1408 STUDIOS
Game portfolio
Beyond Damnation
Beyond Damnation
Game Inspiration: Silent Hill PT
Level Duration: 10-20 minutes
Learning Objectives:
Beyond Damnation was a university assignment whereby we had to create a 2D game. The challenge
was understanding and designing a scene loop where the player would be in the same scene
repeatedly until the player completed a puzzle. I got inspiration for this short 2D story driven game
from Silent Hill PT. Silent Hill PT used a loop as well, so players had to solve puzzles to progress
further in the game. I knew that this game would be a good reference point for me and a good
inspiration to create my assignment.
One thing that I knew I wanted to do with this assignment was make it stand out from my peers. I
wanted to step away from what others were doing in my class and put a graphic design approach in
a 2D surface. I found that everyone including my tutor was talking about using 3D objects into a 2D
perspective but where I had a background and still enjoy creating graphics, I wanted to continue
these skills and as I say do something different.
Narrative:
Players must navigate a suburban abode on a seemingly endless loop in a 2D perspective. Their
progress is marred by cryptic puzzles that players may not even realize are puzzles. When they solve one puzzle, they progress in the direction of a hidden ending. The Mist will eventually pop in and seemingly kill the unseen character, resetting the current loop. Should they continue the loop
without completing the puzzles?
Research:
As my inspiration came from the Silent Hill PT game, this is where I gathered research for the basis of Beyond Damnation. One reason why I was inspired to create this game from the basis of Silent Hill PT was because at the time, I was unable to play the game. When I got a Play Station and therefore thought I could play the game, it got taken off, making Silent Hill PT essentially rare and unique at the time.
While thinking of ideas for the 2D game, I thought of recreating the hallways and the scenarios like
the phone and radio communicating messages to the players. I was only able to see this through
YouTube videos of other gamers playing the game, but I wanted to incorporate this into my game to
help with the hype and tension. With the radio/ phone element, I wanted to replicate the messages
of morality, their inner thoughts and personality into my game because I thought it was a really
great way of increasing suspense and tension into the scene. I felt that this would make players on
edge and give an insight into the main character’s backstory.
One aspect of the game I did not enjoy was how Silent Hill PT could be anywhere between 30
minutes to 5 hours of gameplay. As an avid gamer myself, I felt that although I wanted to continue
playing, it could be way too long for players to maintain interest and therefore I wanted to ensure
that Beyond Damnation was maximum 30 minutes.
Design:
So, as I briefly mentioned above, my peers at university including my tutor were using 3D objects
into a 2D perspective. Instead, I went for a graphic design approach of using a 2D surface and making it look 3D. This was an interesting approach in comparison to what everyone else was doing but I was very happy and proud with my final result because I ended up learning and understanding how to utilize 3D shapes into a 2D perspective.
The design of my game is based off a hand drawn black and white design of a modern home hallway I did. I wanted to maintain the black and white within the game instead of using colors because I wanted to focus on the shadow and lighting to add detail to the environment. The black and white gave a visual narrative to make the audience feel uncomfortable and the player to be constantly on edge whereas, if I used color, it could have been distracting and give a different narrative to the game i.e., players could have found it boring.
