The game is set inside a Doll Hospital in Victorian London, which the player is allowed to (with restriction) move through. We knew that there should be some window to view the outside world and hint at the state of the world as story-wise London has been filled with these organic parasites that grow inside objects (i.e. dolls). We had planned that the view outside would get continually more surreal as the game progressed and the Doctor’s mental state worsened, but for now it is just looking like the view will only be in the first level.
I had to draw a street view of what the Doctor would see from looking out his window, and lucky for me Winchester is full of old timey brick buildings. I took a walk around Winchester and photographed all of the interesting buildings I could find, that looked like they belonged on a Victorian London street. I made a mood board from my pictures and used that as inspiration. The end result draws from Mike Mignola’s work, including dark shadowing buildings and a limited colour palette.
The rain was included for some added moodiness, which is accompanied in the game with the sound of a storm.
Sam Bedson