I was tasked with the design of all the encounters that can be seen during the game. There are 6: Stage Exploration, Dining Room Clients, Bloodhound Office, Maze Chase, Stage Chase and Dining Room Bloodhound.
Stage Exploration
This is the very first encounter in the game and it serves as an introduction for the Client enemies. The first time the player comes across the stage an NPC is singing to distract the Clients from the player. Doing so, the enemies will not chase the player if they see them and let them explore this area. However, if the player is too close to a Client, it will grab them and trigger a game over.
This encounter’s objective is to let the player explore the stage and make them fear the Clients. It is important that the player gets to know this area because it is a central piece of the universe and the level design of the whole game. I also used this oportunity to warn the player about the Clients strange behaviours and make them avoid these enemies when possible.
By placing the enemies and the props in the stage, I designed various paths that the player can follow in order to finally find the exit of the stage area. The player must find a way to navigate the stage without being too close to a Client and using cleaverly their environment.
Dining Room Clients
Just after the stage exploration encounter, there is this encounter where the player can find some Clients in the dining room. This time, the enemies are distracted by an NPC, so they will detect the player and chase them.
This is a very easy encounter that allows the player to learn about the stealth mechanics of being seen and making sounds. The Clients are very slow and there is a lot of props in the environment to avoid them. This way, the player can learn in a relatively safe place and explore the dining room has they wish.
Bloodhound Office
The third encounter’s objective is also to learn about an enemy: the bloodhound. This is a special enemy because it is blind but it can smell the player. That means that it will follow the player anywhere they hide.
This encounter is very short, but have a lot of props to allows the player to try to hide and learn how the bloodhound works. It is also meant to show the violent side of this enemy and make the player fear it.
Maze Chase
The next encounter can be divided into 2 parts. The first is an introduction to the new enemy, the basic one, where the player simply has to hide while the enemy leave the area.
The second part is a scripted chase across a maze and is one of the two scariest moments of the game. Disclaimer: I did not designed the chase part. I was tasked with the first part and simply help one of my design collegue with the second part.
Stage Chase
This is the other scariest moment of the game. In this encounter, the player has to go through the stage in the opposite direction of the first time. But this time is different, not only because there is no NPCs to distract the Clients, but also because the lights turn off and a spotlight reveal the position of the player. The result is a very tense chase where tons of enemies go after the player from various direction and they have to find a way out the stage.
For this reason, in the very first encounter of the game, the player is allowed to explore the stage. Moreover, this time the player can use the climbing power to navigate the stage using new paths.
Dining Room Bloodhound
In the final and hardest encounter, the player is trapped inside the dining room with the Bloodhound. Because the player have already learn that this enemy follows them anywhere and is almost imposible of getting rid of, they will have to used cleverly their environment to their advantage.
In this case, the exit of the room is the door from which the Bloodhound comes. Therefore, the player has to put distance between them and the enemy using the props of the room, and they must make it to that door without being caught.
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