[WIP] Silhouette
Silhouette was our team's Global Game Jam entry which has since evolved to roughly Alpha stage. It's posted here for people to play and post feedback and crits, so I can make it better.
This is a 2 player game where one player plays as a killer and the other a victim trying to escape a mazey house. Both players play on the same PC; the victim uses WASD to move around, and the killer uses the arrow keys and right alt to attack. The victim needs to find an exit door somewhere in the house, and the killer needs to stop him by whatever means necessary (but basically, killing).
Web version (Unity webplayer)
Windows download
OSX download
Map Editor
Global Game Jam page (very old version)
Updates and some dev banter on the blog.
Updates
Silhouette was selected for exhibition at Rezzed!
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-24-rezzed-2013-leftfield-collection-line-up-unveiled
And here is some subsequent press:
Rock, Paper, Shotgun: Death By A Dozen Flailing Stabs: Silhouette
The Guardian: Rezzed 2013: all of PC gaming life was here
Let's plays
This is a 2 player game where one player plays as a killer and the other a victim trying to escape a mazey house. Both players play on the same PC; the victim uses WASD to move around, and the killer uses the arrow keys and right alt to attack. The victim needs to find an exit door somewhere in the house, and the killer needs to stop him by whatever means necessary (but basically, killing).
Web version (Unity webplayer)
Windows download
OSX download
Map Editor
Global Game Jam page (very old version)
Updates and some dev banter on the blog.
Updates
Silhouette was selected for exhibition at Rezzed!
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-24-rezzed-2013-leftfield-collection-line-up-unveiled
And here is some subsequent press:
Rock, Paper, Shotgun: Death By A Dozen Flailing Stabs: Silhouette
The Guardian: Rezzed 2013: all of PC gaming life was here
Let's plays
Thanked by 1creative630
Comments
I really want to get some feedback about the core mechanic and fun factor. We've had ideas about all kinds of things to prototype, including ways the victim player can reveal certain 'points of interest' in the map (cupboards, dead ends, exits, etc), and other entities in the house that sabotage one player and help the other. We also want to create ways to force the two players together if they're not too close, or spending too much time away from one another. From a purely creepy/awesome visual perspective, we also want to start having crazy, wall-bleeding sort of stuff happening over time, to make players lose their cool as much as possible.
URLs to the game are the same as the first post, but here they are again:
Web
Win
OS X
Some changes:
- Improved level generation and pathfinding, added different room types
- Added fancy new menus, including a roaming stalker camera!
- Added side tables (can be searched) and couches (can be pushed)
- Added screen messages
- Added visual polish (camera shake, dust particles, etc)
- Added blood trails
- Fixed player movement speeds
- Fixed unpredictable turn duration
- Fixed restarting bugs
- Fixed a bug where the killer could not hit the victim
- Fixed wall textures
- Fixed lots of other game-breaking bugs
I've played the game a few times now (alone and with friends) and I'm honestly impressed with the fresh idea you've brought to the table. I find the concept of hotseat multiplayer games fascinating and even more so when, as is the case with Silhouette, you're actually competing in realtime. Well done on that! Also, the roaming camera for the menu is a nice touch.
The overall lack of lighting does a good job of setting the initial mood but I'm afraid it might prove to be too restrictive. Perhaps you could add some mood lighting like candles and broken televisions? It would also allow for a tiny bit of colour to be added perhaps?
Something else I'd like to comment on is the fact that since all the rooms look the same it's kinda hard to distinguish where you have and haven't been but that's ok because the size of the levels turns you getting lost into a nifty game mechanic. But maybe something can be done to alleviate this. An example is where rooms with blue lights are safe rooms (where you spawn) and the killer can't enter there. Having a place where you could feel safe and forcing players to move between safe areas could add a nice feel of relief when he reaches a 'haven' and a rush of adrenaline when he can't find the next one.
