Deserted places go hand in hand with horror video games the place gamers may be remoted, weak, and, for those who’re something like me, confused. So Nonetheless Wakes the Deep’s location is not out of the peculiar for its style, however even nonetheless, an oil rig off the Scottish coast is a reasonably sick setting for some terrifying encounters.
“It isn’t essentially the most glamorous setting, it isn’t a fantastical setting, which gamers like,” affiliate artwork director Laura Dodds tells me. “We additionally do not have a tendency to listen to tales about working individuals. I suppose that is why it isn’t been centered on beforehand, but it surely’s good.”
It is true that the Beira D oil rig is not historically stunning, however it’s putting. With pipes spewing fireplace into the foggy sky, rust crusting a lot of the outer pipes, and a bare-bones however charming kitchen and lounge, its intricate structure makes it a sight to behold and a thrill to discover.
“The Beira D is genuine to an oil rig as a result of they’re extremely disorientating,” Dodds says. “We discovered a great deal of 360-degree video guides, and also you’re taking place tight little corridors with tonnes of piping passing all these nested buried areas, you would flip round and do not know which a part of the rig you are in.”
Navigating the Beira D in the direction of the start of Nonetheless Wakes the Deep is not straightforward, however for those who’re having a very laborious time with it, then you may activate hints that may assist level you in the precise course. Nevertheless, after a while, you may ultimately get used to the wiggly structure. Not solely does every part of the rig have a really distinct model, with the social quarters opting for the same vibe to these momentary lecture rooms that pop up within the playground of virtually each UK faculty a minimum of as soon as, whereas engineering is stuffed with pipes, boilers, and different common outdated mechanical doohickies.
“I feel that from a design perspective, we took a couple of liberties with the Beira D,” lead developer, Rob McLachlan says. “We made a rig that labored for us. It is fairly a big rig, with quite a lot of locations, locations to cover, expanses to understand, and really clear zones.”
“Rigs are in-built a modular manner,” McLachlan continues. “That was fantastic for us as a result of it helps the participant to deal with the place they’re. They’ll say, ‘Effectively, I am in lodging, or I am within the admin module, or I am in processing,’ and it helps you compartmentalise the map. That actually helped us to make every space distinctive and work for the sport. So that you get a way of development.”
There is no disgrace in getting misplaced, however for those who do get rotated, then you too can depend on all of the indicators which can be scattered across the rig. I truly discovered myself utilizing these indicators rather a lot whereas navigating the Beira D, even after all the things had hit the fan. It is essential that the rig’s crew know the quickest manner doable to an space, so all of the indicators are sometimes very useful and are the quickest strategy to get to your required location.
However this advanced structure is not simply enjoyable and video games, it additionally makes the horrors in Nonetheless Wakes the Deep decidedly worse. Not solely are you not completely aware of the easiest way to dodge sure scary locations, however there isn’t any signal of assist, after the chaos begins and the communication to the mainland is wrecked, all the things else that occurs is mainly simply the outdated adage ‘if a tree falls in the course of a forest and nobody is round to listen to it does it actually make a sound?’ however on steroids. The rig is out within the wild, and nobody is coming to inspect you. “I do not assume I’ve ever actually considered oil rigs, Dodds says. “They’re simply some place else. I do not take into consideration the place my oil and fuel come from.”
The Beira D oil rig actually is a stellar location for a horror recreation, not solely is it rugged and funky to discover, however you are effectively and really remoted as quickly as you set foot into Nonetheless Wakes the Deep, extra so than any cabin within the woods or haunted outdated mansion.