Base ideas

Level design

The player would begin with a group of characters and would have to try and get as many of these to the end of the level as quickly as possible.

Pathways that require characters to be sacrificed may include a tall obstacle, which can be climbed

over by making a ladder out of the groups’ bodies. However once the majority have climbed up the

ladder there would be the struggle of how to get the characters that made up the base of the ladder

up to the top, so some would have to be left behind.

Another circumstance would be that they have to cross a river and that characters have to cross the

bridge in pairs because the wind is too strong but if you’ve sacrificed characters and have an odd

number in the group then a lone character would be swept away.

As a reminder of how the player has treated the characters, at the end of each level the characters that had been left behind would be displayed in the manner in which they had been sacrificed.

For instance if a character had been blown away and washed down the river, they would appear dripping wet, waterlogged and exhausted. One abandoned by the wall after being used as a ladder might just be slumped against the wall, miserable.

Character design

The character design within Dilemma is motivated by the fact that I want emotional connection between the player and the game. For this reason, the characters will be expressive and display human feelings such as sadness and joy very intensely. Ethically I want the players to feel distressed when deciding whether being able to finish the level quicker is worth sacrificing one of the group or not. However the characters are not fully based on humans as I wanted them to also be able to move and function interestingly and be more flexible within the game, while removing the societal rules that players may have felt restricted by if it were completely human characters. Due to that I have given them an almost plastic look so they can move as bendable objects and to create a slightly more playful feel to them. I wanted their emotions to be fully portrayed through movement and their eyes as I felt that would be more powerful than standard faces which often lead to their design being predictable.

Character design

I've changed tact when it comes to character design quite drastically. Instead of going for a realistic group of characters which would make the game harder to design and would drag down and complicate the gameplay too much, I want to go for something a lot simpler. 

Some of my inspiration came from the new PS4 playroom robot design.

These bots are simple but have a lot of emotion despite no complicated facial features. I want my characters to be able to emit powerful emotions but through simple expressions and for this to impact the gameplay. 

I also felt that the precedent of Machinarium's main character was quite interesting as his core is big and even bulky but his arms are thin and look bendable. Although I want a more 'plastic' look to my character the base idea of him is relative to my design as I want the simplicity and possibly the idea of my character being able to manipulate their body like the Machinarium character below.

Character design

For the main character I want a strong individual to make sure the player knows they are the leader and able to make decisions. This may change their ethical decisions which I want to challenge.

These are some images of the feeling I want to portray although not necessarily the complexity or style.

Development

I want to split my game into more sequential parts to give it more opportunity to have development. The idea will therefore change to be about reaching certain checkpoints which become the 'levels' and breakpoints for all intensive purposes. 

For instance the above map (as an example) would show the checkpoints that the characters would have to get to and they would be in the safe zone as they reached them and would be able to save the game, but the end point and the way to win the game would be the red star finish point.

Each level would consist of you as the main character trying to get as many of your group to the checkpoint and therefore to the end of the group. The basis of the resource management elements will still be a major part of the game as it will determine the route you take to get to the checkpoint. 

The safer route:

Taking the safe route would obviously mean you're more likely to be able to keep the group together and less likely to get fatalities. However in this case you are more likely to be slower and have the attackers who are following you to catch up. This may not be an immediate threat but could take its toll over the course of the game. 

The more dangerous route:

This route is a lot more likely to cause fatalities and there would be choices all along it as to force resource management and sacrifice. For instance there could be a rickety bridge where the rope snaps and you have to decide between pulling up a child who has slipped or a stronger member who could help you later. 

Differences and examples of the contrasting routes

For instance crossing a river-

You could either take a bridge thats down the river but which will take longer to get to or you could take the rickety swing bridge. 

These are obviously over complicated circumstances but give the idea of the choice mechanic within the game

This image illustrates the kind of thought process that I really want to engage- if the quicker option isn't viable for some members do you take the time or in the long run who do you sacrifice to win?

Moodboard

This mood board sums up the different types of colourings, textures and balance that I want.

I want to aim for a natural looking website as it is for a cattery and so should be something that reminds of animals. I also want a lot of white space with a base in brown and a clean cut typography and layout. Because of this I used a lot of photos that have linear aspects such as the books and architecture.