Small but Mighty

This project has the purpose of showing high fidelity within small areas--and the best place I can think of that exhibits that is none other than IKEA. I love the aesthetic represented in different display rooms, how you can walk from one home to another in just a few steps and imagine yourself living in so many different settings. They are fully decorated and seem like they have just been waiting for you to move in, cook in, or entertain in. I want to recreate it by creating a small main hall that branches into four small rooms--maybe a gaming room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom (something of the sorts). Each one can have a different theme, as they might in IKEA. I have attached photos of different rooms/scenes I've taken pictures of from my last visit to IKEA as well as some from IKEA's online inspiration gallery. Although I can't replicate the vastness of IKEA or their amazing parking lot under their building, we can work with their highlighted rooms. 

I want the player to start at the beginning of the hall, with options both to both their left and right. Maybe just an open kitchen to their left, and the right has a small path of the bedroom to game room  to bathroom to create a small path that leads back to the main walkway. I think using lighting as well as the usage of desks and counters to help guide the player in the loops made by the displays. The fact that you can see open doorframes in IKEA also welcomes you to walk through the setup. 

I think the player will react to this path because the kitchen to the left will be a very open setup with bright colors, letting the player see most of whatever there is to see. This will ensure them that much isn't hiding, or that they don't have to worry about missing anything, which I think makes it easy to explore first (just through my experience of exploring games, I'm much more likely to quickly look through an area of the game I can mostly see so that I can get into detailed examination next). But this will also be a great way to show players they can interact with a lot. They could sit at the counter, open the fridge, pick up and throw fruit, or even write something on a chalkboard. The lamps from the kitchen will add lighting. Drawers can hold more objects, maybe a bottle opener that can open some bottles you find. Particle affects might come from opening up these bottles? Then, in the bedroom and game room, you can lay in the bed, pick up other objects, read through some books that hold funny stories, and more. These item interactions would hold corresponding animations.

I find IKEA very delightful, and I think these small fun interactions, even just the option to chuck them lets the player enjoy the scene at their own pace and go into the details as much as they would like.