Landmark Design - Ship Connection

OK this is the Ship design that connects the Bridge were

the Landmark is located.

The ship is part of the story of the Villagers that when on the quest to find a

new land for their People, so i thought i make the ship saying that

the emperor's gave 4 river boats to them.

The Bridge Connection ships light up from the inside when anyone walks onto the ship,

to show some one is there and the spirits are with them (takes the idea).

The ships Design is a mix of Chinese/Japanese river boat style

i think it came out very well :D i hope it works for this Landmark and its story.

Landmark Design

Hey Yo Guy this is my idea for the City's landmark if you can remember the story i did for the city and the Landmark.

The first is the basic designs for it i was deciding on ether a Chinese or a Japanese

style of castle but i think i like the Japanese one better ;)

The Four Squares that is shown on the Birdseye view is the 4 shrines

the surround the castle.

The Phoenix is the small statues on the side of the roofs

and the long bits on the walk way that rounds the castle

are in the shape of the boots that the villagers sealed

in to field the land and when someone enters the window light up

This one is the design for the walk way for each of the four shrine's this surrounds

the castle, the walls on the path i thought it could pictures of the ghosts

or the tell of the city and how it came to be in painting

This is the design of the shrine

the place where the Priest's come the pray

and the praying grounds in front of the building

The Alter that is inside of the building (on top left)

will have a very small lantern on it instead of the tradition rope

OK i hope that's it OK Jade, plz tell me what you think and all the rest

of the team and others thanks

The walkway boat are the next thing that is coming nxt

Thank guys .. Peace out ;)

Ye Feng Back Streets design

Hey Guys this is one of the backstreet ideas i have for the city, i was more of the back streets from Shenmue 1.

lol the wires where the hard part of the it like in most places in Asia they have high wires every where so have to add that to the mix, but knowin where to place them was heck on this.

I had to do it in pen after coz it was so messy in pencil lol

Still needs some work tho, but this is the first any way

hope you guy like

More inspiration

I'm not sure how zombie nurses fit into the game, but i'll post this up anyway......

This is probably more appropriate.

Seems almost like a ghost frozen in time but everything around her has decayed.

City & Story

Hey ya Guys

I was talkin to Jade a few weeks ago
an thought it would be a idea to have a history story of the city
as well as name for the city so this is what i came up with

(o yeah i doin a landmark for the City so i did a story for that to)
Hope you like

The Legend of the City

Centuries ago in a land hauling far in the East, raged in civil war between the east side of the Land and the west, The East thats remained Loyal to the Emperor, Fighting against the West who resided with a Traitor of the Emperor's Council

The War Raged on for 3 years with both sides even, Until one day a poor Village man from the east side, appeared to the Emperor with plans of new weapons and amazing strategies.

Desperate the Emperor accepted the man's Plans and put them to work. In within 2 months the war came to an end with the east victorious thanks to the village mans plans. In great Joy the Emperor rewarded the man, and said "For He who helped the Empire and your Emperor, you will be richly rewarded for your deeds" . The Emperor gave the man tons of money and gold for him and his village, then said "Take the River down my lands and if you can find an empty spot, that land shall be yours and your peoples" Overjoyed the man hurried back to his village with the money and the news.

The very next day the men of the Village casted off down river in search for the new land. the night fell and the moon was full the Villagers had no secess on finding a new spot of land but continued on their quest. Then the Man who helped win the war heard a voice telling him to take the left fork up ahead up the river, the man looked up at where the voice was coming from and looks at the moon to see a image of a Great White Phoenix Spirit.

After taking the left fork the Phoenix used the night wind to guard them the rest of the way, until they reached a big lake that connected to the river and a second river on the other side surrounded by clear lands, with a small island in the center, this was what they were looking for.

After collecting the rest of the villagers and finally built their new village, the man and the villagers decided in repect for the Emperors for giving them this land, they will build a Castle on the Island in the lake with a bridge connecting it. After finding out the Emperor was very honoured and completion of the castle, he came to visit the village many times.

