Condemned
Set in the 18th century, a jealous maid takes terrible action when she discovers the Lord of the Manor, whom she is in love with and works for, is due to be married to someone else.
Details
Role: Narrative/Game Designer
Time: 2 weeks
Team: Jason Lian, Rei Yamada, James Tseng, Wenlong Yan
Contributions
Story. Wrote the narrative and designed interactions that would immerse the guest in the mind of the character.
THE PROMPT
Create an interactive, compelling narrative experience for VR
Initial Thinking
Thriller/Horror Genre. Inspired by Hideo Kojima's P.T (Playable Teaser), I wanted to design a short but intense experience.
Interactions. Interactions must serve the narrative and immerse the user in the character's perspective.
Design Challenges
TIME
We only had 2 weeks to build this experience
GENRE
Initially considering a detective game, I realized writing compelling detective fiction is challenging. Thus, I opted to focus on a narrative centered around concealing a crime.
CHARACTER
Immersing the guest in the head and perspective of someone who is delusional is very hard.
Solutions
Single Room. Limit the experience to 1 space so the artists could focus on creating an immersive environment that suits the story in the short time we had.
Directed User Attention. Limit the guest's movement to create focused vignettes where they engage in interactions explicitly serving the narrative, aiding their understanding of the inhabited character.
Context. Create flashback events during the vignettes to add context so the guest has a better understanding of the character's motivations.