“PROCESS”

Characters

Mother

Father

Edgy 17 Year Old Son

Young 9 Year Old Daughter

Pre-Story: What Occurred

Dad becomes absent

Mom creates plan to start fire and burn down house to collect insurance money

How did the fire start

• Discarded lit cigarette in trash can

• Fire starting items to be bought

• 9 Year old used magnifying glass to burn bugs

• Casette player playing burn the house down in edgy teen's room

• Candle catches on fire

Game Opening Narration

Introduces the characters

Journal opens: Provides background, context, and goal

Story Concept

You play as Tom Changestone, an insurance investigator

You must investigate a burnt down house to determine the cause of the fire

You have a magical ability which allows you to switch between two different time zones

• The current time (post-fire)

• The past time(pre-fire)

Lighting

Both sections take place at night

Embers present in the burned house

Flickering lights in the hallway going to the son's room

Complete darkness in the boys room outside of some faint light sources (such as the moon or a candle to convey edginess/unease)

Dim lighting in the parents room to convey moral ambiguity (did they, or did they not burn down the house on purpose)

Sound Design

Ambient Music

Casette Tape playing Burning the House Down by the Talking Heads

Sound Effects: Footsteps, Scribbling Sound for Clue Inspection, Answer Machine Voiceovers, Page Turning fro Reading Jounral, Intro Voice Over

Room Switching

Tom can switch between the present and the past

The present is a burnt down house

The past is minutes before the fire

Key to finding clues: See the cause and effect of certain objects

Key to traversal: Certain areas will only be accessible in one time zone

Clue Discovery

Clues will be placed around the house to be inspected

• E.g. a diary, unpaid bills, messages on an answering machine

Inspecting these clues will add a journal entry to your notes containing an image and a short description

These notes will aid you in your final report

Red Herring Clues

Mom Sequence

• Unpaid bills in the office

• Insurance claim form on kitchen counter

• Answering machine in living room has call from financial advisor about problems

• DEBUNK: Shopping list showing list of fire items to buy that haven’t been bought yet: stuck on the fridge

Edgy Teen Sequence

• Answering machine in living room has call from principal about son’s behavior

• Diary with a manifesto on how he hates school and society in bedroom (post fire)

• Cassette player playing song “Burning down the House” by the Talking Heads in bedroom (pre fire)

• DEBUNK: Left for road-trip 3 weeks before fire

Miscellaneous 1

• Candle stick on dining room table

• DEBUNK: Candle stick remains there post fire

Miscellaneous 2

• Ashtray&Cigarette in metal trash can in kitchen

• DEBUNK: Cigarette remains there post fire

Real Clues

Magnifying glass on child’s desk in pre-fire

Small burn marks on her desk and floor in pre-fire house

Books about bugs

Post-fire room, the desk is completely reduced to ash, only magnifying glass left

TRIAL BY FIRE