Red Mist

Proof of Concept Overview

Red Mist

A Socially Responsible Prison based Immersive 

First Person Computer Game

Description

Red Mist is a controversial, headline-grabbing and emotionally gripping prison based computer game, designed to drive ‘at risk’ young people’s understanding of the devastating and very real consequences that violent actions may have in real life.

This first-person, character-driven, GTA-style game will use real stories based on the lives of youth offenders and prisoners including that of Charles Bronson; Britain’s most notorious prisoner. At various points during the game you will need to suppress negative emotions and stay calm under pressure in order to succeed, despite violence or abuse being directed towards you. 

Needs and Benefits

There has been a 27% rise in youth offenders in the justice system since 2002. The government will invest over £500 Million in the Youth Justice Board, alongside new EU funds to try and bring these figures down. On average it costs £40,000 to accommodate and support a youth offender in the UK. Just re-habilitating 25 of these young people would save the taxpayer £1 million.

Despite there being very little direct evidence linking violent games and violent acts, such as gun/knife crime, the public perception is that a link exists. We plan to take advantage of this by creating a subversive game to convey a powerful message about how to control negative emotions and avoid getting caught up in gang cultures, violent crime and ultimately going to prison. 

Prison is often glamorised in the media - by working directly with Charles Bronson who has spent 34 years incarcerated, we hope to address this public misconception. Even though Bronson has never killed anyone, he freely admits that his life inside has been one of extreme violence. He is now very much anti-violence and wants to stop potential youth offenders going down the same road he has in life.

Our team will also explore a secondary option for commercialisation to repackage the game for entertainment purposes as downloadable content for home consoles. Considering the high interest in prison shows on TV (Prison Break, Disarming Britain, Banged Up), there are currently very few prison-themed games on the market. 

Competition Brief

Digital 2.0 have just secured funding to create a proof of concept of a game for young people to highlight the detrimental effects of negative actions and emotions. At this stage, Digital 2.0 will be engaging with youth organisations, young people, prisons, anger management organisations and similar stakeholders, who can help shape the game idea into a useful and effective game to be used throughout the UK, and potentially globally. The game is not restricted as an educational ‘tool’ and will aim to be a game young people play for entertainment.

At this stage of the project, Digital 2.0 must create the paper designs and storyboarding to describe and detail the game. In order to express visually what the game is, graphics are required for the storyboarding, including surround graphics and animation which can present the game in a visual way and help shape the website where Red Mist information will be contained. 

The target audience is young people age 13-19 and not necessarily youth offenders. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in workshops held with youth organisations and young people to help gain more insight into how to create the winning graphics package. 

The competition will require teams to create the look and feel and branding of the game. For example: 

• Logo

• Typeface

• Colour Palette

• Tag line

In Game and Online

• Home Page (mock-up)

• In-game Menu Screen (mock-up)

• Character Concept art (if applicable)

• Screen mock ups (lined to text designs/storyboarding)

Marketing Tools

• Promotional animated trailer video (Flash)

• Graphical presentation – a walkthrough of the game storyboard using graphics (storyline will be worked through with Digital 2.0)

• Creative ideas for the website (the website will be created by an external developer but winning art work will be the basis of the website)

What to Aviod

Students need to pay special attention to the style of the game – this is a UK prison based game NOT American! Type-face needs to be consistent for use in-game and on branded media such as WIP videos. Therefore it needs to be stylised but readable.  Avoid graffiti and urban styles – this pre-determines an urban market, which is not the look and feel we want. Similarly, it is a socially responsible game.  Although some content will be violent, it is important that the look and feel is not crass, logos and branding should avoid images of knives and guns!

Output

Final work should be presented in formats that are editable versions.  We cannot accept logos etc that are not in their original AI or PSD format.  Winning work will be used as part of the final proof of concept playable demo (due for release in the summer 2009) and will contribute towards Digital 2.0 taking the concept to publishers and funders to make the full version. Work will also be used on marketing material, the website, and will be used to demo the game globally! If Funding is secured, the winning team may have the opportunity to work on the main game design from 2009 – 2010, and beyond if further versions are released.