A PLACE CALLED
A casual 2D game of calling a place, home
Collaborators: Mary Arroz, Benjamin Mora-Davinson, Travis Pynn
Tools Used: Unity, Adobe Photoshop, Reaper
Role : Sound Designer, Asset Creator
Time : 48 hours | Jan 2019
Challenge
Global Game Jam is an annual event where participants create a game in 48 hours. In 2019, the theme revealed was “What home means to you”
Design Goals
Comfort vs Uncertainty: demonstrating the contrast between the comfort of personal space and the uncertainty of exploring outside that space
Connection: A Place Called should have a physical and emotional link towards the house
Growth: while the player starts having a connection to their home, they also experience growth and change
Finding that Feeling
Home has several meanings and values based on each individual. Originally, we wanted to explore that concept and try to convey different perspectives vicariously. Players can switch between lives and experience their home. Unfortunately we needed to scope smaller. With that idea in mind, we finally thought of the experiences and feelings associated with home. Thus leading to creating your own personal space. There is a lot of effort into making something your own, let alone a home, and we wanted to explore that concept.
Starting a Link
Creating a personal connection within the game space was extremely important, we did not want the players to feel as though they were playing a character. We wanted players to feel as though they are playing themselves. Hence, why stylistically we decided to create an abstract playable character.
Abstract Character Design in Game
Fortunately, due to the artistic direction we went with it was possible to create a dynamic yet simple and charming character with just a rounded shape. It was necessary for the playable character not to have any specific characteristics in order to avoid projecting a certain role for players.
Making a Connection
In order for players to experience the feeling of creating a place their own, we decided on a system that would allow them to explore the outside world and find objects as memorabilia. Exploring the world demonstrates a physical disconnect between the familiar (your home) vs the unknown (the outside world). The routine of players exploring the world and personalizing their home with the objects they find creates an emotional connection. The emotional connection is reinforced by visual and sound design.
State of Player's home before finding all the objects
Location of object placements and state after completion
As the player adds an item to their home, new colours and audio stems get added to create a livelier atmosphere. We really wanted to explore the concept of adding different audio stems together to compose an overall song. We also used audio as a form of feedback for players to identify the location of objects and their home. Hearing the calming sounds from the house gives a serene feeling.
Takeaways
A Place Called was my first game jam that had a small scope of 3 days. Conceptualizing and rapidly prototyping a game within that time frame while managing tasks was challenging. During the development process, I learned how to edit audio clips on Reaper and manipulate them to have a cohesive beat, not only individually but all together.
