Clock Game Project

Overview

For my honours project I have chosen to create a 3D Horror Game. The player plays the role of a small girl who has woken up in the middle of the night and has ventured out of her bedroom. The art style for the bedroom is simple and colourful in style and but this changes as the player ventures further out towards the dining room. The main room for gameplay is a dining room which takes inspiration from the German Expressionist movement. Dimensions and structures are warped and crooked to play up the fear of the child at night, alone and strangeness of her house in the dark.

Gameplay revolves around time and the massive grandfather clock in the dining room. The premise of the game is that the child is scared most of the clock chiming and believes something bad will happen if she is not back in the safety of her own room. The player must be back in the child’s bedroom before the clock chimes for the ‘in game’ hour. During the in game hours the player must complete 2 mini games in the environment to progress. These mini games will not be fully implemented in the demo as a programmer would be required to implement them properly. Further to this, the next stage has been designed and takes the form of a hub world the player would access the further levels from.

This games target audience is male and female ages 7 to 30 as there is horror or threat elements but no blood, or death depicted. The player character does not commit violent acts and fail states result in the player ‘waking up’ again in the bedroom in the instance of the first level and at set ‘bed’ check points thereafter. On publishing a PEGI (Pan European Game Information) rating of 7 would be sought and released for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 platforms.

In the design process of this demo the following tools will be used…

Microsoft Office

Adobe Photoshop CS5.1

Autodesk Maya 2014

Autodesk Maya 2017

Unreal 4

Mood Boards

Crooked House

Original inspiration. This crooked house was made by my wife’s father as a Christmas present to her when she was a child.

German Expressionism

The main influence for art style comes from the film ‘The Cabinet of Doctor Calgiri’ a German expressionist film from 1920’s. The warped angles, use of light and shadow and angles perfectly convey the perceptions of a small child in a dark, mysterious environment.

Mood Board 1: Sets

Mood board 2: Lighting

Mood Board 3: Angles

Grandfather Clock

The Grandfather clock will be the main piece of the demo and provide a theme for the whole game.

This is the Grandfather clock my parents have in their dining room

Dining Room

Selected as some inspirations for the main room of the demo.

Hallway

The hallway will connect both ‘worlds’ of the demo space connecting the safety and light of the child’s bedroom at one end with the dark and abstract dining room at the other.

Furniture

Source images of some typical furniture that may be found in a dining room.

Dining Room Welsh Dresser

Oversize Furniture

As the player is to be child sized, everything in the environment will be larger in scale. This effect will be most apparent in the dining room.

Audio

Audio Mood board

Tracks selected to be used as influence for various aspects for the games soundtrack. Soundtrack outsourced to a friend Jim Thompson. Jim Has years of experience song writing and editing and will be using the production program Ableton to record and edit.

Fever Ray: If I had a Heart

Features: General feel, minimal, pulsing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBAzlNJonO8

Saw Soundtrack

Features: held notes ending with noticeably different lower note.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWaNoK3gN6M

Jaws theme

Features: Bass notes suggesting the movement of shark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9QTSyLwd4w

Halloween soundtrack

Features: bass line feel, Long notes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIFoJf3Maik

Horror piano theme 4

Features: disjointed and ‘offness’ of piano line

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIFoJf3Maik

Meetings

At our first meeting Jim played a simple piano melody that he thought we could use as the basis of the sound track. We experimented with it building it in layers for a couple of hours and in the end has something we both thought was suitable. Jim said he would tweak it a bit more then we could meet for the final cut.

On our second meeting we made some slight changes and it was finished. On request Jim provided the whole tune and also the tune broke up into sections. At this time how to implement the music had not been to clear so having the sections that would basically loop seemed a good plan.

Audio Final

Screen shot showing the Audio channel mixer

Arrangement window

Loop section

Final audio files split the song into 6 parts so as can be played on a loop with new sections added to fit.

Audio Details

75BPM

6 sections

Section 1. 4 bars. String 1, String 2, Harp

Section 2. 4 bars. String 1, String 2, Harp, Cello, Choir

Section 3. 8 bars. String 1, String 2, Harp, Cello, Choir Piano 1

Section 4. 8 bars String 1, String 2, Harp, Cello, Choir Piano 1 + 2(double time)

Section 5. 8 bars String 1, String 2, Harp, Cello, Choir Piano 1, 2+3(Triple t)

Section 6. 8 bars String 1, String 2, Harp, Cello, Cello 2, Choir Piano 1, 2, 3+4(Quad t)

Audio in demo

The audio has not been fully implemented in the game properly. This it completely down to me not being able to get it to work, even following multiple guides. It has become very apparent my lack of understanding code is adversely effecting this project.

Audio use in game

ART

Concept sketches

Grandfather Clocks

Drawers

An example of the warped appearance of furniture for the dining room.

