Operator

CONTROLS

Use WASD to move

Use the mouse to look around

Use E to interact

Use CTRL to crouch

Use L SHIFT to sprint

Use ENTER to advance dialogue

Operator is an eerie, atmospheric game taking place within a mysterious underground testing facility. You wake up within one of the rooms in this testing facility - all you find around you are a bed, a toilet, a vending machine, a pen and paper, and a phone. A screen on one wall gives you your instructions:

YOU ARE AN OPERATOR

ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN IT RINGS

WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU HEAR

SEND IT THROUGH THE PIPE

FOLLOW THESE STEPS AND YOU WILL BE REWARDED

Now, you must decide whether to follow these instructions blindly...or attempt to find a way out of your situation.

My desire when creating this game was to attempt to experiment further with creating narrative and atmosphere within a first-person exploration game. I wanted to develop my knowledge of coding and attempt to create some functions which were beyond what I had done before, and use these to help facilitate the plot and better help the player feel that they were an active part of it. 

My inspirations for making this game were titles such as Portal and the Stanley Parable which use their environments to assist the delivery of their narratives. I wanted to create a sense of unease in the player and ensure that they were confused as to what exactly was going on at the game's start, but have the layers of confusion slowly fall away as they progress. I wanted to try to achieve something similar, albeit on a smaller scale, with my project.

My goals when creating this game were to make something which is functional, that runs smoothly and has no errors in any of the coding that would hamper the player's experience. I also wanted to experiment with creating larger and more varied levels for players to explore,  and marry my gameplay mechanics and level design together so that they effectively compliment one another. Above all, I wanted to create an atmosphere through music, sound effects, and the appearance of the level that would illicit genuine emotion in the player. 

The main overarching theme of this game is an exploration of the nature of work and employment. Namely, that we are destined to spend our lives performing rather repetitive tasks that may not even fully understand, or that might, in the grand scheme of things, be completely pointless. However, we do not really have a choice in doing this (though we may be given the illusion that we do), as we need to work to earn money for necessities like food and shelter. I hope that these ideas come across in my core gameplay mechanics, and especially in the game's finale.