This is a continuation of the discussions this Friday, but our group had the genius idea of morphing the cute, innocent, teen-rated Cult of the Lamb into a survival horror game, and here are our plans for this (hypothetical) project.
Rationale
First, what is our rationale for this project? Well, it already has a bit of that eldritch horror aesthetic in its core, no? As the game stands, there is no shortage of gore, and the story is about raising a cult and sacrificing heretics if need be. We saw this as a missed opportunity, as in the original game these elements have been completely brushed off as humor. What a pity! Frankly, your first introduction to the world of the lamb is being sacrificed in a ritual. Isn’t this just the perfect build-up? You break out into the danger of the Lands of the Old Faith, and your survival begins.
Horror Games & Graphics
Horror games usually involve an agent (whether a group or a single entity) chasing the player as they try to survive. Most often the player has to run away from said agent, employing environmental elements as strategic defenses. While many survival horror games use 3D graphics, we felt the 2d top-down style of the original game was enough for building compelling visuals and an immersive atmosphere. To avoid revealing too much of the map, we would have to incorporate darkness into the design. A small ring of light around the player serves as a field of vision large enough to see the immediate surroundings, but completely oblivious to everything outside of reach. Torches could also serve as a useful tool for revealing parts of the screen, and the horror element that comes when you turn around to see a monster right behind is too good to ignore.
Gameplay & Strategy
The original game is rogue-like, which means the player has an agenda to fight back against the monsters, using abilities and power-ups to aid their crusades. We would like to keep these elements while minimizing their power levels, so as to remove the agency of resistance. Suddenly the heretic you used to kill in one shot becomes a formidable foe, and your only option is to run.
But running isn’t the only thing you do in this game though. As the player stumbles upon new lands, they will find plants, passive mobs, and collectibles. This is also where the “cult” part of the title comes in. In your endless escape you will find believers like you, waiting to be rescued. Your next encounter will be in your home base, a place for temporary shelter against the endless hordes of monsters. It is here that you take your hard-earned ingredients, and turn them into weapons and power-ups. Your followers can also be commanded to gather these resources for you. The home base, in a nutshell, is a place to restore health and replenish supplies for your next venture into the wilderness.
What makes the original game so interesting and perplexing is the time element. The player is constantly shuffling between their cult and their crusades. In our reimagined version, time also plays a crucial role. If you choose to stay in the home base for too long, not only do you run out of resources, but the monsters also spot you and alert others around them. The longer you remain, the greater the danger of being overwhelmed and wiped out by an increasing number of intruders. Of course, the player could set up traps and other forms of strategic defense, but it becomes increasingly difficult with each minute. The only way to survive is to carefully time your expeditions, manage your supplies, and keep your dwindling cult alive. I hope you enjoyed this hypothetical account of our reimagined survival horror Cult of the Lamb! This is by no means a complete concept: there are certainly many more ways one could go about genre bending for this complex game. However, it shows the possibilities that comes with video-game development, and how the organic synthesis of two seemingly unrelated ideas could result in something much greater.
It’s great how you approach the horror genre and its own tropes in relation Cult’s already-existing characteristics. While I appreciate the more comedic spin on the narrative of the game, I do agree that a horror spin to it would result in an equally great game. It is also neat that you don’t fully abandon the idea of it being rogue-like but you innovate its relation to fighting monsters. I wonder in what ways your horror version takes into account rogue-likes’ affinity for dying and starting from scratch since that can also add to the suspense of each playthrough but could also be re-thought depending on whether you think it’s a necessary part of the game.