Genre: Horror-Mystery
Game Duration: 4-6 Hours
Target Platforms: PC
Target Storefronts: Epic Games Store, Steam, Itch.io
Target Price: $7.99-$9.99
Development Timeframe: 9-12 Months

Release Target: Halloween, 2021

Design Pillars:

1. Non-Combat without sacrificing gameplay: The best Horror is at its core a disempowerment fantasy, a fantasy that is immediately broken if you can kill what terrifies you.

2. Focus on storytelling through relatable human characters and human tragedies, with light touches of the supernatural. No two playthroughs should be exactly the same, and where players have a choice, it should be meaningful.

3. Puzzles should be solvable without psychic knowledge, and without the need to brute force them. Give the players multiple avenues to the knowledge they need.

Related Games: Firewatch, Until Dawn, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Near Death, The Amnesia Series.

Point Hope is a Narrative-Heavy Horror Adventure where you take on the role of a Coast Guard Search and Rescue team member who must board an abandoned vessel off the coast of Alaska to discover the circumstances of its appearance (and disappearance 40 years prior).

While playing, the player must not only uncover the hidden truths of what caused the ship to disappear, where the crew went, and survive the night until the rest of their team can arrive.

Our goal with the game is to ensure each playthrough is unique, with a branching narrative that unfolds based on choices made by the player, either through their actions, or through dialogue chosen at key moments in the game. This is combined with a Director System, that tracks the players engagement with the story, progress, and activates horror sequences in a procedural manner. By the end, not only should the moment to moment experience of the player feel tailored to each players journey through the game, but the way their story ends should match how they approach the various story inflection points throughout the experience.

PROGRAMMER & PROJECT MANAGER

Nicholas Crosgrove has been working as a Games Developer for 8 Years, currently employed at Question Games as a Programmer working in UE4. He has credits in 2 Shipped Commercial Titles, 11 Completed Jam Games, and experience on Consoles. Has experience in 9 Programming Languages including C, C++, C#, Java, Javascript, Lua, HLSL, GLSL, and ADA. 

Nick’s responsibilities on Point Hope include: Programming, Project Management, Systems Design, Business Development and Relations.

Nick is one of the two Co-Owners of the team working on Point Hope, Occult Softworks LLC.

SOUND & MUSIC ENGINEER

Meghan “Mel” Crosgrove has done music composition and sound engineering on Occult Softworks’ 10 games. She graduated with honors from George Mason University with a BA in Music. She also runs the excellently produced YouTube Channel, “Theme & Variations” where she analyzes Videogame Music with a critical ear, and educates newcomers to the field on Music Theory.

Mel’s responsibilities on Point Hope include: Audio Engineering and Music Composition, Voice Direction, and Level Design.

Mel is one of the two Co-Owners of the team working on Point Hope, Occult Softworks LLC.

Why Epic Mega Grants…

Without Epic’s generous grant program the game likely couldn’t be made. We are a very small studio looking to release our first commercial product after jamming together for over 4 years, producing 12 Games, so we are confident in the abilities we have; but we need funding to hire the Art Support required for a true commercial release at a level of quality we feel comfortable asking an audience to pay for.

Why Point Hope…

As a Team, we have often examined the games and prototypes we have built together and this is the first game where the whole team has been unanimously proud, and excited to see more of. We fell in love with this during the Senscape Jam this past month, and so did so many who played it, who all saw the same potential in it that we did.

Proposed Budget

In Total: We would be requesting an Epic Games Grant of $52,500

This Budget is purely for the required Services, Tools, and Assets to complete the game. No Salaries for our two primary developers are included as we are able to support ourselves through our primary jobs.

A Budget of $25,000 and $8,000 for Art and Animation, being two skills we have historically not had strength in as a studio represents the largest segment of the budget. Completion of the full scope of the game requires the contracting of a full-pipeline 3D Asset Artist to create an extension to the Ship Interior, Ship Exterior, and additional ocean environment. As well as Environmental Animations for planned ingame events.

$3,000 for Sound Equipment includes a Digital-Audio Converter, VST for Music and Sound Creation, and additional sound cancelling foam tiles for our studio recording booth. A Budget of $4,000 set aside for Voice Acting across 4 major voiced roles, and 8 minor voiced roles.

A Budget of $2,000 for Writing and Editing services by our Writer, Shayna Alley.

$3,000 for AI Consulting for assistance in developing the Horror Director system.

$5,000 for a new development computer capable of running both UE4 and the DAW required to create the Sound and Music, Perforce Source Control and Server Costs to allow for Distributed work on the project, and a license for Houdini.

We have not allocated any theoretical funds we might receive from Epic towards Marketing, we would either try and cover Marketing costs ourselves, or seek a publishing partner.

Taxes

We are a registered LLC in Virginia, and have assessed that our State and Federal Tax Liability over the course of the year will be approximately $2,500.