I know, I know. The idea of horror games including the infamous Slenderman in them has been done to death in the past couple of years. Sadly I have become one of those people who got an idea for a survival-horror game (think "Outlast", by Red Barrels Games) based around Slenderman. I've mostly come up with the story, some design elements, the non-physical part of character design, and the general gameplay mechanics on my own. My goal is to develop everything a bit more before pitching it to an actual game developing company, or getting a group together to work on the game ourselves. Don't worry, I'll go more into detail about all of this later in the post.
The Gameplay
The game itself would play a lot like Outlast in that you are forced to run and hide from the threat rather than face it. While I like that sort of style for current horror games, I did enjoy the atmosphere that Blue Isles Studios developed for "Slender: The Arrival". They did an excellent job helping players get immersed into the game and really feel like they were the ones being chased by Slenderman, not some fictional character. Anyways, what I have in mind is that the players in this game will be stuck inside an abandoned building and are being hunted down by Slenderman (for reasons explained later in this post). The only way to survive is to run and/or hide from Slenderman once you come into contact with him.
Example Scene 1 includes the character hiding in a full-sized locker with the grating in the locker allowing the player to see out into the hallway. The hall is lit by a couple of lights, and they can only watch and hold their breath as Slenderman walks by the locker. In this game I want Slenderman to be very menacing, so we will actually see him walking, the only sound from him will be the cloth of his suit rubbing together, and some "white noise" such as the static from previous Slender games. As Slenderman passes the lockers, his "shadow tentacle things" graze along them, one of them passing over the grating of the locker the player is hiding in. This would NOT be a cutscene. This is suppose to serve as an example scene of how detailed the actual gameplay would be.
Example Scene 2 sort of tells the beginning of the game. The player enters the abandoned building and finds themselves in a hallway with several lights, doors, and lockers. As soon as he enters the hallway, Slenderman shows up at the end and begins moving quickly towards the character. He should not be running, but instead he is almost teleporting, his model glitching with the shadow tentacles furled out, each light flickering as he passes under it. The character, armed with a service revolver, shoots at Slenderman and stuns him. Slenderman stops, his tentacles receeding, and he looks down at the wounds. The wounds then close, and the tentacles furl back out, even larger, as Slenderman begins moving down the hallway again. The character has no choice but to run, so he runs into a nearby room. Just as Slenderman is about to enter the room, the character closes the door and lets out a sigh. This scene SHOULD be a cutscene to first introduce how dangerous Slenderman is, that the players can use the gun to stun him but not hurt him, and that closing a door on Slenderman is an way of escaping him.
In this game, Slenderman should not be able to simply teleport at will. This allows players to enter a room without Slenderman in it, close the door, and feel safe unless there are windows. All windows should have blinds/shutters that can be closed over them though, for Slenderman's only way of teleporting somewhere is if he has sight of the location. This would explain how he can teleport short distances like down a hall, but cannot teleport into a room that is closed off. This and the lockers as stated in Scene 1 would provide the means of escaping and running from Slenderman throughout the game.
The Story
I am taking a little bit of artistic liberty with Slenderman in this game, especially with the "big reveal" I have planned at the end of the game. But for now let's focus on the actual story. The character the players play as is Jacob Marshall, a private investigator who was forced to quit the police after taking a prolonged personal interest in the disappearance of his partner. This will be explained more later, but for now let's focus on the story of the game. Due to a recent discovery on the disappearance of his partner, Jacob Marshall goes to the abandoned building that will be the main location for the majority of the game. Throughout his life, however, Slenderman has been tormenting him and haunting him, trying to make him forget about his partner's disappearance. This is why he outright tries to attack him when Jacob shows up at the building. Slenderman is through toying with the character and decides he has to be removed.
The reason Slenderman has to kill Jacob at all is because of how dangerously close he is to finding out about the Nether. The Nether itself is a parallel world to our own, though it is much darker and is home to many of the monsters we have heard of from Creepypasta stories. Early in history, it was discovered the gap between the Nether and Earth could be crossed, but many denizens of the Nether sought only to destroy Earth and its people. Thus several organizations arose in the Nether to maintain the fragile balance between the two worlds. Slenderman belongs to one such organization, serving as an agent who deals with humans who learn of the Nether. This would even include those who only learn of Slenderman, since he originates from the Nether. He first only tries to stalk the targets, haunting them and trying to drive them insane so they would quit their search for more information. If they persist, however, it is his job to dispose of them. This is why when Jacob Marshall arrives at the abandoned building, Slenderman decides he is finished playing games, and tries to kill Jacob. Throughout the game, should Slenderman ever catch the player, he will kill them. It will not be Slenderman's choice to only appear through brief flashes and around corners. That will be reserved for the players themselves. If they round a corner and see a glimpse of Slenderman down the hall, it will be up to them to run and hide. Slenderman WILL chase after them if he sees them.
Pause For Current Feedback
I have a lot more information for the game than what I presented here, and I have started with the basics. Next I will probably tell you guys what I have planned as far as the character is concerned, as well as maybe the ending I had in mind. You all are welcome to give me feedback, suggestions, or advice. Also if there is anyone interested in maybe developing a group to help develop and make this game alongside me, feel free to apply. I could use more writers aside from myself, some general and level designers, some artists (both visual and audio), and really a bit of everything. If not you could always suggest a company I could pitch this idea to. Also, I apologize if some of the stuff I talked about wasn't too clear. Feel free to message me with any questions.
