Coffin Factory

I had the honor of working with a couple of other game artists on a rough demo-level.  Our group was comprised of Kyle Hickey (scripting/modelling/Game Design), Dylan Rinker (Character Concept/ Character Modeler), Myself (Concept Artist / Modeler / Game Design) and Ian Spencer (Modeler).  We had a few ideas pitched, but what really hit off with the group was my suggestion that we watch Jan Švankmajer's 1966  Rakvickarna (Punch and Judy).   The working title, "Coffin Factory" is a direct reference to that short.

 The premise was that the player take the role of an current day Urban Explorer that gets into a derelict theater, then discovers that they cannot get out.  The possessed Punch doll from the theater's prop room intends to kill them, or turn them into a doll under it's control.  The game elements would be wave events with differing mechanics based on lighting effects and the theater sets from each 'Act' of the play- the character could heal if they stood in the spot light, could roam around the theater to try to outsmart the AI murder puppets, and they had to keep track of their ammunition/resource management.

It was important to the feel of our idea that items look distressed, distorted in proportions and a bit collage. 

We'd planned on three phases- The ocean, the desert, and then a boss fight.  For the first two, elaborate flats would move on stage as though there was a stage crew manipulating them for a 1700s play.  Some inspiration for these came from the 1988 The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen.  The disembodied nature of them felt appropriately disjointed and disturbing, and play-testing response was very good for the 'creepy' factor. 

Kyle did a great job keeping the master UDK file and getting assets placed in as they were finished.  With the walls and sconces, we wanted the theater to feel like it had been established in the late 1800s, then renovated in the 1930s/Deco period before closing during World War II.  The sconces and seating referenced the Art Deco, while the wall texture I made pulled from the elaborate patterning and golds/reds of classical theaters from the target building date.

The very first concept art for the level demo.  There were geometry/math issues with getting the floor slope and back lobby rotunda, and there wasn't enough time to implement the facing panels changing as well as the stage scenery.   Maybe someday in the future I'll take a crack at it independently as a modelling exercise.  I liked the creepy sun faces as mirroring Comedy and Tragedy.