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Im going to set up this developer blog to trace out the ideas and concepts that are grashing around the inside of my skull in the hopes of, at the very least, getting them out there, and perhaps giving myself some peace. A long, LONG time ago I took an interest in Dreams and Nightmares because...well, it's a long story. Perhaps I'll post it some day. The point is, I became fascinated with nightmares and horrors and dream mythology.

After a while I began to keep a dream journal and noted down some...really weird dreams and ideas. Dreams and ideas that seemed to keep popping up in random places in real life.

Worse yet, my dreams kept on having running...themes. Similar characters, similar...feels to them. You know what I mean? Like a dream can have a ..flavour, or an atmosphere. Well, after my latest Silent HIll Project I decided that I wanted to make a game about escaped nightmares...perhaps in a small midwestern town in America, or maybe set it somewhere new, like a collapsing english coastal village, one that only sees action during the holidays when the out of towners come to stay in their summer cabins. 

But I knew the story, and the project, would be too big, too grand for me to finish or, really, make anything really worthwhile with. But what if I did something smaller? Something that tapped into that twisted, deranged universe of Dreams Escaping into reality, infecting those around them and spreading like some osrt of plague? Imagine having to go and catch the nightmares. Imagine having to find the fragments of dreams, of having to figure them out, and having to find the original host, to catch the dream in a journal....

Now lest scale it back, make it portable and easy enough for a one man team to do. A horror platformer, perhaps? One based on teh players fears and nightmares? One that changes for each player, though the core game loop and progression remains mostly the same?

A new type of horror? A new type of platformer?
I need to research this and see if anyone else has done something similar, at the very least...

Jesus christ. Move the OTHER NODES.

You can click on the nodes that controls the walls for the castle and shift it across the city. It really isnt that hard, man. :)

This is actually really cool! I would love to see this in a larger game setting but its an awesome little minigame. 

Dude, this game was amazing! More terrifying and better paced than most horror games I've played in a while! I also loved the layout of the station, and the fact that looking out the window gives you rotational vertigo! Awesome! Even triple A games these days don't have the same sense of atmosphere!
Loved every bit of it! Please do more!

I liked it!
I liked the reflections effects in teh water and the general style of the game.
The music and sound effects were good and atmospheric, especially when the thing began to chase me, and it had a nice gloomy atmosphere.
I'm looking forward to seeing more!

okay I know there is a mirror in the basement that you shouldn't be able to get to but I will take a quick run through to check on it.

Thanks for giving it a play! :) 

I have been reworking the game quite a bit, so while the storyline and full game (beginning to end) is THERE and should be completely playable, a lot of the animations (and some of the graphical details) are not quite there yet.

Bear with me, though, as I want this game to look and feel at its very best! If you DO play it and run into any major issues please let me know!

Guys, its been a while since I had a full nights sleep, but am I losing my mind? I could have sworn that the deadline for the game was this morning....now its not for another two days! Dont get me wrong, I'm grateful, I just want to make sure I'm not losing my marbles!!XD

Looks awesome! Cant wait to play it!

progress!

Character portraits sketched!

Now to scan and color them and onto the monsters!

Exactly, I'm hoping I have something good and usable by the end of the jam, but this might be a good project to keep working on and polish up quite a bit (I have to admit that the other games I submitted I kind of just left alone after the jam).

Hey everyone, I have had a look around but I'm having trouble finding out how to make an image appear at a certain angle.

I tried using scripts and entered:

"screen.picture[1].angle=90"

But it doesn't appear to be working. I have another option, just using Photoshop and saving the same image at different angles, but that could get messy and take a lot of memory.

That sounds awesome, I hope it goes well!

I always do the story first then try to work around it from there. Can't wait to see it!

That sounds awesome!

I may have to give the vegetable thing a try. I can't wait to have my housemates walk in on my furiously scowling while I crush vegetables in front of a mic to get that perfect effect! XD

well dude, I gotta say I'd be super impressed if you can animate a full game with it in five days. Good luck and let me know how it goes!! :)

So, how is everyone coming along?

Anyone stuck on anything or having trouble? Are you guys making good progress so far?

I've just completed a demo gameplay loop for the full game (typical puzzle game stuff - get the key to open the door to get the key to open another door)... So now I just have to space the rooms out and make it look nice and spooky stylish.

Sound effects are going to be tricky, though. Does anyone have any good sources for ghosty/body horror SFX?

Dude, claymation would be fun but it takes aaages to do, trust me.

Yup!

I've been batting the idea around my head, getting the story and ideas together but haven't done any assets yet. I'm gonna start work on it tonight.

