Making a horror story game with PowerPoint


It's been a week since the PowerPoint Game Jam ended but I still feel hyped, mostly because I finally finished making a decent game. To help me release the excitement, I decided to share my experience and I thought there's no better place to write about it than here. There will be spoilers ahead so if you haven't finished the game, go check it out. If for some reason you can't play the game, you can watch my playthrough here.

LEARNING ABOUT THE JAM


The only time I found subscription emails useful.

I discovered the PowerPoint Game Jam through an email from itch.io. At the time, the first game jam I participated in had just finished and I was unsatisfied with how that turned out. I had problems communicating with my collaborator so we ended up with a game with placeholder art and almost no sounds and polish. Since I was still in the mood to make games, I was determined to try again. Having some experience making games in PowerPoint (from about 10 years ago), I joined immediately.

EXPERIMENTING WITH MECHANICS

Before the jam officially started, I experimented with the types of gameplay I can implement. Prior to this, I didn't know about VBA programming in PowerPoint. I have some experience with other programming languages so I tried to learn VBA. However, I figured I may not have enough time to fully explore what I can do with VBA and at the same time finish a decent game so I decided to ditch coding. Instead, I tried to push the limits of what can be done without code. Some of the new features I experimented with were the new transition effects, zooming, sketched line styles and 3D models. By the start of the jam, I had a list of features with descriptions of ways they can be used for a game. In hindsight, using the latest features may have been a bad idea since it would limit the number of people who can play my game (which may be one reason why my game was among the few to receive the least ratings).

ORIGINAL CONCEPT

The first idea I had was a fantasy choose-your-own adventure. While I do like the idea of multiple endings (due to replayability), I didn't think I would be able to incorporate a lot of PowerPoint features. My next option was a horror game, which was what I ended up doing. The initial concept was a man confronting his fears from different stages of his life. This eventually morphed into the concept of a man confronting his evil deeds, thoughts and feelings. After randomly coming up with the introductory lines for what would become the final boss ("The works of your hands are blasphemous," etc.), I settled for the concept. My main inspirations for the game were Silent Hill: Origins and a flash game called, Exmortis.

FINAL BOSS BATTLE


Them animations.

I started working on the final boss battle before anything else because I thought that if I couldn't finish the whole game, at least I can submit something playable. After deciding on the concept, I immediately knew the final boss should consist of a pair of hands, a brain and a heart, representing the types of evil I mentioned above. The first one I worked on was the Heart, which was the simplest to make but hardest to beat (I have only beaten it twice!). I was trying to replicate common bullet hell patterns before I decided to use it for the Heart. I had some friends test it, which quickly revealed unintended solutions. They were able to avoid the "bullets" by quickly placing their cursor on the Heart during slide transition. Hence, I introduced the talisman, so that the cursor has to be away from the boss when the round begins. For the other final bosses, I wanted to pose slightly different challenges that are at the same time thematic. Thus, I had the Brain producing "psychic waves" while occasionally shooting lightning with its eye. This was the time I learned to use a muted audio file for timing a repeating sequence of animations. I decided that the Hands should have two separate phases and that one of them has to punch the screen at some point. I tried a few designs before finally settling on the current one. One thing I forgot to put on the final game is telegraphing when the hand would punch, though I might add it on a future update. The art for the bosses came after I finished making the boss battles. I wanted to use real images for the creepy factor but I thought the pictures may look inconsistent with each other. I couldn't draw realistic-looking ones from scratch so instead I searched for real images, traced them using curved lines, made a few changes and adjusted the colors (all done with PowerPoint).

DESIGNING THE LEVELS


I worked on the game in reverse order.

By the time I finished the final boss battle, I was midway through the second week. I planned to finish three levels in about a week so I can spend the latter half of the month updating the art, playtesting and polishing the game. Unfortunately, I may have underestimated the tasks I had to accomplish since I only finished the levels a couple of days before the end of the month.

In designing the levels, I considered both the story and the mechanics I'll be using. The mechanics should incorporate those necessary to beat the final boss. Since I didn't want to overwhelm players, I tried to introduce mechanics one by one. So for the first level I decided that the only mechanic is clicking.  In the second level, the mouse over mechanic is introduced. The third level didn't have a new mechanic but I wanted to encourage the strategy of anticipation. I wanted the player to receive some sort of reward at the end of each level, so that's how the talismans were incorporated into the story. But I didn't want them to be just some random MacGuffins so I connected them to the new mechanics through lore. The visual theme of each level were initially inspired by a game I was playing (Shattered Pixel Dungeon) but I changed them eventually to better fit the level's story theme (to be discussed individually below).