What are your future plans? I see you're working on a level editor and it looks great but I still feel the game lacks something extra. How can you extend on the idea to lure players back for more plays? Obviously the interaction between killer and killee is where the strength of the game lies so maybe think of more ways to accentuate that tension and evolve the interaction.
There are some great ideas there, so thanks again. The grayscale palette probably does need a bit more colour, and I think I'd add that in in the same way it's being done now: to highlight certain key elements or motifs, Sin City style. So things like red blood, yellow/golden glowing keys, etc. Any artists out there, please also feel free to give me some pointers on how it looks re: contrast, lighting and whatnot, and what could be done to enhance the visuals.
The sense of getting lost is definitely deliberate, but will probably feel a little more "fair" once we add a few more elements to the rooms. The current build I'm working on includes bookcases, and I plan to include creepy pictures, carpets, cupboards, and a bunch more stuff for different room types (kitchens, bathrooms). This should help orient the player. I'm hoping to get the random generation to the point that randomly generated rooms can become memorable, like bits of the Minecraft cave generation where it's sort of hard to tell the difference between what might be a hand made level and what is generated.
I really like the idea of "safe" rooms, and I'd like to play with the idea of the victim making a dash for a particular room, so I'll definitely have a think about that.
In terms of future plans, I'm a little stumped. I agree with you that the game is lacking something to really drive the interaction between the players, but I'm not sure what to add to enhance that. We have a lot of features we want to add, like the victim being able to scramble over obstacles, or slow the killer down by pushing things in front of him. We also have ideas such as having stairs to higher and lower levels, being able to read books to find out where containers and keys are, and a dog thing that the killer can find and let loose to hunt the victim.
So as you can see, the ideas are kinda all over the place! This is why I'd really like peoples' feedback, to suggest ways to make the thing more fun, or what it needs to enhance the competitive experience. Networking is something we've been talking about for a while too, but it's not gonna be in any time soon, so I'd rather we focus on the current 2 player system.
Gave it a look, it looks really interesting, the instant shifting multiplay aspect can be really disorientating! Although I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad. On the one hand feeling lost gives both players the incentive piece together where each other is, but on the other hand having a kind of visual cue (I just passed this spot because I recognise that vase) may make the experience easier rather than haphazard. Bigger rooms will need more of this, maybe. I do feel that the more I play the more I am able to recognise where I am from the shape of things, though.
The fact that the controls completely stop for the player not in the driving seat is both genius and a curse - when both players are on the same screen, I felt that both sides will feel less in control.
Also the killer seems to always want to slash his knife anyway, so why even give him that button? Maybe speed up the killer, but give him a penalty on attack so he will slow down when attacking, giving a risk-reward to sparingly and accurately attack.
What is in the future scope of this game? Story? Modes? AI? It is a complete concept, but possibly needs more to be a complete "game". Looks really promising, I love when interesting new concepts get explored :)
@Tuism Thanks for the crits! I meant to mention that AI was on the cards. Weirdly, my main incentive for this was that I'm getting tired of playtesting against myself! While I feel that the novelty and fun is in the 2 player thing, it would be great to be able to play singleplayer. Also, the AI shouldn't necessarily be too difficult here - we already have pathfinding, so we just need to find a smart way to make the AI dumb... Do you mean making it easier in a good way? Because that's my thinking. I feel that even giving players lots of cues will still make memorizing bits of the map a good challenge. The rooms may end up looking quite similar, but a skilled player will have made a note that this or that room had a couch next to a painting, with a cupboard on the opposite wall, and an exit to the right. It hopefully means that players are given a fair method for finding their way around, but may get flustered and confused by the turn changing, which is sort of the point. Thoughts? I love that idea about the slowing down on attack, to make it a risk-reward sort of action. It's either that, or an automatic targeting when the killer gets close enough, making it more about reaching the victim than aiming. So I'll have to look into that. I also thought about letting the killer throw his knife for a high-damage attack, but he'd run the risk of missing and having to fetch it. What do you mean about the button though? What would be a good alternative?
