And that's how the story goes

So, how exactly did we get inspired to make a horror game?

What runs into our minds by the time we are visualizing our dream of creating a bone-chilling horror story? Let me introduce you to a brief overview:

A funny-looking figure was walking up and down a narrow corridor, filled with objects from another time. He would often pick up different objects and look at them with a faint spark in his eyes, then he would lose his cheerful expression and dive back into his chair, in front of a huge leather-bound book. Next to him, a series of pages with schematics of ingenious contraptions, all born of the master puzzler’s twisted mind and behind all that, a series of paintings, portraying people of different ages and genders. 

The funny looking man would look at all these carefully, then consult the great leather-bound book and scribble some notes in scraps of paper here and there. He would then proceed to read even more of that huge book, go fetch more books of its sort, consult them too, write even more scribbles and so on… 

Just as he was beginning to figure one thing out, another thing would pop up and concern his deeply disturbed mind, creating more problems that need solving. 

And when the final pieces of the grand puzzle were set, he just yelled “ah yes!” and gathered all these scribbles, to write them all down in the order they were meant to be, creating a monstrous book, not quite the sort of masterpiece one would expect, but still devilishly looking and perverse as it ought to be. 

“It is done!” He said in a slow, quiet hum and he would turn to his masters looking for approval. 

But alas, his masters were not beings of flesh, at least no more. So all he could do is write a letter to one, giving it unto the Raven, whilst waiting for the Great Old One to claim the Book of old.

That is, more or less, what happens in the writer’s head during the process of production. A state of convergence of the old with the new, where his influences must be harnessed into something new and completely different, giving birth into a new form. When the form is almost complete, the storywriter will have to combine the fine artistry of the concept artist, with the mind-blowing game mechanics and puzzles of the game designer, enriching his writings with the flow and pace that would make the story really shine.

During the final stages of conception, the storywriter will have to do the one most difficult task there is: Hide the main bulk of his story, along with tons of the game designer’s flow and the artists’ concepts and paintings, letting the ones that are courageous enough to brave through the hazards of the programmer’s sadistic machinations discover the truth behind the veil of lies, and see things as they really are.

This, is the art of narrative design in games.

If you don't believe us, here is a brief sketch of how is one of monsters portrayed by our Concept Artist :

If you cannot see clearly what this monster is about,
then you may as well Imagine seeing it in front of you.

How things work out on Project AH

Hello everyone!

It's been a week since our last post and we are very happy with our reach so far. Over 200 people have subscribed for our Horror event on the 30th of March and this makes everyone happy, and fuels us for more sweet things to show you!

So, this time, we thought it would be a good idea to share our working methods and our workflow for the project. So how was the idea structured and went into Unity?

The Mechanics (Game Design)

First of all, we wanted to merge core mechanics of 2 of our favorite game genres, them being Adventure and Horror.

We want to keep the original thinking and puzzle part of Adventure games, making people use pieces of paper in front of their PC to write down the clues we give them! We want people to start cross-referencing and gluing together the core hints and images / events they have witnessed in game in order to get a better grasp of the task at hand, how to solve puzzle X? Should we think about spatial recognition and/or riddles? Should we use different parts in the house in an illogical, yet clever and surreal way? Should we just google the answer? Hopefully, the thrill of solving a puzzle on your own will feed their curiosity and help them solve the puzzles on their own.

At the same time, we wanted to keep the horror part that makes horror games... well. Horror games! That comes down to a deranged and mutated creature lurking around in the dark corners of the game environment, always looking for you, waiting for you, wanting to kill you in many ways. The lurking horrors that make you stealth, sneak past them and think of ways to avoid them, since our character will be practically useless against them in pure combat. It all comes down to using your head much more than using your wits.

Combining these two together, we have created a formula that requires the players to be constantly vigilant with their surroundings, and always on the lookout. Being unable to stand in one place the whole time, will sure terrify some players, especially those who take their time into thinking and solving puzzles, because you will never be actually safe...

Spatial Recognition Puzzles and Sequence is playing a major part.
Not to mention the surreal illogical thinking required for some of the puzzles.

The Story

What good would a horror/adventure game would be without the story element? That s the reason for delving deep into the classics: From early Gothic Fiction, such as the Castle of Otranto, to Poe's writings and with a deep love for Lovecraftian lore and the occult, we've written a true horror piece that will shake the very foundations of your sanity, depriving you of your well-earned rest and make you lose countless hours of sleep, engaging you in one of the most disturbing adventures you have encountered so far, in order to solve the ultimate mystery of one's life. 

And the best part?

It's staged in the heart of all that is morbid, in the late 1800s, the end of the Victorian Era, where civilizations' foundations change from the roots up and the occult takes over every dark corner, every little crevice of one's mind.

Just another ordinary looking haunted house. Why the heck not?

The Coding Part 

With a few scratches on some notepad, agony, pain and some brainstorming hours later, we knew exactly what our game needed in order to build up our mechanics, so we got together and in a few days prepared a very draft prototype of the game, white-boxed with dummy graphics. We are going to post about these mechanics in more depth in future blog posts.

