Game Concept #3 Anno del Serpente

'1400's, Horror, Pre-Columbian America, Serpentine, Regal, Cloaked, Collapsed, Central' 

Game title: Anno del Serpente
Genre: first person horror

Serpentine - Twisted, Crafty, Coiling, Snakelike
Regal - Imposing, Proud, Majestic,
Cloaked - Veiled, Occult, Arcane, Camouflage, Artful, Hidden
Collapsed - Disintegrate, Break, Weaken, Wilt, Exhaust
Central - Essential, Paramount, Pivotal, Significant

General Premise

During Columbus's first expedition, the Santa Maria was stranded on a coral reef where its crew spent a long time gathering up all the cargo that had strewn all over the water and the lands. Soon after, Columbus returned to Spain on the Nina leaving forty members of his crew behind to start the first European settlement in this new land. However this was a grave mistake....he would return to the settlement a year later to find that none had survived...Or is there?

Main Character

Crew member of Christopher Columbus's first expedition that was left behind after he returned to Spain. After Columbus vanished, a local tribe learned of this settlement and struck back against those that would defile their land. Many of the crew members were taken and sacrificed including the playable character who manages to escape. A large serpent like creature was summoned forth using the blood of the crew who goes forth to kill the rest of the settlers, it is up to you to survive this horror using the environment to your advantage.

Story Points

• Santa Maria is stranded at a Coral Reef 
• A crew of forty is left behind to create the first settlement 
• A local tribe is displeased their land is being defiled 
• Some crew members taken for sacrifice 
• One crew member manages to escape
• Blood of the crew is used in a ritual to bring forth a snake demon 
• The snake demon kills everyone bar the one crew member who escaped
• The crew member must use his wits and cunning to survive this predator 

Game Mechanics

The snake demon is on the lose and the player has no choice but to do their best and survive. They must use their environment in order to hide from this threat in hopes that someone will save him soon. 

Here are some of the mechanics that the player must master in order to survive. These skills are essential for survival.   

Sounds

There are many audio cues that the player must listen out for. These are helpful indicators as determining where the Snake demon is. 

• Hissing - the demon will hiss when it is extremely close and has your scent
• Slithering - a sound that can be heard from a medium distance to close range, the player needs to keep an ear out for this to see if it is getting louder or quieter 
• Tongue flair - listening out for the Snake demon tasting the air as it travels, this is an indicator that it has begun to catch your scent 
• Animal screeches - the snake demon has caught an animal, this can be heard from any distance but the louder the scream, the closer it is. 

Hiding

One of the main mechanics of the game, the player must use their wits to stay hidden from the Snake demon. As it is a snake, it has both the strengths and weaknesses of these slithering reptiles. 

• Covering yourself in mud and staying still will reduce your body heat and stop the snake from discovering you. Keep out of the way of the snake by standing against trees or crouching in tall grass.
• Hiding underwater will hide your scent, however make sure you have a reed available or you will run out of oxygen and drown. 
• Climbing trees will help you hide from the snake, make sure not to move as it goes passed as the noises of the shaking branches will draw it to you
• Creating a camp fire will increase the heat reducing your scent but it will draw the snake close. So using this in combination with other techniques is paramount at night. 
• Causing disturbance elsewhere can cause the Snake to go after that, allowing you to run away. 

Crafting

Using materials the player finds throughout the maps they are able to craft a variety of weapons and useful equipment. Although the weapons may not do much to the Snake demon as it can't truly be killed, it can however be driven off, the weapons and traps are also used to kill local wildlife that the player will need to do often. 

Some weapons include 

• Spear
• Bow and Arrow/Fire Arrow
• Flintlock
• Whip 

The player must use these to their advantage in order to survive 

Food and Drink

As mentioned above the player must kill local wild life in order to prepare and eat it. Not doing so will result in the character becoming tired, hungry and easier to catch, so the player must keep an eye out on the hunger gauge. 

Drinking is also important, they must find fresh water sources to quench their thirst. There are many salt water pools around, so the player will have to be careful to not drink too much of that as it will dehydrate the character and cause him to hallucinate and faint.  

Sleep

The player must find safe places to sleep, making sure they have plenty of wood for their fires to keep the snake away or making sure they are completely hidden and protected from this dangerous threat. Not sleeping will again cause the character to hallucinate and be easy prey for this slithering demon.

Exhaustion

It is a difficult task constantly running for your life, struggling to find food etc. During times of Exhaustion the player must rest out of the Sun. It is paramount to the characters sanity otherwise as mentioned above, they will start to hallucinate, seeing images of the snake that is not truly there but causing the player to panic and cause sounds that could bring the snake to them. 

Exploration

There is a whole world to discover, going through jungles, coastlines, cliff tops, the European settlement and also ancient temples. If the player discovers these, they can learn of ways to keep the beast at bay as well as learning truly how to defeat it.

Key Points

• Going back to true survival horror with a twist 
• Plenty of jump scares for adrenaline junkies 
• Extremely atmospheric 
• Brings a lot of audio elements into it 
• A story for the players making as they must survive the year