Description

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Chasing Static is a first-person psychological horror short story. Uncover the forgotten remains of a government cover-up where a mysterious phenomenon caused time to stand still.

In the dead of night a fierce storm rages across North Wales, miles from the nearest town, Chris Selwood seeks refuge in a remote roadside cafe. Shortly thereafter Chris experiences a horrific sight as he finds the cafe waitress pinned to the ceiling by something with fierce glowing eyes, he passes out waking up to the dusty old abandoned remains of the cafe.

 

With no other option Chris ventures into the nearby woods looking for something, anything to make sense of what happened in the cafe and to find a way back home.

 

Elevator Pitch

Explore the untouched wilderness of rural Wales as you uncover the forgotten remains of an abandoned research site, one where a mysterious phenomenon caused time to stand still.

Inspired by 80s Sci-Fi horror and contemporary surrealist cinema, Chasing Static delivers a unique take on the narrative adventure genre through new audio driven gameplay mechanics and non-linear exploration.

 

Features

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Sonic Exploration - Audio driven gameplay mechanics have you hunting anomalies with an experimental Shortwave Displacement Monitoring Device.

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Lo-Fi, Hi-Fi - Crunchy low poly visuals reminiscent of PS1 classics with a focus on strong sound design and a modern approach to gameplay.

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Non-Linear Gameplay - Explore the world of Chasing Static at your own pace, uncovering it's secrets in any order you please.

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Bite-sized Terror - A self-contained story with an average playtime of 2 hours.

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Gameplay Progression

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The game plays out in two narratives, intertwined and revealed as the player explores the environment and progresses through the game. The main story is of Chris Selwood, a middle-aged man who after living in Wales until his late teens has returned to the country to bury his late Father, someone he had a troubled relationship with and lost touch with shortly after leaving. Returning home from the funeral Chris seeks refuge in a remote roadside cafe as his journey is interrupted by a fierce storm. After a brief moment of respite Chris experiences a horrific sight when the cafe waitress is seemingly pinned to the ceiling by something with fierce glowing eyes. Chris passes out, waking up in the remains of the roadside cafe. With dust covered tables, empty seats and mould growing through the wallpaper it appears the cafe has long since been abandoned. Chris questions the reality of his situation, is any of this real? With no other option Chris ventures into the nearby woods looking for something, anything to make sense of what happened in the cafe and to find a way back home.

 

The secondary narrative is that of a long abandoned research facility, the ‘Echo Garden’, a large concrete building hidden deep in the Welsh countryside. The facility was first built to investigate a strange anomaly unique to the area, leading to a series of isolated events that caused time to repeat and cave in on itself. The player will piece together this narrative as they explore the areas surrounding the research facility and uncover various clues about its origins. Presented to the player through the echoes of past conversations that took place in various locations throughout the game, they will learn of Doctor Williams and her team at the Echo Garden Institute. Chris is able to listen in on these past conversations with the help of the Frequency Displacement Monitoring Device, a device designed by the Echo Garden Institute to hunt down and listen to these fragmented echoes of past conversations.

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Exploration Through Sound

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Sonic Exploration is the term I have coined for the core gameplay mechanic, the game features traditional inventory based puzzles to compliment this mechanic. After reaching a specific point in the story the player will discover the Frequency Displacement Monitoring Device. This is the Device that is shown in our teaser trailer, the player can tune into various frequency bands (similar to a traditional radio) and upon discovering an 'active' frequency use a modified directional microphone to enhance that signal. This mechanic is used for both uncovering new narrative elements and solving environmental puzzles.

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We have had accessibility in mind from the very early stages of the game's development and I'm happy to say the entire mechanic has been designed with the hearing impaired in mind. You will be able to play through the entirety of the game with the sound turned off. We've made a point of having visual indicators for both tracking frequency bands and narrowing signals. All voiceover will also be subtitled.

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