The Village was named after the name of the Phoenix who showed them the way to the new land the name of the Phoenix was Ye Feng. (Centuries later a city was built over the Village but the Castle remained)

The Legend of the Castle

The Legend says 9 years after the village was built, a hoard Demons that gether in a area near the Village, with out warning attacked and Terrorized the Village for 5 nights. After hearing this the Emperor gathered all of his high Priests and Soldiers to help the village. The Battle lasted for 2 day until the priests managed to contain the demons. Know that Demon will alway return the Emperor ordered the priests to imprison the Demons underneath the castle, the Priests did as he ordered and casted a spell of sealing to trap the Demons forever.

However the High Priest told the Emperor and the Villagers thats to keep the demons sealed, shrines must be built and on this day every year they must pray to keep the seal strong. The Emperor agreed and had 4 shrines where built around the Castles and every year that day is to celebrate to Victory over the Demons as well.

(even how groups of priests go to each Shrine and pray on that day every year as Tradition)

The plot thickens even more!

Okay...last final kind of update before it reaches 4am!

I've written a chronological timeline for Kemi and Yu - this way it'll be easier to see how Kemi's events relate to Yu's, especially with the whole phone idea (haven't quite thought about it yet with the dream sequence yet but will get to it soon).

It can be read here:
Plot outline (pdf)

Once you've read that, then only will this flowchart make sense:

Anyway, hope this shoddy flowchart and plot outline gives everyone a better idea on how the plot and puzzle investigations pan out.  The stalker bit is Kemi's stalker and work colleague.  I would go into more detail about it later but it's all written in my notes and I'm literally about to drop so I won't explain everything here just yet. Or better yet, get Mike to explain it haha.

I've signed up to several flash forums to help with that visual discrepancy on day1's blogologue so by the time I sleep and check back, there will hopefully be a reply on it to help me tweak it.  If not I'll just carry on with how I'm working, I've procrastinated enough already as it is haha.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GUYS....IT'S ALREADY SEPTEMBERS! ...feck.

Update from Team Wasabi Meet

Before I begin, I've been through most of the posts to re-tag some posts.  "Day1-2" has been added as well as "Train" so please bare this in mind when making any future posts.

There was a mini team Wasabi meeting last Sunday if I recall the day properly.  Not much was done, just a lot of talking and brain storming for the plot for HW ;D So far, I think only Mike has the best knowledge of the story, but I need to know what does everyone know of the story?  What do people expect to happen after the train sequence?  I'm curious to see everyone's expectations and then I'll have a better idea in how to write the plot/twists based on that expectation. Except you Mike, you're not allowed because you're the only one who probably knows the story inside out now XD Oh and Rumzi too but I'm not sure how you feel about it because you were busy eating Haagen Daz... XD

At this moment in time I'm working between finishing the Day1 Blogologue as well as writing a chronological plot line comparing Yu and Kemi so that it'll be easy to see how their paths influence each other which I think will be pretty interesting. It's taking a while because I need to brush up in my programming skills for the use of sound and THAT REMINDS ME I should post up link to what I've done so far in forums to see whether I can get that weird glitch sorted out.

Regarding the Defibrillator puzzle: instead of doing it physically, I was wondering if we could have an 'instruction manual' flash back for Yu - that way we won't have to draw anything realistic and we could have a timer count down or something. Each 'miss' will reveal a hint for the player to drag and drop the defib patches to the right area of the body diagram let's say.  I can draw a mock up picture of it later.  My friend Jojo who works in A&E has kindly sent this picture which may be useful too:

Again, may be too much detail for the sake of this puzzle but the info's there :D

HW Ref Flickr album has been updated thanks to Errol!  I've also updated it with a few more Asian-esque stuff that I thought will be interesting from my trip to the V&A. Remember I'm not limiting the whole concept to just China, anything Oriental is fine really, and I have to post up this picture of mannequins that we encountered cos they're just freaky:

It has given me some ideas for what this conceptual entity could possibly look like: shadow people who wears hats that keeps popping up and chasing after Yu/Kemi XD

Anyway I believe that's all for now, I'm still in that weird transition of getting back into work so please bare with me for another day or so.  Thanks!

I found this

I remember taking this and editing the photo to make it more atmospheric compared to my other photos in which I edited.  Might be useful for atmosphere reference? Who knows!  When I'm next in London, I'll take more photos of fancy places for the train.

