As mentioned previously during my time at Team Skeleton Cocoons we were tasked with creating three prototypes for a new project. For the second of the three prototypes my team produced we decided to make a survival, horror game named Terrorform. In it the player crashed on a alien planet and must gather minerals in order to rebuild their ship. However unannounced to the player the world is filled with monsters that don't take kindly to outsiders taking their resources.
I took the role of level designer and composer for the tittle. It was my job to provide a tense and alien atmosphere though the music and environment. This was immensely different to my work in other projects. While with most games the goal is to make the player feel inviting and empowering the horror genre turns those ideas on their heads. It is a horror game's job to make the player feel alienated and powerless. This powerlessness and isolation puts the player on edge and makes them more susceptible to the feeling of fear.
For the level design I wanted to provide a player with a feeling of isolation while still keeping the environment interesting enough to encourage continued game play. To do this I separated the level into two distinct sections. The first was the player's base. While the player can build anywhere the devices used to sell minerals and clean their drill is located at one part of the map and can't be moved. This is done to direct the players to construct their base at this location in order to properly separate it from the rest of the environment.
The second part of the level is the open environment. This is the part of the level where players can collect minerals and be attacked by monsters. This is everywhere that is not contained in the player's base and the player chooses to enter it by exiting their base. After a while the player will be forced to be returned to their base in order to clean their drill.
The base is designed to be the player's respite from the horror. However the tension still caries over into the base as players know that they will eventually have to leave it to collect minerals. In addition by giving the player the ability to leave the base when they want what is actually being done is taking control away from the player. They player must exit their base weather they want to or not. The player is designed to feel powerless as they exit not wanting to leave their base but having no other option.
The composition of the game was designed to make the player feel isolated on a alien world. It was made using various sound clips that were under the creative common's license. The first part of the song is a slowly descending mix of electronic noises. This is deigned to immediately make the player feel alienated as the sounds are not natural to them. After this fades a small section of blowing wind begins to play to emphasize the emptiness of the world. After a brief moment brief alien like voices are played. This further adds emphasis to the player's alienation and adds to their isolation as it reminds them their is a outside world that they cannot interact with. Contextually this is designed to be the player picking up on a nearby signal.
After a moment a violin is heard. It starts off quietly but quickly begins to crescendo. As it does a banging is heard. At first these are quiet and spread out but as the violin begins to get louder the banging becomes louder and more frequent. This is designed to build up the player's tension as they navigate the environment. The player wonder's weather that is coming from the radio of from the environment. Finally at the height of the violin's volume a big bang is heard followed by the violins rapid decrescendo. This is the release of tension in the music providing the player a brief relief as they realize the music was not signaling a environmental threat. After this the signal is lost and the song transitions again to winds further emphasizing the planet's emptiness.
After a bit the player picks up a new signal. This signal is much more faint and is filled with static. The bits of sound that come though are more broken now. Small bits of laughter, foreign voices and rattles come though the static. These bits are to further isolate the player as the again are reminded that their are others out their but the player cannot interact with them.
Finlay the one thing that can cut though the static is a small bit of the song "Midnight Sonata". This small portion is design to take away the player's tension while at the same time reminding them of their loneliness and isolation. This was my first time composing a piece using sound bites and it had some issues. It didn't loop well and could get repetitive after awhile. However I believe the piece did accomplish its main goal of making the player feel alienated and isolated.
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