LEVEL 1: THE HOUSE


The final version of the path through the house.

The theme of the first level is evil deeds and the visual motif that symbolizes this theme is a hand. The motif is shown in the guiding hand prints, the first appearance of the level boss (if they ever caught you during the chase sequence), the boss' large hands and weakness, and the Left Hand Talisman. The flashback of the level also addresses the theme by giving hints about a crime the main character has committed, though I couldn't decide exactly what it was so I kept it vague. Another motif is the doppelganger which is embodied by the boss who's supposed to look like the main character. It also possesses the Left Hand Talisman which is  a mirror of the Right Hand Talisman possessed by the main character. The ruined and bloody versions of the house also follow this motif to some extent by being reflections of the normal house only accessible by following the right hand prints. So in some way, the progress of the character through the house reflects his own progress in facing his evil deeds, with the boss representing the guilt he's trying to escape.

In terms of gameplay, what the player has to do is simple but the instructions were given quite cryptically, because I didn't want to break immersion by displaying explicit instructions on the screen. Originally, the player had to follow the left or right hand print alternately (inspired by the Left/Right Game), but it was harder to explain. I based the layout of the house from single-storey house floor plans I found online. At first, I thought I would need a bigger house so I can make varying paths and loops but then I realized I could just make doors appear magically between rooms at certain points through the path. As the path is followed, the house goes through four phases that supposedly increases in difficulty. The first phase is easy and allows the player to get used to moving around the house. The second phase (ruin) introduced wrong hand prints, which showed that there is a consequence to choosing the wrong door. The third phase (blood) was supposed to further increase the difficulty but I didn't have time to implement it. I won't spoil what it should have been though since I plan to include it in a future update. The fourth phase (chase sequence) introduced a timer and failure upon choosing the wrong door. I was planning to add descriptions to the furniture but they don't really add much to the gameplay so it wasn't a priority. Finally, I wanted the boss to be defeated using the same rule used throughout the level but I haven't seen anyone figure that out by themselves so maybe I can make it more obvious next time.

I actually made the first level last because I was intimidated by the amount of art I had to draw for all the rooms and furniture, plus their ruined and bloody versions. I almost ditched the house for a forest since then I would only need to draw trees. But when I started drawing, I just kept going. The most challenging part was drawing with perspective. I used leading lines to make sure the perspective looks natural but even then, some of them look off. Right triangles were very useful when drawing with perspective since they can be perfectly aligned to the leading lines to get the angle right. Then all I had to do was merge or subtract these triangles plus other shapes. Drawing cracks, grime, blood and ghosts was easier since I didn't have to deal with perspective perfectly. 

LEVEL 2: THE DUNGEON


Drawing with perspective is hard.

The theme of the second level is evil thoughts symbolized by the visual motif of an eye. I know a brain would have been more appropriate but I thought an eye would look more familiar. The eye motif is embodied by the dungeon (loosely based on the concept of a Panopticon), its warden's watching eye, and the Eye Talisman. The flashback of the level was supposed to represent the main character's evil thoughts. I specifically added the cultist theme to this level since they represent a group where evil thoughts can be reinforced by being an echo chamber. In addition, the the main character's statement in the flashback directly connects to the setting, which is a prison.

