all alive,

One kicked the bucket and then there were five;

(Dies generically)

Five little Injuns on a cellar door,

One tumbled in and then there were four.

(Another falls)

Four little Injuns up on a spree,

One got fuddled and then there were three;

(This is confusing)

Three little Injuns out on a canoe,

One tumbled overboard and then there were two.

(Drowning)

Two little Injuns foolin' with a gun,

One shot t'other and then there was one;

(Shooting)

One little Injun livin' all alone,

He got married and then there were none.

(Survivor)

Influence

The book the original game was based on.

The original appearance of the mystery house. As you can see from the simple line art, it didn't really show much detail. But as an homage to this, I will take the simple colour palette and infuse it into my revamped version.

Original Box Art

Original Cast and Interior

Resident Evil shares a similarity with the outcome of my game. I want the new Mystery House to contain the same horror and feeling of discomfort as playing the first resident evil game.

The psychological aspect of Shutter Island really interest me. I like the idea of keeping the viewer/player in the dark and only revealing things to them when vital. The fact that everything was inside DiCaprio's head greatly influenced the creation of my game. 

The fact that the main characters in The Ward are imaginary/projections also add to the characteristics of my game. Everything will take place inside the head of my main character, so this should provide enough confusion to make the player want to go on.

My Art Style

I was very eager to stylise my game so it would contrast with most other mainstream games on the market. Using a limited and 'recognisable' motif, I went about designing my main character.
The fact that he resembles a shadow strengthens the narrative further.

You awake outside a house/mansion and realise your body has turned to shadow.

The only light you see is emanting from the confines of the house.

You are compelled to enter the house for unknown reasons.

As you progress through the game, you find lost parrts of yourself and your soul.

The metaphysical becomes tangible as you collect weapons and armour personifying these mental components. This will be reflected via the shadowy motif of my character designs.

Thumbnails

Creating thumbnail images for characters is an important part of coming up with a good design. About 100 thumbs were conceived for my main character. Using a fairly quick application of blocked-in colour, I went about trying to make interesting forms and poses. Erasing from the silhouettes can also provide really great shapes:

As you can see, these are my finished thumbs, and I hope they look exciting! To further push my designs, I came up with some possible progressive armoury options:

My protagonist (above) and antagonists (below) share many of the same qualities. They are separated from the fact that you, the hero, periodically gets upgrades in the form of armour and weapons .

Sharp white cuts through the dark pallette to provide a recognisable character.

My newer iterations of my main character

My Final Design Orthographic.

Main Character Pose

My newer interations of one of the enemies in the game, equipped with heavy armour

Your heart, as well as enemies', begins to flash bright red upon encroaching death. Cracks begin to show when near-death instances happen. When armour is equipped, hearts will still be visible due to the semi-transparent quality of the material. Health in the game will recharge.

Inventory Mock-Up

Your inventory screen is clean and white, and very easy to navigate. You simply select the armour you wish to equip and confirm it. Each piece of armour will be outlined with details and stats which will inform players.

Colour Palette

I found great influence from films such as Sin City, 300 and Immortals. The sharp contrasts in colour act as a cinematic narrative to drive the point home. Sharp reds on dull blacks and greys help to emphasise the importance of certain characters and assets. 

Environments

For my version of Mystery House, I want to create an unsettling environment. Reference images from http://www.cruzine.com/2010/08/18/old-interiors-architecture/ really helped me to see my ideas for real. 

(Side Quest) Composition

In order to gain a better understanding of composition, Nigel instructed us to find 3 images and determine their underlying composing structure.

Firstly, the term composition means 'putting together', and can apply to any work of art, from music to writing, that is arranged or put together using conscious thought.

Some variations of composition and accompanying images.

Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is a guideline commonly followed by visual artists. The objective is to stop the subject(s) and areas of interest (such as the horizon) from bisecting the image, by placing them near one of the lines that would divide the image into three equal columns and rows, ideally near the intersection of those lines.

Cross Composition
Centre parting separates the image in two, in some cases acting as an almost symmetrical image. The horizontal part of the cross divides light from dark. The upper portion of the image shows light on dark whereas the lower half displays dark on light.

'L' Composition
One basic form of composition separates one vertical side and one horizontal side from the rest of the painting. This is in the form of an 'L' shape. This style of composition works well because it is not formally symmetrical and follows the rules of good balance. This Ninja Gaiden image has a really dynamic composition, offering up two 'L's. Structure and physiology combine to form the basis of this composition and I think it works really well.

Iconic Composition
Everything is drawn to the centre of the image (normally where the focal point is) and each surrounding asset recedes away into the sides of the image, acting like a diamond.

(Side Quest) Lighting

Absorbtion, reflection and refraction are the key words here. I looked at a great site to assist me with understanding the use of light: http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/light.htm

So the image below is set outside but the light isn't lighting up the car equally from all sides. This is due to the light sources location. The source is coming from the right, off-screen. In this case, the left of the car seems darker than left, due to the angle of light and the light being blocked by the car chassis. Light is reflected off the ground and transposed onto the car bumper, this happens because the surface of the car has a shiny and reflective quality and absorbs some of the light from the ground. The car casts an elongated/squashed shadow due to its low angle and the angle of the sun. Dense materials (such as dust) won't reflect light because light is absorbed into it and refracted, which distorts its appearance. Black won't reflect any light at all as it absorbs all rays, but may cast its hue onto other objects.

Reflection of light is either specular (miror-like) or diffuse (retaining the energy, but losing the image) depending on the nature of the interface. Furthermore, if the interface between a dieletric and a conductor, the phase of the reflected wave is retained, othwerwise if the interface is between two dielectrics, the phase may be retained or inverted, depending om the indices of refraction.
A mirror provides the most common model for specular light reflection, and typically consists of a glass sheet with a metallic coating where the reflection actually occurs. Reflection is enhanced in metals by supression of wave propagation beyond their skin depths. Reflection also occurs at the surface of transparent media, such as water or glass.

A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, or reverse projection of the object blocking the light. The sun causes many objects to have shadows and at certain times of the day, when the sun is at certain heights, the length of shadows change.