Therapy session (ignore this until storyboard is ready)
Chapter 1.1: Whitechapel (London)
Tutorial prompts/areas are marked in blue.
Deaths are marked in red.
Story/Plot cinematics are marked in green.
General
· As well as being an "interactive intro", the therapy session provides an example of how major cinematic memories will be presented throughout the game.
· VO from Bumby
Art/Reference
· Late afternoon, just before sunset.
· After Pris's murder, it's raining and dark, like in VS.
· Dirty, smelly, violent horrible London.
Asset usage
· Please have a meeting with Ken before starting asset placement!
· Use Facade, Facade2, Curb, MarketStalls, and other 'poor' London elements.
· Use PoorBuilding in medium distance. If you use them closer up, they need to be dressed up with signs or other decorations.
· Windows should all be off. If we want to make a window on, we should add a separate window.
Time of day / atmosphere
· Pre-murder
o Late afternoon, just before sunset.
o Orang-ish lights, blue-purple shadows, but all quite desaturated.
o Fog, to simulate dirty air.
· After murder
o Just like VS, but probably remove the moon and add more clouds to skybox.
Light/ light sources
· Pre murder
o The sun is low in the sky, but the cloud cover means there is a lot of ambient light. A few windows have come on and street lamps are on, but it is still bright enough that these light sources are not so strong to the player's eye.
· After murder
o Ambient light from sky
o Orange-yellow windows
Particles and other effects
· Ambient subtle smoke, where we can afford it.
· Rain solution should be the same as VS.
Doctor's Study
· Alice wakes in the Dr. Bumby's Study[JT1] . He's talking to her, bringing her out of hypnosis.
· A story cinematic featuring Bumby talking with Alice begins.
· Alice is sent on an errand to fetch something from the local market. This objective is used to introduce the Journal UI. Tutorial prompts will guide the player on used of the Journal.
· Gameplay resumes. Player can walk around the study. There are some PoI/interaction point
· The Doctors study is on the upper floor of his house. The player must leave the study, and go downstairs to exit the house.
· As the player moves through the house[BJK2] , they will see orphans who live there in the care of Bumby.
· As player passes them, orphans will deliver some VO reinforcing Alice's role in the house and her history.[BJK3]
· The player will also see Alice's bedroom[JT4] , decorated with her personal items. PoI
· The player must interact with the front door to exit the house. It leads them out onto the streets of London.[BJK5]
Minge Lane
· Title/credit sequence [JT6] may play during gameplay from this point onward.[BJK7]
· Player descends a small set of stairs [JT8] leading from the front door of the house down to street level. She passes through a gate and on to the street. A sign on the gate shows the name of the orphanage.
· To the right, the street is blocked by road works[JT9] . The player must proceed left towards the Market.
· The player passes by a variety of London street scenes [BJK10] as they walk along the road which leads to the Market.
· The player can interact with a Flower Girl[BJK11] . This will earn them a Flower Collectible[JT12] , which is then displayed in the Journal UI.
· A boy being chased by a dog and two cops [JT13] appear from the right at a junction. They cross the player's path and head down an alley to the left. If the player follows down the alley, they'll see the cops beating the boy[JT14] . Approaching will trigger a VO reaction from the cops. If the player gets too close to this scene, a cop will push her back and she'll fall over.[BJK15]
· Following the main road further the player enters the Market area[JT16]
Market
· Near the entrance to the market, the player encounters the White Cat. Alice recognises the cat [JT17] and the player is prompted to follow it.
· The player follows the cat on a path through the Market. Several London market scenes are triggered as the player moves through this space[JT18] .[BJK19]
· While following the White Cat, the player encounters the Vagabond[JT20] . He gives her a tarot card (Vorpal Blade Weapon).
· Player continues to follow the White Cat through the Market. The cat enters a small crawlspace[BJK21] . When the player reaches this point, a prompt to crawl inside is displayed.
· The player moves though the small space, crawling. The cat races ahead out of sight.
Pris Meeting
· The White cat leads the player to a meeting with Pris.
· Pris is murdered[JT22] .
· Alice flees the scene, falls into Wonderland.[BJK23]
· Transition cinematic[JT24] .
