This is the first devlog of my third-term project, All Eye Shall Be Closed. It’s an autobiographical game, mainly talking about depression and my anxiety about being watched by others.
First Prototype
At first, the prototype was designed as a 2D platform game as players control a character walking around, and with every step players take, the wall would close a little bit to reduce the players’ movement area, and eyes would appear on the wall and keep looking at the character. So, the idea is to bring oppression and helplessness to the players.
Then, continue doing this, I was thinking about making it a 3D game with a larger place and adding some interactive elements. Then I’d like to focus more on the eyes because I personally think eye contact is very important in daily communication. Still, I sometimes am afraid to have eye contact with other people, and I don’t like the feeling of some people keeping looking at me at the same time. So, I want to enhance that feeling, and hopefully bring that to the players.
I talked about this idea with a group of people, including some classmates, David and Maddy. David and Maddy quite like the idea of eyes would follow people as players move. However, they also point out that, making it a 3D game could take a lot of time, and advised me to think about it more because now the first prototype works, and only need to focus on adding some interactive stuff.
I’m thinking about this for a long time, however, I finally decide to make it 3D. Not because 3D looks cool, the reason is, as making an autobiographical game, I want to show everyone what happens to me in the real world. 2D could be too abstract, I can not make the event resonate with players without amazing ideas, which currently I can’t think of any. If making a 3D game, I could easily imagine some scenes like going to a shop and feeling like being watched, then I could easily transform this into a 3D world and then add more stuff.
inspiration
So, as I’m afraid of eyes, I’m also kind of obsessed with eyes. And I always focus on the eyes in games, movies,s or artwork. This makes me have a lot of sources that could be the inspiration for my game.
Also, there is a game called “When the darkness comes”. It’s a walking simulator whose glitchy and dark tale tries to illustrate the hardships of depression and anxiety through a variety of imaginary digital landscapes. I’m really into this game, and I like the art style of it.