Contents

Intro

As a continuation from the last post, I wanted to highlight what we have so far in terms of radio design. This has already gone through plenty of changes from the beginning, and we have plans for more to come. This post will have a focus on the main radio system and its function, but as we still refine our story, we expect these ideas to change very soon.

First Concepts

Based on our inspiration from our brand outline post, we originally aimed to have our radio be maximalist, worn and present some fantasy-elements to it. This design is important to have a ‘oscilloscope screen’, where the wavelengths of the radio signal could be shown. This is because the player will need to see if they have connected to the signal or not, which will be illustrated by a correct wavelength.

Design 1.

Design 2.

Design 3.

While all these concepts have their own unique personalities, the purpose of them is the same throughout. The idea of having a busy set-up is to reflect the player’s isolation in the lighthouse, since the radio is the most important aspect of the building, their whole gameplay revolves around it. We experimented with more military-style designs to more futuristic, nature-reclaimed designs, all with their own buttons, dials and switches to configure. I personally am drawn to the idea of wires hanging from every port, as though it has been hastily put together, adding to its complex design. We also enjoyed the idea of plants, flora and fauna draping over the machine, as though the outside world is creeping into the lighthouse.

As these designs are just ideas for working out the gameplay functions, we settled on Design 3 to develop. This is because it felt better suited to the aesthetics we have planned for the lighthouse, as well as looking the most appealing.

Screen Concept.

HUD Concepts.

Using this radio concept, we designed our first look at the player’s screen, including a potential HUD. This is loosely similar to the radio functions of ‘Stories Untold’, where the player would use the buttons in a specific order to retrieve a radio signal. The HUD outlines the day, times and a notebook log that would track all dialogue for the player to recap with.

Mechanic Functions.

We highlighted the potential functions of each clickable action on the radio, which ended up being more confusing than ever. Instead, we felt that this could be used as a reference for a finalised design rather than including every single function. Most of these actions would prove useless or overwhelming, especially since we have other devices to consider. Overall however, it is good to see progress with these mechanics as we get closer to our final outcome.

3D Models

Using a 3D modelling app, I quickly designed what this radio would look as an asset in Unity. We have plans to texture our models in an oil-paint style to add a unique appearance to our game. This is not yet illustrated in our concepts yet as we are still deciding on the base design of the radio.