September | 2014 | Nathanael Peacock

The following is a video of a prototype that I created in two weeks with a fellow student Marcus Grambau. It is an example of level design, concept design and programming. The task was to create a prototype in two weeks with the theme of ‘random permutation’.

Our concept was a dungeon, where the player was an explorer hopelessly lost. The dungeon is filled with noxious gas and the player needs to refill their breath meter at randomly spawned oxygen points. these points are signified by a light spot and growing plant life. Throughout the dungeon there are also a 10 treasure chests, which are randomly spawned out of 15 possible locations, and only one of them holds the switch to open the exit. There are also 6 skeletons which spawn, of them 2 will wake up and come after you, the other four will remain dead. There are also 8 ‘markers’ these can be pots, statues, candles etc. these are intended to be markers to remember which way you have come, but these will respawn in different locations with each playthrough.

So that is:

8 spawn points for oxygen, of which 4 are chosen
15 points for treasure chests, of which 10 are chosen, and of which 1 has the button to exit
6 skeletons of which 2 will wake up
and 8 iconic ‘markers’ which move locations each time.

I have recently decided to work on a Murder Mystery style live action game. The prototyping phase for this game began with one of my university subjects. The goal of the subject was to create a game with a message. This design has moved on from that but my prototype was marked very highly.

I decided to explore the idea of guilt, and each persons inherent tendency to expect guilt from certain characters. So I constructed a situation where each player has some measure of guilt and must protect that while pushing guilt onto others. Each player is defined at the beginning of the game, as are their relationships, and other game elements are determined as the game progresses. The key concept is that you find guilt wherever you look for it.

The situation: One player plays as The Investigator, they have been sent to this town in order to investigate the death of The Sheriff, who was killed by one of the other players. The other players are The Mother, The Father, The Teacher, The Doctor and The Businessman. However, after the first town meeting it comes to light that The Daughter of two of the other players (The Mother and The Father) has gone missing, presumed kidnapped. The investigation is then twofold, to determine who killed The Sheriff and who kidnapped The Daughter.

Evidence: the biggest difference between Mens Rea and a traditional murder mystery is the idea of clues and evidence. Each player begins with a set number of evidence cards, these are face down and only that player knows what they are. At set intervals in the game there are town meetings, during which The Investigator is able to reveal a set number of pieces of evidence held by the other players. At this point they become facts about that player. Evidence could be things like: Has occult setup in basement, or Has a secret shack in the forest etc.

Conversations: During the course of the game the players have conversations with one another between the town meetings, the game is structured so that each person will speak to each other once. in these conversations each of the players has a goal, and the two must improvise an argument, and the observers determine the winner at the end. The loser is given another piece of evidence.

The Finale: Finally, the two players with the most evidence against them at the last town meeting must have one final argument, like a court case. Using all of the evidence that each of them have collected they must prove why the other person committed the crime. During the course of this investigation the other players may announce any evidence they still have concealed and use it against the players: “I saw The Doctor covered in blood the night of the murder” and place that evidence against them. The jury decides the winner, and the loser must read their confession from the game box.

Below are some images of the game structure, and some of the physical assets.