Development Blog 2: Inspiration

Development Blog 2: Inspiration

I often come away from cosmic horror games with the same feeling: while I find the various tropes of the genre cool, there’s a familiarity to the imagery stemming, I think, from oversaturation. I mean, elder gods are basically a meme at this point. You’ve got Cthulhu dating sims and the like, but I think it’s hard to find a properly scary depiction of cosmicism within the mainstream of the genre. Many people cite Bloodborne, and while that’s a great game with some really interesting cosmic horror themes under the hood, it sort of boils down to anime fights against Great Ones, and while I think that was great for giving Bloodborne a unique identity within cosmic horror that allowed it to stand out and thrive, it’s not really that scary on its face, at least to me.

Now, I’m a huge fan of the Soulsborne games, specifically the way they handle the depiction of worlds plunged into madness. There’s this pervasive emphasis on repetition, and this distinction between repetition with and without purpose. Those who repeat without purpose are lost, hollow, incapable of reflection, having given up hope on their journeys. But those who have a cause, however small and insignificant in the big scheme of things, these individuals have the opportunity to transcend the repetition and progress towards something new and different. 

Around the time I was brought on to work on The Necropolis Suite, I had just finished Outer Wilds, and I saw these same themes of perseverance through repetition divorced from the hack and slash RPG formula. Here was this latterday Myst-like channeling the cosmic-loop themes of Majora’s Mask and the anecdote-driven wanderlust of Wind Waker, and despite the fact that Outer Wilds has this strong hopepunk core, there was still this notion of confronting the unknowable that leaned heavily on repetition in its depiction.

Repetition is often written off as the fundamental element of madness, but I don’t totally subscribe to that. I think that the compulsion to repeat is basically universally human. We couch our repetition in a plethora of fantasies, but fundamentally we are defined by the cycles that structure our lives. Getting hung up on a particular fantasy, though, stifles us. We get hung up on a certain idea, an object or a person or a feeling that we try to return to ad nauseum. We stop being able to grow, to think about things in new ways. We become unable to transcend, so to speak. That’s a certain kind of madness, I think.

So as I was considering this, I started thinking that this sort of loop structure might suit a Lovecraftian investigator’s journey. But time didn’t seem like the right resource to be managing, the way it is in Majora’s Mask or Outer Wilds. Mark had this idea of making Insight, in the Bloodborne sense, central to the gameplay, and so we arrived at this notion of an Insight Loop, wherein the knowledge you gain over the course of a run has both the benefit of empowering you to solve puzzles and overcome challenges, but it also drives you mad, resulting in a loss state.

The repetition becomes an abstraction of Lovecraftian insanity, but prior knowledge gives you the opportunity to succeed where you previously failed, and this becomes your pathway to transcending the loop. Basically we’re making the classic Lovecraftian devil’s wager with the player: you can have perfect information, but you must be willing to go mad for it.

We’re very early in development, so as far as story, we’re still feeling it out. We’re in the stage where we’re letting the characters and the world speak to us, letting the game tell us what narrative it wants to convey, but we feel that, thematically, the structure we’re working with offers fertile ground for a meaningful cosmic horror experience.

Posted by Ian

146 comments

Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long asI provide credit and sources back to your website?My blog site is in the very same niche as yours and my users would certainly benefit from some of the information you present here.Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks!

Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long asI provide credit and sources back to your website?My blog site is in the very same niche as yours and my users would certainly benefit from some of the information you present here.Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks!

Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

1xBet является одной из самых известных на рынке. 1xbet зеркало сегодня прямо сейчас Огромный выбор спортивных и киберспортивных событий, множество открытых линий, самые высокие коэффициенты. Кроме того, БК имеет широкий функционал и немногие дает возможность совершать ставки по специальным промокодам. Используя промокоды, вы можете получить настоящие деньги, не внося абсолютно никаких средств. Фантастика? – Нет, Реальность Узнать последний промокод вы можете сейчас же, однако использовать его необходимо в соответствии с условиями и инструкциями, которые приведены ниже.

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

I have read your article carefully and I agree with you very much. This has provided a great help for my thesis writing, and I will seriously improve it. However, I don’t know much about a certain place. Can you help me?

Reading your article has greatly helped me, and I agree with you. But I still have some questions. Can you help me? I will pay attention to your answer. thank you.

I think the content you share is interesting, but for me there is still something missing, because the things discussed above are not important to talk about today.

Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?

I think the content you share is interesting, but for me there is still something missing, because the things discussed above are not important to talk about today.

I am sorting out relevant information about gate io recently, and I saw your article, and your creative ideas are of great help to me. However, I have doubts about some creative issues, can you answer them for me? I will continue to pay attention to your reply. Thanks.

I carry on listening to the reports speak about getting free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the most excellent site to get one. Could you advise me please, where could i get some?

