SEACRET - DevLog #2 - Narration and Gameplay

Hello everyone, and welcome to another DevLog post!

 Today, we're going to introduce you to part of our design phase : the narrative and the main gameplay mechanics. We're off!

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

Seacret's narrative is a very important part for us, as strong immersion and a multi-layered storyline are at the heart of the experience we want players to have. Our watchwords are “show, don't tell”, so there will be no dialogue or text in the game, and the whole universe will be distilled into the settings, behaviors and other details hidden in the environments and interactions between the game's characters. Last but not least, we want to offer an open ending to the game, so that each player can live his or her own Seacret experience!

 So... What's the game's pitch ?

The story of Seacret plunges us into a near-future where a major ecological crisis is causing a rise in water levels and ocean temperatures, threatening all marine life on the planet. A secret laboratory is built with the aim of producing robots to help underwater species survive the crisis and adapt to the hostile new environment.

Problem: there's been no news from the laboratory for several months. The player takes on the role of a diver sent to find out what's wrong, and get the research going again. But you'll need to solve a number of puzzles to find your way through the now-submerged complex, which holds many secrets...

GAMEPLAY

Seacret will be a horizontal side-scroller in 2.5D view, with the aim of solving puzzles to progress through the game's various environments. To achieve this, players will have two main gameplay mechanics at their disposal:

- The harpoon

The harpoon is a tool that can be used to attract objects to oneself, destroy fragile objects, or reach areas that the diver cannot reach.

Here is an example below :

- Proximity

By triggering buttons or levers, the diver can activate/deactivate valves that blow powerful currents. These currents can move objects or hold them in a certain place, but the player can't swim through them... Here is an illustration of what it will look like in the game :

Now you know a little more about the design phase of our game! Thanks for reading this far, and we'll be back next week to talk about the concept art for Seacret's characters and environments !

Take care,

The SEACRET Team