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Devlog #1 ~ Idea & Story
I wanted to create a horror game that is different to many classical horror settings like hauted houses, spooky forests or abandoned farms. Why don´t walk the streets of a Victorian Era city with some Jack-the-Ripper-feeling?
The main problem was how to populate the city. Won´t it kill the players fear if he would meet persons from time to time? Not to mention the effort of modelling, texturing and animating characters. But what if there was a reason that you don´t meet any human being? Maybe nobody dares to step outside due to a danger which is also threatening the player? Maybe a murderer... Well, this would have been a Jack the Ripper copy. How about a monster or demonic entity? Cool so far, but why is it here and what does it want? That was the point where I started doing some research. 19th-century London had a huge problem with gangs, controlling even whole city districts sometimes. Could there be a mystical cult instead that decided to take control over a city and released a demonic creature? It´s just made-up fantasy but would fit well. The people were not as religious as you would expect. Poverty and lack of perspective made many turn away from the church these times.
Alright, the followers of the cult took over a city district. The police (maybe not even existing at this time) tried to stop them and there were riots and deads. To prevent the people from fleeing, the cult summons a creature to patrol the streets during nighttime.
Now, what is the player supposed to do? During a talk by a developer of Amnesia he said, that players tend to fight an enemy whenever they face one. By doing this, the scaryness of the game shrank dramatically. Furthermore I wanted the player so run away or hide, to keep a Jack-the-Ripper-feeling. Furthermore I need to explain, why the player is the only one who dares to walk around there by night when everyone else is staying inside? Finally I decided that the player could be a priest whose task is to bless the crosses of the city to contain the demonic influence.
What do you think about this idea? Feel free to comment!