A loose game concept based on my research into nuclear semiotics. The essential experience is focused on bombarding the player with contradicting input; the gameplay will drive the player in one direction, while the visuals and audio elements will be driving them in the other.
The game is centred around deciphering a message written on the walls of a maze-like structure. more clues are found by delving deeper into the maze, however, once the player reaches the middle and deciphers the message, it will be revealed to be a warning against reaching the centre, resulting in a death state.
I created made a shader graph in unity and put in on a section of maze I designed in order to visualise what the game would look like were it to be made.
The visuals were inspired by the sound of a Geiger counter, employing a noisy texture that would get thicker the deeper the player delved into the maze. This was an attempt to show the player’s deteriorating state, backtracking through the maze wouldn’t clear the texture, instead showing clues previously not seen. The idea was to create a sense of no return.
The actual structure of the maze is based on images of possible physical markers for nuclear waste burial sites. The architecture is hostile, designed to keep future settlements from venturing inside.
A short trailer concept I made for this project.
Some moodboards and sketches I made in the initial conceptualising stage. The idea was to create a texture to emulate the increasing amount of radiation during the game. The structure was inspired by concepts for Long time nuclear waste warning monuments.
These were made as markers of the PCs different stages of deterioration. The images come from medical photos of radiation sickness victims, and show the stages of the illness once skin grafts are applied.
