Theseus

A Brief Overview:

Project Theseus was a two week long game project undertook as part of a team during my time at Falmouth University. The goal was to create a game in two weeks themed around mechanics of commands and instructions. My role on the project was the lead concept, environment, character and game artist for the project, with a focus on quick asset generation and creating the tone and atmosphere for the game.

When we were first given this brief as a team, we sat down and brainstormed various ideas and unique ways to implement the theme of gameplay mechanics of commands and instructions, with a short time frame in mind we needed something that could be implemented quickly and could be implemented to great effect.

We decided upon a grid based command system with the player inputting commands such as 1 north, 2 south in order to move in the various directions with the compass always remaining in a fixed position so that north was always up, south always down and east and west were always going to be left and right. Upon deciding this we knew we had to pick a theme and an engaging gameplay loop.

With this being a short game we knew we wanted a quick engaging gameplay loop which prompted multiple run throughs as well as great visuals that would create an atmospheric game. We floated ideas around of having a dungeon crawling game in which the player must bypass obstacles in order to reach the goal. We could also program enemies into the dungeon to act as guards with basic combat mechanics in place to add a further sense of danger. However with the limited time frame we had we decided that this was too ambitious and decided to condense it into the following.

A game based on the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur. The game would consist of the player navigating their way out of the fabled labyrinth in an attempt to get to safety whilst being hunted by the minotaur. The player would input the commands in order to move and navigate whilst an AI minotaur would track them through the maze. The minotaur AI would always know the players position and would take the shortest possible course in order to get there meaning there was a very slim margin for error thus hiking up the tension.

We also thought that we would steer clear of the more grimdark and fantasy tropes of a dungeon crawler and pick a time period seldom used in recent modern media.

Tone and Atmosphere

In regard to the tone and atmosphere of the game we wanted a to put a darker twist on the fabled tale whilst also not disregarding the original source material, and the historical sites of the old Minoan civilisation in order to still have it look and feel from that era and area. We would do this through:

• Incorporating Minoan architecture and pattern work into the design of the labyrinth, and various characters and concepts.

• Have a minimal sound and lighting palette in order to sell the darkness and isolation of the maze.

• Use sound and lighting cues to warn the player of danger and have them become more intense when the threat draws closer.

• Research clothing and armour from the time period.

• Be clever with camera placement

The Labyrinth:

In order to make the creation of the labyrinth as easy a possible during the short time frame we we decided to have the gameplay camera be set in a top down view and focused fairly close above the player. This allowed us to create 2D textures that would fit perfectly onto each square of the grid and would mean that we would have no need to mess with perspective or create complex 3D assets, and would also allow us to create a sense of claustrophobia and isolation.

We also wanted the Labyrinth to have a worn distressed feel to it as if it had been left in disrepair due to the creature that lurked its decaying gloomy depths, as such I created tiles with faded mosaics and pattern work, bloodied handprints and the occasional skeleton.

The pattern work and colours of the faded mosaic and paintwork were inspired by pictures of the ancient Minoan palace in Knossos, which I also used for refence in a later concept piece of the throne room.

These tiles were then brought into the 3D aspect of photoshop in order to create a bump map so that our light source would be able to dynamically interact with the environment around it allowing us to create a more realistic 3D look to the labyrinth.

With the players only light source being the flaming torch in their hands we manged to create a tense dark feeling throughout the environment with the player only being able to see a few tiles around them at any one time. With the more gruesome tiles strategically place at select intervals throughout the maze it only added to the distress and tension when the player stumbled across these sections.

The Minotaur:

I wanted to put a darker more horrific twist on the minotaur and wanted to lean into the cursed, brutal aspect of the creature. I also wanted to steer clear of the usual tropes and design choices that have been seen in the minotaur over the years and create something unique but recognisable.

