1. Games Overview
[GAME NAME] is a first person video game set amid the
atrocities of the Siege of Sarajevo. The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina was
attacked on the 5th of April 1992 and was held siege for 3 years, 10
months, 3 weeks and 3 days before agreements were met on the 29th of
February 1996; the longest siege of a capital city in modern history. Over
8,000 soldiers lost their lives but the true tragedy lies in the 68,000
civilians killed or wounded. The game is designed
Split into two chapters [GAME NAME] first follows
cameraman [CHARACTER NAME 1] in the opening days of the siege, with minimal use
of weaponry in this section the player will rely on tactical evasion with more
of an observational/explorative role, assisting locals and soldiers as opposed
to being directly involved in the conflict.
The second chapter set 2-3 years later (after NATO forces
have intervened to relieve the city of siege) sees the player take up the role
of [CHARACTER NAME 2] a squad leader in the NATO contingent. Here weaponry is
much more available but the player is encouraged and rewarded to seek out
peaceful/non-violent solutions by instructing squad members to stand-down or directing
civilians to safety.
In these two chapters the player re-visits the same
locations after several years of war and destruction, emphasising the scope of
the horrors that took place. In addition to this the game is grounded with the
use of real footage being blended into cut-scenes. The game is designed to
impact upon the player the seriousness and reality of the situations portrayed,
especially as those of younger generation are likely to be unaware of the conflict.
2. Game Narrative
[GAME NAME] is set during the Siege of Sarajevo
(1992-1996) and stays as true and factually accurate to the events as
interactive media allows.
The game is split into two chapters
3. USPs (Unique Selling Points)
Communication System
The player is required to communicate with the AI
throughout the game. This is controlled through voice commands on a headset, or
through a speech menu system similar to that of the Battlefield or Counter
Strike games. [GAME NAME] brings added depth to this mechanic however as this
interaction can initiated with any character in the game.
Consequence System
This system of AI tracks and reacts to your choices;
actions and conversations in and out of combat; forcing the player to react to
the game as much as it reacts to them. Characters will give unprompted feedback
on your actions – indicating to the player that they are or aren’t playing the
game correctly. Player choices will cause teammates to be helpful or ignorant;
civilians will respect or resent what is said to them, foes may even be
convinced to lay down arms. This does not affect the game but greatly affects
how it is experienced.
Use of Live Footage
[GAME NAME] is as much a moral experience as it is an
interactive one.
“The siege of Sarajevo, as it came to be
popularly known, was an episode of such notoriety in the conflict in the former
Yugoslavia that one must go back to World War II to find a parallel in European
history. Not since then had a professional army conducted a campaign of
unrelenting violence against the inhabitants of a European city so as to reduce
them to a state of medieval deprivation in which they were in constant fear of
death. In the period covered in this Indictment, there was nowhere safe for a
Sarajevan, not at home, at school, in a hospital, from deliberate attack.”
— Prosecution Opening Statement, ICTY vs
Stanislav Galić, 2003
This game is not designed to be taken lightly or glorified
the subject matter that it tackles was hugely devastating; and whilst gameplay
encourages the player to act morally the visual impact of revisiting a location
after years of conflict is much more impacting. Similarly cut-scenes will
integrate real footage and photographs to further root the experience for the
player emphasising the reality of the issues tackled.
