Lily and the Graveyard Ghosts
| Lily and the Graveyard Ghosts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio | to.be.announced |
| Erstveröffent- lichung | 2024 |
| Plattform | Windows & macOS |
| Spiel-Engine | Unity |
| Genre | to.be.announced |
"Lily and the Graveyard Ghosts" is a game concept and prototype for the course Game Production of summer semester 2024, Digital Arts. This page is still unfinished and will be updated in the course of this semester.
Team List and Lead Roles
| Name | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Jana Greiter | Lead Programming, Game Art, Level Design |
| Janah Helly | Lead Project Management, Lead Audio |
| Luise Kain | Lead Game Design, Game Art |
| Samuel Klancnik | Lead Level Design, Game Art, Story |
| Josefina Münstermann | Lead Art, Lead Story |
Vision Statement
"Lily and the Graveyard Ghosts" is a walking simulator with puzzle elements where you play as Lily, a young graveyard keeper. You can talk to ghosts to listen to their stories or problems and try to help them out. Throughout the game you get to explore the graveyard and unravel its age-old mysteries.
Game Mechanics
Basic mechanics/gameplay: Walk around - Talk to ghost - Carry out task - Repeat
Player Mechanics:
- the player is able to walk around and sprint. Maybe crouch? You are also able to talk to ghosts (and maybe able to make choices) and interact with your environment (e.g. clean a ghosts grave)
- Lily will also get a lantern she can use for light. She can also put it away or get it out whenever she chooses
Ghost Mechanics:
- the ghosts appear around the graveyard (walking/floating around)
- they talk to you about the happenings around the graveyard, giving you tasks, hints and information about themselves or your uncle
- once you helped them, they may find peace and disappear
- possible added animations to the ghost depending on their character
Level Mechanics:
- there are different ghosts that spawn depending on which night you are currently playing (3 nights)
- depending on your progress you can open up new areas around the graveyard, sometimes by using acquired items
- maybe implement changes in the environment such as candles going out
Level Design
Night 1:
Lily helps a musician ghost repair a broken violin, tools can be found in a locked shed, paw prints lead to the buried key in the animal section.
Night 2:
A soldier ghost asks Lily for help to get rid of the "annyoing dog" that seems to belong to a bride ghost (it can be seen following her and is often at her father's grave - Lily doesn't know which grave). Bride ghost tells her that the dog isn't hers, but and initially doesn't want to help her and asks her to do a task for her. In her task, the player is prompted to enter the forest, but its revealed that Lily does not really like the woods and refuses to go into them. This makes the player search for a solution elsewhere, leading them to the big tree on the hill. There, Lily can pick up one of the tree leaves. Bride ghost leads her to the mausoleum area, the entrance is overgrown and can be cut with tools from the shed. The player will find that the father's grave is suspiciously locked and resolves to ask Edna, her ghost friend, about it.
Night 3:
Edna gives Lily a few ideas where the key to the mausoleum could be, Lily eventually finds in in the old grave next to a lantern which can be repaired in the shed. Then Lily enters the mausoleum, finding old tunnels underneath it. She follows the paw prints to another soldier ghost who tells them more about Lily’s uncle and the soldier above - the player is motivated to search the tunnels and finds the mysterious door. She searches for they within the tunnels. After finding it she opens the door - the game ends.
Story
After receiving a letter from her uncle telling her that she has inherited his graveyard, Lily, our protagonist, wakes up in her new cottage by the graveyard for her first night shift as the graveyard keeper. She is welcomed by Edna, a friendly ghost who helps her navigate her new environment. Now it is Lily’s job to seek out the ghosts residing in her graveyard and help them find closure with their lives. As she helps more and more ghosts, bits and pieces of her uncle’s story are revealed. Additionally, the graveyard may not be all it seems, as Lily will soon start to uncover the secrets hidden in the tunnels beneath.
User Interface
Scribbles and sketches of all user interfaces and, if necessary, textual description.
-
Main Menu
-
Pause Menu
-
Dialogue
Asset List
A bullet point list, table or link on spreadsheet with all assets used in the game (2D, 3D, sound). If assets are more complex, please describe them in detail.
If Asset Packages are used, please provide links to the respective packages here.
| Asset | Group | Type | Animated | Variations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start screen | UI | 2D | would be funnnn | Start, Options, Credits, Quit | |
| Pause menu | UI | 2D | Resume, Options, Quit to Main Menu, Quit (in the corner or sth) | ||
| Options menu | UI | 2D | Volume, Graphics (optional), Display, Controls (at least to view the mappings) | ||
| Gravestone | Environment | 3D | a lot. | ||
| Fence/Wall | Environment | 3D | some | A kit would be cool | |
| Closed grave candle | Environment | 3D | Yes | 2 | off and with fire flicker anim |
| Lantern | Item | 3D | Yes | 2 | off and with fire flicker anim |
| Door | Environment | Sound | some | normal doors and huge chunky door for mausoleum | |
| Dialogue bubble | UI | 2D | 2 | one for Lily and one for the ghosts (maybe 3 if talk to multiple ghosts possible? | |
| Lily portrait | UI | 2D | some | different emotions | |
| Ghost portrait | UI | 2D | yes | all the different ghosts we have | |
| Lily's cottage | Environment | 3D | inside & outside | ||
| Big tree | Environment | 3D | yes | wind anim | |
| Forest | Environment | 3D/2D | yes | some | maybe just 2D planes, since it's the background. wind anim |
| War memorial | Environment | 3D | |||
| Gate | Environment | 3D | yes | for forest entrance and mausoleum section. open/close anim | |
| Mausoleum | Environment | 3D | yes | smaller, non-walkable ones | |
| Big mausoleum | Environment | 3D | for entrance to catacombs | ||
| Character models | Character | 3D | yes | yes | all of our ghost characters, simple idle animation |
| Tool shed | Environment | 3D | plus tools | ||
| Keys | Item | 3D | 3-5 | ||
| Hedgecutter | Item | 3D | |||
| Violin | Item | 3D | 2 | broken & repaired | |
| Old Grave | Environment | 3D | |||
| Catacombs | Environment | 3D | spooky | ||
| Hedge | Environment | 3D | a few | ||
| Gate | Environment | 3D | perhaps a bit broken? | ||
| War memorial | Environment | 3D | |||
| Footsteps | Character | Sound | yes | ||
| Menu click | UI | Sound | & hover if we have time | ||
| Open pause | UI | Sound | |||
| Advance conversation | UI | Sound | |||
| Talking | UI | Sound | yes | Either VA or sounds fitting the character | |
| Pick up | Character | Sound | yes | depending on item | |
| Interact | Character | Sound | |||
| Breathing | Character | Sound | yes | ||
| Atmo | Environment | Sound | yes | ||
| Music | Music | Sound | maybe | background, menu, credits | |
Links
- Pr-Page: Link to the PR-page of our game (as soon as available)
- Repository: Github
- Project planning: Github Project