Having a clear image of those 2 genres in our head, it was no hard task to implement such mechanics. It would seem that our game had the minimum available mechanics and it was still playable. After looking through the features over a second iteration, we started adding more tasks that add to the immersion of the game, such as better AI, better VFX and better SFX Systems.

THAT door... Is sure to be hosted in another blog post all by itself. Mark my words...

The Audiovisual Part

After the breakthrough we had with the mechanics being programmed and the story being written, we had to marry the puzzles (Mechanics) with the plot (Story) of our game. That combination however could not be seen or heard with the proper props.

It was then, when our artists stepped into the battle field of production and had their say into how the props and models would appear in game, how creepy the feel and aesthetic would be and how much immersion would the audio part add to the game. All that, in conjunction with the main story plot, the mechanics being tested in the prototype scene inside Unity, and the unstoppable flow of ideas from the minds of our art and audio team.

A 3D Head, because i have nothing to share here.

The Nuts and Bolts of our new project & Horror Unity Event at 30 of March

Hello Everyone!

At first, I'd like to let you know that Genesis Game Studios along with Student Guru Unipi will be hosting a 3-Hour Event at University of Piraeus, on 30th of March, with me talking about Unity3D Game Development and more specific a quick development of a 3D Horror Survival Game. This is the poster for the event:

And thus, the time has come to reveal more details about our new project. It is Friday the 13th after all, which fits perfectly into the mood of our game.

So, last week, we said that we are preparing a somewhat big project, at least moving away from mobile titles a bit. So, it's a great pleasure for us, assembling a new team once again, and going through the path of PC Indie Game Development.

At this very moment, we will not reveal the true name of our game, and will merely call it with a codename, more precise, Project AH.

Okay, straight to the main course then! What is the game all about?

Project AH is going to be a First Person Adventure / Horror Hybrid game that is going to be featured in full 3D, and released in the PC Platforms, aiming for as many digital stores as possible, including the Windows 8 Store.

What can someone expect from the game? Of course, everything that you can expect from Adventure Games and Horror Games. In a nutshell: Puzzles, Riddles, logical thinking and Spatial Reasoning Puzzles, that each affect the progression of the story. And on the other hand we have the creepy presence of a terrifying Monster that lurks around, that has made the goal of its' life not to let you rest. Not to let you think straight before you solve the puzzle.

As a result, the player will be in constant vigilance and in parallel will try to solve the puzzles thrown at his path in order to proceed through the game. Everything will be story driven, and it's the player's goal to go and find out the rest of the story. The whole theme and setting of the game will be revealed in later posts though, so you know exactly what we have in mind..!

The thing that got us into the project in the first place was our urge to beautifully and creatively manipulate the strongest and most ancient emotion the world has ever known : Fear. Which can be easily elevated in First Person Horror Games when done right.

So, that's about it on our genre and platform reveal, next time we'll talk about the inspiration part and story and setting.

As a side gift, here is a screenshot from our prototype build:

"Open the door, or Stay right where you are?"
Dummy Prototype Screen with Dummy Textures on the walls. Don't mind the Sanity Meter. It's built for testing purposes.

Have fun!

Genesis Game Studios' New Project

It's been quite some time since we posted anything on our blog.

To tell you the truth, we were so busy catching up and cooking the next game in our horizon, that we wanted to be sure.

So, let me tell you a quick story.

6 months ago, I got a job as a Lecturer at SAE Institute. My field of expertise would be no other than Unity Game Development. Then, I got to meet many greek students who wanted to become game producers and change the image of Greece in the fields of game development. I saw the fire in their eyes every time they talked about their dreams. It would seem as if they felt that living in Greece would cut their wings, not let them fly and not go after it. But after a couple of off-the-record conversations they realized that it's not the country they live in, it's how badly they want to go out there and become someone. So, after some days of thought, a couple of inspired students stepped up and talked to me about creating something big for their portfolio. Something that would exceed their expectations of themselves.

"We want to create a game that would exceed our expectations and would not fit into the mobile genre. We want to remember something big after we graduate and having something significant and unique to show to possible employers out there. We want to go Indie."

These words pierced my mind like an arrow to the knee. I knew I had to take part in this!

And so i said "meeeh, why not" and thus me and some other students began assembling a team of developers, mostly students who wanted "the big hit" for their portfolio. And then, after talking to a couple of students from the 3D Animation Department of SAE, they quickly became interested in our secret project idea and wanted to go full throttle into doing something different for themselves.

My goal was to assemble a team of passionate students who wanted to take their next step in their game development career and have something in their portfolio / CV that would stand out.

And then... The idea of our game was born.

So, I'm officially announcing that we, Genesis Game Studios and this small student team will work on a new project, that will not be a mobile game, and we plan to release it on as many digital stores as we can.

A Note Left on the Table. What does it say? Find out on our next blog post!

What about the project you say? We will not reveal THAT much for now, but be sure to keep in touch, as it's going to be our biggest project yet, and this is going to be, yet again, since Dementia, our Development Blog, to keep you guys informed of how things will work on this game and what we are going to do.