I started working on the second level first despite not being sure what the gameplay should be. Initially, the only gameplay was hiding when a guard approaches. Then I thought maybe some prisoners would escape, which you have to avoid (thus employing the mouse over mechanic). But I wasn't very fond of the idea. When I was able to connect the setting to the theme, I immediately came up with the concept of the warden's gaze. Previously, I was annoyed that mouse over cannot be detected if the cursor isn't moving. When I was trying to experiment with detecting mouse movement, I remembered this "bug." It's still not perfect but it was okay and simple enough to implement. The warden's gaze was supposed to appear much later in the level, when the hallway was planned to be longer. But I decided to just gradually decrease its delay as the player moves through the corridor, to increase difficulty. Getting the hiding mechanic to work was a pain. In theory it was easy to make - just a few mouse over and mouse click actions. But considering all the states (i.e. vulnerable, safe, dead), possible actions per state (e.g. placing the cursor on the door, placing it away, returning it etc.) and the fact that there were two possible hiding spots, implementing the mechanic took a lot of effort. Since I had to use a number of slides each time the player has to hide (because of the mouse over action), I limited the use of the hiding mechanic. In hindsight, it was a good decision since it might be really frustrating to restart if the corridor is longer. The door locking mechanic does not work perfectly (see this update for more details) but it works as long as the player knows what they're doing. Finally, the boss battle incorporated both mechanics, with the warden's gaze appearing in a different form and the boss' weakness being similar to the door locking mechanic. Again, the solution wasn't apparent but I think it's reasonable. I'm actually proud of the level design for the dungeon, because the mechanics are quite unique and thematic and because the mechanics used on the final boss were those used throughout the level.

I spent the longest time working on the graphics for the dungeon. I couldn't draw a brick wall with perspective so instead I drew a flat brick wall and used PowerPoint's 3D effects. Getting the perspective to look right took a long time. The next thing I spent too much time on was making the zoom effect look good. Since the dungeon is just a long corridor with rooms on the sides, I didn't want to use a fade transition to move through the corridor. Zooming was absolutely necessary. The art for the walking guard was easy since I didn't have to animate the legs. The art for when the guard attacks was more difficult since I'm not good at drawing dynamic poses so I used a reference for it. The warden was supposed to look different - maybe creepier. But when I started working on the boss battle, I had already spent too long working on the second level so I just turned it into a cyclops and moved on. I was planning to change it during polishing but I didn't have time. I will change the boss' appearance to its original concept on the next update.

LEVEL 3: THE CAVES


The stuff of my nightmares.

The theme for the third level is evil feelings and the visual motif is a heart. At first I planned the setting to be just a maze-like cave - perhaps a cave with fleshy walls. But that would be too similar to the first level. Then I thought it would be cool if the cave layout matches the layout of the chambers of the heart. So that's what I did. That also explains the one-way path, being sucked into the big chambers before being pumped out, and losing oxygen at the latter part of the level. Maybe too science-y so it's easy to miss. The only other references to the heart were the boss' weakness, and the Heart Talisman. The flashback represents the evil feelings of the main character which is supposedly the root of his evil. The shadow entities represent these evil feelings, which are easy to overlook or miss if you're not looking. In the case of the main character, these feelings were present at a very young age. What he didn't know was that there is a deeper source of evil within him, one present before he was even born. Thus, the boss in this stage resembles an embryo.

I rushed making the third level so that I would have more time making the first level. As a result, it's not as good as the other levels, in my opinion. The mechanics are similar to most PowerPoint maze games, which is avoiding certain objects. However, I think I managed to add flavor to it so it doesn't even look like a maze game at all. My original plan was for the shadow entities to move in a fixed pattern and occasionally turn invisible. This should have reminded the player that the only reason they're seeing the shadow entities is because of the Eye Talisman. In addition, it should have encouraged anticipation of movement which could have been useful for the level boss. But I didn't have time so I just made the shadow entities look like their traveling through a long corridor, representing blood vessels, with some extra movements. To add difficulty to the second vessel run, I added the fade to black effect which supposedly shows how the main character is starting to lose consciousness due to decreasing oxygen levels. Overall, I'm not very fond of the gameplay for the third level but it was good enough.

To get inspiration for the art, I watched a video of a virtual reality tour inside the heart. Hence, I ended up with those weird looking doors. I was supposed to make the big chamber more realistic and detailed with fibers appearing as stalactites or stalagmites but again, I didn't have time. So I decided to just draw squiggly lines using the sketched line style. Maybe I'll update the look of this level on the next update. What I spent most of my effort for this level were the shadow entities. I drew random creepy silhouettes on paper before recreating them on PowerPoint. Then I made friends select the creepier ones (which I used on the second vessel run). It's actually quite disappointing that the creepier ones were seen less because of the fade effect and because they move twice faster, but maybe by being almost subliminal, they become creepier.

