You believe in monsters. In creatures that crawl. Sneak. Steal. Hurt. You believe they are to blame. You keep a camera and a journal under your bed. You use these to catalog your exploration of the darkest corners’ corners.
One day you will show them. You will show them all what you have always known. Monsters exist, and they will take everything from you.
Your name is Connor. You have too much to lose now to be scared of the dark.
Fixing up an old project.
Connor Dreams of Monsters is one of the first interactive text experiences I ever made. And it was based on one of the first piece of multimedia I ever made as well, a shitty website called CONNOR’S CRYPTORIUM You play as Connor, a nefarious youth who explores an orphanage at night looking for monsters. It was originally made for a school project like 3 years ago. The project was 30,000 words and made in 5 days with no sleep. And the final result was HORRIBLE! So in the summer of 2024 I decided to revisit the project.
I think the goal was just to get closer to my origins and revamp this old piece of writing into something I can be happy with. It’s currently on the backburner as I finish school. I’m not really worried about making it good or particularly marketable. This one’s for me. I’m taking my time with it.
Now totaling at over 65,000 words, with 7 horrifying, original monsters to encounter, and 7 NPCs to hang out with and do quests for, it’s becoming something I’m very proud of.
Presentation and player feedback in a linear text based experience.
Now that all the sappy stuff is out of the way. Let's talk SERIOUS NARRATIVE DESIGN (THUNDER ROARS AND GOD SHIVERS). How do you make 65,000 words of abstract silly horror fiction APPEAL TO GAMERS. You jangle keys in front of their face! For traversal I really wanted to make the player feel grounded in a location, so to do that I made an interactive map! It works like this:
Clicking adjacent rooms moves the player.
NPCS and MONSTERS will be marked on a map once you enter a room with one.
MONSTERS will be crossed out when eliminated. Here’s a monster encounter!
Connor’s Journal can also be interacted with and is updated throughout the experience. Just to give the player something interactive to read. Here’s an entry!
