I propose a game in which the player solves (or begins to solve, in the scope) a murder mystery concerning a group of forest-dwelling cats. The main objective of the game is to discover clues, take testimonies, and ultimately put everything together to solve the mystery. The player will be able to walk around in a physical space and explore the locations, as new locations may contain new clues. The player can speak to NPCs, as well as interact with and potentially pick-up objects around the area. The player would ideally have a sort of “journal” (it is mental, in this case, as cats can’t write) where information about the case is stored. Given a larger scope, the game would also include action sequences and character-driven scenes, but these will not be included in order to keep the scope small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You play as a cat named Frost. He is young and recently independent from his family. Unfortunately for him, he is the first to discover the body of Fire Lily, a cat who was the daughter of The Brightest Star, an influential figure in cat society. Frost, who has now be accused of murder by his own brother, White Fox, decides to investigate the case in order to clear his name. His search leads him to the other major characters (all cats), November, Friday, Red Sky, Black Feather, Heron, and Nessa (not all will show up during this game due to scope.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Key objects may change during the course of creating the game, as the “plot” is not fully planned yet. Similarly to Twilight Princess, the player will have access to a “sense” mode that allows them to use Frost’s superior sense of smell to uncover clues. This will highlight objects and scent trails. Players can sniff objects to discover who has interacted with them. Objects may include: tufts of fur, loose claws and whiskers, environmental effects such as trampled grass or dead animals. The sense mode may even reveal secret trails or locations that cannot be easily seen by eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The game takes place in a small forest community of cats. It functions similarly to a small village setting. Some cats live in family or friend groups and others alone. The physical space is a large forest semi-clearing with hollowed out spaces in a cliffside to function as “houses”. The game begins, however, in front of a Japanese-style forest shrine. It is a small wood and stone shrine featuring a lucky cat statue. The cat locals refuse to go near this place, believing it to be cursed. Frost, as an “I’m not normal” type of cat, frequents this location to get away from his overprotective family. The player will be able to walk between these two locations. There will also be a secret area behind the shrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The intended audience for this game is teens and young adults. The reason I target this audience is because it is the same age range I belong to. People my age grew up with Warrior Cats and mystery games like Danganronpa. Due to what they were exposed to, people in this age range have the highest likelihood of being interested in a concept such as this. I intend to make it specifically un-friendly to children to avoid the whole “oh it’s about animals it must be for kids” thing. To do this, I want to make it an almost grimdark style with blood and gore and foul language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The art style will be stylized, but gritty. The cats are not going to be hyper-realistic, but will still have realistic proportions, and act like humans with their facial expressions and paw movements. The environment will be semi-realistic. The entire game will have washed out, gloomy colours to reflect the dark setting. It will take place in the fall, in the morning. The game will be third person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Concept Sketch<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reference Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n I propose a game in which the player solves (or begins to solve, in the scope) a murder mystery concerning a group of forest-dwelling cats. The main objective of the game is to discover clues, take testimonies, and ultimately put everything together to solve the mystery. The player will be able to walk around in… <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.joshuarosenstock.com\/teaching\/imgd3500-b21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/10\/game-proposal-sketch-1.png\")
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