What is the game going to be about?
The game will be all one level, almost a point and click style of game where you move the character around the environment to learn about their past. The game will feature one main character and that is the only character you will see.
The game features no crime, there is no murder that happens throughout. The game will finish at the point where the character is about to 'commit their first crime' The game will not glorify serial killers, neither will it be a form of guide to serial killing, it will stand only to show the back-story that leads up until the first crime and what guided them to that point. The game will not be based directly on any real life serial killer, but one I have created and I will try and make it so it doesn't directly replicate any real life criminals story, it will be a mix of lives based on research into how the brain of a child reacts as it grows.
The idea of the game is to make people think about the events that lead up to the final point, and not necessarily make them change their opinion on serial killers as sympathetic characters but to just be an example of what can happen in someone's life that takes them to the point where all hell breaks loose. To show that behind the crimes and the name, their was a child that grew up to be this criminal and show what could possibly have lead them on the path they chose.
What do I want people to think of the character they are controlling?
Visually, I want the player to think the character looks as if they could just be an average man/woman, as if on the street they could just pass by them and not have any thought other than 'oh there's another human being'. To do this I will ask people I know and strangers what is the first thing they think of when they hear the words 'Serial Killer' and take that research into account when I create the main character.
How will the player identify with the character?
Ideally people would see something in the journey that they see in their own lives, maybe not feeling loved enough as a child, feeling left out at school, not feeling they have enough in life. I want people to think about how with one wrong turn they could have turned out this way. Relating life events to this character is how I want players to identify with the character.
As the player goes through the game I want them to empathise with the character, not so the character becomes too sympathetic, but so the player can see where the character has come from and that with some serial killers they don't just decide to go out and start killing people, sometimes there are circumstances that lead up to the point of their first crime. I want the player to get a little invested with the character mentally, the ideal outcome would be that you've seen the character grow up and as you get to the end of the game I want the player to be like 'oh no don't kill them, don't let your past affect your future'.
What do I want them to feel from the environment?
The idea I want to go with, with this prototype is that as you progress through the level the colours getting darker and more desperate looking, the game is mainly going to be travelling through a corridor, with the corridor the further you progress, the lights get dimmer, the wallpaper gets more tatty and ripped up. I want players to feel more uncomfortable as they go on, I want the environment to reflect the characters mental state as they get closer to their first victim.
How will I make this happen?
To make this happen I will use a familiar location of a corridor which will be a one way twisting, turning pathway, the wallpaper along this corridor will be patterned in a way that players can associate with, in a pattern that is often used in homes. It will feature pictures of the characters family and pets, but lack pictures of friends. Stairs will be used to signify the players descent into darkness.
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