Project Origin: School Project at Södertörn University

Role - Game Designer, Scripter

Genre - First Person / Psychological Horror / Puzzle

Dev. Time - 3 months

Made in - Unity - C#

Design Goals:

Create an experience where the use of the fourth wall is a core gameplay mechanic.
Have a game where the story is told on a meta level and the boundry between game and reality becomes blurred.
To create a horror experience where the player does not only turn on the lights after the session, but run an anti-virus software on their device.

Personal Goal:

To understand how games can take advantage of the fact that they are digital games and toy with the medium by manipulating the fourth wall.

GENERAL CONCEPT

"Development Hell" is a first-person horror-puzzle game set within the unnerving environment of a late-night game development studio. This game plunges players into the role of a game designer, the final beacon of hope for a project on the verge of collapse. As the studio becomes a maze of psychological dread and digital phantoms, players are thrust into a dual battle against in-game deadlines and a monstrous manifestation of stress and overwork named Crunch.

The game explores the concept of the fourth wall not just as a narrative device but as a core research interest, masterfully blurring the lines between the player's reality and the digital horrors within the game. Through engaging with game development tasks and navigating a world that becomes increasingly distorted and glitch-ridden, players experience firsthand the porous boundaries between creator and creation. This meta-narrative journey is further intensified as the terror of the digital realm begins to seep into the player's actual environment, bridging the gap between the game and the real world in unsettling ways.

Conceived as a meta-commentary on the pressures of game development and crunch culture, "Development Hell" psychological horror experience, with mini-games that simulate the actual tasks of game development. This project serves not only to entertain but also to engage players in a deeper conversation about the creation process itself and the often unseen toll it exacts on creators. Through an extensive use of fourth wall manipulations, "Development Hell" aims to push the boundaries of narrative storytelling and player immersion.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The development of "Development Hell" represents a unique journey through the convergence of research, creativity, and technical prowess. Our process began with an in-depth exploration of fourth wall mechanics in gaming, laying the groundwork for an innovative approach to interactive storytelling. This chapter delves into the critical stages of our game's creation, from the initial research that inspired our design to the methodical integration of game mechanics that challenge and engage players in unprecedented ways.

Research & Integration: Crafting the Fourth Wall Experience

Research began with an in-depth qualitative analysis, aimed at extracting distinct patterns of fourth wall manipulation from a wide array of video games. This meticulous process led to the identification of several key patterns of interaction, which we meticulously integrated into the experience to cover every type of fourth wall manipulation tactic. These include:

Medium Awareness: Characters or the game itself acknowledges being part of a digital game, often used for humor or to deliver non-diegetic information in a way that enhances immersion without disrupting gameplay.
Medium Manipulation: Utilizes the game medium’s technical features in unexpected ways, such as simulating system errors or integrating normally non-diegetic elements (like the UI) into the gameplay.
Outside Medium Play: Involves real-world actions or objects to influence game outcomes, creating a unique blend of in-game and real-world interaction.
Prominent Player Involvement: The player is explicitly made part of the core narrative, with their presence and actions directly affecting the game world and story.

Storyboarding and Moodboards

Flows, Concepts, Pacing, Mechanics: Detailed storyboards mapped out the game's narrative structure, ensuring a seamless blend of gameplay mechanics with the story's evolution across its three distinct layers. (See image 1 and 2). The storyboards explicitly incorporated identified patterns of fourth wall manipulation, creating a deeply meta-narrative experience.
Mood Boards and Inspirations: Drawing on the unsettling sanity effects of "Eternal Darkness" to blur the lines between game and reality, and the impactful narrative choices of "Undertale" that resonate across save files, the game's development was guided by a rich tapestry of inspirations. Mood boards and visual guides were essential in weaving these influences together, maintaining a coherent tone and atmosphere that enriches the player experience while ensuring narrative and aesthetic unity throughout the game's multifaceted layers. Utilized to maintain a coherent tone and atmosphere across the game's layers, enriching the player experience and ensuring narrative and aesthetic unity.

Story overview and world Structure

In "Development Hell," you embody a game designer working late into the night at Advenis Games' office, right before Christmas Eve. Amidst the haunting silence of the office, you're racing against time to salvage your team's ambitious horror game project from the brink of failure. However, the overwhelming stress and crunch have birthed Crunch, a monstrous entity born from the depths of development turmoil, now haunting every click and keystroke.