I wanted the creature to feel as though it has spent decades underground in a cursed immortal state, doomed to last an eternity in a cruel unforgiving environment. As such I wanted to emphasise a cursed grotesque aesthetic similar to what you would find in folklore or horror games. To create this I started with the skull, stripping back the layers of skin and muscles until being left with the exposed bone and a few important tendons to give it some motion and movement. I then added some thin red veins that wrapped round the entire body but started by protruding out from the empty eye socket to give the impression that whatever curse that was unnaturally elongating the creatures life was firmly planted in the very seat of its being imbedded into its very existence. I then elongated the arms to give it an unnatural look, twisting the human anatomy to make it appear that much more horrific and then focused on the skin and hands.

With the creatures existence being confined to the dark desolate walls of the labyrinth, and with its lack of exposure to sunlight and sustenance I gave this creature a pale ill complexion covered in dirt, decay and dried blood from its years of hunting and killing those poor souls trapped in here with it. I also elongated its hands giving crude slender fingers with sharp nails at the end the idea being that this creature would pull itself along on all fours with its slender claw like hands gripping onto the corners and cracks of the labyrinth to pull itself round corners and latch onto unsuspecting victims. This would also make animating the movement easier as with the players limited field of view they would only be able to see the front/ top half of the minotaur anyway so it would save time later down the line and allow us to get more done to a higher quality. With the creatures legs I gave it bull legs to link it back to the mythology and keep that recognisable trait whilst also making them smaller and a bit weaker with the creature relying more on its arms to do the heavy lifting.

Key concepts/ start and end screens.

For the two key concepts/ start and screens I wanted to depict two significant scenes from the tale; one with Theseus entering the labyrinth, and one with him leaving after finding his way out and defeating the Minotaur.

For the first one I wanted to depict Theseus entering the labyrinth torch in hand with guards all around him preventing his escape. I also wanted to include key figures from the mythology such as King Minos who I would have ordering his guards to send Theseus into the dark depths of the maze. For the design of the guards I took inspiration from Minoan and Greek armour having them wear bronze breastplates with a white garment underneath with some mild red decorations to stand out. I then gave the captain of the guards a bronze helm with purple feathers to add some contrast to the predominantly green and bronze scene around him, but also that he matches with King Minos who I dressed in purple to represent his royalty.

I also ensured that composition wise that the main focus of the image was Theseus himself at the entrance of the labyrinth. As such made it so that none of the other characters obstructed his view, and that every spear and dynamic angle such as Minos pointing was directed towards him.

For the second concept piece/ end screen I wanted to have Theseus emerge victorious from the Labyrinth clutching the head of the defeated Minotaur whilst a shocked Minos looks on in awe and anger.

For this I once again took reference from the old ruins of the Minoan palace in Knossos, in particular that of the interior and built my colour scheme off that. I wanted to showcase the colours and grandeur of the what the palace must have looked like back in its prime, but with mere hours to go on the project I decided to craft a simplified version of it. To do this I focused on the composition and lighting of the piece.

I knew I wanted to have it set in the kings court or the throne room with the focus both on the shocked King Minos as well as the main character Theseus. As such I placed Theseus centre stage back to camera holding out the head of the minotaur, the looking down the main aisle of the Kings court, Minos on his throne, shocked and angry, talking to his advisors in panic. To create this I had all major perspective lines go from around Theseus and end in the area of the room towards Minos, I then had the lighting dynamically frame Minos and his advisors whilst a council sat in the side seats. For this piece I reused certain assets (particularly background characters) from the previous concept piece in order to save time and achieve an overall better result through composition, colour and lighting.

UI

I was also responsible for creating some of the UI for the project, particularly that of the options screen and how to guide. For this I wanted to match the style of the game whilst also making it easy to read. I also thought it would be fun to make this particular screen a secret map of the labyrinth whilst also adding some lore and worldbuilding to the world. I decided to create the screen as some sort of note from a previous victim, then added to by various individuals. The player must first read the warning left by the first victim and combine the underlined letters into the world OGHAM. Ogham is an old Irish writing system which is constructed of lines and hatched markings. Upon searching this players will be able to find the Ogham alphabet and thus translate the first set of directions which also has a message at the end which says Elder Futhark. If the players search this they will be directed to the old Norse and Germanic alphabet consisting of old runic letters which when translated will give them further directions and get them close to the exit. Skeletons can be found where both these directions end up to show that these two individuals never made it out alive.