IMMERSION

For a horror story game, immersing players into the story and setting is very important so I didn't want to put user interface during gameplay, except for the subtitles and the skip intro button. I knew I couldn't make the graphics look immersive so I had to compensate through the music and story. I also added the guide for story exposition and to give the players someone to connect with.

MUSIC AND SOUNDS

Early in development, I knew I needed music and sound for immersion. I don't have the talent to create original music so I searched OpenGameArt for free music. I downloaded the ones I think would be appropriate then made a table listing each track with the composer, a short description and possible applications. Luckily, I was able to find music that matched the feel that I was going for in each level. Sometimes, I would adjust the animations to better fit the music (such as in the final boss intro). Getting the audio to work properly in PowerPoint was not easy. While music can be played across a given number of slides, it cannot be stopped early (e.g. when the player fails). One workaround is to add the audio during slide transition and use the "Stop Previous Sound" option on slides, where the music has to be stopped. It worked although transition audio is more selective in the file type it accepts. I also couldn't adjust the volume or trim the audio within PowerPoint. I could have used another software to process the audio files before importing them to PowerPoint but I didn't wanna mess around with the audio again since it took some time to make it work.

THE GUIDE


A quick sketch of the guide.

Since the mechanics change per level, I wanted to show instructions at the beginning of each level. However, I didn't want to break immersion, so I added the guide at the start and end of levels. I actually added the guide later in development since I have only finalized the story and dialogue then. Initially, I planned making dialogue options just like a regular visual novel. It would have fleshed out the lore and the themes I discussed above. But I WAS OUT OF TIME so I wasn't able to implement that mechanic.

To make the twist in the ending more effective, I tried to make the guide look innocent and appealing. I looked for image references online but I wasn't satisfied with my initial designs based on these references. So instead, I drew concept art on paper then used it as reference. While the final version didn't match my original concept art perfectly I thought it was okay. I made the facial expressions subtle to add mystery to the character and to make her reaction in the end unexpected and creepy.

STORY


Nope. nope. nope.

I'm not a good writer but I still tried to make the story coherent and complete. I wanted to write a story that would serve as motivation for the main character (and players) and would justify the goal of the game (specifically, the final boss battle). The full story came together while I was writing dialogue. Early in development, I have already considered that the main character was the host of an entity. Originally, he was aware of this fact but he lost his memories of it for some reason. Some time during development, the story turned into the main character simply being selected as an offering for the entity. However, while writing the opening lines (which started with "I've always felt incomplete."), I had the idea of the main character being or having a fragment of the entity. This would explain why the cult would lure him specifically. The only problem I had was justifying fighting the final boss. The explanation I came up with is that the battle, taking place in the astral realm, was a way for the main character to master the power of the entity within him. It was not a very convincing explanation and I wasn't able to fully explain it in the game but it was good enough.

The main story wasn't explored too much during the game. I didn't have time to plan the exposition since I've only finalized the story late during development. If I had time to add more to the story, I would have told more about the cult and the entity they were trying to summon. However, the lack of exposition made the guide look more suspicious or mysterious so maybe it was okay in the end. Most of the main story was told during the opening scene, the scene at the end of the first level, and the ending scene. Making the ending scene was easier since it's mostly dialogue, so I did it first. I wanted the ending to be rewarding since the last phase of the final boss was hard. Knowing the end of the story, particularly the twist, was rewarding enough,  I guess? Maybe the guide's creepy smile? The ascension of the main character? What I like the best about the ending was the last line, "I am complete," which serves as the resolution to the opening line. I only started making the opening scene during New Year's Eve. I already had a storyboard in mind but it would have required a lot of drawing and since I really wanted to finish before the New Year, I had to cut a lot, particularly those that fully featured the main character. Instead I settled for a portrait of the character, shots of hands and silhouettes. Perhaps I should have stuck with silhouettes for the opening to make the art look more consistent. I used silhouettes for the final scene anyway. Maybe in a future update?

Finally, I had to decide on the title of the game. I'm not really good at naming. I didn't even name the guide or the main character. I thought of naming the guide, Lily, short for Lilith the demon. But again, having no name made her more mysterious so maybe it was okay for her to be unnamed. I also wanted to give a name to the entity to make it sound more ominous than just calling it an entity or a demon. But I didn't want to just appropriate real demon names since I did not consider their background when I designed the entity. So it was stuck as "entity." Maybe I can pick one from a random demon name generator, next time. Now back to the game title, I wanted a title that would encapsulate the story. The first title I considered was, "Layers of Sin" but it sounded too much like "Layers of Fear." Plus the word "layers" just doesn't feel right. I considered variants of "Inborn Sin," which refers to the main character's literal inner demon. However, I settled for "Original Sin" because it's a more familiar phrase, which also refers to an inborn sin.

