Design Statement

As I ran down the corridors led by Lady Macbeth in the immersive theater Sleep No More, it was as if I had become a character of the play. This immersive experience exposed me to the charm of interactive theater, which creates strong ties between audiences and actors. However, I found that the audience unintentionally obstructed the action of the actors, at times even interrupted the performance. In addition, the reliance on physical spaces makes it impossible for many excellent immersive theaters to reach a broader audience. 

This sparked the idea of a non-location-based immersive theater. Captivated by the prospect of combining elements of VR gaming and immersive play, I started to develop Echo of Hysteria, a video game that derived from the play The Crucible, bringing my passion for theatre into the realm of game.

Through Echo of Hysteria, I hope to explore the following questions :

• How to encourage players to explore and discover new storylines and interactions in each playthrough?

• How to strike a balance between the freedom of choice and the presets of the script, ensuring that each player's experience is unique while maintaining the overall framework of the story?

• How to enable players to deeply engage with and understand the complexity of history?

In the design of this game, I focused on bringing the player into a multi-layer drama of Salem Witch Trails (based on the script of The Crucible) and the McCarthy Hearings (inspired by the movie Oppenheimer). With light in hand, the player engages with NPCs, scenes, and live actors, exploring the fight for freedom amid suspicion and oppression over time. The player will not only relive historical moments but also relate these stories to the transparent society of today, reflecting on the contemporary "witch hunts" in reality.

To enhance the game’s interactivity, I designed the following mechanics:

1. Player lights the candles in NPC‘s hands to trigger different dialogues and plots.

2. Player lights the candles in the scenes to collect fragments of the story, which is narrated in the form of sound dialogue or performance.

3. Each time the player walks into a place, he may enter a new time and space (1692 or 1953), and the player needs to piece together the complete story through non-linear narratives.

4. The player will sometimes encounter characters played by human actors, who will guide the player into new scenarios, sometimes hunt the player, and sometimes play the role of judge.

During the game design, I focused on environmental storytelling to prevent players from getting bored because of the excessive text. Applying the architectural theory to the design, I connected the architectural typology with metaphor in sociology and psychology, hoping to evoke shared human emotions. For instance, I selected several typical spaces from “The Crucible”, which still function in modern society: square and home respectively represent public and private domain, the control room represents surveillance while prison denotes discipline, church stands for indoctrination and court symbolizes judgement. To enable players to grasp the meanings behind the spaces, I not only used typical geometric shapes to build the scenes but also gave them a modern twist to distinguish between two eras. For example, the church from 1692 is made of marble, while the one from 1953 features holographic material. This design method not only captures the essence of immersive theatre design but also shows how to integrate environmental storytelling with architecture to forge new narrative design.

Meanwhile, inspired by Pink Floyd’s album Animals, I designed four characters to perform, each symbolizing different personalities in society. For instance, the “Pig” represents authority and law enforcement, while “sheep” represents the oppressed, the scapegoat. The characters in the play are dynamic, changing with the plot, encouraging player to reflect on the fluidity of social roles in reality.

During the development, I encountered technical challenges when I sought diverse interaction between actors, NPCs, and the player. Although this is an individual, game-driven experience similar to the walking simulator, it goes beyond enabling players to have live one-on-one interactions with the avatar of actors, which creates an intimate and unique experience that aligns with the principles of immersive theatre. This design increases the replayability of the game and makes each player's experience unique. To achieve this depth of interaction, it is necessary to master motion capture, a skill I am in the process of developing.

What’s more, I recognized the potential of artificial intelligence in enhancing interactions with NPCs. Imagine creating AI-driven virtual characters with memories and personalities who can interact with the player in real-time. These could be celebrities in history like the playwright Arthur Miller or politician Joseph McCarthy. Engaging in dialogue with them is just like reading a vivid history book, which testifies to the educational value of the game.

All in all, Echo of Hysteria is a game that I am genuinely proud of, because I believe it demonstrates the great potential at the intersection of drama and VR. It diverges from traditional narrative games by seamlessly merging theatrical elements with interactive gameplay. This allows for storytelling to be developed in a manner that is interactive and deeply personal, making audience part of the story rather than observers. Also, the game intertwines historical events with modern social issues, encouraging players to reflect on and discuss real-world parallels, such as surveillance, violence, and freedom. Moreover, this could signal the a new direction for educational experiences, where we engage and deeply connect with the history.