In terms of future scope, as I said before, I'm still quite unsure of what to focus on next. I haven't really thought too much about any story, though there is a tentative idea that the victim is playing through a nightmare. Game modes are definitely a plan - offline and online games with multiple players (perhaps having to work together in stages to thwart a single killer), victim having to find a hidden item, or a fast victim and multiple killers. I haven't thought too much about the specifics, but I think there is plenty of potential for some varied game modes. Ultimately, I might include some kind of "story"/campaign/tournament mode though, mainly so players don't keep having these short little games that keep booting them out into the menu, and can carry on playing, perhaps with some difficulty added with each level.
I guess one of the core gameplay elements I want to improve is having an almost sport-like sense of competitive tension. I want players shouting and laughing as they try to either escape or kill one another. Seeing as each game is quite short and repetitive, it would be nice to be able to sustain the tension, even when players get over the creepy visuals. I'd want the main feeling from the players to be an excitement from the thrill of one-upping each other, akin to something like Bari Bari Ball.
@bigbadwofl I share your sentiment that it is in fact a shame that completed games get ignored. As soon as I have some play time (with a friend of course) I will be posting some comments.
@Manikin Even though I have yet to play it, I am intrigued by the concept. Good luck. I will be posting my comments shortly.
Looking forward to hearing your feedback!
Oh, as a side note people - we've just come to the unfortunate and very late realization that keyboards can only take around 4 inputs at once. We have an issue where both players are holding down their diagonal move keys (W, D for killer, and up arrow & right arrow for victim, for example), and then when the killer attacks, that input doesn't register.
Does anyone have any idea if there's a way around this in Unity? Or is it purely a hardware issue? @Merrik: In Escape Velocity, have you had any situations where more than 4 players are tapping/holding their key? Obviously, this could be solved eventually with multiplayer, gamepads, or just plain telling your friend not to hold down his/her keys at the same time, but I do like the 2 players on one keyboard thing.
@retroFuture and @bigbadwofl, I don't understand your reasoning. If you felt that nobody was posting....why weren't you posting?
I found this slide the most interesting, albeit contrived.
What would you guys think of having 'silent hill' esk pop-ins, so the victim runs into a room, and for a second the room flashes red, or you see some twisted hands reaching out from the walls? This could be controlled by a sanity variable, which wouldn't be on the HUD but it is based on either the victims life or the number of heart-beats since the start of the level. so these flashes would start out very subtle but would get more extreme as your character becomes more scared. (maybe even have these visions attacking the victim if he gets too scared?)
Cheers!
Except for the keyboard jam issue - that's a common issue across all keyboard games :P One would think modern keyboards/operating systems would have gotten past that by now!
The Silent hill style flashes would be purely cosmetic wouldn't it? I feel it doesn't really add too much to a multiplayer game. Maybe the flashes are seeing the killer turning the corner into view for the victim, and he'll have to understand whether he's just seeing things or if it was the real killer who just turned the corner into view (just a flash or something), or just him seeing things? :) That's scarier - not some flash of red and demonic hands - that's more a single player and narrative thing. Your tension here is created between the killer and the victim - so amplify that!
With the aiming stuff: I think the conversation about auto-aiming began because when you move currently, it's very difficult to end up in a direction other than one of the classic 8 directions. People were having trouble hitting when it should've been easy, so it was going to be a stopgap. At some point we will fix the movement, hopefully making it a properly skillful thing to slash in the right direction. It'd be terrific seeing a new player playing as this scary killer, but basically flailing wildly trying to stab his victim.
Also, the keyboard thing does suck! Gamepads all the way. Though it is another motivator to throw some multiplayer in ;)
Anyway, thanks guys, this stuff really helps to give us some perspective on what's considered fun and important in terms of gameplay, and what we should discard.
The dive attack I was talking about can be seen at 2:13
It adds an element of OMG!!!! MISSEEEED!!! or OMMMGGG!!! LEET SKILLZZZZ!!!
