Dunhuang2.0

Dunhuang — A Mystery Awaits, A Tale Unfolds.

Step into the heart of Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves, where ancient whispers linger on painted walls and lost melodies yearn to be heard. Journey through time in this immersive puzzle adventure, unraveling secrets woven into the fabric of history and art. Discover. Decipher. Awaken the past. 

Will you unveil the hidden echoes of Dunhuang?

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Development process:

Research -- We spent hours on the research of the cultural and historical background of Dunhuang City and Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Luckily, we can get access to enough information and resources online, such as the documentaries about Dunhuang, the official website of Dunhuang Mogao Caves with really detailed introduction and rich digital assets as well as some  articles about it.

Design -- We first decided on the main storytelling frame ( one of the most challenging part I found in the process, we actually developed a more complicated one, but in this version we just kept it simple), then came the level design with some drafts. Based on our research, we found 3 symbols of Dunhuang art and culture as the inspirations for the puzzle design. For the puzzle design part, we came up with different plans (text puzzle, music puzzle, mechanical puzzle ) and then decided on texts ( to hear it or to read it).  For the sound design, I used Ableton to make the sound more mysterious and spatial. And I found a perfect background music (the name of this song is Dunhuang ) for scene 2! 

Development -- This whole part is challenging for us with many bugs appearing in the process. Really apprieciate the help of professor Bruneau. For some objects which is hard to find in the assets store, we tried AI workflow (to turn the pictures into 3D assets) and it worked well. 

Playtest feedback:

Bugs: the jumping and flying movement triggered by the space button

What's confusing: 

1. about the words that are used in the puzzle ( such as "door", "footsteps");

2. what are the floating objects in the air; 

3.  the text in the museum not helpful for the puzzle solving;

4.  wanna know who the sculpture is in the scene2; 

5. what's the connection with the speaking and the painting on the wall

6. harder to listen & understand the rules

7. a lot of information at once

8. paintings on the wall ( they are confusing)

9.  audio not audible without headphone

11.  Grabbing the painting (scene 1) how?

Future revisions: 

1. improve the interaction system in the scene2 -- use click/buttons instead of colliders (maybe also with some sounds)  

2. make the glowing light on the ground dynamic in the scene1 ( spatial sound is also a good choice)

3. design more doors in the scene1 -- make a loop, everytime different puzzles 

4. multiple endings?

5. references: Egyptian Adventure game: Amenti; Curse of the hidden temple 

6. add a pop up when we need to listen to the audio to tell the player to listen

7. hints: add a background to the text to make it more visible

8. add the mesh collider to the objects

9. remove the glowing once the objects are collected

10.  scene 2: the hint 3 should not work until all other hints are collected.

11. Add a collider so we won’t come out of the room

Impressions:

 1. like the vibe of the game

 2. love the concept of walking into the painting and travelling into a different world.

 3. love the paintings in the museum, beautiful starting page

Ratings:

• relaxing when playing (8/10) (Sama)
• Like the game (6/10) (Danny)
• 10/10 (Omar)

Developer Note:

Hii I'm Haison X. This is my very first indie game development project (apart from the mini game assignment).  I am really happy that I found something I can get so excited about and so hard to get bored with.  I travelled to Dunhuang and visited Dunhuang Mogao Cave a few years ago. The paintings on the wall inside the cave, the sculptures, the weather and the desert in the northwest part of China... Everything was so impressing and unforgettable, which also became an significant inspiration and motivation for indie game design and immersive storytelling works.