The Three Layers:

Development Hell" unfolds across three distinct but interconnected meta layers:

Layer 1: The Real World - The player's immediate environment, sitting in front of their computer, becomes an unexpected extension of the game's universe.
Layer 2: The Game Studio - As the last hopeful designer, explore the game studio in a first-person view, completing development tasks to fend off the encroaching failure.
Layer 3: The In-Game Programs - Dive into mini-games representing development tasks within the haunted game you're trying to finish, where Crunch originally lurks.

Crunch, initially confined to the digital game within a game, begins to manifest in the game studio, blurring the lines between digital and "real" as you progress. This malevolent entity doesn't just chase the designer; it reaches out to the player, leaving behind eerie text files in the real world. This breach between the layers elevates the tension, making "Development Hell" not just a game but a hauntingly meta experience. (See image 3)

Image 3 – The real player (A.) is controlling the player avatar in the game world (B.), who interacts with a program (C.) on the computer in said game world. Crunch jumps between these three realms throughout the game.

Gameplay - Design Breakdown

This game blends first-person exploration within a game development studio with a variety of mini-games that represent different facets of creating a game. As players progress, the world around them becomes increasingly distorted, mirroring the intensifying crunch. Pursued by the relentless force of 'Crunch,' the gameplay experience is rich with fourth-wall-breaking elements. For a comprehensive understanding, a full video playthrough showcasing these mechanics in action is provided below.

Core gameplay -Exploration

In "Development Hell," players navigate a game development studio from a first-person perspective, engaging in puzzles and interacting with various stations that each kick off unique mini-games representing different development tasks. These mini-games, once completed, cause the game's reality to dynamically shift, intertwining narrative and gameplay to pierce through the fourth wall and blend the game's world with the player's reality.

Interactive Stations: These stations serve as gateways to mini-games, each reflecting a specific discipline within game development, from programming to 3D modeling. (See Image 4)
Dynamic World Alterations: The studio undergoes surreal changes upon the completion of mini-games, manifesting as altered geometries or eerie sound effects. These transformations symbolize the intermingling of the game's distinct layers, eroding the boundary between the game's universe and the player's reality. This fusion not only deepens immersion but also casts a contemplative light on the nuances of game development and the deteriorating mental state of the protagonist under the pressure of crunch.
Consequences of Failure: Not adhering to instructions or repeatedly failing mini-games triggers a menacing jump scare from Crunch and causes the game to crash. This mechanic emphasizes the stakes and the omnipresent pressure from Crunch, further intensifying the game's immersive and fourth-wall-breaking experience. (See image 5)

**Image 4 - Player in front a 3D modelling station.**

**Image 5 - Crunch attacking the player for failing in-game instructions.**

Mini Games - Game Development Stations

Within the game studio the player character explores, interacting with specific stations triggers mini-games based on different facets of game development. From programming puzzles to audio mixing, each program affects the fourth wall in the game world, reflecting the intricacies and impacts of their respective crafts on both the narrative and gameplay.

Programming Station:

Gameplay Mechanic: Players navigate an antiquated programming interface, simulating file reading with errors requiring manual input, merging game interaction with real-world desktop files.
Challenge and Interaction: Players find error codes in text files on their desktop, integrating the game's narrative with real-life actions, warning about "Crunch." This mechanic blurs the lines between game and reality for an immersive experience.
Consequence of Completion: Finishing tasks introduces gameplay anomalies, like invisible barriers and input discrepancies, symbolizing development challenges. Additionally, disconcerting fake blue screens further blend game mechanics with narrative, enhancing immersion by questioning the environment's reliability.

3D Modeling Station:

Gameplay Mechanic: Players engage with a simulated 3D modeling software interface, tasked with completing a series of development stages: Concept, Rigging, Modeling, UV Mapping, Texturing, and Animation.
Challenge and Interaction: The challenge lies in correctly sequencing the development tasks to build "Crunch," the game's antagonistic entity. This mechanic integrates players into the narrative as unwitting creators of the game's conflict while subtly educating them on the 3D modeling process.
Consequence of Completion: Successfully navigating the station alters the game's environment, introducing geometric distortions. This represents the blend of development tools and the game's narrative environment, enhancing the immersive experience by eroding the boundary between the player's reality and the game world.

