Development of greybox prototype

Week 8 Session 1

After the first playtesting, I think that my previous environment was probably too simple to try navigating as the gates are big and players only need to go on one straight way. The game was obvious instead of requiring time or being paid attention as it should. So I created a new greybox prototype with another map. The main concept is still about the change in environment with accompanying feelings.

1ST CHANGE:

Here is my greybox prototype and how to get through the environments:

For the last prototype, I started with the withered environment straight away. However, now I want to bring the players going through an actual journey, starting from a station. They should go on a train, look through the windows to find some hints and escape that place to go in the next room. 

The room I want to demonstrate here is where I feel safe after the journey, however, it would be a dark and empty room instead of being bright as expected. Safety is not synonymous with happiness. Staying indoors sometimes is because of feeling insecure. I recognised that I usually want to bring my true feelings into my work, which means expressing all of them let my work be fully meaningful. It is a room with no roof, where you are covered with four big walls and need to raise your head high to look up at the sky.

Going around the water fountain in the middle is also visiting every corner of the room. After finishing taking a look at some points, there is the gate leading to the next environment, nature.

A bit similar to the previous greybox prototype, there are mountains and trees. I changed my mind and eliminated the city blocks as I think I no longer want to directly communicate the transformation with actual objects. Instead, I bring in a big garden with flowers and plants to show off the emotional changes during that move. Moreover, the train is enough to understand the physical change, the city at the end will be redundant. I want to maintain the aesthetic through the natural environment.

2ND CHANGE:

After going around again and again, I put in more changes to achieve the final desired journey. Instead of having only one room, I created another room. The difference between the two of them isn’t clear now as they are both grey. Later, it will be distinct by separating between day and night. The 1st room is dark and the 2nd one is the opposite, brighter with liveliness. The transformation will be enhanced by the sound effects also. I added an archway to make a way for players to commute between two areas. The garden and outdoor environment is still be kept at the end of the game.