Platform Design

I wanted the platforms to appear to look mechanical and clean to enforce the futuristic setting.

They turned out very nicely when put into the game.

Level Map

The start of this level shows a cut scene in which the context of the conflict between the two nations as well as the events leading up to the capture of Maha, Nir and the other body guards. The cut scene ends withMaha being set free as she witnesses guards taking away her companions. Conflicted to get help from the Geni clans at the risk of her companions lives as she would have to journey several days, she arrives at the walls that separate the Agri from the "wilds" of the Geni lands.
A bystander who witnesses the crash communicates to Maha via monitors at a nearby electronics store. Ipa reveals herself and convinces Maha to go save her companions with the guidance and advanced technical knowledge of Ipa.
Ipa informs her that she needs to get to the top of a nearby Agri tower to get an optimal scan for the location of her bodyguards. 

Walking left triggers Ipa briefing Maha about her objective of saving her bodyguards.
Wall opens allowing passage to go right.
Jump on to tower, interact with button to activate revolving cars.
Platform over revolving cars.
Landing on other side triggers Ipa over radio explaining the irrigation mechanic to defeat enemy behind door.
Door opens after enemy is knocked out.
Retrieve card key.
Platform upwards. Encounter surveillance drone.
Defeat Drone.
Approach room with 2nd key.
Use irrigation mechanic to defeat enemy.
Retrieve 2nd card key triggering the lowering of a bridge to elevator.
Cross bridge to take elevator down to the 3rd key.
Retrieve 3rd Key triggering combustion of building.
Maha runs to the right away from ensuing flames.
Opportunities to slow down flames through irrigation are planted through the escape route.
Escape route leads to outdoors in front of Agri Tower.
The three keys allow the entrance to open to boss battle.
Hatch moves between irrigation spots while triggering flames to be shot downward from the A, B, C boxes.
Maha moves between irrigation spots to attack Hatch while dodging the flames from the A, B, C boxes.
After depleting Hatch’s health he retreats by teleporting from the scene.
Maha triggers a water sport elevating her to his platform which leads to the elevator to the roof of the Agri tower.

Style/Look frame

I selected the art style of Kentucky Route Zero and Oxenfree as reference to base the design of my environments. It worked out great and I found it efficient to filter noise to add to the style and blur some background aspects to present depth.

This section of the level, shows Maha having to platform from a roof onto a tower and then platform amongst cars in a vertical car park that are revolving up and down to make it challenging.

Some mechanics I have been interested but unsure whether they are worth investing in include:

PROJECTION- 

Using her hood as a mechanic which can attract and deter attention from enemies at the player's will, each with its own benefit and drawbacks.

To enforce the feel of the main character being blind I imagined the environment being blurry or sketchy when her hood is up to make her incognito from the public/enemies. 

But when she puts it down the environment is clearer to maneuver and orientate herself in the space. 

BLENDING-

Certain interactive elements in the environment that the player can use to evade pursuers as Maha's disability makes it difficult for combat.

[eg. hiding inside a car, or scaling a wall above pursuing enemies, which all have a limit to how long she can hold certain blending spots perhaps?]

SHORT CIRCUIT- 

Monitors and electronics that Maha can call Ipa to short circuit to gain attention/distract enemies or lead them to vulnerable spots for irrigation.

IRRIGATION- 

Using Maha's senses to deter water sources in the direction of her foes, blasting them with a surge of water, electrocuting them and their equipment.

Level Design

Level Design
After the lecture discussing mechanics I was able to consider what kinds of mechanics make the player feel a certain way at certain points and keep them interested in the game.

I had the idea of changing the rain of fireball mechanic in D2D to a spotlight mechanic to emphasize the stealth of the character in the narrative.

I am also considering elevators and how they could be cool interactable environment sections in terms of platforming while describing narrative at the same time.

Another idea I think could be cool would be a set piece to motivate urgency after the collection of a pick up. I am currently working on a building that begins to combust behind the player as they platform through and [optionally] setting of sprinklers and aqua ducts to slow down the ensuing fire.

The irrigation interactables where the protagonist senses the water under the surface allows her to trigger spurts of water in certain locations to aid in her progress.

Ipa [the side kick/context character], will communicate advice through monitors in the background which she will hack to inform of certain ludic and narrative plot points.

