CONTEXT  

​​Arrow of Light was conceptualized during a school project. In a team of 6, we had to work on a horror game pre-production.  

PRODUCTION  

​​During Arrow of Light production, I was mainly in charge of the Game Design and the narration. I also worked on other small tasks such as concept artworks and composition for the diorama.

Game Design

​​​In Arrow of Light, the players have to escape a house. However, they have to be careful not to get caught by the poltergeist haunting the house. It is blind, but it can hear them! Any sound will catch its attention!

​​​During their adventure, players will be forced to make sounds. Whether it is by recharging their dynamo torch, or by interacting with different items which can make noise. Resolving puzzles can also generate sounds.

​When the sound produced by the player is louder than the ambient noise (of the house or the environment, like the storm outside for example), the danger level will increase. If it is too high, it will attract the entity that will chase and kill players.

Narrative Design

​In the narrative experience of Arrow of Light, we wanted to convey the childish fear we could feel in old houses. Where the wood creaks under our every step and the yellowish lights increase the unsettling pressure we feel between these walls.

​​It was evidence that the protagonist is a child! But we had to go further to create a real horrific experience… What if the ghosts we were afraid of when we were younger were real? What if an entity really was haunting this place, trying to seek revenge on the living?

​The entity itself got its own story that the players could discover during the game. The environment would tell the antagonist's story through the different rooms that players can explore.

​Luke is a nine years-old boy-scout trying to get a badge, the last bearing before the great Arrow of Light. For that, he must help an organization with funding. He's led to a house at the border of town to start its operation.

​When arriving in the aforesaid house, the boy is welcomed with an opened door. So Luke enters the house… but the door locked right behind him, locking him inside. Doors are all closed and the windows are shut tight, he has to find a way out! However, he's not alone in this house haunted by an entity. With his dynamo torch, would he be able to get out of here alive?

CONCLUSION

​Arrow of Light was a short-term project. The workflow wasn't optimized which led to its own amount of production and organization issues. Nonetheless, conceptualizing and imagining all the mechanics for this game truly was a great exercise, mostly because it helps me learn and experiment with the pre-production workflow!  

TEAM

Pauline GAERTNER 

Corentin TALIEU

Hazel VILLALONGA

Alexandre PLANTARD

Romane GIBILI