The turns seem to be too fast towards the end of the game. They become too short to do anything meaningful. This is especially frustrating when the victim can escape the killer so easily because of how slow the killer is. Then you get these series of short turns where you're not making much progress and it becomes difficult for the killer to make any headway. This seems to happen only sometimes, but when it does happen it's frustrating.
Regarding your use of colour as spoken about above, be careful with how many splashes you include because it might diminish the effect. Think Schindler's List rather than Sin City. In the entire film there is only one object that is colored: the red girl on the wagon of corpses. The minimal use of color will heighten the instances that color is used. It's really shocking when you see the splotches of red on the grey. It might be even more shocking if the blood splatted against the walls and floor like a real knife cut does (I know this from all the stabbing I do, obviously :P ). Also, I would like to see the area's around the players even darker - I think you are too kind with how light and how far their vision reaches. A darker field would be more intense and perhaps the blood splotches could remain always visible even when not in the player field of vision.
I think the levels should be much larger! It would heighten the suspense and catharsis for when conflict does actually occur. In addition, it would lengthen the rounds of play, which are currently very rapid fire. That is really a design choice, but I believe horror games are more effective when there is lots of build up and then have a very fast and brutal release.
I like the mechanics you spoke about adding above as it would also support having a larger level.
Finally, I would love to see an even further audio and visual based UI. The screen could pulse redder and faster depending on the health of the player. The audio should help players know where their opponent is. The further the opponent is the less noise they make and the direction they are in is where the sound emits from.
Overall, I really love the idea. The atmosphere is chilling and the gameplay is fun. Keen to see where this goes.
PS. Read you were thinking of a story/campaign mode above - if you want narrative design help, I would love to help out! :)
I know what you mean about the turn length, and it's such a tricky thing to balance.
Right now, it feels like roughly half of the instances where there is contact between the players, it results in a fairly interesting and tense encounter. The victim might hit a dead end, or the killer gets turned around in a passage, or blocked by a couch, and there's a palpable feeling of relief and success for the victim. It creates mini twists that border on some kind of emergent gameplay, which is cool.
But the other half of the time, there's just a big open space and you get this very boring situation where the players just hold down one direction and the turns repeat, and there's nothing either can do to best one another.
After watching that Mario Chase video, I'm actually pretty keen to implement something similar to the dive attack. This would require the killer to aim carefully and run the risk of being slowed if he misses. I'm also planning to add sprinting and diving (including vaulting over objects like couches) to the victim, with obvious penalties for expending too much stamina and whatnot. I wouldn't want to make the controls too overloaded, but the chasing aspect does need a bit more action I think. So I'll have a play around with that and see if it works.
Also, regarding the turn changes - I might experiment with the time scale so that turns aren't quite so short. It almost seems that players should have a bit more of a buffer where they visually reorient themselves, otherwise they spend half of their 1-second turn (when close) getting moving again. Thanks for pointing that out.
Larger levels: definitely! The level size was (and still is) based on not having too much to do in the early game when players were looking for each other. So the more content I add, the bigger levels will get, as players won't get bored looking for each other. Though at the moment, you can change to a "huge" level size in the main menu, just in case you hadn't spotted that.
We have some great ideas for minimalising the UI as much as possible, though it's bloody difficult! It's so tempting just to go with a cozy inventory bar at the top or bottom, rather than do things like trying to work out how the victim can "carry" health syringes on his back so that the player can see how many he has. Anyway, we will keep trying, but might take some shortcuts in the mean time. It's much easier to give visual feedback for health, so we'll implement some kind of pulse/character texture for that later on.
Lastly, the colour thing is very important, so thanks for the pointers there. I've recently put in some graphics for items you can pick up, and planned to make these points of interest with the use of colour:
The yellow key should have a slight yellow glow/halo around it, which you can see faintly in the background with the health syringe. This is probably closer to Sin City than Schindler's List, but I could play around with having the killer only see red, and the victim only see glowy white/yellow (for the key), hence highlighting the thing they want the most (Oooohohh deep man!)
