Justification. . .

So I was thinking about my floor plans of the ground floor of the Arcadian walking around, playtesting it when it occured to me that I haven't academically justified my decisions for the layout of the hotel. From playtesting and having playtesters seriously jump from some cheap jump scares I've put in is proof enough that my floor plans do indeed work as an immersive environment, but for everyone's benefit I'll slap in some quotes from my dissertation resources and let the 'experts' explain :P
First off, there's Gregory Trefry who explains about map design;
"Traps can work in both single and multiplayer gameplay and can add fun, or frustration, to the game. They are especially liked by more casual players. However, just as in single player games, keep it fair. Players should recognize the danger as soon as they see the trap - before they actually encounter it."
This is a reason why I have used lighting in certain areas. When the player first enters the hotel, the area is lit well, a 'safezone'. The notes that the player must collect are spaced out, gradually luring the player into darker areas. The final note is in the furthest of the hotel, in complete darkness in a single room away from other corridors and junctions. The player will only be armed with a flashlight and naturally enemies will be placed here. By this point in playing the game the player will be aware that this is a 'trap' and tension will rise whilst playing the game.
Brandon Jones says "Humans tend to naturally fear the unknown -- use that to your advantage. The fewer enemies that players, the better. Throughout the entirety of Amnesia there are about ten monsters."

This is why in the level I've only planned for 3 enemy encounters. Playtesting proves that the hotel makes players apprehensive as it is, the 'scare' factor is there. A couple of jumpscares will keep players on their toes, whilst the general atmosphere of the hotel does the rest of the work. The final encounter (mentioned before with the final note) will be a point where the player is in physical danger and maybe attacked or hurt by an encounter with an enemy.

Finally, Jamie Madigan says "Completeness of sensory information means that the fewer blanks about the mental model of the game world that the player has to fill in, the better."

This is why lighting, particle effects, sounds, good models and textures are all necessary. The player can clearly note everything about their surroundings in detail and experience the interaction with them. The doors squeak as they open, the player can hear their footsteps as they walk around on the grotty carpets, the lights flicker, indicating their age and state of broken-ness. I will also implement sounds of heavy breathing to enhance the first person aspect of the game and make it feel more 'personal'.

I will talk more about these kind of aspects in future posts, but for the time being I hope this clarifies my design choices so far!

Madigan, J., July 27^th 2010. “The Psychology Of Immersion In Video Games” URL: URL: http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/07/the-psychology-of-immersion-in-video-games/ last accessed 12^th March 2013

Jones, B., January 2^nd 2012. “The Do’s And Don’ts Of Scary Game”

URL: http://www.gamersnexus.net/features/gg/697-the-dos-and-donts-of-scary-games last accessed 12th March 2013

Trefry, G., 2010.Casual Game Design. Morgan Kauffman publications.

Almost there. . .

Hey everyone! The hotel is really coming along now :) Unfortunately I've been a bit pre-occupied with another module at the moment, but even when I've finished up decorating the hotel I'll still be ahead of schedule. This is just a short blog to inform you all, rather than falling off the radar completely. I have some ideas as well that I will share with you in the near future, along with some screens and hopefully a video of how the hotel is looking!

Getting on. . .

It has been a bit of a slog but the sprints are blending nicely, between finishing the modelling of the ground floor and texturing it and finally making it look pretty. Although the models are done, the texturing is a tedious process and it takes some time to fully incorporate colour into the full level. Along with the lighting and particle effects, I'm carrying on as the sprint plan goes and hopefully should be done ahead of schedule. With some models of light fittings etc to make the ground floor a bit more authentic, I'm confident that the environment will be completley immersive and fitting to the setting of a horror game. Here's a screenshot of a small area that's textured so far, but because of other modules, the dissertation has been on the wayside for a week or two now.