Apartment idea

I came across this pic on batmantoo.deviantart.com and I thought this is a really pretty inspiration for Yu's apartment complex (or Kemi's).  This could be a similar element in the train carriage idea - just be tweaking the colours perhaps?

EDIT: I also came across this on dA

From d-vega.deviantart.com, pretty good reference for the mental asylum bit - IF we get to that bit XD.

Creepy Experiences & Puzzle Ideas

A compilation of ideas in which I forgot to post so I'll type them up now from my sketchbook! May not make much sense but it's up for everyone to look at at least:

Creepy Experiences:
- Chatting w/ Kemi: she gets creepier and creepier with each visit at the mental hospital.  Through the phone, then tv which gets distorted over time.
- Door knocks but no one is there.
- Swinging rope sounds followed by a thud *mental hospital
-Calling out to someone in the distance but they don't acknowledge you - unnerving.
- Disappearing carriage idea.  DONE.
- Locked door, creepy voice asks if you want to enter.  Use the mic to answer / knock on the door to answer.
- Moving toy (Robbie the Rabbit idea).
- Abstract entity that chases you, block the door somehow? (Think about the candles used in SH4)
- Drowning - time limit.
- Resi4 - Play as Ashley.

Puzzle Ideas:
- Mouse = flashlight
- Decipher code - Kemi's notebook? / Hack into her computer.
- Fix fusebox for light.
- Codelock to enter a building
- Blow into mic to remove dust/joss sticks if not remove w/ mouse.
- Figure out a secret passage
- Place items in a certain order
- Dream sequence - connected by and to phone.
- Timer puzzle - long corridor / split screen.
- Piano, hear a ghost playing it, play a reply sequence/finish the sequence.
- Make an offering to a ghost in exchange for information.
- Keylock - audio/visual clues.

Hungry Whispers Photo Refs

Right, I've a dedicated set to pictures taken at Chinatown and related areas on my Flickr account.  Apologies if they're too dark / taken at a weird angle or some having my mum in XD  I didn't know if I was allowed to take photos in the market area so I was just being really sneaky about it. Let me know if anyone wants the original files and I can send it over via email or dropbox!

Hungry Whispers REF set on Flickr

Some example pictures are as follows:

Creepy Experiences / Puzzle Ideas

Compilation of creepy experiences and puzzle ideas. May not make sense to many cept those who have been up to date but I'll try and explain it to the best I can.

CREEPY EXPERIENCES:
- Once Kemi gets found and put into a mental institute, players talk to her normally but as they visit her more often you talk to her by phone with a glass plane in between and then finally a tv monitor cos she starts getting slightly crazier and crazier.  I can do some crazy sound design here as well as make the image on the tv monitors go a bit crazy and suggestive.

- Knocking on a door but no one is there.

- The sound of something heaving swinging on a rope but you can't see anything - only hear it.  Maybe you can even see its shadow but there's nothing there creating the shadow (think weird shadow thing in one of the rooms in SH4 in the hospital when looking for Eileen).  When you leave and enter again you'll hear a thud and some rope materialises out of thin air.

- Calling out to someone in the distance but they don't reply = very unnerving.

- Disappearing carriage idea (which is already in day2).

- Yu comes across a locked door, it suddenly goes silent and a creepy voice asks you if you want to enter.  You can answer something by the mic or use the mouse to knock on the door or something.

- Moving toy (Robbie the Rabbit from SH4 style).  Actually Kelly and I were discussing this recently about having a giant statue/face in a garden scene/temple and it gets more sinister every time you enter it.

- Moving shadows

- Abstract entity that chases you and blocks the door although I'm not sure how it'll work as it's not really a physical entity.  Maybe if we use the SH4 idea of using the spirit candles to repel evilness, I'm wondering if we can still incorporate that statistic system into the engine counting the amount of times you go visit the altar.

- Drowning/Time based events

- Resi4 Ashley: okay can't quite remember why this is written in my book but I think this is a reference in which you play as a 'weak' character which just reminds me of the bit where you have to run down the corridor and it's lined up with suits of armour holding their axes in the air...  Might tie it into that idea I had of when you play as Kemi (if we get that fair) and sends Yu hints/clues to his phone. Yu won't remember the dream and will be just WTF when he finds all these things on his phone lol.

