With the help of some awesome feedback and discussion with a friend I’ve gone ahead and revisited Perception.

Going back to my docs there was a fair bit I was unhappy with or thought could do with improvements. Mostly this came down to how the game’s levels were oddly linked together gameplay wise. I decided the story was the strongest and most interesting aspect for me to design/write so have changed up the genre somewhat. Introducing: Perception, the point and click adventure.

I think a point and click adventure format (many mechanics from which I was already integrating) will match the story much better and allow some of the grander goals I have designed to actually be achieved. With this new direction I’ve had a flood of inspiration over the past few days and I feel the game has already improved dramatically.

Something I will reluctantly have to revisit is the art style due to annoying Slenderman comparisons (a game that freaks me out greatly and yet I have never played it myself). All is not lost though as I’ve had a few ideas I’ll experiment with which should hopefully end up being cooler than the original. Considering the time frame I had when designing the game initially for free play as revisit is probably a good idea anyway.

I’m really excited to see where it goes and, as you’ll see below, have already started prototyping some of the core systems needed. Hopefully in the next week or two I’ll have something substantial enough to show off.