Grandfather Clock shape

Concept for a weird Grandfather clock. Not pursued further in favour of a more traditional look

Clock as door to next level

Stuffed Toy

(Not used in demo)

Concept for a game mechanic. The Childs toy would play a large part in the game and act as the main light source for the player. The idea is that the child would find comfort and courage in the animal. This would be represented by the light emanating from the toy and the player would use it to see through the dark.

Screen concept

Childs toy would act as a cypher for the player. Ideally the toys expression would subtly change dependant on the situation. The player would notice the change in the expression reinforcing the mood change and audio cues. If done right this could be very effective. The child would be checking back and forth with the toy for reassurance as would the player. The reliance on the toy as comfort and warning of danger may help with emersion.

Concept Piece

Concept piece.

Game

Concept

A child wakes in the middle of the night. Her bedroom door; which is usually locked by her parents, lays open. Venturing out she finds the house changed, especially near the big clock in the dining room. The clock watches her waiting to make its terrible noise and scare the child back to her bed.

The main game play mechanic centres on the Grandfather clock. An in game hour lasts around 4 minute’s real time. On the stroke of a ‘game-time’ hour the clock begins moving through the dining room and down the hall only stopping at the child’s bedroom door. Behind the clock follows a wall of darkness that consumes everything and if the wall comes in contact with the player it will reset the game to the starting conditions, the only way to avoid this is to be back in the safety of the bed room. After the clock has made its run it will go back to its starting position and the player can once again head out into the rest of the rooms.

The dining room contains 2 mini games for the child to solve. The first is a match 2 card game, the other is a scavenger hunt that tasks the player to find objects in the level to place on various plinths. The final item found is a key that unlocks the door on the front of the clock. The idea here is that the child steps into the clock and is taken to a new place. The concept takes influence from the likes of ‘The lion, the witch and the wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ by L. Frank Baum and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll. The rest of the game would have the child travel through these new places inside the clock.

Main Components

Grandfather clock

Dining room and furniture

Hallway and furniture

Childs bedroom and furniture

Cards (mini game 1)

Collectable items (mini game 2)

Clutter

Floor Plan

Initial sketches

Concept carried forward

Final Layout

Design

Character

As the player character is a young child, abilities are restricted. Movement must be slow enough to convey vulnerability and trepidation but not slow as to be plodding in pace. The ability to run will also be required.

The character will be able to jump short distances. This must be kept realistic but allow for some basic platforming ability.

The character will have the ability to pick up and carry and drop a single item at a time and interact with objects/characters/switches/levers in context sensitive scenarios. No inventory or HUD is required.

Clock Antagonist

Grandfather clock mechanic for the first area of the game.

For the main game mechanic effect a copy of the grandfather clock has been mounted to a block. This block is animated to move through the level chasing the player consuming the room in darkness as it goes. Once the clock has reached the bedroom door the animation plays backwards and returns to its original position out of sight behind the clock in the level.

Possible Game Name

The Clock. Tick. Tick Tock. The Tick Tock. Tick Tick. Chimes in the Dark.

The Chimes. As the Clock Strikes. Cuckoo. The Grandfather Clock.

In the Night. The House in the Night. The House at Night. The Night Clock Chimes.

The Chimes. Shadow of the Clock. Watch the Clock. Watched By the Clock.

Horror of the Bells. Hells Bells. The Chimes in the Shadows.

Mini Game 1: Pairs

Card Designs

Early concept for a match 2 card game. Influence taken from children’s card games like ‘Happy Families’ and children’s story books with ‘sinister’ Tarot type influence.

Card design concepts for a match 2 mini game.

First concept

Development of design

Implementation

This game has not been included in the demo due to lack of programming ability. I did endeavour to add it but could not get it to work after trying several tutorials. I have included the design details and explanations as it would be intended to be included if the full game was to be developed.

Mini Game 2: Scavenger Hunt

Mini game 2 shapes.

Simple objects that would suggest the sinister or occult

Item 1: Pyramid

Clue: ‘Some say the knowledge to build came from above,

Maybe just the rule of the Ruler below.’

Item 2: Star

Clue: ‘One of a thousand eyes winking in the dark

To look back is to travel through time.’

Item 3: Infinity loop

Clue: ‘To wait for the answer is to wait for forever.’

Item 4: Feather

Clue: ‘Sleek with its kin, allowing for flight

Elegant, dancing solo on the breeze.’

Item 5: Key

Clue: ‘Depressed to sound a note,

You will not get this one till your 21.’

Placement of plinths and items

Flow Plan

1. Items will be present in the game from the start but will not be intractable.

2. On reading the note on the first plinth the first item will be intractable.

3. Player finds item and presses button to pick it up. (Activates trigger to play matinee on plinth)

4. Player returns to plinth interacts to place object on it. (Activates clue on next plinth)

The last item; the key, will open the door on the front of the clock and end demo.

