The whisper of Lacrimosa

The Whisper of Lacrimosa is a 2.5D atmospheric horror, adventure game made in UE5. It uses both hand drawn 2D sprites and 2D animations within a 3D environment with hand painted textures.

Made in 3 months with 6 people.

Documents:

Download the game here

Characters:

Lottie:

Young woman who has inherited the power to see spirits from her mother.
She also has an extraordinary perception of danger and evil.

Arriving in Lacrimosa for an event, she comes into contact with a spirit who, due to her altruistic side, will end up helping.
But this will lead her to the most hidden places in Lacrimosa.

 

We thought to give the player powers, but chose to give them passive ones, we didn't want to ruin one of the pillars of the game.
So Lottie can:

  • See spirits
  • Perceive danger
  • See moments of life depending on what she touches.

Dr. Cornelius:

Famous aspiring doctor with a passion for bodies and organs, who, after being caught stealing from some laboratories in Lacrimosa, was dismissed from the medical register.
This has not stopped his obsession, and he now wanders the streets looking for a victim he can rip apart.

 

Our intention was to keep it mysterious but at the same time dark and malevolent, we wanted it to blend well with the chosen era as well, so the decision was made for the top hat and mask.

NPC:

Citizens of Lacrimosa:

We preferred them to be easily recognisable but with a grim tone, which is why the faces and colours are absent, and a shadow has been put in their place, and in general they do not have well-described details except just enough to be able to distinguish them

Corps:

One of the focal part of the game. They are more detailed and in colour, to make it easier for the player to distinguish them.

Shadows:

Show the player the moments before the death of a corpse, or, if it is an object belonging to the corpse, show the moments around the object

 

They appear one at a time at certain precise moments, which help to give the player clues, or show him/her the direction to take.

 

To help the player see the shadows, they are given the same colour as the spirits, a light blue, then we use a light to make it easier to follow.

Spirits:
They are lost souls, seeking help or revenge, because something painful has happened to their bodies that their spirit has not yet been able to overcome.

 

Characterised by this light blue, to make it clear that they are not part of the world of the living and are of no threat to the player.

 Levels that i have work on:

All levels have a linear layout, and we tried to give the illusion of being able to move in several directions in the 3D environment, but it has been chosen, for reasons of time, to block the player

City

First level, I thought of it based on the idea of showing the player what the basic game mechanics could be. I tried to maintain an air of mystery and increase the player's curiosity.

Intro

I prefered the player not to wonder "how did I get here" or "why am I here", so I thought that placing Lottie in a station and with an invitation in her hand could override these questions and design the player into wondering about the mystery of Lacrimosa

Central Part

I liked to divide the city into two areas, to bring up a feeling of disturbance, the upper part (richer and cleaner) and the lower part (poorer and dirtier).Here the player discovers:

  • Can see ghosts. (I tried to give a kind of discomfort by making the player retrace the steps, and making the ghost appear where it wasn't before.)
  • Perceive danger. (At the entrance to the slums, to increase the difference between the two areas, and create unpleasantness when the corpse is discovered)
  • The visions. (My idea was to make the player understand that it is a very invasive power and that Lottie wants to be forgiven even before she uses it.)

End

We had idealised the levels even before we thought of the scenes, so I just had to find a way to get Lottie from the city into the sewers.
So I thought it might have been the killer who pushed her in there, and by doing that, we showed the danger to the player, which I hope, opened up even more questions regarding the story of Lacrimosa.

We inspired by the idea of an English town in the Victorian era.
A characteristic feature of the city is the ever-present fog, which sinks the city into a mysterious and unreassuringly atmosphere.
We tried to show how something in the city has changed, how everything looks more lonely, so we chose to:

  • Use a cold colour;
  • Buildings with dark window;
  • People on the streets complain about the safety of the city.

Sewer

Second level, it was idealised to increase the player's "anxiety". I tried to play with the logic of large, confined spaces even with bright, shadowy spaces. I started to insert some innocent jumpscare.

Start

I thought that Lottie, after the previous scene, would be a bit confused, so she would think about how to get out.
I added a puzzle, trying to fit it into the level as best I could.

Puzzle

I had several ideas about what puzzles I could fit in, but I found the pressure system the one that would fit best with the level.

  • The bar is a progression bar that goes from 0 to 100
  • connected to levers that can have a negative or positive value
  • the total of the value of the lowered levers must be equal to the necessary value of the bar

I set the value of the levers so that only one combination is correct.

Central Part

I thought of adding a straight line in which the player can only go in one direction, trying to accommodate a kind of frustration in not knowing when he/she will have a chance to hide or get out.
If the player misses hiding, he/she will be blocked by a closed gate, which only the killer can open.
I used this part to show more of Lottie's passive power, that the closer the killer gets the more the feeling of danger rises.

End

I had to get Lottie in the factory somehow, so I thought the memories of the corpse we are following might be useful. So the victim was escaping in a wreckage through the stovepipe.

We idealised the sewers as a dirty part of the city. So much so that the city's fog could come from the sewers.
I thought of giving an arched outline to each room, to give the feeling of being underground.

Because central level, I divided the initial part with the insertion of a puzzle, while the final part introduced the killer by inserting a chase, trying to accompany the player to the final level

Team_9

We all applied individually to CGS's question about who wants to participate in The Rookies as a group. We soon found out that we were a team, and we had 3 months to make a project that could be playable. No one knew anyone, but everyone worked hard to complete this project as best they could.
It was a very interesting and fun experience!

APRIL RINEY 

Environment Artist

SOOJUNG JEONG

Character Artist

JONATHAN PROVIDENCE

2D Animator

NICOLAS MARTIN

Programmer

MEG NELSON

Level Designer

Me

Level Designer

Location

UNITED KINGDOM