It's going to be an RPG maker game (I know, I know....) But that is the core rule of the other jam. 

Super excited to get started!!

What sort of horror game are you trying to make?

Maybe try copying your favourite game?

Just remember, though... Keep it small. This is a game jam, and you only have a short time to try and get a game together.

There are lots of engines out there to use, and lots of assets to help start you off.

If you need any help, ask. That's what jams should be for! :)

Hello everyone!

So I have just signed up for another game jam (a horror one) where the theme is Dark Reflections. I was going to use a story revolving around death, mourning, and old traditions (covering mirrors and so on) to have a setting for the horror, and have written the story for it, but I haven't done any work on the game just yet (no assets or audio)....

So would I be able to submit this game for The Mortality Jam *and* for the other jam?

Or would that not be cool?

To be fair, sound design and music is *the* most important part of a horror game! I'll see if I can send you a PM!

Elevator Pitch:
You play a young girl who has to return home from school because her mother has died. While watching over her mother in mourning, a covering sheet falls off of the mirror and the young girl sees her mother's soul get lost in the mirror world. Now she has to step back and forth between the mirror world and the real world to help free her mother from the dark mirror world.

Story Summary:
Shemira is a youn (12) year old girl who has the solemn duty of having to Watch Over The Dead when her mother passes. This involves a lot of superstitions and traditions, including covering all the mirrors in the house, stopping all the clocks, and lighting a candle to stand vigil over the corpse of her mother all night to make sure nothing takes her body or soul away. (All real traditions, followed by Irish and Jewish families)
However, at midnight the window blows open, blowing out the candle and blowing the sheet off of her mother's favourite mirror.
Shemira runs to the mirror she sees the ghostly shape of her mother's soul wandering into the mirror world and away.
Now she has to step into the mirror world and find her mother.
She journies back and forth between the mirror world (where everything is dark and surreal) and the real world, where the rest of her family can be found, sleeping, in various parts of the house. If she encounters a mirror version of her family members, they will have information and memories to share with her, though they will look very strange and distorted, almost monstrous in appearance.
She has to unlock dialogue options with these mirror people to uncover secrets and finally find a special, unique memory that only they and your character's mother share. Using these fragments she can help put her mother's spirit back together and free her from the Mirror World.
However, time is running out and something dark is stalking the halls of the old family house....

Game Mechanics:
Mirrors are used to flip between the real world and the mirror world (a la silent hill and silent hill origins), however, all the mirrors have been covered over and must be uncovered in the real world before they can be used. However, items such as keys, rings, and even flowers can be picked up in the mirror world and used to unlock progress throughout the house.
Talking to Mirror People will allow Shemira to uncover secrets and memories about other family members, her dead mother, and the house. Finding letters and diaries in various rooms will also unlock certain dailogue options. They will each have a Special Secret Memory that will give you a Fragment of your Mother. Once you have all Five Fragments, you can find your Mother and piece her back together, completing the memory of her and letting her be free of the mirror world.
There are five family members in the house:
DAD (suffering from depression, asleep  in the sitting room)
POP (your grandfather, raging at the unfairness of it all)
NAN (your grandmother, old and senile, in a state of denial)
BOB (your uncle, who would give anything to have your mother back)
HANNAH (your Aunt and your mother's twin sister, who has had to accept that her sister is dead)
Each has a Secret to tell and a memory to share, but sometimes you will need to bring an item to them (like a flower or a scarf or freshly baked cookies) to help them remember and to unlock those dialogue options.
However, your mother wanders the halls and rooms of the old house (in the mirror world) hold her fractured face and weeping loudly. In the Real World, a banshee roams the same halls and rooms as her and if the Banshee catches you, it is game over.

Extra Game Mechanics:
I *might* add another mechanic that flips the controls when you go into the mirror world, though some play testing will be needed to see if it is just unsettling or if it makes the game completely unplayable.
Another mechanic is that each room (dining room, kitchen, bedroom, attic, etc) will be connected in one way in the Real World but will be connected in an entirely different way in the Mirror world, meaning that you will have to learn the layout of the house twice, making it feel more surreal and disjointed...

Game Style:
The game will be mostly black and white with splashes of bright red and deep blue to highlight important items. The real world will be dark and dimly lit (it is midnight, after all) but the mirror world will have all the colours inverted, making it look surreal and well lit, despite the darkness. The main character is an Albino - white hair, red eyes, dressed in a sombre black dress.
However, when she steps into the Mirror world (or rather, becomes her reflection), her hair is black, her eyes a deep blue and her dress and floaty, ethereal white.
Likewaise, her mother becomes a black, indistinct shape with no face and white hands in the Mirror world, while the Banshee in the Real World is tall, boney, with long white limbs, white faliling hair and black, grabbing claws.
Text will be black on white and, in the mirror world, white on black, while KEY WORDS will be highlighted RED or BLUE if they are important.

