I would be honoured to have you on my team! My jobs would be:
- Supervising the project (Team Lead)
- Leveldesign
- Lead Story Writer
- Concept artist
- (Sprite Artist)
I am currently searching for:
- Lead Coder
- Lead Artist/Animator
- Lead Sound Designer
- Story Writers
- Level Designer
I am also looking for a team that can harmonize, can take feedback and work with it, have healthy disagreements without turning it into an argument and the time and determination to work on this project. Also creativity and positivity is a great trait for a team! I am looking forward to you volunteering for this project, so I can welcome you into the team! Speaking English is mandatory. I would love to see a small project you have done, but if you don’t have one avaiable I will give you a task to solve and see if I like the results (This is mandatory for coders)!
IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PROJECT, REGARDING STORY OR MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF WHAT YOU WOULD NEED TO DO, SEND ME A MESSAGE!
My email is tatjana.kowalzik@gmx.de
I prepared a High Concept for people who are interested in working on this Project:
Wake Up
Tatjana Kowalzik
Revision: 1.0.0
GDD Template Written by: Benjamin “HeadClot†Stanley
Overview
Theme/Setting/Genre:
The overall theme of this game is dreams, fear and the ability to overcome that fear. The setting will be surreal, but with a dark tone. The overall genre could be described as story driven puzzle adventure game.
Core Gameplay Mechanics:
The core gameplay mechanics are the abilities the protagonist has in the game, like a superhearing, that helps in a certain labyrinth dream.
Targeted Platforms:
PC
Monetizastion Model:
None particular at the moment, but I was hoping for a crowdfunder, when we have reached a playable state
Project Scope:
Dependant on how much time and work people want to invest into the game. It could vary between “no hub, 4 levels and a major character cut†to “a big explorable hub, several secrets, up to 4 endings and up to 15 fully fleshed characters with extensive background stories and character spritesâ€
Influences:
- A creepypasta called “Wake Up†(Topic of Dreams/Coma and the title)
- Alice Madness Returns, Vale of Tears (innocent and peaceful looking, dark in reality)
- Monkey Island
- Batman Arkham Asylum : Scarecrow (Fears and surrealistic dreams)
Elevator Pitch:
Wake Up will be a very unique experience, with unique puzzles, scenarios and multiple creative ways to end the levels, each with their own consequence to the story. Other games often offer only one way to end a level, but I believe the experience is more interesting and memorable if the player can choose their own path. Dreams are additionally an interesting topic for a lot of people, while nightmares are often even more intriguing than normal dreams.
What sets this game apart from others?
Using abilities to manipulate the dream around you:
One of the core mechanics is, that every dream the Protagonist has a different ability to solve a problem, where the solution isn’t obvious. For instance, having shapeshift abilities in a dream where someone is afraid of sudden paralysis and in the next dream having superhearing in a maze level
Unique Levels and ways to approach them:
In every level, there will be unique ways to approach them and creative puzzles, plus secrets to be found in hidden places that tell a secondary story to the main plot.
Very unique characters:
Every Character in this game will be designed around a fear/trauma they had in their lifes. This will also show in their character art, for instance, someone who would be afraid of balloons would have very wide, puffy clothing and be dressed in colours that remind of Balloons, because we see the dreamers only in their dreams, which gives us as developers incredible artistic freedom.
Unique story:
Because every character in the game has a deeper story behind them we have the opportunity to actually weave the story in an interconnected way, what gives us the unique chance of a complete fictional world with no plotholes or inconsistencies. This allows for a truly compelling and unique story, which can capture our audience and keep them invested in the characters and stories.
