Sam Jenkins
Games Designer
What is Morpheus 98?
Morpheus 98 a PS1 themed walking sim type game inspired by a niche genre of indie games called walking simulators, many of these games also use the theme of dreams.
Primarily inspired by LSD Dream Emulator from 1998, I wanted to create a similar experience that improves on the game feel, pacing and overall design LSD tried to present and possibly open up the genre to a wider audience, while keeping the same aesthetic and walking sim game play.
In the game you can walk around and interact with the environment. Interacting with certain objects transports you to another dream or unlock an ability, that are required to find more areas of the world and to finally achieve the ending.
The walking sim genre for my project let me focus more on level design and simple mechanics. I used techniques in guiding the player to points of interest in an open world environment, in relation to where the player can spawn in from, when traversing the dream world. Then during play testing, I would see how effective my techniques in lighting, sight lines, colour and sound translated to the player to improve on the overall pacing and feel of the game
In past works like Aqua Armageddon and Yoink, I took on the role of audio designer, so I'm well versed in how to edit and implement audio into games and was able to do so with Morpheus 98 too
I took inspiration from a similar game called Yume Nikki, which you play as a character that explores dream worlds. Unlike LSD, Yume Nikki includes a clear goal in collecting “effects” (which act as unlockable player abilities) and the ending is unlocked when all 24 effects are collected. I took inspiration from Yume Nikki’s structure for my own game so Morpheus 98's pacing would not completely rely on player intrigue, which can change drastically from player to player due to differing tastes in genre.
Yume Nikki also is vague about its plot, and relies on the important effects and characters that are relevant for the player to piece together a puzzle of why the events in game are happening in the first place, or what the dream world hints to.
Another source of inspiration was a game called Proteus, which is another walking sim type game that uses minimalist visuals but rich, unique music and sound to make interactions with objects and characters in the game world more engaging.
(Final Update) 18th May 2020
The game is finished! At the moment I've labelled it as more of a demo or prototype, as there's certainly ways I can expand upon the game in the future if I wanted, but the initially planned project deliverables have been met!
First off, Apologies for going silent on the blog, I had to stop production for a few weeks while I was getting a computer delivered so I could work on the project from home and thankfully I had the game build backed up on my hard drive, and once I could work again It became my only focus aside from dealing with living during the pandemic.
But in any case, Since the last update, Some level design especially in the Forrest area has been improved, all the art has been created using Photoshop and Blende and an ending sequence has been blueprinted into the game. UI has been created and implemented to better describe abilities and remind the player of controls, sounds have been recorded, edited and implemented and play testing has been conducted to help point out any last bugs or inconsistencies and to overall help me to improve the game experience
And as a bonus, I've made a funky little trailer on the right to help show the game off, You can download the game here: https://jinconic.itch.io/morpheus-98
Below is the games open world levels that I wanted to talk about a bit in terms of design.
I split each level into 3 different sections and gave each section its own purpose, they all have an ability to find and unlock as well as a teleporter entrance and exit in order to encourage exploration. I used paths, lighting and (for areas that require abilities to access) hints in the form of symbols and images to help guide the player to each area, ability, and event.
If the player is ever stuck, The Cul-de-sac houses have pictures that hint to the locations of abilities and the ending area.
The highwayman area is an event that activates an NPC that chases the player sometimes throughout the dream world. The highwayman serves to force the player into teleporting to different locations in order to encourage exploration of areas the player may not have fully completed.
I've made it so the ending area is elevated and can be seen by the player many times in passing before being able to reach it using the ghost ability, in order to keep it in the players mind to get back to that location when they figure out how.
(Update 6) 17th March 2020
This weeks focus has been to blueprint the highwayman enemy NPC and Finish the level block out.
I'm pleased to say that the enemy NPC is fully functional and spawns throughout the game no matter where the player goes when its event is triggered in the Forrest. I just need to add some flare to the event with an opening door and such.
I had also placed down each NPC and had a few play test sessions to focus on how the player interpreted the world and game feel. After that, I had set up UI that displays what abilities have been unlocked and what ones are currently equipped to help the player remember the goal of the game better.
More work still needs to be done on the level block out and may also need to be adjusted over more play testing sessions, but the Alpha for Morpheus 98 has been reached!
Side note: Production may slow down over the next few weeks on the project as me and potential play testers are isolating due to the Corona Virus. So just a heads up if the blog goes quiet or The next update isn't as big as the rest.
(Update 5) 8th March 2020
This weeks focus was a bit of a buffer week schedule wise to make sure every core mechanic in the game is working.
I've focused a bit more on AI so that any NPC will travel between set points determined by an actor with an array of locations.
More detail has also gone into level design for the Forrest area in this time. Next weeks goal is to get every area of each level blocked out with npcs in their intended locations.
I've also had thoughts on the ending cutscene, having it involve "the highwayman" antagonist that will appear in the game to hinder your progress. His implementation will be done asap.
(Update 4) 1st March 2020
This weeks focus was on the saving system, and in tern travelling between each level via set points. I've managed to do this via the save system in the game.
With that, every main mechanic in the game is functioning properly And i can focus more on level design, models and begin playtesting
Trees have also been created and added to help flesh out the Forrest area and the lighting has been slightly adjusted
(Update 3) 23rd Feb 2020
This weeks focus has mostly been on Polishing the player abilities, to make sure you can switch between them smoothly with no glitches, and designing the Levels for the game (You can see the scale of the levels near the end of the video)
The music Ability now lets you play notes from a Kalimba I recorded and edited, and the electricity now activates static screens and will activate the TV to grant the player access to the TV World area.
Alongside that, I've been trying to make some minor adjustment to the general lighting throughout the game but that still needs adjusting, and creating the beginnings of the save system, where you can now save that abilities you've collected in whatever order and load the game with those abilities. (This is demonstrated if you see the save game and print strings and when the game is loaded, you load in with your past collected abilities)
(Update 2) 15th Feb 2020
Showcase of my progress so far, I am currently ahead of schedule with the AI finished and most of the player abilities fully functional.
The Video showcases:
-The PSX Material effect
-Footsteps working on different kinds of floor
-All 6 Player abilities present
-Shader effects for the teleportation
-2 Kinds of AI and the ability to take abilities from the AI
-Organisation of blueprints
(Update 1) 7th Feb 2020
My Schedule for the project and project deliverables is mostly complete.
I have planned:
- 6 Effects/ abilities
- 3 Worlds to travel between
- 7 Characters (npc has 4 variants)
- 6 world interactions (more will be added as the project goes on)
