Scent Of Sorrow

Play as a dog named Lula, waking up lost in an eerie forest. Use your keen sense of smell to explore the environment where fragments of your memory will help you unveil your past. This heartfelt narrative adventure is a new take on the theme of animal abandonment. 🐶 

Producer : Vincent DUVENOU, Mourad OUESLATI
Game Art : Tom FAVIER, Laura MICHEL, Matthis CHENET, Sabrina SCHULLER
Game Design : Paul RICHARTE
Game Design & Programming : Alexis PERRAULT, Arthur RAFFAUD, Alexandre RAUMEL
Game Programming : Judicaël CHARLOT, Valentin GUILLEMOT
Music & Sound Design : Adrien DAUTEL, Thilo GOLUZA

The main challenges were to make the player feel like a dog and the feeling of loneliness due to abandonment. 🐾

🔸To do this, we had to focus on several points, namely: The feeling of control of a quadruped ; Transcription of a dog's movements via camera movements ; The feeling of being alone ; The main strong emotions given to the player (Loneliness, Fear, Hope)

🔸In order to successfully implement these points, much of the work had to be done on: The adjustment of the controls providing a sense of mobility and weight ; The sense of smell as the dog's main sense ; The sound ambiance of the forest (acoustic and slow music) ; The cold colour tones for the fear phase ; The climbing structure of the level design symbolising the ascent ; The lighting of the gas station guiding the player up the hill ; The colours of the objects and the sounds used to guide the player and help them to retrace the story. ; Particle systems to reinforce the dog's point of view in the environment (fog, dust, weather) ; The contrast between the colours (bluish tint for the fear phase and orange for the calm phase)

The level design is divided into three different sets of categories, depending on the gameplay they must support. 

The fear areas are built in a maze-like fashion. Some paths lead to the goal, but all other routes give the player a viewpoint to help them find their way.

The platforming areas emphasise movement and freedom for the player. The spaces are wide and open, and the player can freely choose their own path. The level is filled with objects and obstacles, giving the player the opportunity to play with their character.

The narrative areas are there to support the setting of the scene and

the overall story. The player has little or no control over their path, they cannot pass the area if the story has not unfolded.

Our Game Artist did a lot of research beforehand to define the artistic direction of Scent of Sorrow. 🐾

Our Moodboard includes prominent visual references from video games and animated films namely Klaus (The SPA Studios (Sergio Pablos Animation) & Studio Ghibli or Firewatch (Campo Santo).

DON'T NOD was also part of our inspiration since our game is narrative and in 3D.

The intentions of our Game Artists were to convey emotions through the environment. The colors and light tell the story and set the tone of the game's atmosphere (distressing or calming situations).

Our Music & Sound Design delivers an auditory experience that draws us into its universe in accordance with the game's artistic direction 

For the musical aspect of Scent of Sorrow, we’ve chosen to opt for a mostly acoustic artistic direction. This helps accentuate the organic forest where the game takes place. Many of the tracks as of now contain two major instruments, piano and guitar. The original soundtrack is bound to the narrative.

For the acoustic part, we had as references the ambient music of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild (Nintendo) as well as What Remains of Edith Finch from Giant Sparrows.

As for the fear phases of the game, we’ve drawn inspiration from Silent Hill by Konami Digital Entertainment. The music and atmosphere change and we move away from acoustic instruments, becoming tense and cold.

https://soundcloud.com/isartdigital/sets/thilo-goluza-adrien-dautel-ost-scent-of-sorrow-isart-jeu-video-2022

Scent of Sorrow has had a little highlight in the gamer's community. 🐶

The YouTube Channel Alpha/Beta Gamer (537K subs) posted a video yesterday of a full playthrough, and it was great to read all the feedback in the comment section!