You've been in a car accident, lost consciousness, and when you wake up again, you realize you've lost your vision. You can only navigate by listening to the sound of stones thrown ahead of you. Try to find your way out of this maze and regain your consciousness.
The question now is, can players navigate through the maze using this distinctive controller?
ROLE
DURATION:
TOOL USED:
THE SILENT PLACE
Alternative Controller | Sound based | Puzzle
Game Designer
Physical Fabrication
programmer'
Sound Editing
2 Weeks
Unity, C#
Premiere
Makey Makey
EARLY DEVELOPMENT
For this project, we aimed to create a game using unconventional controllers. With just a team of two, I realized I couldn't match the elaborate controllers found in arcades. So, I decided to blindfold the player and use everyday objects as controllers. Additionally, I drew inspiration from the game 'Dark Echo.' As players navigate the game, they'll experience the helplessness that comes with losing vision and the eventual joy of successfully overcoming challenges through continuous testing.
Early Concept of the Controller
CORE SYSTEM
AVATAR:
In the game, players progress by controlling their avatar, firing probe bullets, and maneuvering to guide the avatar through a large gate.
When players shoot a bullet, it moves forward at a constant speed, and when it hits a wall, it emits a sound. Players use this sound to determine the direction and location of their target's movement.
CONTROLLER:
The game's controller is a chair where players sit. The two armrests of the chair are equipped with buttons to control both the player's forward movement and the firing of bullets. Players rotate the chair (which is a swivel chair) to synchronously adjust the target's rotation to the same angle in the game.
CONTROLLER SYSTEM
First, it was a Chair
We've added a base to prevent the controller from running away(jk).
My original idea was to use eight buttons to control the player's rotation, but it proved to be troublesome. So, we adjusted the plan to use the chair's rotation for steering.
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The area where the player sits is connected underneath with a pivot that can rotate with the player's movement.
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This pivot has wires and tin foil attached to it.
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On the bottom of the chair, eight tin foil markers are added and connected with wires.
When the player turns, different tin foil markers come into contact with the pivot, allowing the player to control their rotation in the game.
The buttons on the chair's armrests also needed wiring, and to prevent players from over-rotating and tangling the wires, we connected the wires to the ceiling to ensure players wouldn't get tangled.
SOUND EFFECT
Because players rely on sound to understand the game, we've added sound throughout the game at every location.
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Footsteps as the player moves.
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Rotational sound as the player rotates.
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Sound when the player fires probe bullets.
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Sound when bullets hit walls or doors.
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Sound when the player collides with a wall.
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Story introduction audio.
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Victory sounds/ Failed sounds.
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Countdown sound to help players gauge the duration of the bullets, thus determining the distance.
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Tutorial audio.
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
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Design the core mechanic
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Programming (avatar controller, game scene management, Input keycode)
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Controller making (bottom, top, and button)
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Sounds editing