Essence of the Past Windows game

We are the Brainless Bunch, a Portuguese game developer team.

Welcome to our third article about the game we are developing, Essence of the Past.

Essence of the Past is a game about a woman going back to her abandoned childhood home, initially with the intent of selling it.

Our game explores the perspective of someone struggling to reconnect with her past and going back in time through memories captured by Polaroids scattered around time and space.

After last week's peak into the sketches of Mother's 4 walls and the setting of the game system, we're back to show you all a little bit of the progress we've made regarding art and the new look of our spec-sheet! This will be a shorter devlog since we're still getting everything ready, but next week we will have tons of things to show you guys so stick around! We've already shown a little preview of the prototype's progress on our Instagram so you can go search @brainlessbunch.devs there and check it out!

Now, onto the Detailed Sketches.

Detailed Sketches

As shown on last week's devlog, we've made some significant advances regarding the art that will appear on the prototype which will include only one level, Mother's. After observing all 4 of the sketches made for each wall, we've concluded what, in our opinion, would look better and make more sense according to our story!

• Clock/Fireplace Wall

As said previously, since the first prototype of the game will only include one level, our game will start right here, on the clock wall of Mother's Time. Here, the player will be able to interact with a few objects in order to better understand the context both chronologic and narrative wise. Being a traditional Portuguese home and being set in the year 1985 we decided to have the whole room have an overall transitional look, with both traditional and modern elements. The clock on the left will be the a core ingredient in the puzzle completion, being the tool used in order to travel back in time by being changed to the correct hours.

• Television Wall

Another wall of Mother's Time is the Television Wall, one of the 2 that contains a polaroid for the player to investigate! This room is centered around the television, the same one present in Grandmother's Time, having been too expensive for our player family to replace. Here, we can see the center table with a fruit bowl, a book, and a common vase, standing on top of a clean rug. The whole space is meant to feel familiar so when the colors are added (something we'll be able to see on the color studies available on the next devlog) we'll be sure to keep that in mind.

• Window Wall

This wall is characterized by the big central window, giving a view of the still empty happenings of the outside of the house. With the central table and its tall vase, this wall is also marked by it's interesting armchair and the closed cabinet, still allowing the window to be the main feature.

• Sofa Wall

This, alongside the television wall, is one of the walls that contains a polaroid that the player will be able to interact with, showing a memory in which certain objects play a major role. Being the wall opposite to the television it contains a comfortable couch, accompanied by a remote control and a fuzzy throw blanket. The cabinet on the left side shows a couple of objects held dear by the family.

These 4 depictions of the walls in Mother's Time will be used in the prototype, featuring both in the exploration part and on the polaroids as a setting for the hidden object part of the game!

Spec-Sheet

The final news for this devlog is the new spec-sheet we made! Summarizing our game's main specifications, this document displays some of the main features of Essence of the Past and a description to go along with it. Showing off some of its vibe through the art, this spec-sheet will be updated in the future to present the final logo and any other little modifications we might have to make!

Brainless Bunch