Interactive Design

I want to make a first-person virtual Japanese meditation garden that focuses on the four elements; air, water, fire and earth. This 'game' is about finding your center and relaxing. I want the garden to be semi-realistic. The textures will probably have a painterly feel to them and the lighting will be dramatic. I want the resounding feeling to be tranquil.

The character starts off in the center area which is a large area full of plants and an extremely large tree in the middle. There are four doors in this area, each one of them is closed and has a symbol on it that shows either dawn, noon, dusk or night. The player cannot go anywhere so they search around. In front of the tree a pedestal sits, this is where the player will go to change the time of day. Depending on what time of day they change it to will open certain doors, only one door can be open at a time. Lighting will also change depending on the time of day, the 'tint' of the light will be either pink, white, orange or blue/purple. This is an open world 'game' where the player is encouraged to visit each area and relax, there is no way to win or lose.

I got my inspiration for this game from Journey, created by thatgamecompany, because it is a beautiful game about exploration and self-discovery. This idea came from me thinking about my great grandmother, who is 95 years old, and cannot leave her house very much anymore without a struggle. I wanted to make something that could be beautiful and relaxing for her, that she can do from the comfort of her own couch. Combined with the power of the Oculus Rift and a set of headphones I think this could really be a good thing for a lot of people like her who have trouble even going outside.