We have been developing a first-person puzzle game for the past few months, and have almost finished the core of the programming for the puzzle system (more will be branched off and added in the next few months), but I have neglected the environment somewhat.
As an artist, my first instinct was to just do the environment first, but decided it was best to do the puzzle mechanics first, and I think it was the best thing to do.
Our game is a first-person Non-Linear (with story elements) puzzle game partly inspired by the Myst series, and I would like to know what people would want to see in an environment.
What makes an environment speak out to you, what fits a puzzle game best, what fits a mysterious island?
A style we kept coming back to in brainstorming right at the beginning of planning was an environment largely populated by copper and brass elements, like Steampunk which covers some of the interior, but I have never liked an environment entirely composed of that kind of style.
One thing we are set on is an old-ish look to it, not dilapidated but old wood and things like that with a sense of structure, more like coloured and plastered mud blocks.
Please let me know what you think and what environment you think would work best.
Thanks.