Mirko's 3D Folio

Ember is a virtual experience with the intention of walking the player through an interactive environment where they will have to make their way out of a burning building by traversing each floor and walking through the damage caused by the user interpreted story. The ultimate goal is to find the way out completely by yourself, while also being accompanied by a short narrative scattered through cutscenes that allows the user to build their own narrative of what actually happened to the character and the scene.

 

The experience is played through a first person perspective, with the player in full control of where the character goes (aside from any cutscenes). The path is ultimately linear, with it being impossible to die, ensuring all players will reach the end and absorb the entire narrative. Accompanied by a slow walk, this allows the player to take in the destruction surrounding them as they slowly make their way down each floor, as the floors above them become inaccessible.

 

Ember builds the atmosphere through a destroyed office environment, where pits of fire surround the player along with office debris scattered around where there was once people seamlessly working minutes earlier. The player will be placed on the top floor, where they seem to be the last person within the building as there are no signs of anyone else around. The player will have to navigate slowly through each floor, making decisions on which pathways to go and interacting with parts of the building to progress further.

 

Overall, the intention of Ember is to isolate the user into the experience, with no prior knowledge of the building’s layout, forcing them to explore the building in a situation where time is considered limited. The experience should be played in one session with the sound on to fully engage with Ember.