MIRAGE

● ARCHIVED · READ-ONLY
Started by iMaple 1 posts View original ↗
  1.   mirage.png
     
    To the Moon meets Gone Home. Now with actual gameplay.
     

    Key Facts

    Genre: Adventure, Puzzle, Non-Combat

    Setting: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic

    Stage: Early Alpha

    Est. Release: Late 2014
     

    How it started
     

    Spoiler
    I'm a student at the Games Academy Berlin and was working on a Oculus Rift game with 5 other students. Unfortunately, we overestimated ourselves and the game was not finished when the deadline arrived. You know, looks great, feels great... But there's no gameplay. I was quite sad to let the concept drop, so I decided to finish it, even if it means chopping it down to 2D sprite graphics.
     
     Story

    Spoiler
    TL;WE
     
    Nuclear war scorches earth in the 21st century. Knowing this, scientists are sent to the LSS (Lunar Surface Station) to develop a mind-control device that creates delusions. This device was to be used when the scientists would return to earth, (when the nuclear winter passed) displaying a habitable planet do any survivors and themselves, aiming to repopulate the human race by giving survivors hope instead of despair. Unfortunately, malfuncitons on the LSS killed 90% of the scientists, and the earth was utterly destroyed by nuclear fire, leaving not a single soul alive.
     
    20 years later, the son of a scientist wakes from his cryostasis. Trapped inside of delusions, he goes on with his daily life, not knowing he is the last human alive.
     
    Characters
     
    Bedoier Calais, Father of MC
     

    Spoiler
    Calais worked on a classified mind-control prototype, named MIRAGE in the race of military supremacy during the closing years before the escalation. When it became clear that war was imminent, Calais, his wife and son were designated as key personnel, (closest family members respectively) sent to the LSS and put into cryostasis. Commander Blake was supposed to observe the nuclear exchange unfold and estimate how long the cryostasis would need to take – he programmed the cryopods to open after 50 years. He then however disappeared from the LSS along with it's only spacecraft ARRIVAL, making it impossible for anyone on the LSS to return to earth, regardless of the outcome of the war. 50 years later, when Calais woke up on schedule, he and other key personnel realized that many cryopods malfunctioned and killed the majority of personnel in their sleep. Devastated by this fact and the sight of a dead earth, the surviving scientists committed suicide. Calais decided to forfeit the mission of human repopulation and dedicated his remaining time reprogramming MIRAGE to display a magical world to his son, effectively hiding the human fate before taking his own life.
     
    Commander Blake
     
    Commanding Officer on the Lunar Surface Station. His disappearance along with the only spacecraft ARRIVAL remains unexplained.
     
    MC/Player
     
    Spoiler
    Generic Backstory Who am I? Where am I? Why? Do I really remember, or just think I do? Is there a difference?

     
     Gameplay
     


    The goal of the game is to escape the delusion/matrix and discover what happened. This is done by finding and disabling the control devices, slowly revealing the remains of the LSS and it's fate. Apart from exploring and finding clues, items can be picked up and used in appropriate situations. The game will also feature a simple magic system which can be used to move heavy objects. This is visualized through simple projectiles which can be mapped to hotkeys.
     
    "Mind-Control-Device-Thingy" explained
    Spoiler
    Welp, here's a picture I used to explain this in my other project. It's in german, but the images should explain the most part. If you watched the anime Chaos;Head, you'll know what I'm talking about.
    CONTROL-simplified-Kopie.png
    WTF? How is this reflected in the gameplay?

    Spoiler
    ]matrix1.png

    matrix2.png

    matrix3.png

    I hope this explains it. The core gameplay loop revolves around exploring the area, finding clues, learning about these relays and slowly identifying and disabling them, gaining more clues and story bits.


    I'm sorry I couldn't post more screens/demo, it's still in the early stages and besides walking around unfinished maps there's not much to do. This will however change in the coming weeks.

    I'd greatly appreciate feedback regarding the gameplay concept and general tips on how you would pace the story/game.

    Cheers,

    iMaple