Final Concepts

With designing the characters I researched representation and structures of existing video game characters in relation to masculinity vs femininity. I concluded that the masculinity and femininity were not restricted to male and female so I was able to combine certain traits to enforce characters power relations to each other and the fictional world. I aimed to do this in a way to challenge, not enforce the implications of femininity representing weakness by presenting females with predominantly feminine characteristics as powerful by applying certain masculine traits.

The male characters, I designed are crafted with applications from [Ewan Kirkland, 2009] which suggest that masculinity is challenged in silent hill by making the protagonists weaker than the average hero trope of many video game narratives. Kirkland assesses how most academic study of video games, “conclude that video games contain regressive models of male behavior characterized by aggression, domination, and heterosexualized superiority to women. [..] instead, they are

ordinary, flawed, even neurotic to the point of psychosis.”

With this in mind I wanted to make the characters appear powerful but show subtle hints of their shortcomings that make them flawed to challenge the idea of the perfection and superiority of masculinity, commonly portrayed in video game narratives.

With this in mind I aim to reverse this idea for the female characters to design them to be empowered without sexualizing them as well as applying design techniques for them to be heroic as most male characters would be.

The Beautiful and the Monstrous Masculine: The Male Body and Horror in El espinazo del diablo

(Guillermo del Toro 2001) Ann Davies

“Del Toro presents masculinity as unfixed, in inherent danger of collapsing in on itself and mutating into the feminine abject. The male body comes to haunt itself, always already implying a return of the regressed: male beauty always carries within it a potential decay into the abject. The horror lies not only with the monstrosity of the ghost Santi, but also with the fact that the monstrous and the beautiful male body are not so much opposites but points on a spectrum, so that beauty and virility can at any time revert to monstrous decay.”

This article refers to the centralization on masculinity in terms of horror and relates it to feminine and masculine power discourses of society. Davies describes the power and beauty of the masculine body in relation to the fear that comes in its imminent decay into a weaker feminine state.

Davies' article argues the reasoning behind horror comes from the dismemberment and decay of the sacred masculine body.

The sacred and heroic masculine body is a congregation of certain traits, most of which are not bound to the male body. By identifying the traits not hindered by gender I can apply them to the female body to suggest the sacred and power of the character. In designing the female characters I wanted to make them appear feminine but powerful without relying on applying too many "beautiful masculine" traits.

In the case of designing the hybrid creature Venitu I combined cyborg, mechanics, with the female body. To achieve the horror described in Davies article I attached a decrepit scorpion claw to her hand and an almost phallic tail with a tribal shield to combine the masculine with feminine again but with more aggressive traits to present a horrific yet powerful character.

Nir is designed to have a masculine, athletic body. I gave her practical armour with enough space to reveal her athletic attributes and suggest her femininity. I was selective in which parts to highlight her athleticism without focusing on her sexuality in a way that would onjectify her [arms and legs rather than cleavage]. The combination of masculine traits on a feminine body aim to give the end result a triumphant and powerful look for this strong female character.

Maha is hooded and cloaked to show her mysteriousness and secrecy behind her and her abilities. I wanted to present her as extremely feminine but not weak or sexualized. Considering Davies ideas behind masculine and female complexes wanted to portray feminine traits but highlight them in a way that did not portray them as inferiority as many texts do.I wanted to design Maha to be a appealing without resorting to objectifying her sexuality. Maha's hood and cloak were designed to suggest her sovereignty which is typical of masculine ideals.

References like Raven from teen titans and Spider Gwen were great examples of the portrayal of combining the masculine sovereignty with the neutral mystery and feminine body [all in a way that does not objectify or make femininity appear weak]. The darkness of raven makes her hidden aggression[masculine] have an exponential affect on the viewer. Spider-Gwen's design [monochromatic with red and blue trims and tints] present uncertainty and mystery and the traditional eyes show innocence and wonder [like that of a wide eyed youth]. Both designs are minimal and iconic which I intend to apply to Maha's final design. I aim for the culmination of these traits to produce an appealing, mysterious, curious, sovereign female character. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kirkland, E. (2009). Masculinity in Video Games: The Gendered Gameplay of Silent Hill. Camera Obscura, 24(2), 161-183. doi: 10.1215/02705346-2009-006

Davies, A. (2006). The Beautiful and the Monstrous Masculine: The Male Body and Horror in El espinazo del diablo
(Guillermo del Toro 2001) . Studies in Hispanic Cinema, 3(3), 135-147. doi: 10.1386/shci.3.3.135/1

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