K A T H A R S I S - An entry for Greek Mytholojam 2018 [Juanjo]

First topic message reminder :

Well, as you all probably know, I have decided to participate in the Greek Mytholojam 2018. In this thread I will show you my progress and frustrations during the development, I will also create a page in Itch.io but it will be later.

I've been working on this for about a week (a few hours a day nothing more, I have my real job) and for the moment I have almost all the history defined, mechanics, style, even some sketches of environments (all on paper). Now let me tell you about all of this, although this is in a very early state and many things can change.

Presentation:
The Greek MytholoJam is an invitation to make something interactive inspired by ancient Greece! There is also an optional theme (the Muses), but I will not use it, it doesn't fit with my vision of the project.

Provisional title:
K A T H A R S I S (From Greek κάθαρσις katharsis meaning "purification" or "cleansing").

More info about the word here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis

Idea:
My main idea is to work the concept of madness and suicide from the point of view of that time (ancient Greece), presenting it as an "unusual" journey to the underworld since at that time these ailments were not understood as they are now.

It seems to me a serious theme with a lot of spiritual depth, which is what I'm looking for.

So the story will tell your journey to the gates of Hades after your death, before accessing the underworld.

I'm going to play a lot with the colors, the camera effects, and the narrative because I want to give a supernatural and different touch to the style in general. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it but I will try to give my best.

Main features (desirable but not sure):
- First person exploration game (walking simulator)
- Strong and deep narrative talking about the madness and suicide from the point of view of the ancient Greece
- Realistic and detailed graphics
- Mysterious and dark atmosphere. I want to mix Greek beauty with the darkness of the underworld…
- Simple mechanics and easy puzzles so as not to disturb the story (and because I will not have time for complications)
- Music and sound effects consistent with the story

I repeat, this is the idea but many things can change.

Other things of interest:
- This project will be a short and simple interactive experience with a first person view and will be more like a walk simulator than other thing but as I said with some interactive elements. So don't expect a long and complicated game.

- Due to the lack of time (always happens in the jams), to go faster, I will use some old models that I already have created, I will also use some assets from the Unity store and probably I will create some new models and textures.

- I want to experiment and learn with some things that I would like to use later in a future project that I have in mind. So this jam will be a fireproof!

- My main tools will be Unity 2018, 3ds Max, Quixel Suite and Photoshop.


And that's all for the moment, I know it's not much but you can get an idea of my vision of the project. I hope to create something similar to what I have in my mind!

And of course, any feedback will be welcome!

Wish me luck!!

Thanks guys!

Hahaha, it's true, looks like a face!

Yes Quixel Suite is amazing and for me it's more friendly than Substance Painter (for example) because I know very well Photoshop.

Josiah,
Quixel is quite user Friendly if you know Photoshop a little bit, but it's very slow and you need a very powerful PC.
The main problem for people who are not used to create 3D is that you need to know how to make models and unwrap UV maps. In Quixel you can only make textures.

Ah, thanks Simon. I used to be somewhat familiar with Photoshop many years ago. But now I use Gimp whenever I do any photo editing or touch ups and such.

Well, as I expected, my entry is growing and every time it seems more complex and deep... but I'm happy with the result.

There is still a lot of work but here you have the result of 2 weeks (approx.) of hard work:





This is the first part of the Death Valley, where our "hero" begins his journey to the underworld.

They are WIP images, but I like the composition of the scene, lighting and the color palette, what do you think?

Looking very good (as usual!)

This is great, as expected from you Juanjo
The lights and colors are nice, and the textures look very good.
I have the feeling that the pictures are a little blurry? Is it the post process effects? (too much antialiasing, motion blur?)

What is coming next? How is the entrance of the underworld?
Are there ruins? Will there be more greek influence? (statues, temples...?)
Can't wait to see! Good luck Juanjo, and don't forget: have fun!

Thank you Roger and Simon for your comments!

To be honest, this project is becoming very personal and although the main source of inspiration is Greek mythology, it also has my personal vision of the journey that would have to be made until reaching the gates of the underworld.