I'll have to see, but let me know what you think of the current setup. Also, I should use this opportunity to confess to the world that I studied film in university but have never seen Schindler's List :/ Terrible!
Anyway, thanks for the feedback!
The stuff you talk about in the Mario Chase paragraph sounds awesome :D. Perhaps you have a stamina bar (more UI, nooooooooooo!) that refills each turn and players can divide that between moving, evading and attacking. This will add more options for players in a turn.
I missed the huge option in the Menu, so apologies :/.
The color usage in that screen shot seems spot on. It isn't too forceful and the halo effect is very cool :D.
For your interest, here is a link to the girl in the Red Coat scene that I was referring to:
Keep at it!
It's got a bunch of awesome new sounds, some extra housey stuff like bookcases, and quite a lot more you can see in the changelog. In terms of new gameplay, there's a change to the way players find and use pickups like health, as well as the addition of sprinting for the victim player.
I'd love some feedback on the sprinting in particular, because I haven't really had too much of an opportunity to test it properly with 2 players. I know it needs balancing, so anyone who has a pal around, please give it a go and let me know how the chasing mechanic works/doesn't work.
Thanks!
I don't know if I missed the sounds the first time around, but something about the variable heartbeats + the "pang!" + the screen shake when the focus changes really makes the whole thing more alive :)
Mechanically, the sticky keyboard is still irritating, especially if both players are trying to move diagonally... No answers for you there I'm afraid.
Speed wise, it seems both sides move at the same speed? So it basically relies on one player screwing up/getting into a corner? A few factors contribute to the experience seemingly a bit "flat", that only the victim can sprint, and therefore outpace the killer means it's easy to get away (seems to me), and it takes MANY stabs to kill the vic, so it seems harder for the killer to win? The whole thing gives the vic a sense of just-run-no-need-to-dodge... I think a bit of risk reward is needed from the killer side where his attacks could be less frequent, and an alternate dive attack that sacrifices rate of fire for a burst of speed hurling themselves towards the vic... Which gives more of a sense of surprise for the vic, and more sense of control for the killer... OK I'd raised this before already :P
But it's looking and sounding solid! :)
There's been quite a lot of juiciness added to the turn changing and the environment sounds, and it definitely didn't have as much impact before. We've got a sound guy who's doing some awesome stuff :)
To address the keyjamming stuff: it is damn annoying, but you're right, there's not too much that can be done. Eventually we'll get multiplayer in, and xbox controller support before that, but until then, it's just gonna have to be a little flaw.
I very much agree with you about the attacking and movement feeling kind of flat. I was gonna wait until I'd modeled and animated new characters before trying out dodging and lunge attacks, but for now I think I'm just gonna prototype with some basic movement modifications. I feel that right now there is a very tenuous balance in the way movement works, generally. In the last build, the victim was around 25% faster than the killer, and now he's about 10% faster, but has the sprinting. I could remove the sprinting, and have dashing/dodging instead, but it's hard to say how the balance will work there. So I'd like to quickly implement a number of different movement options and combos and see what works best. It's just made harder by the fact that testing the feeling of control is much harder without having a second player to test with. I think I need a live-in playtester ;P
Anyway, thanks for the feedback!
There's quite a lot of new stuff planned, but I'm still deciding whether to make it a full blown game, or polish and add a few elements, and call it done. This also depends on whether I'm going to sell it, in which case I would add a lot to it. So for those who've tried it, please give me your 2c on this.
Also, does anyone have any friends who might be going to Rezzed? I can't afford to, sadly, and was hoping to get some pics of people playing the game :D
Wish you could manage to go, it would be a great experience.
I wish I could go too - damn plane tickets from SA! I will definitely try and make A-MAZE and rAge though, whether the game's selected or not.