The first few weeks of development have largely been focused on conceptualisation and planning. I have created a GitHub repository so I can work on multiple machines and have produced plenty of concept art; since my project is very much art-focused, this has helped me gain a sense of what the spaces the player will inhabit will feel like.

For example, below is some concept art for the top-down perspective of the game.

Foyer (day)

This is some concept art depicting a scene from chapter 2, and it also shows how cutscenes will work in the game - the top-down perspective will be replaced by pre-rendered images which show what is happening in greater detail and will also be more immersive for the player. Dialogue will appear in boxes at the bottom of the screen.

Foyer (night)

Here is a floor plan of the entire building where the player will spend most of their time during the FMP. This relates to the core gameplay loop in which the player will explore and talk to other characters in order to progress through the story. There will also be small puzzles hidden around the map that the player can choose to complete. However, these aspects of gameplay will largely be in ‘chapter 1’ of the FMP. The second chapter will take place at night, in which Alex and Ida must sneak around the building following a strange noise. As such, this section will be more linear and straightforward than chapter 1.