Awesome! Thanks!

Are outsourced assets and scripts allowed?

Given my name, I've realised I'm going to have to try this one out! ;)

This is a really awesome idea - I love the concept and the approach!
However, I did run into some pretty major bugs and UX issues.

Some suggestions:
1) Game controls: Use the mouse wheel to change items (weapon/repair tool)
2) Use the RMB to zoom in. It feels more natural and easier to control than scrolling your mouse wheel.
3) The UI hints dont seem to always pop up (telling you how to steer, accelerate and so on) - so my first play through involved me not knowing how to get out the harpoon.
4) My boat's life is....strange. On my first playthrough (after figuring out the harpoon) I lasted for ages before suddenly capsizing, but the second playthough my boat died after one collision.
5) Hitting rocks doesn't seem to damage the boat (that I can tell)
6) Maybe put a life bar for your boat on the HUD (or maybe even have it on your steering controls next to the radar?)
7) The dock at the beginning is cool but seems pointless. Maybe put some World Info there? Like a poster saying "Giant Fish wanted! £1000 reward!"
And have the core controls there?
8) The music had some issues, like there were two songs playing at once.  Its nice, but might need a little bit of work.

Over all, like I said, awesome game concept that could do with a few tweaks! :)

The game does, indeed, look beautiful, though a few tweaks could be added.
Most of it has been said before - about the look controls and the slow walk speed.

There is also a slight issue where reading a not starts an audio clip. However, if you read another note or walk too far, other audio clips play over the top of them, making it super noisy.

The set dressing is amazing, though the pacing needs a little bit of work. It is nice and creepy, however our protagonist (who talks to himself) seems completely unfazed by the corpses hanging up around the place, though is shocked by a random ghost on the stairs.

Over all, loved the game and look forward to your progress with interest!

I'll try again later. Apparently AVG is known for being overzealous. In fact, just after quarantining your game it went on to do the same thing for a regular steam game that I have played a lot.

Just thought you should know in case it was an issue. :)

The style and content was awesome!
However, I did get stuck out of sight a couple of times (especially near the truck) and couldnt find a way to get out. The dino found me once, took a nibble, then walked off.
But the style and old school feel of the game was awesome! 9/10!

Your game got flagged as malware by two different AVs on two seperate systems. Might want to scan your files again just to be on the safe side?

Awww, this was an interesting attempt! I liked it, it showed a love for the old fatal frame games and is a good start!
The controls need a little work and, sadly, I cannot read Thai. But it looked pretty good for a starting game concept. :)

Oh yeah, those are all placeholder textures - I ran out of time so wanted to have at least a bare bones game to work with. Gonna fix it up a whole bunch over the next couple of days. :)

Thank you so much for giving it a try - I would like to revisit the game (now that I have learned quite a bit more) and work on the emchanics. Looking at it though I will probably have to rebuild it from the bottom up, but I think it could be worthwhile. :)

Im sorry you had some glitches in the game, I know that there was a clipping error when you turn into a lightning ball sometimes so ill see if I can work on that too. :)

Interesting, I gave it a try, nice little concept, I liked the use of animation and the weird combat system  - the music made me jump though as it went from quiet to sudden beats. Good stuff, keep it up! :)

Absolutely awesome game! First time I have been spooked by an indie horror game in a while! Loved it, loved the atmosphere, and loved the blair witch vibe.

Great! Thanks, I hope to do better as I continue to work on other projects! :)

Yeah I think I got that one. Reminds me of the old choose your own adventure books. Good stuff though. :)

Looks like it has a lot of potential! Hope it turns out well!
(Just a word of advice on the nightmare thing though - don't over use it - too many games get boring because "It was all a dreaaaaaam...!" and having it just be in a nightmare world means that it is devoid of consequences - it becomes a haunted house walkthrough with maybe a few jumpscares but nothing to invest the player because nothing matters - after all, it is just a dream. But I can't wait to see what you do with the game! :D)

I think it is more to make the builders be more considerate about the "tension and release" cycle instead of having something like the infamous "maze.exe" game in which you just play a normal game a suddenly has a screaming face on the screen. Think more along the lines of fatal frame games where the ghosts appear out of nowhere or even, at a stretch, the "Five Nights at Freddies" games in which there is an awful tense moment before the dolls pop out and go booga-booga.

I mean, otherwise everyone could just make a game of pong and then throw in a screamer and *bam!* horror game.

...But that's just how I read it anyway. :)