Title: Sacred Line Zero Genre: first person adventure/horror/silent game Developer: Sasha Darko (one-man project) Platform: PC (later Linux and Mac) Price: Freeware (NOT free-to-play) Release: 2013 Official site:http://sacredline.orgfree.com/ Current status: about 50% ready Gameplay time: about 1 hour Description:
You playing as Ellen, private detective, who is trying to survive in Eastern Europe. Lately her business becomes almost non-existent, and one day before she was going to close her office, she got an anonymous call, asking to find some hidden forest outpost and telling her coordinates of it. It was seems just like usual prank or some psychopath, but except the whole request, something else was very strange about it and caller’s woman voice was very familiar. At the morning Ellen drove to search, but only after sunset she finally found cabin in the woods near the closed, but very secured military base. This is was just the beginning.
About this game: Sacred Line is an adventure game/horror in a fully developed universe where your main enemy is an union of third-world countries, which is trying to set absolute totalitaristic regime over whole planet, polluting and destroying everything around them. In this game you won’t face them, dealing mostly with mutated humans and paranormal activity in the place where it’s all started.
No-borders provocative scenario, specific visual style (black-white-red with red shades) and unique atmosphere. Red State, Sin City and Nosferatu (1913) meets F.E.A.R. and cuts out all its shooting.
You may read this spoiler-post here for more info about scenario: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/162107-Sacred-Line-Zero-survival-horror-PC-Mac-Linux?p=1110520&viewfull=1#post1110520
Gameplay is about exploring and running from your enemies, in a manner of old silent movies (with minimum sounds).
Game will be without zombies. Horror genre is already eaten by them enough.
Actually, it’s just a human blood mixed with grinded bones, which is flowing under ground. Sorry for the screenshot quality, I’ll remove it by now and maybe will recapture later.
Every genre has a tons of games with it (maybe except some Deutsch skyscraper simulation) and in the world of countless FPS/TPS, casual 5-minute games and hipster 2d platformers, I’d say horror is a most unpopular one.
Actually I chose this genre because as well as sci-fi it’s a total freedom in terms of setting, story, atmosphere, characters, locations, anything else. But since I prefer realistic and urban setting, sci-fi doesn’t fit here.
After looking at some other projects here in WIP, I finally realized why SevenBits asked this question. Every stupid school boy is making his own stamped horror game without any development knowledge because of the slendermania. It’s a shame.
That enemy character is very intimidating. Although im not sure what to make of the environments, are you creating an scene that is disorientation and unfamiliar? It seems a bit slip slop slap thats all.
I know this is an old principle but have you heard of KISS?
There’s something about brightness because of the screenshot software. But anyway, this location is a parallel lifeless world (similar to one from Langoliers), there’s different light and there’s no reasons why grass couldn’t be ehhm…“neon”.
I’ll repost screenshots later, with location titles and maybe some descriptions (to make screenshots more understandable).
What do you mean by “slip slop slap”?
At this moment all locations are not completely finished. But I can say what every location has a story and reason, even if its looks rather empty. For example, screenshot 2 - it’s a cabin in the woods, which is pretty little detailed. That’s because this cabin is not supposed for living and used as outpost by one man (he needs only drink, firewood for fire, some food, bed, two tables). Doors are lying on the floor - this man is mutated and crashed everything around him including these doors, before he ran away.
Never heard, googled now. Well, in this game I really keep all simple, there’s no GUI on screen, graphics settings are auto, controls are super familiar, etc.
Something looks complex?
Forgive me, Its a good start after-all we all start somewhere but it all looks strangely disconnected the story the “scene pictures” even the enemy. The story has a central arcing story of word domination by a third world country then some serious situation occurred in a secret laboratory. These things from the laboratory broke loose and then did the EMA thing from the game FEAR and wherever they went struck madness and from this aftermath our player steps into the story?
You got it kinda wrong, but it’s my fault, I wrote too little about plot, mostly “back of the box” description. So, I’ll explain it - mentioned cabin in the woods is used by the ancient totalitarian sect for sacrifices, there’s hole in floor to drop bodies and special sewerage system. There also very large underground bunker with offices (which is connected to military base) for trained groups, they have different tasks to do (propaganda, research, printed media control, recruit of new members, arms deals, etc). Every member of sect is fanatic, a slave which has no rights and totally happy about it, these fanatics ruled by sect “elite”.
This sect’s official mission is sacrifices and praise of all the human evil, though “elite” doing all this for money and power. One hour before Ellen arrives to this cabin, fanatics finally awakened some source of power, which simply kills a half of them and another half it used for creating bone-based monsters (see screenshot with Matriarchatter), poltergeists, etc. Its main goal is mentioned - totalitarian regime over world, destruction and pollutions. It offers unlimited power and every possible riches to the rulers of some third-world countries for their help, of course they totally agreed. Sacred Line Zero is starting in sect’s cabin-outpost and ends in the world full of total chaos - that’s the whole scenario.
great work sashadarko!
smart move deciding not to put zombies. Zombies are like spam now there just everywhere and honestly not scary. To be honest, I have been finding anything with zombies pretty annoying lately. “oh look, another app/movie/ game with zombies…”. I don’t understand why people go crazy over zombies, but they are just lame now.
True horror games need their own monster/demons/scary thing player encounters that is something new.
The screen shot you posted of that one enemy is excellent really good looking and very intimidating to encounter. Its unique kind of like something you encounter in a silent hill game. Most of all its not a zombie.
I’d have to agree with this post; zombies have quickly become overrated and overused. We need something more original if we’re going to get scared, now, which this may have to offer.
I was going to ask about music, but then I saw that this was supposed to be like a silent film.
