Finding the Fear

Hi,

As the date for Dark Lessons' Beta approaches, I've been trying to make sure you'll get as polished an experience as time allows. Development-wise, this means I've been turning all sorts of screws in the last couple of months.

Most importantly, I've been inviting my closest friends to pizza playtests to gather and then implement their feedback. Compared to last year's early Alpha, which revolved around stability and first impressions, the current tests focus on the game's particular look and feel. What emotions do players experience, where do they get stuck, where do they lose motivation, where does immersion break?

Image 1: Added interactable items drive the story forward and increase immersion.

Observing my friends play and talking to them afterwards has led to a wide array of changes:

• Added voice acting for the player character by the talented Dela now helps guide the player.

• I've finally improved controls in the inventory, which was already a point of criticism last year.

• More interactable items as well as sound and visual effects drive the plot forward and increase immersion.

• Enhanced accessibility options help make the game more enjoyable for players who tend to be affected by motion sickness (which, it turns out, are quite a few of my friends).

Image 2: The time I've spent on this unassuming inventory is starting to get ridiculous, but I hope the changes will help you.

This being said, I still find that there's something missing in the current vertical slice before it can be released as a demo. My to-do list with things I'd like to get done by 2nd October counts an unrealistic 45 tasks, and that doesn't include the still-open fundamental decision on if and how to add combat or chase sequences to the game. Most notably, I just don't find the experience scary enough yet (though you'll be the judge of that). For a horror game, that's obviously where the rubber hits the road.

Full disclosure

Before I started work on Dark Lessons, I didn't have a strong background in horror. I've had a lot of catching up to do. Whereas games of all other genres are measured by how "fun" they are, horror works differently.

Or at least

The term "fun" can mean something very different in horror. Some things that would be decidedly unfun in other games, such as willfully frustrating gameplay or subverting expectations, might be just the right thing in a particular horror game. It's fascinating to explore where the joy in being scared is coming from, why a certain amount of creep may be just enough and how much might be too much.

Steam post imageImage 3: Playing Arkham Horror with friends for inspiration. Our dinner table is barely big enough.

In order to get a feel for this and develop my own taste, I had to start immersing myself in horror media: playing other horror games (not without my wife sitting next to me holding my hand, admittedly), meeting with friends to play the Arkham Horror LCG, watching the occasional horror movie and reading horror literature from Lovecraft to King or theoretical essays about classics like Silent Hill or Resident Evil or Frictional Games's excellent developer's blog. The decision to lean toward Cosmic horror in Dark Lessons came from the realization that I find this subgenre most intriguing myself.

Right now, the changes I'm making to Dark Lessons based on this input are all over the place, from improved controls to added scares. I hope that eventually I'll be able to write about them in a structured way that may also help other game devs. For the time being, there remain a lot of moments when I'm nervous and uncertain that I can meet my own and players' expectations. At the same time, working on this game has felt super fulfilling in itself. So, if all else fails, at least the journey will have been its own reward.

You Can Still Save Your Spot for the Beta

If you'd like to be among the first to play Dark Lessons, you can still save your spot for the Beta by signing up for my newsletter! You will receive a Steam key and instructions on October 2nd and will have a week to play my game for free and help me improve it.