JUDGMENT

When I started working on the project, I decided to make a file per section of the game and just stitch everything together. I thought it was a good idea since it would be easier to edit one section without unintentionally screwing up the others. Plus, I could just send one section to friends when I need feedback. However, that only worked during the first few times since they got busy. It was much easier to ask feedback about art since I could simply send a photo and get immediate responses. So I received some feedback about certain aspects of the game but no one has actually played through the whole game before I submitted it. To be fair I only finished the game (without the opening, ending and polish) a couple of days before the New Year so there was no time to test it. After I put the final touches on the game, I played through it once then submitted it.

Since I was one of the last participants to submit, my game didn't receive a lot of feedback. The first comment I received was about how they thought the first boss was a dead end. Then I realized that in order for people to judge the game fairly, they have to experience the game in full. And because I made the boss battles hard, they may never get to the ending, or even the second level. So I posted hints, solutions and hacks on the submission page, which I hoped players were able to see. I worked hard on this project, so I was hungry for feedback. But throughout the rating period, my game remained one of the least rated and I did not receive any more comments other than the first.

I played through the other submissions and I was really impressed with some of them, especially those that were done without code. My personal favorites were (in order of submission): Another Day, Crossy Remastered, Santa Saves Synapcity, Clarie's Song, Afterlife, The Night Shift, H.E., Pseudoanima, Rebel Zim and TUG OF WAR. After playing through and rating all submissions, I saw someone on Discord announce that they would be streaming the submissions. I immediately followed the link, and saw my game being played. I was really excited since it would be my first time seeing someone play my game. The game crashed at one point and the player experienced some bugs that allowed them to proceed even after failing. I immediately tried testing the game but I couldn't replicate the bug. Anyway, the streamer left a positive review, which really made me happy. The second playthrough I watched was that of the jam's host. While, they weren't able to finish the first level during the stream, they said they also liked it so far and that they would continue playing after rating the other games. Those were the only feedback I received about the game so I couldn't actually tell how well my game was received. Thus, when my game ranked 2nd (technically 3rd) overall best I was actually surprised. Though I may not have received a lot of comments about the game, I felt that this was enough.

So what do I think about my  own game? In terms of game mechanics, I think I was able to use a lot of PowerPoint features. I also think the mechanics were properly justified by the story. Despite the variations in level design and mechanics, I still think it was cohesive. The story was not really novel so the twist ending may not be surprising. I think it needs to be fleshed out more and the dialogue probably needs improvement, too. The graphics were not so good but at least they look neat and consistent. I do love the music and sounds but I don't deserve credit for it since all I did was choose from existing compositions (the composers were credited within the game). To be honest, I think the music contributed a lot to the creepiness. The other horror aspects may not be as effective, though there were creepy and scary moments. Even then, I find the horror aspect lacking. I'm proud of how I managed to weave the themes into level design and gameplay. I think the difficulty curve, which peaks at the end of every level, was okay. Overall, I think it's not perfect but I'm still proud of what I have accomplished.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I learned a lot through this game jam. Planning early can really help make a project cohesive but deviating from the plan to save time is also okay. It is also important to set early but achievable deadlines so there would be enough time to fix problems.  Setting and tracking milestones can also be motivating since it gives a feeling of progress. When a task seems too challenging, just start doing it and you may discover that it wasn't too hard at all. Finally, it is important to take breaks because sometimes, good ideas or solutions to problems come when your mind is clear.

If you've reached this part, I thank you for reading about my experience. I put a lot of effort into making this project (maybe too much for a jam submission) so I was really invested in it. I thank my friends for helping me make important decisions for the game. I would also like to thank and congratulate PPTDEV for hosting a successful game jam. I would love to join future installments of this jam but I'll be busy in the following months so I might skip the next two jams.

I still plan to update the game some time in the future so stay tuned! If you have comments, suggestions or bug reports, feel free to leave a comment on the game page.

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