Audio Mixing Station:

Gameplay Mechanic: Players are tasked with arranging puzzle pieces on a timeline to form a cohesive song. This simulates the process of sound editing and mixing in a real-world audio program interface.
Challenge and Interaction: During the puzzle, players are interrupted by in-game Skype calls from "Crunch," who delivers threats. These interruptions are designed to add pressure and a sense of urgency to the task.
Consequence of Completion: Successfully completing the audio puzzle causes the natural ambient sounds of the studio to be replaced with Misophonia-inducing static noise. This change in the game's audio landscape reflects the impact of the mini-game on the overall environment and intensifies the player's experience by blending game layers.

Additional Resources and insights

"Development Hell" isn't just a game; it's a springboard into the complex interplay between gameplay mechanics and narrative techniques, particularly the manipulation of the fourth wall. For those captivated by the concept and eager to dive deeper, I offer two comprehensive resources that extend the conversation and analysis beyond the confines of the game.

Bachelor's Thesis on Fourth-Wall Manipulation: My thesis, "Fourth Wall Manipulation in Digital Games and its Impact on the Gameplay Experience," extends the exploration into the theoretical and practical implications of breaking the fourth wall to enhance player immersion and narrative depth. With "Development Hell" serving as a pivotal case study, this work not only bridges academic research with practical game design but has also been cited as source material by professors and doctors in the field of game research. This acknowledgment underscores its contribution to academic discourse on game design, offering insights that are both recognized and utilized by academics and professionals within game development. It's available for further reading here! It can be read here!

Industry Talk with a Twist: Beyond the game, I've taken the conversation on fourth-wall breaks in games to wider audiences through a unique talk. This presentation transcends the typical industry lecture, weaving together detailed analysis and the allure of a comedy show for a captivating and educational experience. The talk broadens the scope to explore the innovative use of the fourth wall across various games, offering insights into how this technique can profoundly affect narrative engagement and player immersion.

These resources delve into the mechanics of storytelling and engagement in digital games, providing a comprehensive look into the creative processes behind innovative game design. They contribute significantly to the ongoing discussions in the field of game studies and development, offering valuable insights for game design enthusiasts, academics, and fellow developers alike. By exploring the power of narrative manipulation, these additional insights illuminate its potential to profoundly transform the gaming experience, bridging the gap between theoretical exploration and practical application in game design.

CONCLUSION

"Development Hell" represents a pinnacle in my journey of intertwining rigorous academic research with the boundless creativity of game development. This project was more than just the creation of a game; it was an explorative journey into the very fabric of what it means to develop games, an insane and meta experience that reflects the current state of the industry.

This game pushed the boundaries of traditional game development, blending in-depth research on fourth-wall manipulation with innovative gameplay mechanics. It was a challenge that demanded not just creativity but a scholarly approach to understanding how games can interact with players on a level beyond the screen. Through this experience, I've not only become an expert in a novel field but have also contributed to the ongoing dialogue about the future of game development and narrative design using the fourth wall. The result was a game that is both a narrative and a critique, a mirror reflecting the trials and tribulations of game development itself.

The game's reception was beyond what I had anticipated. It became a finalist in the Swedish Game Awards 2017 for Best Narrative Execution, a recognition that was both humbling and validating. One of the judges captured the essence of what "Development Hell" set out to achieve with their remark:

- "As a game developer, this game OFFENDED ME, in the most positive and best way possible." - SGA 2017 Judge

This quote encapsulates the game's impact—a creation that challenges its audience, provokes thought, and engages on a level that few games dare to tread.

"Development Hell" is, at its core, a reflection of my journey—a meta experience that encapsulates the trials, errors, and triumphs of creating something truly unique. It's a game that offends, enlightens, and entertains, marking a pivotal moment in my career and the industry at large.

Swedish Game Awards Gala - Gotland 03/06/2017

Alex Bräysy - Game Designer & Scripter
Petronella Olanders - Concept, Enviromental & Texture Artist
Patricia Möllerström - Character Artist/Rigger, Enviromental Artist
Axel Arkö - Programmer & Game Designer
Alexander Gast - Motion Capture Specialist, Animator - Unfortunatly Absent =(