PUZZLE IDEAS:
- Mouse = flashlight
- Decipher code into Kemi's computer / hack into it?
- Fix a fuse box
- Work out the the code to get in/out of somewhere.  9 numbered code but only 3 buttons seemed to be used recently and the rest are covered in dust or something.  Think TF2 Spy trailer.
- Blow into the mic to remove dust/light up some incense sticks or use the mouse to do it.
- Figure out a secret passage
- Place items in a certain order
- Dream sequence - connected by phone (explained above)
- Timer puzzle - long corridor/split screen/light effect.  Doesn't really make a lot of sense now but I'll explain it in depth if I can incorporate this into the script some how lol.
- Piano: hear something playing on it until you shine a torch on it.  Maybe you'll need to finish playing the notes of a certain sequence / finish it.
- When you make offers at the altar in exchange for information?
- If there's a puzzle on a locked door and you'll need to try and unlock it with a hairpin, have visual/audio queues.  Not sure how to do this as it sounds really complicated but it's there anyway.
- Maze puzzle in which you have to listen out when a guard approaches you so you'll need to head in the opposite way.  At the last stance, you'll hear noises coming from both the L/R only to find that it's a cat or something. Might be used for the scene in which you have to try and break into the murder scene.

That's all my notes at the moment folks.  Once the ball's rolling for Day1 and Day2 I'll start writing out the script for the next few days as I have a good idea for day3-5 but anything after, not quite yet XD.  I'll rate the notes above and see which one would fit the story/script after day5 then we'll go from there.

If you get time, I'd like you to look at these...

MOVIES THAT YOU SHOULD WATCH:

Shutter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_(2004_film)

Thai horror film which is practically Project Zero in film format with a buff actor as the main guy (will post up some pics of him which I found which would suit Yu's wardrobe ideas).  Very creepy and there's this scene with cool lighting effects similarly used in the latest Youtube link that Rumzi posted before with the mannequins creeping up on Brad whenever the lights go off or when he turns his back.

The Maid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maid_(2005_film)

Singaporean horror film about Ghost month. Very good film in showing how people would act around this time and the scares are subtle which is how I'd like the scares to be in HW if possible.  Sticking to true Asian horror! Also Rumzi, this is NOT what you're thinking.

The Eye: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_(2002_film)

Hong Kong horror film about a blind girl who gets an eye transplant and is able to see ghosts because of it.  Very good example of Asian (modern) ghosts as there is a big difference between them and Western ones.  I'd like to incorporate Asian ghosts to HW to keep it true towards Ghost Month in spirit.

YUUMEI ON DA IS AWESUM:

Her 1000 words and Knite flash comics is what I had in mind for the cutscenes of HW cept the characters will have that Hotel Dusk squiggle effect and a much larger audio role.

CHINESE OPERA IS HORRIBLE SOUNDING (FOR ME) BUT I LOVE THE COSTUMES:

Okay more inspiration stuff since Chinese Opera is featured quite heavily during Ghost Month as part of the performances so I thought it would be good to share.  This is a pop video which incorporates it so the opera singing is bearable for me and I'll try and find some traditional-traditional stuff later.


LASTLY:
What do you guys think about incorporating voice acting into HW? I know that it'll be a hassle to find actors and yadda yadda yadda but it'll be an awesome touch to have especially for the cut scenes.

This now concludes my epic post. THIS END!

[Total word count = 1553, I've practically written an essay of updates *faints*]

CRAP I FORGOT TO POST UP THE PICTURES OF THE GUY FROM SHUTTER IN WHICH I TALKED ABOUT EARLIER

YES I THINK HE'S VERY HANDSOME LOOKING SO WHAT?!

THAT REMINDS ME HERE ARE SOME SNAPSHOTS FROM 'THE MAID' MOVIE

WHY AM I TYPING IN CAPITALS? I'VE GONE CRAZY!

(Total word count including this is now 1719 carrying on from the last post.)

...WOO!!!

"Assistance, bitte!" (Warning, long ass post)

EDIT: As Rumzi pointed out, it's "bitte" not "Peter"....I've just failed as a TF2 player.

