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[ToughMobileSprout]

I was in a bit of a battle with myself about the lengthiness of this one, and whether or not to put it it's own thread or in the "pitch your game topic" thread.

Anyways, here it goes:

My idea is nothing radical or groundbreaking, but the concept has been plaguing me for a while. Inspired by events in my life, I came up with the idea for a sort of adventure/atmospheric horror game.

Put simply, you are (insert average male name here) and as a child your younger brother disappeared into the woods nearby the house you used to live in, you and the police searched for years, but he was lost. Years later as an adult, you lately have been having nightmares about his disappearance, and you can't escape them. Soon they become unbearable, the visions of demons in the woods and murder invade you every night. You wake up with marks and scratches, and in fear, try to stay awake. You are inspired by one of these nightmares you have to go looking for your brother again, hoping to find him after all these years. You go back to your old home, and search the woods, still fighting off sleep as the element of fear builds.

So basically, the main idea of the game revolves around you staying awake. It will likely be represented by a meter of some sort, that slowly over time decreases. You must use everything you can. Constant movement, stored energy drinks you bring with you in limited supply, perhaps ADHD meds you obtain somehow, and later in the game maybe intentionally harming yourself to maintain consciousnesses. As time passes you become more weary, when your sleep meter gets low things may begin to blur, but more importantly are the hallucinations. The demons that you are fighting may be real or not, but a few days into fighting sleep you will begin to see things. This will tie into the plot of course, but anyways, I spent a while studying how long the average human can last without sleep, along with all the side-effects of deprivation, and what interested me the most was wondering how to incorporate all these elements into an adventure game. One of the most interesting of the factors involving staying awake was micro-sleep. These quick blips of sleep that are impossible to fight would go well as placing quick flashes of visions or perhaps getting involved in combat somehow. They could also deter from game-play if added it as a "glitch" or something artsy though, so maybe I'll stay out of that territory.

Anyways, just an idea, figured I would express it.

[Coz]

I think that both a new topic or putting it in the "pitch your game topic" is fine.

I like the background =]
Up until the point where you wake up with marks and scratches. I bet the general population would think something supernatural is at work if you wake up with marks while dreaming about demons. It was more fun when I didn't know if demons were at work, or it were just disturbed. By removing that uncertainty, you removed certain tension... so I would like it better if it sleep-deprived just because of my horrifying nightmares.

I think it's silly to think that you'll find your brother at last. Keeping with the topic of uncertainty, you could make the reason of going back to the woods vague; maybe you hope to find your brother, but that's not enough. Maybe you want to find an answer to your nightmares, or maybe you just are desesperate and don't know what else to do. But all this uncertainty would turn this into a mystery game, and maybe you are going for straight horror.

I pretty much like everything else about your idea.

Check eternal darkness( gamecube game ) for a similar concept when dealing with hallucinations, except that instead of a sleep meter, you get an insanity meter.

[ToughMobileSprout]

Up until the point where you wake up with marks and scratches. I bet the general population would think something supernatural is at work if you wake up with marks while dreaming about demons. It was more fun when I didn't know if demons were at work, or it were just disturbed. By removing that uncertainty, you removed certain tension... so I would like it better if it sleep-deprived just because of my horrifying nightmares.

I think it's silly to think that you'll find your brother at last. Keeping with the topic of uncertainty, you could make the reason of going back to the woods vague; maybe you hope to find your brother, but that's not enough. Maybe you want to find an answer to your nightmares, or maybe you just are desesperate and don't know what else to do. But all this uncertainty would turn this into a mystery game, and maybe you are going for straight horror.

I agree with a lot of your points here, the plot is very under-developed, and needs work. But I'm no writer, and I'm out shape as far as game design goes if you know what I mean. I agree being inspired by a nightmare is sort of silly, along with the scratches which are sort of "that edge I don't really need" plot wise.

Also, on the whole mystery vs. horror thing, what I'm trying to go for is, haha, maybe, horror that's actually scary? Which is what I meant by atmospheric, I'm trying to build up tension. And if I dare embark on such an adventure as making this game and it ends up with lackluster graphics, I still want to find a way to make put in horror.

But then again, plat-formers can be creepy, can they not? (example: Amon26's Au Sable)

And yes, eternal darkness was a wonderful game, a large inspiration.

[Coz]

I agree being inspired by a nightmare is sort of silly, along with the scratches which are sort of "that edge I don't really need" plot wise.

I find it perfectly reasonable to be inspired by nightmares =P