Therapy Session (IGNORE THIS UNTIL STORYBOARD IS READY)
· Blend [BJK25] from Title menu to opening cinematic[JT26] . Alice is standing in a black void[BJK27] . In the distance there is a point of white light. Dr. Bumby's voice is heard[JT28] , welcoming her. 1[BJK29]
· Alice is wearing her Wonderland dress, but her movement is based on the London mechanics[BJK30] . She can walk, run and jump a short way[JT31] .
· Gameplay begins. Dr. Bumby's disembodied voice prompts the player to move and look around. Alice responds to Bumby.
· The player is given a short amount of time to familiarize themselves with basic movement and camera control.
· A room begins[BJK32] to appear around the player. It is Alice's childhood bedroom. There is no door.
· A fire starts in the house.[BJK33] Alice is experiencing a memory of the night her family died in a fire.
· A door appears in the room after the fire has started. VO can call attention to this, or a cut camera if necessary.
· The player can interact with the door to leave the room.
· The player continues to move through the house. They will experience a series of triggered events which show the death of her family members. Some will be cinematic. The fire will intensify as the player progresses.
· The fire will begin to block the player, until they are surrounded on all sides.
· Alice will panic. Just as the fire engulfs everything, the scene changes.
· Alice is now in an Asylum cell, VO [BJK34] helps to explain how she arrived there. 1[BJK35]
· Alice is sitting on a raft floating down a river[JT36] . A clean/pleasant version of the white rabbit sits across from her, drinking tea[JT37] . The scene is viewed by the player in first person with limited camera control.
· The White rabbit talks to Alice, and she responds. They are both calm.
· The raft floats into a tunnel, and the rabbit changes to his dark, twisted form. He screams at Alice in panic.
· In the distant darkness of the tunnel, the light of a train appears. Train sounds dominate the scene and the Rabbit reaches fever pitch.
[JT1] [JT1]Clock ticking, fireplace?, Bumby’s chair creaking, sound of Bumby scribbling notes
[BJK2]House size is still in question. Shouldn't feel too much like a hotel/school. More like a large house converted into an orphanage. Art support required
[BJK3]See walkthrough doc for more detail.
[JT4] [JT4]Alice VO reacting to this?
[BJK5]Time of day? Evening twilight or later?
[JT6] [JT6]Light background music
[BJK7]TBD
[JT8] [JT8]SFX-Footsteps
[JT9] [JT9]SFX-Road works and construction workers VO
[BJK10]See walkthrough document for ideas.
Some specific setups for triggered events will provided by RJ. Further animation and VO support will be required.
[BJK11]Art guidance for proper npc to use here.
[JT12] [JT12]SFX-Some sort of supporting SFX
[JT13] [JT13]Boy screaming, panting, Cops VO and dog barking
[JT14]SFX- [JT14]Brutal beating, Cops VO (profanity)
[BJK15]Animation required.
[JT16]SFX- [JT16]Market ambience fading in
[JT17] [JT17]Alice VO?
[JT18]SFX- [JT18]London market ambience, traders, drunks, kids, beggars, stray animals, generic London NPC VO and reactions
[BJK19]See walkthrough document for ideas.
Some specific setups for triggered events will provided by RJ. Further animation and VO support will be required.
[JT20] [JT20]VO?
[BJK21]Space between alleys, under stalls, etc. TBD.
[JT22]Stinger similar to VS
[BJK23]TBD. Waiting on story details for this setup.
[JT24]Supporting SFX and music
[BJK25]Seamless blend from title (press start) screen?
[JT26]SFX-Transition sound
[BJK27]Discuss how to show ground, to avoid the sense she is floating. Should she be a weak light source, or should we use some sort of special footstep particle? Smoke perhaps?
[JT28]Bumby’s voice processed with a little reverb
[BJK29]Consider some light post processing FX to reinforce this is a dream/memory space.
Will our [BJK30]"transition" Alice be sufficient for this?
[JT31] [JT31]SFX-Alice footsteps, jump
[BJK32]Can limit control here if necessary.
[BJK33]A chance to change the events shown in the intro of the first game, if desired. The fire could be shown to start outside of her room. She'd comment on this being "wrong", or note it somehow.
[BJK34]VO- Doctors/nurses admitting her?
[BJK35]Suggest we cover this part of her backstory also.
Could Pris be the one that brings her the rabbit toy (as shown in the original intro). "It's Nurse (Pris) Witless, lovey- they found this. I thought it might... help."
[JT36] [JT36]SFX-Surrounding ambience, river, light wind
[JT37] [JT37]SFX-Cup, saucer, spoon, sipping tea