BA7 - Episodic

 For my game idea i previously wrote:
  "It is a ghost story/exploration game. You play as a young girl, trapped in a dream like world. You discover, along with your best friend a toy rabbit, who you were and what happened to you in order to escape."
Hopefully i'll be able to expand this paragraph with each blog post, going into more detail of my story idea, art styles and game mechanics.

In my previous post, i talked briefly about my idea for this years project and what games/books/films/art is inspiring me for this project.  I talked about one game Rule of Rose and described how it was episodic and that i want my game idea to also be episodic. So here, i will discuss that!

In this story, the young girl is dead (unknown to the girl and the player) and in order for her to pass on she must explore who she was, how she died and come to terms with that in order to move on into the after life (in depth description in future posts).  I want the game to be in chapters, for it to be episodic to break up the game - to break up the flow of play and keep it unrealistic. Because the young girl is dead and she has to come to terms with her own death, i thought/decided to have the chapters in the 5 stages of loss and grief (link to full information here).

The 5 Stages of Loss and Grief

(don't need to be in any particular order)

Denial & Isolation

Denying the reality of the situation. It's a defense mechanism to buffer immediate shock.

Anger

Pain and vulnerability redirected as anger.  Feel guilty for being angry, making us more angry.

Bargaining
Need to regain control of the situation.  Start asking/questioning "if only we did this sooner..."  Making deal with God/higher power to postpone the inevitable.

Depression
Associated with mourning. 2 types: 1, sadness and regret, worry of  e.g. costs of funeral, worry over spending less time with those that need them 2, more subtle and private, prepare saying goodbye to our loved one.

Acceptance
Withdrawal and calm.  Not a period of happiness and must be distinguished from depression.  Dignity and grace shown by those dying.

I want to use these 5 stages as a basis for chapters in the girls journey, each stage having a different setting and location; starting with where she grew up leading to her death and then her acceptance of her death, going on into the afterlife.  As of yet, i'm not sure exactly how the stages will be structured and set, but Acceptance will definitely be the last stage (more explanation in future posts).

I really like the style of the illustrations - childish, depressing and crudely drawn.  The white on black is also really effective, like chalk on a calk-board.

The beginning illustration sequence is what i really like and what to incorporate into my work.

At 9:20, the sequence of the book is what in drawing on inspiration for the introduction of the chapters in my idea.


Now, time to add to the paragraph i wrote at the beginning of this post:
"It is a ghost story/adventure game. You play as a young girl, trapped in a dream like world. You discover, along with your best friend a toy rabbit, who you were and what happened to you in order to escape.  The story is abstract and is episodic; each chapter of her life being a story book."