How Petals preludes Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a simple photo mode

In 2022, Gun Interactive took an unusual step for a well-established AAA studio: it released a free game on Itch.io. Entitled Petals, the title was actually a prequel wrapped up in a mini-game, a means to tell more of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre story as it would appear later in the titular game from 2023.

The aim of Petals was to prelude the story of Maria Flores through snapshots from her camera, leading up to the events of the game. Lending insight into that is Gun Interactive president and CEO Wes Keltner, who is joined by executive producer Ismael Vicens, to explain their thought process behind the design of this minigame, and why those to deliver a narrative in this specific way.

Game Developer: What were your design goals in adding a photography mode to the game?

Wes Keltner: We knew our game was taking place a few months before the 1974 film. In order to provide as much story as we could, while still making a multiplayer-only game, we began kicking around the idea of an ARG. We wanted to tell the story of Maria, why she was in Texas, and what happened to her. The answers to these questions would kick off our multiplayer game. It was the story before the story.

Our creative director, Ronnie Hobbs, had already written into the bio of Maria that she was a photographer. She went to this area of Texas to take pictures of the bluebonnets and other spring flowers. We were also interested in tying the camera Hitchhiker uses in the film back into our game. Where did he get that camera? This was our chance to do something interesting. So we created this smaller, PC-only experience that allowed players to use that very camera to take pictures of flowers. But with each picture they were looming closer and closer to their end.

Why use photography to deliver narrative?

Keltner: If you're making a smaller game or experience, you have to start thinking about keeping the systems and mechanics somewhat simple. This isn't a fully scoped-out game, but a smaller, almost demo-like experience. Focusing on the camera was a great mechanic that was somewhat easy to implement while still giving the players something to concentrate on. It allows them to look at things closer, with intent. And honestly, it slowed them down. And as horror game creators, if I can get you to slow down, I got you! I can scare you when you slow down.

What camera or photography features did you feel were essential and which were left on the cutting room floor?

Ismael Vicens: When we were first discussing Petals, something that we felt was worthwhile to implement was the idea of retaining the aspect of the photographer behind the camera. When other games enter a photography mode, they let the players move the camera around and place it more or less where they wish. We have a few photographers at the office, and we understand the feeling of planting your feet and finding your shot—of walking and suddenly spotting something in that moment that you want to capture. So we wanted to make sure that was present in Petals, to really put the player in Maria's shoes, so to speak. With The Museum, given the scope and expanse of the levels, and how they recreated an iconic location from the film, we provided the player with a little bit more freedom.

In both, we decided on a very stripped down feature set, because ultimately, when you're walking and shooting, you're thinking more about what you're pointed at, how you want to highlight it, and how you're going to compose your shot. So we limited ourselves primarily to changing focal length, and adjusting focus. This way, players are thinking about the same things someone in that moment would be thinking about, and approaching their photos in the same way.

It seems as though many photography modes are just a modification of the natural camera view that players use in the game, but with added tools. What was the technical process of implementation like?

Vicens: Beyond the natural game camera, when you implement a photography mode, there are additional technical hurdles that you have to concern yourself with as a developer. You have to ensure that the camera doesn't pass into solid objects, or expose an area of the game world that may not have been intended to be seen. These expand the testing burden for integrating such a mode—hence why you don't see it with every title.

The process of changing focal depth is fairly simple. As a developer, you're constantly manipulating that during the process of making a game as you experiment with what will look best during gameplay, so those controls are already present. Even capturing or freezing a moment on screen is simple—these are things that are baked into a game already. So the majority of the technical process comes down to the additional features you lay on top, and how much freedom you afford the user.

Are photography modes just a matter of clever UI?

Vicens: I think it can vary wildly, depending on the specifics of the mode, and the intention of the mode's placement in a title. In some titles, photography mode exposes huge amounts of controls for players—the ability to spawn and manipulate objects, or dramatically change the light sources in a scene, etc. This is obviously much more than a clever UI; it's enabling a user to create content for themselves or others that can tell a story.

For us, we could definitely say that perhaps it is just clever UI, but even just layering on UI creates a different feeling for the player. It allows us to do some things that support the story we want to tell, or the emotions we want to evoke. As a crude example, in the moment when the shutter closes, we've got the ability to suddenly change what you see through the camera, letting us startle the player in that instant. And because we've created specific photos as goals, we have the benefit of knowing what the player is looking at, making this even more effective. These are tools we don't have in uninterrupted gameplay—they rely on the presence of that UI, of that tool and of those goals for the player.

Can video game photography teach us anything about real-life photography?

Vicens: I think there definitely could be a time and place where video game photography could teach someone about real-life photography—there are a ton of "simulator" style games on the market, and that area is ripe for educating users about some of the basics. We've focused primarily on photography as a design tool for us to transmit some narrative to the player, or to solve puzzles. However, in the Museum mode we have, we do encourage users to really soak in the details, no matter how small, of the world we've created. In that, perhaps, we can remind someone that a photo doesn't often have to be about the grand subject or perfect moment, but about the little details that make up our world, and how they stack one on top of the other to create our perceptions and deepen our appreciation of the world around us. Every layer—the beauty, horror, textures, and more.

How is our portrayal of photography limited or enhanced by the medium?

Vicens: For us, the portrayal of the photographer being in the moment is enhanced in Petals, the short experience where you play Maria. Through the combination of art, sound, music, and linear narrative, you go from a character appreciating and experiencing the beauty of her surroundings through the lens of a camera to being disturbed, startled, and ultimately terrified while capturing pictures. So for us it was less about representing a true experience of photography, and more about placing the player in the mindset of that photographer.

What design features can help us achieve an authentic experience?

Vicens: "Authentic experience" is a difficult thing to pin down, because we need to define what authenticity means in the specific experience being crafted. Are we seeking to replicate the authentic experience of taking photos? Or trying to let players craft and capture a moment that replicates the authentic feeling of playing the game, albeit in a still image? If the former, is the title live, and in the moment the same way we take photos in life, or is it still authentic if we pause the game and let the player manipulate the camera, as so many titles do?

The best we can ever do as developers is think about the experience we want out players to have with every feature—what emotion we want to evoke, what reaction we want to receive—and design for that, while knowing that what a player does is ultimately out of our hands. In our case, we wanted to achieve a few things with photography in Petals and later in The Museum. We wanted to put you in the mindset and shoes of a special character in our game. Then we wanted to use the confinement and action of lining up and taking photos to unnerve the player and start to tell a story. In The Museum, we wanted the player to appreciate the lengths we went to to replicate iconic locations from the films while also encouraging them to solve puzzles—and yes, to scare them again!

Should authenticity even be the goal?

Keltner: Aiming for authenticity is always our goal. In fact it's paramount to our games for two very important reasons. We are entrusted with a globally recognized IP and we don't take that lightly. It's an immense responsibility and we want to make sure we treat it with the respect it deserves. A big portion of that respect is being authentic to the film. Assuring it feels, sounds, and looks like that 1974 film. And I think we pulled that off. The second reason is more of a horror design philosophy and that's immersion. It's our job to keep you immersed in the moment. If something pulls you out because it's incorrect or not authentic, it's very hard for us to pull you back in. It's much harder for me to yell "boo" and it scares you if you're not really present in the game. And authenticity keeps you present and allows you to feel a bit lost in the world.