Implementation

The items and such needed for this game have been included in the demo but do not work as intended. Triggers and animations are present but in trying to program it the way described in the flow plan proved a lot more difficult. My inability to get my head around code or even follow and adapt a tutorial is not helping this demo in any way.

Plinth concepts

Item Models

3D Models

Feather

Infinity

Key

Pyramid

Star

3D Assets

Furniture and clutter

All assets are being created in Autodesk Maya then being imported into the Unreal 4 engine.

Bedroom Shelves

Bed

Standard door

Standard drawers.

Warped Drawers for the dining room

The grandfather clock for the dining room

Warped chair for the dining room

Warped door frame for the dining room

Warped window frame for the dining room.

Warped table for the dining room

Welsh dresser before warping

Tea cup

Dining room flatware

Rooms

Childs bedroom

Hallway (Not yet distorted)

Hallway showing warped door to dining room

Dining Room (with Distortions)

Dining Room

Textures

The Dining Room will be in a black and white style made up of shades a grey and low lighting.

Dining Room

Bed Room

Bright colours to contrast the dining room and convey a ‘safe place’.

Rugs

The floors of the house are to look like old wood. Each floor is the same with a rug covering the bulk of the area. The idea here is to suggest the whole house is the same underneath the decoration. The colours of the child’s bedroom hides its decrepit structure but the bright yellow rug will not be able to hide it all.

Rug Concepts

Design for dining room rug. (Rejected)

Design for Dining Room Rug 2

Changed design for dining room rug to better fit the German expressionist motif.

Also used for design of dining Room dining set (plates, dishes etc.…).

Texture used for hall rug.

Gradient runs from Blue at child’s room end of the hall to black at dining room End.

Texture for the scavenger hunt items.

Texture for child’s toy

Clock face Texture

Creeping Darkness Texture

Floor Board Texture

Lighting

In the original concept for this game the lighting was to be minimal outside of the child’s bedroom with actual use of darkness in the dining room. The concept of using the child’s toy as a light source of light was dropped so the lighting had to be changed.

Childs Toy (Point light) lighting prototype

The lamp in the child’s room was to act like an inviting beacon, a symbol of the safety in the dark as the player stood in the dining room or ran along the hallway like a light at the end of a tunnel.

Lighting Test

missing image

Although this lighting gives a nice effect the main subject of the game is the grandfather clock so adjustments have to be made. Using a point light on the player character does not let the player see the grandfather clock move. In brightening up the scene the moving clock can be seen from a distance approaching the player. It does slightly detract from the uncertainty of darker environment but the grandfather clock is the centre piece.

For the final lighting a single point light is used in each room. In the bedroom is a lamp, in the hall it is a night light plugged into a socket and in the dining room it is the main roof light. The dining room also has a directional light to highlight the grandfather clock

Demo Images

Front Screens

Sketches

The front, splash screen is to be minimal in design. Shows the grandfather clock and displays the game name. Instead of the traditional play and quit options, the player has the choice to wake up or sleep to keep with the theme of the game.

Quit game confirmation screen.

Although a load screen is not required due to the small size of the level, one has been added for presentation purposes.

A quote from the Wizard of Oz song ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ is used to bring forward the idea that the child may still be sleeping. This connection should also bring ideas of childhood, other worlds and the uncertainty of the situation being real.

In Game

Childs Bed

Childs Bedroom

Childs Bedroom from door

Shelves in child’s bedroom

View of hall from child’s bedroom

Hall

View of hall from Dining Room

Dining room from door

Dining Room through hall door

Grandfather clock (Dining Room)

Welsh dresser (Dining Room)

Welsh Dresser and Star Puzzle plinth

The Grandfather clock gives chase…

…through the Dining Room…

…down the Hall...

…to the Bedroom Door.

Hub world

Beyond the Project Demo

Once the player has collected the key and entered the clock the next level is a hub to further areas.

In this area a clock/time motif is used as the player has now entered the world of the grandfather clock. It carries over the black and white colour scheme of the dining room but not the warped geometry. In a complete turnaround from the previous level, the black and white hub world is now the safe area and the doors off of this area would lead to brightly coloured levels using the style of German Expressionism in the geometry.

The hub world would be a central platform with various clock themed paths leading to different doors to different worlds/levels.

Hub Level Concepts

Hub Platform Obstacles

Hub Level Final Concept Sketch

The centre platform holds the same furniture of the child’s room from the first section. If the player enters a fail state from here on in the game, the player will respawn here. To access further levels the player must pass the obstacles on the path to the world door.

The obstacles will be…

1. Path with swinging pendulums that may knock the player off the path.

2. Turning platforms in the form of sand timers the player must correctly time.

3. A sloped path that has cuckoos fired from side to the other. Players must time correctly to proceed.

4. Turning platforms like clock hands. Players must await the hands to be in the correct position to move forward

3D Models

Sand timer and Cuckoo housing