I am sorting out relevant information about gate io recently, and I saw your article, and your creative ideas are of great help to me. However, I have doubts about some creative issues, can you answer them for me? I will continue to pay attention to your reply. Thanks.

I am an investor of gate io, I have consulted a lot of information, I hope to upgrade my investment strategy with a new model. Your article creation ideas have given me a lot of inspiration, but I still have some doubts. I wonder if you can help me? Thanks.

I am an investor of gate io, I have consulted a lot of information, I hope to upgrade my investment strategy with a new model. Your article creation ideas have given me a lot of inspiration, but I still have some doubts. I wonder if you can help me? Thanks.

After reading your article, it reminded me of some things about gate io that I studied before. The content is similar to yours, but your thinking is very special, which gave me a different idea. Thank you. But I still have some questions I want to ask you, I will always pay attention. Thanks.

After reading your article, it reminded me of some things about gate io that I studied before. The content is similar to yours, but your thinking is very special, which gave me a different idea. Thank you. But I still have some questions I want to ask you, I will always pay attention. Thanks.

After reading your article, it reminded me of some things about gate io that I studied before. The content is similar to yours, but your thinking is very special, which gave me a different idea. Thank you. But I still have some questions I want to ask you, I will always pay attention. Thanks.

Your article made me suddenly realize that I am writing a thesis on gate.io. After reading your article, I have a different way of thinking, thank you. However, I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

Your article made me suddenly realize that I am writing a thesis on gate.io. After reading your article, I have a different way of thinking, thank you. However, I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

Your article made me suddenly realize that I am writing a thesis on gate.io. After reading your article, I have a different way of thinking, thank you. However, I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

Your article made me suddenly realize that I am writing a thesis on gate.io. After reading your article, I have a different way of thinking, thank you. However, I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

Your article made me suddenly realize that I am writing a thesis on gate.io. After reading your article, I have a different way of thinking, thank you. However, I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

At the beginning, I was still puzzled. Since I read your article, I have been very impressed. It has provided a lot of innovative ideas for my thesis related to gate.io. Thank u. But I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

At the beginning, I was still puzzled. Since I read your article, I have been very impressed. It has provided a lot of innovative ideas for my thesis related to gate.io. Thank u. But I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

At the beginning, I was still puzzled. Since I read your article, I have been very impressed. It has provided a lot of innovative ideas for my thesis related to gate.io. Thank u. But I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

At the beginning, I was still puzzled. Since I read your article, I have been very impressed. It has provided a lot of innovative ideas for my thesis related to gate.io. Thank u. But I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

At the beginning, I was still puzzled. Since I read your article, I have been very impressed. It has provided a lot of innovative ideas for my thesis related to gate.io. Thank u. But I still have some doubts, can you help me? Thanks.

Thank you very much for sharing. Your article was very helpful for me to build a paper on gate.io. After reading your article, I think the idea is very good and the creative techniques are also very innovative. However, I have some different opinions, and I will continue to follow your reply.

Thank you very much for sharing. Your article was very helpful for me to build a paper on gate.io. After reading your article, I think the idea is very good and the creative techniques are also very innovative. However, I have some different opinions, and I will continue to follow your reply.

Thank you very much for sharing. Your article was very helpful for me to build a paper on gate.io. After reading your article, I think the idea is very good and the creative techniques are also very innovative. However, I have some different opinions, and I will continue to follow your reply.

Thank you very much for sharing. Your article was very helpful for me to build a paper on gate.io. After reading your article, I think the idea is very good and the creative techniques are also very innovative. However, I have some different opinions, and I will continue to follow your reply.

I am a website designer. Recently, I am designing a website template about gate.io. The boss’s requirements are very strange, which makes me very difficult. I have consulted many websites, and later I discovered your blog, which is the style I hope to need. thank you very much. Would you allow me to use your blog style as a reference? thank you!

I am a website designer. Recently, I am designing a website template about gate.io. The boss’s requirements are very strange, which makes me very difficult. I have consulted many websites, and later I discovered your blog, which is the style I hope to need. thank you very much. Would you allow me to use your blog style as a reference? thank you!

I am a website designer. Recently, I am designing a website template about gate.io. The boss’s requirements are very strange, which makes me very difficult. I have consulted many websites, and later I discovered your blog, which is the style I hope to need. thank you very much. Would you allow me to use your blog style as a reference? thank you!

I may need your help. I’ve been doing research on gate io recently, and I’ve tried a lot of different things. Later, I read your article, and I think your way of writing has given me some innovative ideas, thank you very much.

I may need your help. I’ve been doing research on gate io recently, and I’ve tried a lot of different things. Later, I read your article, and I think your way of writing has given me some innovative ideas, thank you very much.

I may need your help. I’ve been doing research on gate io recently, and I’ve tried a lot of different things. Later, I read your article, and I think your way of writing has given me some innovative ideas, thank you very much.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.