Right.  I'm very, very happy with the sudden influx of posts and comments invading my inbox ^W^.  Firstly, I'd like to ask if everyone's received the script?  I've just noticed that there's a slight error in version 2 of the script.  In version 1, the player wouldn't find out the name of the character that they're playing, only until you talk to Kemi on the phone.  In version 2, Yu starts his blogolobue with "my name is Yu" so all the "???" bits should be corrected to Yu.

After reading them all, I have several notices to update you all on now~

PLOT UPDATE:
Day 1 = Script DONE!
Day 2 = is when creepy shiz starts to happen (to answer Michelle's question).  It's the day of the festival and when stuff happens to Kemi.  The disappearing carriage will also happen here but I'm not sure whether Yu should notice it or not. Another idea in which to have is that since Yu starst seeing more creepy shiz, there could be the 'nice next door neighbour' that he met on the train and that he keeps bumping into at Kemi's only to find that she's (gender may change) is a ghost.  An incident should definitely happen in which Yu has to use his Nursing skills to help a child who has [insert incident which would make someone scream around the carriages asking if there's a doctor on board] and after he saves the kid he is thanked by this person.  It's also noted that since Yu would do a lot of hesitating, we can make it into a puzzle.  You know what, the child swallowed an atom bomb. Yeh that's it. Sorted.

After Kemi's disappearance, Yu also learns of Kemi's boss' murder but is unable to get any details from the police (he just knows about it) and goes to Kemi's place to find more clues. Insert 'Find Kemi's spare key' puzzle and you get to explore Kemi's place and try to hack into her computer puzzle.  Not a lot of information turns up apart from stuff about the corrupt politician and Kemi's address book.  Yu finds some names highlighted in which he searches them up online - they're Private detectives so he hires one to help him search for more clues.  Now we have a detective Gumshoe character! To help! Hooray!

Another bit in which I forgot was the idea that Kemi starts to spiritually send Yu hints through his phone. The idea was that when Yu goes to sleep he starts to dream - in the dream you actually play as Kemi's spirit but Yu and the player won't know this.  Essentially this is more like an interactive cutscene but an example would be getting the player to take a picture of a certain object/location.  When Yu wakes up, he doesn't remember the dream but is just WTF about finding the picture on his phone.  Which, turns out is a clue in that the player would need to work out in order to unlock the next location to explore along with some more info from Gumshow (example: the murder scene of Kemi's boss).  The idea of the maze puzzle would work here when Yu needs to try and sneak in, in order to find more clues.

I also forgot to mention (again) that Kemi gets found a few days after she disappears and ends up in the mental hospital.  It could be part of the same hospital that Yu works in, in another hospital branch.  Her mental instability gets worse and worse with each (scripted) visit so you can only converse with her face to face, then phone with a glass pane in the middle, then suddenly tv. Around this time, the PI starts to get even more nervous with finding out more info so he quits (now the player can only really rely on Kemi for info). Yu can get chased by an entity through the hospital corridors at one point here in the hospital (most likely near the end?).

Now I'm not sure how but the plot will start to focus on the thugs/politician.  The ending twist is that the reason the politician started the whole thing in motion was that the kid that Yu failed to save was his son, so Yu was the one who started the whole thing in motion, not the ebil politician.  Before the game focuses on how evil the politician was but was actually doing it to get revenge and not to TAKE OVER THE DAMN WORLDDDDD.

After finding that out (if we get time) I'm still not sure how to end it - maybe just end it there.  But I'd personally want a bit more closure.  As Michelle suggested, maybe someone should die now XD I dno :/

This is where I'll need your assistance!
I'll definitely need some help in brainstorming these areas:
-  Creepy experiences in which Yu should encounter cos now I'm slightly out of creative juice.
- Puzzle ideas.  Be creative in what to include such as maybe incorporating the use of webcam/mic into solving a puzzle (and an alternative for ppl who don't)?  Maybe Yu needs to blow out some candles...actually no, he'll need to blow on the joss sticks to be used on the offering altars. I'll explain this a bit more because this leads to...

