Emotional & Spatio-Temporal Immersion
Before programming the core mechanics, it was essential for me to determine the type of immersion to investigate. Additionally, I sought to identify the scholar whose definition closely aligned with my research, considering the debated nature of the term "immersion" among scholars. I categorised the types of immersion into the following: Spatial, emphasising the sense of physical presence within the game world; Emotional, designed to evoke strong emotional responses; Narrative, centred around absorption in the game's story and lore; Sensory, aiming to engage players' senses, especially sight and sound, for an enhanced experience; and Ludic, focused on captivating players through engaging mechanics, challenging puzzles, and rewarding progression systems.
After discussions with my supervisor and recognising the game design's focuses on the passage of time through a ticking clock, compelling players to remain engaged and confined within the haunted house, we determined that the relevant types of immersion to investigate were emotional and spatio-temporal, encompassing both the emotional aspect and the relationship between time and space. Subsequently, I came across scholars like Chenyan Zhang, Andrew Perkis, and Sebastian Arndt, who define emotional immersion as “the state where users feel emotionally aroused and absorbed by the narrative content of the story“ (Zhang, et al., 2017). Additionally, Marie-Laure Ryan defines spatio-temporal immersion in video games as “a sense of being fully present within the game world, experiencing a seamless connection between space and time” (Ryan, 2015). Considering the different types of immersion and the scholars who have defined them, it was time to start working on the proof of concept.
Programming the Core Mechanics
In this phase, while I was still working on the proposal, I maintained an agile approach. Despite having a clear vision for the proof of concept, I allowed room for iteration on some of the initial design choices. It's important to mention that, initially, I envisioned developing a linear narrative. However, for the playable proof of concept and to showcase the mechanics, I conceived the idea of the player discovering eight skulls, drawing inspiration from the concept of finding eight pages in Slender: The Eight Pages (2012). It was only later that I opted to completely abandon the linear narrative and adopt more of an arcade-style approach to the task of locating the eight skulls.
I initiated the development process by establishing player controls and greyboxing the house layout using Unity standard assets. Swiftly getting the player to explore the surroundings was crucial for an early assessment of the game's feel. Subsequently, I focused on implementing player interaction and an inventory system, enabling the player to pick up and store in-game objects. Utilising scriptable objects facilitated efficient storage of each item's data, later transforming them into quest items and notes integral to the game's narrative (see figure 1). The inventory system emerged as a pivotal element in shaping the game's storyline.
Figure 1: Seven Nights in Horshaw House [V0.3] - Scriptable Objects [Unity Editor]
Moving forward, I introduced a day-and-night system to evoke a sense of time progression, ensuring the player remained actively involved in the quest to unravel the game's story. I then crafted a basic enemy AI using a finite state machine concept. This enemy would spawn during the nighttime, patrolling the house based on predefined waypoints (see figure 2). Upon encountering the player, it would initiate an attack, transporting the player to another realm - the spirit realm - where time moved faster. To exit this realm and resume the investigation, the player had to retrieve their body from the location of where they previously died.
Figure 2: Seven Nights in Horshaw House [V0.3] - AI Path [Unity Editor]
Feedback from my supervisor highlighted the frustration of locating one's body while under attack. In response, I modified the enemy AI to attack only in the material realm, addressing this concern. Notably, during this phase, I conducted extensive research by playing horror games like Amnesia: The Bunker (2023) to observe how monsters were introduced and their behaviour in the presence of the player.
As mentioned earlier, I opted to shift away from a linear narrative towards an arcade-style approach. In light of this decision, I needed to devise a method to showcase the game's mechanics while keeping the player engaged. I determined that the objective would be to collect eight skulls scattered throughout the house and its surroundings. To ensure sustained player interest, I introduced 32 potential spawn points for the skulls, once again employing scriptable objects to store the position and rotation of each spawned skull (see figure 3). Ensuring that each playthrough differed slightly from the player's previous experience. This design choice aimed at enhancing replayability, drawing inspiration from the arcade style seen in games like Five Nights at Freddy's (2014).
Figure 3: Seven Nights in Horshaw House [V0.3] - Skull Locations [Unity Editor]
The inclusion of 32 spawn points proved beneficial during bug testing, as it allowed me to systematically assess the robustness of each spawn point by spawning all 32 skulls. Additionally, this system facilitated adjustments to the total number of skulls, responding to player feedback that finding eight skulls within the given seven-day period was overly challenging. Consequently, based on this input, I modified the total to seven skulls, a decision that also resonated with the emphasis on the number seven within the game's theme, deviating from the initially planned eight skulls.
A/B Testing
Finally, I implemented the initial respite mechanic, known as static pausing, to evaluate my research question. In this approach, I provided one tester with a demo featuring static pausing activated - meaning that when they paused the game, the in-game time would freeze. At the same time, I gave another tester a different version of the same demo, where pressing pause did not freeze the in-game time. The intention was to conduct A/B testing on all the respite mechanics, providing testers with various demos and informing them whether their demo had the respite mechanic turned on or off.
During the initial testing phase, my supervisor evaluated the demo with static pausing turned off and noted a lack of inclination to pause the game, though acknowledging it as a solid start. It became apparent that the pause screen, at this stage, had little incentive for use and featured only a restart button (see figure 4). With this insight, I dedicated efforts to develop a more comprehensive pause screen. The enhanced version (see figure 5) included options for resume, last checkpoint, a respite mechanic tab, settings tab, restart button, and an exit button.
Having established the core mechanics, the next step was to finalise the proposal and utilise the proof of concept to illustrate the user journey. After ensuring my satisfaction with the progress, I presented it to my supervisor and proceeded to work on advancing towards the alpha build.
Figure 4: Seven Nights in Horshaw House [V0.3] - Pause Screen [Video Game]
Figure 5: Seven Nights in Horshaw House [V1.1] - Pause Screen [Video Game]
TL;DR
Determining Types of Immersion: Before programming core mechanics, I identified emotional and spatio-temporal immersion as crucial for my horror game, drawing inspiration from scholars like Zhang and Ryan.
Programming Core Mechanics: Maintaining an agile approach, I initially envisioned a linear narrative but later shifted to an arcade-style concept of finding eight skulls. Implemented player controls, greyboxed house layout, introduced inventory, day-and-night system, and crafted enemy AI. Feedback led to adjustments in enemy behavior and the introduction of spawn points for replayability.
A/B Testing: Implemented the static pausing respite mechanic and conducted A/B testing, providing testers with demos featuring the mechanic turned on and off. Initial feedback emphasised the need for an enhanced pause screen.
Feedback and Iterations: Adjusted spawn points based on bug testing and player feedback, reducing the total number of skulls to seven. Enhanced the pause screen for better usability.
Advancing Towards Alpha Build: After finalising the proposal and presenting the proof of concept to my supervisor, I proceeded to advance towards the alpha build of the game.
References
Ryan, M.-L., 2015. Narrative as Virtual Reality 2. In: Revisiting Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media. s.l.:Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1-13.
Zhang, C., Perkis, A. & Arndt, S., 2017. Spatial Immersion versus Emotional Immersion, Which is More Immersive?. 1(1), p. 1.
Comments