Story
Story Summary:
The Protagonist, Sam, got a text while driving in her car. Not paying attention to the road ahead of her she crashes her car into the car of the Dreammerchant, this games “antagonistâ€. The accident puts both of them in a coma, which Sam isn’t aware of, because she thinks the accident was a dream. When she goes to bed, she enters the Dreamforest, a twisted version of reality, where she meets the Dreammerchant, who forces her into the dreams of others, to help the dreamers survive their own dreams. After she has solved a set number of dreams, ranging from her friends and parents to an insane murderers, the ending depends on how many dreams she has solved and if she failed some, how many times she died by the hands of the bunny monster. The “Is this the end?†ending sees her losing more dreams then solving them. The bunny kills her, the Dreammerchant awakes from the coma, but not without telling her first that he is sorry it had to be this way. In the “Good Ending…?†she solves more dreams than losing them. This means the Dreammerchant is left behind to stay in a coma he will never wake up from. He will scream, cry and insult the player, because he will never get to see his girlfriend and son again. The “Good Ending†means she has solved exactly as much dreams as she has lost, which means both the Merchant and Sam have the highest amount of dreams won. Both wake up from their coma and meet each other. The merchant is extremely mad at her she ruined his life and career, but is happy she is alive, while Sam doubts herself and shows signs of deep regret. The “True Ending†occurs if you solved exactly half the dreams, found all secrets and were never caught by the bunny. It shows the deal between Mephistopheles and the Dreammerchant, the whole reason for the occurrences of the game. A small playable portion might be a possibility.
The secondary plot will revolve around the interconnections of the dreamers. One of the dreamers is the protagonists classmate, while another is a convicted serial killer, that Sam knows nothing about. But it isn’t only about that, it is also about Sams character development and her realisation and coping with the fact she has caused a car accident that potentially ruins someones life.
Gameplay:
The gameplay will vary from level to level, the only thing staying consistent will be the movements, a weapon to equip and the dialogue options. ÂÂÂÂ
The more detailed parts will be the abilities within the dreams. Abilities that will for sure come up are for instance, superhearing with graphical ques, which will help you guide the dreamer through a maze of spiders. Other abilities I would like to implement are shapeshifting to help someone calm down, a temporary time slow to find a way to save someone from their fall, the ability to see the level from a birds eye perspective to help someone get somewhere unseen through a level of spotlights and more as we develop the game.
Assets needed
2D:
- Character Sprites (ranging from 10-30 characters, depending on the size of the project)
- Background art for 8-14 locations
- Item Icons (around 6-12)
- UI Icons (Hearts, Itembox, “?†for a tip (?) etc.)
3D:
- None needed, game will be 2D
Sound:
Inside (Dreams)
- Background Music
- Themes for 2-4 characters (Dreammerchant, Bunny, a monster in a dream and if enough time, more)
- Disgusting crawling noises for a Spider level
- Laughing
- Moving noises
- Weapon noises
- Etc.
Outside (Dreamwoods):
- Bird chirping
- Wind
- Loud steps (on leaves)
- A windbell
- Background music
- Etc.
Sound can also be in an 8-Bit style, since I want a bit of a retro feeling to the game.
Code:
- Movement
- Abilities
- Enemy AI (FSM)
- Probably going to be using Unreal Engine or Unity, depending on the coders
- “Karma Systemâ€
Animation:
Player:
- Base Movements (walking, jumping, crawling)
- Equipping and swinging a weapon
- Shapeshifting (into 6 different character models)
- Small emote animations
- And other abilities
NPCs:
- Dreamerchant:
- Base Movement
- Swinging his weapon
- Shoving
- Spiderqueen:
- Hanging from a thread
- Small basic movement
- Spiders:
- Basic movement
- Running
- Shooting a web/spitting/biting (can’t decide)
Plus more for about 10-30 characters/enemies, depending on the project size.
Schedule
The schedule depends on how quickly and in what kind of quality we can work, but it will not be extremely strict, though if I do set a very generous deadline, I expect it to be met. The schedule will be built around your personal lifes and needs, for instance if someone is in school or has to work during the day the deadlines would be different from someone who has a lot of time on their hands.
Here are a few Milestones:
- A first playable Version (Character sprite and animation, no backgrounds or sound yet, but working code)
- A first full level (character Sprites of at least 4 characters (Sam, Dreammerchant, Dreamer and the manifestation of the fear, working animation, working code, some item/background sprites, full level design ready and implemented)
- Complete Story written,
- Working dreamwoods (Lobby) and an implemented Karmasystem
- First version we can show the public to start a kickstarter or search for a sponsor
- 6 Full levels, a few starting with soundwork
- Completely finished Beta, Bugfixes will start
- Finished Game, ready to be either sold or offered for free
I hope we can reach an agreement
Love, Tatjana
