Room 101
Design journey and breakdown.
Introduction
For this project specifically, I wanted to enhance my teamwork and organisation abilities, and to get valuable experience working on a game jam. This would also help me develop my skills in time management, as we would be working on a limited schedule.
Time Management
The project had a time limit of one week, so it was vital to plan all the tasks that I needed to complete. I prioritised aspects like completing the enemy character designs and animating them, as they would be needed for engine implementation. I feel that this schedule came in very useful, especially when working towards a deadline.
Conceptualisation
For this project, I worked alongside Youngju as the team developer, and Willow as another designer. We only had a week for the game jam, so we chose to make the game a 2D side scroller with pixel art sprites. Willow and I had experience creating assets in this style, and Youngju had specifically asked us to collaborate with him after seeing some of our other work on LinkedIn.
The prompt for the jam was ‘What’s Behind the Door?’, from which, we decided to take a horror direction. Horror is currently the most popular genre for indie games (zukalous, 2024), so it would be a good example to have published on our portfolios. The game draws thematic inspiration from games like Silent Hill and takes place in an apartment building.
As there were two designers on the project, Willow and I divided up the design. We decided Willow would focus on the player and all his animations, and I would design the tenants. I had experience in creature design which I felt would translate into this project well.
Narrative
The player would take the role of a landlord, who ignored his tenants and allowed the building to become unsafe. The building is set for demolition, and the landlord returns to fetch lost items, left in Room 101. The door is locked, and he must travel through the other apartments before he is ‘ready’ to see ‘what is behind the door’. The despair of his tenants has materialised as monsters, who pursue him through empty rooms of the apartment complex. He must atone for his actions and find the humanity in them that he could not see before. He does this by finding personal items they had to leave behind when evicted, allowing them to reconnect with their memories. After freeing the distorted versions of his tenants, he can finally enter Room 101, where he faces a version of himself. He can finally see himself as others saw him, a monster. That realisation was behind the door.
Monster Design
I went to my sketchbook to brainstorm ideas, a process that I find useful during the early and loose stages of a project. I tried to consider the fact that each tenant is based on a human character, incorporating household elements like televisions and mirrors that they could have used.
I ended up with three designs. I drew the finalised concept art at 128 x 128 pixels, as we wanted the monsters to be double the size of the player at 64 x 64. I kept to a very muted colour pallet to emulate the rundown apartment and a lot of focus on making them look unique from one another. I also gave the large shadowy figure arrow hands, as I felt the other two looked creepy, but not physically threatening.
Final Designs
Animation
I took these front-facing designs and turned them into idle animations. I gave Arrow Hands and TV Head basic breathing, and Mirror Head remains completely still like a mannequin, with only the reflections on the glass moving. This would link into her gameplay, where the others would patrol and pursue the player, but she would stay still and chase when disturbed.
Feedback
After sending these to the other group members, we decided that it would be best to remake the idle animations at a ¾ degree angle instead. This would make the transition into a walk animation much smoother. We did decide that the current front-facing idle animation could be used for Mirror Head – due to her standing still – as well as the ‘jumpscare’ animation for the other two. So, it was still valuable time spent designing.
Over the next few days, I created the new idle animations and the walk for each monster. This was an interesting process, as I had to consider the designs and how each creature would move individually. I had only animated a few walk cycles before, so presenting personality through their movement was new to me. I feel that I was able to capture some, but it could have been further refined if I had more time to work on the project.
Additional Sprites
Around this time, Youngju began to brainstorm new ideas for gameplay mechanics. The original idea was that they would have similar mechanics, basic patrolling and pursuit, but the new ideas included floor spikes and an arrow that could change the gravity of the level. I began to create the necessary sprites for these ideas, and then began working on the background sprites.
Environment Sprites
There were three environments to design assets for: the hallway, a living room, and a bathroom. We had originally planned for a kitchen and bedroom as well, but we decided to cut them, as the project was already getting slightly over-scoped at this point.
Hallway Sprites
For the hallway, I knew it would mostly be empty, but I still wanted to include some props to make more visually appealing. I included some plant pots, which I designed with visible cracks. This was to show the landlord’s lack of care for his tenants and their environment. I also designed some posters or notices that could be placed on the walls. One is meant to resemble an eviction notice, and the other has an insignia that resembles the eye on TV Head’s screen. This has a double meaning: in reality, it is a poster for the neighbourhood watch, but the symbol would intentionally unsettle the player, as it has been associated with that monster.
Room Sprites
For the living room and the bathroom, I created a few basic assets that could be used in different orders or arrangements to create variation between the tenants’ apartments. If the project had a larger scope, I would have liked to create even more assets, and individual ones per tenant to show some of their personalities through their living spaces, but at this point time was our most limiting factor.
Logo Design
The final thing to tie the project together was a logo. I did not have much prior experience making logos, but I gave it my best attempt. I typed out the title in several fonts and sent these to my group. Their favourite was the pixel font, as it suited the style of the game.
After selecting the font, I moved on to the design experiments.
I found this to be just as interesting as it was challenging. I used aspects that I had seen in various design processes in my own work. I chose to focus on the colour pallet of red, off-white, and grey, but also included some brass-like versions to mimic the appearance of room numbers.
My favourites were the first three in the bottom row. I felt that the red was the most foreboding, but the dilapidated appearance of the third along matched the game’s theme well.
After sending it to my group, the bottom left logo was the preferred option. I made a higher fidelity version and sent it for implementation.
Collectibles
And finally, I created the props that would give the monsters back their humanity. This was interesting, as I got to further develop their prior lives and personalities.
I ended up choosing an archery trophy for Arrow Hands, a diary for Mirror Head, and a favourite DVD for TV Head.
Conclusion
Overall, I would say this was an amazing learning experience. It taught me a lot about working with a small team on a time sensitive project, which will be very helpful in the industry. There were definitely a few errors made in the process of this Game Jam, such as making the project too ambitious, but I feel that making mistakes is a valuable part of the learning process when doing something for the first time. The game didn’t turn out perfect, but I am very proud of the work I put into it regardless. This has certainly prepared me for any game jams I may enter in the future.
Reference List
zukalous (2024). What are the top selling indie games of 2023? – How To Market A Game. [online] HOW TO MARKET A GAME. Available at: https://howtomarketagame.com/2024/01/25/what-are-the-top-selling-indie-games-of-2023/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].