INTERFACE/GAME UPDATE:
Game Statistics: Since it's Ghost Month and Yu feels really guilty about the A&E incident you can interact with the offering altar outside his apartment.  Say if Yu interacts with it 10 times before a certain day, it would make the spirits happy and may change a certain cutscene.  This lead me to another idea for another puzzle in which Yu has to dive/swim somewhere (one of the taboos) in order to get a clue. The taboo is that it is believed that there are many spirits in the water which will try and drown you.  If you prayed at the altar enough times, Yu will be saved by the ghost of the Boy in which he didn't save in A&E, if not he'll see the Boy's face start to distort and scare Yu.  The player won't know that it's the Boy from A&E, they'll only find out later.  Either way, Yu will survive...or maybe make it a timed event lol.

Death: I'll write it here again but in case of the player dying there will be scripted events.  Nothing is more terrifying that being chased and running for your lives, plus it'll make a good contrast to incorporate some 'action' into the game.  I'll use an example for this.  If for instance, Yu gets chased by an entity during the mental hospital corridors, players have a 2 second limit to click on the door in the background to keep moving forward. [Note for Mike, for places to move, can we change the cursor to a little arrow when it hovers over spots to 'move' Yu?].  If they don't click on the door in time, Yu will be caught by the entity and it'll be game over, players will need to reload back to their saved states.  Right think that's it for that part.

SKYPE/DROPBOX:
Do you guys shave skype?  I'm thinking it'll be very useful to have voice conferences so that we can all chat/brainstorm ideas together and may be easier to brainstorm together that way. For dropbox, I can invite you guys to my dropbox account so that when I add stuff to it (say scripts) it will pretty much instantly load on your computer and vice versa.  DON'T create an account yet if you don't, let me invite you so that I can get an extra 200mb for my account which we can share XD.  The starting space you get is 2gb.
http://www.dropbox.com/

Ok I actually haven't written all that I wanted but the rest are inspirational ideas that I think would be good for you guys to have a look at.  ONWARDS TO EPIC POST 2.

I also apologise if this post seems rather rambly, it's taken me over two hours to write this already XD.

Nightmare House 2

This is a Half-Life 2 horror themed mod which looks pretty amazing. I have been considering trying it out but I would like to save it for someone else to play with an audience...

Whoever made this mod knows their stuff, in the engine and in terms of design. It's pulled off so well.


Nightmare House 2

Concept/Context ideas #1

Right. I've just had a brain wave earlier today and I'm going to post up some plot line ideas and it'll be essential for everyone to comment back.

Since this game is heavily story based the narrative and creep factor is probably most important. Here goes!

=============
(I'm not sure whether you'll play as a male/female character.  See which one is most likeable first I guess.)

- 3rd person
- Train ride back to your home city, sunset.
- Your 'laptop' (ie it was playing the opening credits) dies so you explore the train out of boredom.
- Cue some creepy events but make it subtle.
- You get a phone call from your bro/sis (depending on main chara) that they need your help.  (I'm not sure how 'urgent' to make it yet.) and the phone call will get cut off [I'd expect it'll be a tunnel].

- You get home
- [If it's not that urgent, make the player feel comfortable with a routine like getting ready, going to work and coming home or whatever].
- You find that your sibling's co-worker (or something) was found dead so your siblings in police questioning.

- Next day your sibling is arrested so you go and see them. Sibling claims that they didn't do it and that there is 'something' else that's part of it.
- You need to work out/find clues to help your sibling. Each time you visit sibling gets creepier and creepier until they're moved to a psychiatric hospital (yes Rumzi you can now have your SH inspired hospitals).

-----------
Other notes:
- I'd like to incorporate the Chinese 'Hungry Ghost Festival' or something similar just to make it a bit different from the usual 'Halloween' time frame.  The Ghost Month is basically a festival where it is believed that the Gates of Hell open for spirits to visit the living and be comforted by them.  Burning incense, paper signifying money/material possessions and sending out paper boats/lanterns on water to give guidance for spirits to return.

- Perhaps, when you're on the train ride, you're returning from a family reunion and your sibling returned back to the city a few days before you left.

- Incorporating the menu system with the phone: perhaps make the player really depend on it then disable it when the time is right. I'm thinking Eternal Darkness vibes here for this.

========

Eyup, that's it so far. Now go forth and brainstorm! :3