Luther - Ghost

Ghost

As only one character can occupy the game play segments, the ghosts design is twofold. After some discussion, we imagined the ghost to be a child, a girl who had died when the steel mill was initially a workhouse during the Victorian period before retrofitting. In game play the girl takes the form of small wisp, a small glowing spiritual that freely moves about the building. In cut scenes however, her true form manifests as a ghostly child clad in white gown surrounded by a blinding white aura.

Luther - Concept Protagonist

Character

The protagonist is Lavender (L for short), a young girl who is both a spirit medium and the daughter of a seer. The design I imagined for her was a girl around 18-20. Her attire was to make her look like an urban rebellious teen, bearing amulets talismans and charms, and additionally a satchel which as part of the inventory system. 

The colours I predominantly looked at where dark purple, magenta and mauve etc., as those colours are frequently associated with mystery, as well as toying with various different patterns for her clothing. Additionally she was to also be accompanied by an unusual conjured purple orb that would act as a type light source to illuminate the dark areas of the mill, instead of a standard flashlight or lamp. 

Luther - Concept Enviroment

Environment

The game is set in a derelict late Victorian era steel mill that has been left rotting and forgotten for some years. The exterior shot of the plant gives wide view of a crumbling rusted and dilapidated structure. The orange sky approaching dusk was to make the steel mill seem more foreboding and un-inviting as well as to set the scene for the rest of game taking place during night-time. 

Much of the interior is a dim lit environment with various broken down machines that look as though they have not been used or maintained. The main room is a wide and vast expanse with skylights obscured and grimed over. This was to block some light from entering the interior thus adding to the dark and murky environment, as well as to obscure any sight of the outside world, giving a feeling of isolation and no escape. Dangling from the ceiling are various chains and smelting pots approaching ruin and moments away from simply plummeting to factory floor, while there are also crates, broken pieces of machinery, empty rusted smelting trenches and furnaces. 

 The office has some luxury items adorning it to give the impression that it was once occupied by someone of a managerial role, thus the ganging picture frame and clock, as well as the bookcase.

The spare room was both for storage as well as being a workshop. Here there are stacks of crates and boxes which further block light adding more shadowy areas and creating a feeling of uncertainty. 

The generator occupies the spare room and is an unattractive device, bearing pipes and wires traveling into the walls and floors in a confusing pattern. 

GUI Art #1 -- Laying Out The GUI

Each one of these images are not final! They are simply a place holder for the final art, and to give an idea of where we want everything and how we want the layout of the gui to look before making the final art.

Subtitles and Empty Power Bar

Here is the layout for the Subtitles for when the character(s) speak. This feature cannot be turned on or off as we are not sure weather we are doing voice acting, and it will be a lot easier to do it through music and subs. The empty power bar can also be seen, when the character uses the orb to produce "light", it will drain and when drained, the player will have to wait until it has filled.

Full Power Bar and Closed Inventory

Here is the template for the closed inventory. When the player is not using the inventory system, they can close it to clear the view and give them more of a screen to view on. The power bar is also full here.

Open Inventory

Here is the open inventory. It will give the player a hint to their objective. It will also show what room they are in so the player will not get so confused (Possible feature).

Paused Menu

This is a template for the paused menu. When paused, it will fade the background screen to a light black to draw attention to the main menu part of the pause screen. The player will be presented with a few options. Along with a quit, options, logo of the game and the word paused if it wasn't clear enough that the game is now paused.