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Game Design Document
Traces is a first person experience for the Playdate console. The protagonist is "NAME HERE", who wakes up in the middle of the night, finding a depressed pillow next to him where his wife should be.
This game was originally inspired by Parker's interest in 1-bit art, and the idea of creating a game on a console with limitations. The crank on the Playdate was also a large inspiration for the game, as Parker originally liked the idea of using the crank for scrolling through horror-themed animations.
Traces is a game that takes place in the home of "NAME HERE", who is an unwell individual who experiences a distorted reality. The players job is to unravel the mysteries of "where is his wife", and "what is outside that he is so afraid of?". As the truth is revealed, the demented circumstances of the protagonist's life and mental state are presented to the player.
- Compelling story
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- Graphics
1-bit graphics
- Sound
A preferably headphone-in experience, the player can take in stereo SFX and hand-crafted analog and digital music.
- Hardware interaction
The crank on the side of the Playdate is used in-game for various puzzles, movement, and quirky game play. Other hardware interaction include the use of the internal gyroscope, as well as the built-in condenser microphone.
Traces is a psychological horror game that contains elements of supernatural horror due to the protagonist's degraded mental state.
The primary platform for Traces is the Playdate, however a port to PC is likely to exist.
- Exploration, point-and-click style
Taking ideas from late 90's/early 00's PC games, the player will traverse the environment using simple controls, viewing mostly static images with the occasional sprinkle of animation. Puzzles will be solved using the crank, d-pad, gyroscope, a/b buttons, and microphone.
- Puzzles
Puzzles range from standalone experiences that require little to no context of the environment, to seemingly unsolvable convoluted messes.
Typical game flow in Traces will be normally linear. Players will be given a portion of the narrative via the internal monologue of the protagonist or via external clues, then be given a motivation in the narrative to explore the related section of the home. The player will encounter puzzles, which act as milestones for progression, which will be solved using interesting hardware gameplay interactions. Scattered through the game, cinematics will be shown to convey narrative, provide motivation, or simply scare the player.
- Oscar Marat
Born in Northern Texas, Oscar never left his home region. Managed a department store in Odessa. This is where any ambition Oscar had for life died. He found himself returning home from work, and spending hours with a bottle of beer in front of the TV.
- Elizabeth Marat
The daughter of a wealthy oil businessman, Elizabeth never had to worry about money growing up in the affluent part Houston. In an affluent family, any whim or desire was her's. But, like so many before her, a sheltered life left her searching for something more. She attended TCU university and ended up meeting a rugged man named Oscar.
- Main character's late son
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- Apparition of son
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- Apparition of self
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- Using crank for horror elements
Scrubbing through frames of a cinematic to slowly look under a table or open a door
- Keys
A selection of keys are used throughout the game to open a variety of things such as doors or chests
- Various Puzzle Items
Puzzle items will be used in order to unlock new items or scenarios needed to progress the story.
D-pad up = advance, move forward
D-pad left / right = Turn respective direction
D-pad down = UNDEFINED
A button = Inspect / Confirm
B button = Step away / Put down / Reject
Start = Open menu
Crank = UNDEFINED
The art within Traces aims to utilize 1-bit graphics in an efficient, but unconventional way. The art being able to be pleasantly viewed on the Playdate's 2.7 inch screen, as well as making the art look interesting enough to scale it up for a small-windowed PC version are important aspects of the creation process.
The art in this game is created mostly using the pixel-art software Aseprite. Images are created using 4 different colors, and post-processed through 1-bit image processors to make them usable for the Playdate, as well as to give the images a sense of uniformity.
- Programmatic
A portion of simple animations are done by programmatically moving images instead of traditionally creating the entirety of every unique image.
- Frame-by-frame
Most animations are created in Aseprite frame-by-frame, and are focused on ensuring that the intended message is conveyed within the limitations of the medium, while stylistically leaning on dirtier, grungier animations that shake and convulse at times.
- Pictures
In a stop-motion-esque style, created by moving an object, taking a picture, and repeating this process.
To create an atmosphere with sound effects that make the player nervous, anxious, and jump at times. The music throughout the game has been hand-crafted to fit various situations in the game, utilizing analogue instruments, physical warped tape, programmatic distortion, digital synth, and more.
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Sound Effects SFX play an important role in the game in the case that the player is either wearing headphones with their Playdate to utilize stereo sound, or playing on PC. Directional SFX are a way to convey to the player where a sound is coming from, and how close it may be.
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Music The music in the game is crafted to match certain environments, and juxtaposed into others. Throughout the game, the player may notice music devolving into something unpleasant at times.