I don't know if I will be able to transmit what I really have in my head. This is really complex and new for me, I'm learning a lot, especially to transform my ideas and feelings into parts of the game... I had never extracted my deepest thoughts...

@Simon:
About the effects, yes, you're right. This is one of my personal ideas, the vision of the "hero" in this "purgatory" is different from real life, more undefined, blurry, strange, dark... with this I want to transmit to the player the fear and insecurity that the "hero" is living.
As he approaches the doors of the underworld the colors, the effects, the environment will change... it will be darker and sadder, indicating that we are approaching the end of our path.

And yes, we will see greek ruins, and we will learn a lot about Greek mythology and its underworld, the narrative will be very important.

This project will be very psychological, the core of the argument is madness and suicide, so everything will have a symbology (music, sounds, environments, narrative, puzzles...). These touches will be subtle in some cases and more evident in others.

For this reason I'm nervous, I'm trying to take care of all the details but it's very complicated to transform my ideas into scenes...

I'm having a lot of fun and at the same time I'm learning new narrative techniques... I'm so excited!

I can't wait to show you the next steps of the project... maybe soon I'll have a prototype!

Looks like this has the potential to be just a bit more than a Game Jam entry? What you have described is very interesting, both to me (with all my "mythological/spiritual" interests), and in terms of what it might/could become.

As per usual, the art and the storyline/s are as good as ever.

As you said Roger, I begin to think that this could be a more ambitious project...

Anyway for the jam, initially the map is not large, in fact it will be small. The puzzles will be simple but they will test your power of observation and many of them will be part of their own environment, that is, you will have to interact with things from the environment to be able to solve certain situations.

The narrative is not very extensive but it is very deep and full of meaning (as I said).

In short, it will be a walking simulator with a deep narrative and interactive elements "different" to what I'm used to create.

But of course, I see the potential of the project and I don't rule out continuing the development after the jam.

Wow, this sounds amazing. I really like were it is going. This might just be my favorite work of yours yet!

Thanks Josiah for your kind words!

For the moment, this is the most personal project I have done to date, so I'm feeling new sensations and doing things that I had always had in mind but that I had never dared to do... we will see where everything ends!

I love your WIP images, and it's very interesting to read your concept. Great atmosphere!

What kind of research are you doing into Ancient Greek mythology and history? Is there a particular journey or story you have in mind, apart from the Socrates/Orpheus comparisons in your initial concept?

Anyway, good luck!

Thank you Dave for your comments!

Well, you can read about my inspiration in an early post in this same thread, where I talk about this issue.

Erebus or the myth of Orpheus are other sources of inspiration, but not only Greek mythology, as I said in the previous post, I've also had inspiration in games like Hellblade - Senua's Sacrifice or God of War, among others.

The development continues, now looking for some inspiration for the gates of Hades...

ahah God of War



Other ideas evantually?

Thank you Simon!

This images are amazing, I love the last one...

The main problem is that I can not spend much time with the new models ... but I will try to do something acceptable or I will reuse old models (with retouching).

Yeah!

Look at Rodin's Gates of Hell?
http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/gates-hell

Yes Roger, I know this sculpture, it's great option but with many, many details... thanks for sharing!

To unveil your destiny you must cross the swamp...



It's a WIP image, need to add more details and the camera effects are not definitive, I hop you like it

This is great Juanjo! It reminds me a little bit of the Dead Marshes in the Lord of the Rings

Thanks Simon!

Beautiful image and yes, the atmosphere is similar, I love it!

Well, this week I'm not able to spend much time to my entry, a lot of work in my real job... so I decided to work on simpler things like the logo and the cover.

This are some tests, not definitive. My initial idea was to play with the typical geometric Greek ornaments but giving them a spin, but I get the feeling that it could also be associated with Arab art... perhaps too complex and confusing.

On the other hand, I have thought of the symbol of the god Hades (below, in the center) but maybe is too obvious and typical.



I'm still working on it, I just wanted to show you my feelings

I like the one on the top (middle), it looks Greek in my opinion.
My favorite one is the one on the right.
Nice!

I agree with Simon.
Hades was often represented by his helmet, and the imagery on the right can suggest a helmeted head.