Late Night At Uni More Info

Late Night at Uni _ Student Game Trailer.mp4

Gameplay Designer + Writer

Designed mascot monster movement behavior and attack mechanics.
Greyblocked initial prototype level.
Created story and lore with teammates, including the phone mechanic and text messages the player receives throughout the level.
Created, wrote and voice acted the opening conversation scene.
Worked on the planning for the jumpscare.

Design Process

The overall design process for this game was very iterative throughout. Both the brainstorming phrase and the implementation phase had many iterations and changes. Originally, the setting and mechanics were that the player is walking home from a late night class and they have to outrun the mascot throughout the campus. We realized that it was outside of our scope so we decided to use one singular, closed location as well as slightly tweak the game's setting. This version of the game worked out great for the story and gameplay experience that we wanted for the player. Iteration was a constant theme for our design process.

Designing for Story and Experience

We were inspired by various indie horror games on the market, but especially Elevated Dread, Slender, and Five Nights at Freddy's .
We wanted the horror experience and story to be very grounded and feel relatable for our audience. The college setting felt perfect for that.
Feelings of dread, anxiety, and fear were the main emotions that we wanted to evoke. The level, sound, and environmental design all came together to achieve that.
The phone mechanic was a huge aspect of the story, since the text messages that the player receives heightens the anxiety and adds to the worldbuilding of the game. We had many discussions about how exactly the phone should be implemented and many changes during the process.

Iteration and Finalizing Structure

The overall structure of the game was still being iterated on weeks into the process. We had to decide whether to make our game centered around a scripted or free roaming design.
Because of scope and player experience, we decided to incorporate both elements in the game. This would ensure that most players would have the freedom to dictate their own experiences while also experiencing horror elements that we designed specifically.

Behavior of AI Enemy and Game Difficulty

We were inspired by Outlast's design of enemy behavior and mechanics. We wanted the monster in our game to patrol the map and chase the player when it sees them. This mechanic is the foundation of the tension, fear, and fun of our game.
At first the AI enemy was designed a completely different way. There was an awareness meter that charged up as the player made noise or went into the view of the monster. This design was flawed because the monster took too long to target the player after the player walks in front of it.
We changed the awareness meter to a danger meter. Instead of the monster chasing the player after the awareness meter hitting 100, the danger meter made sure that the player was killed after the value reached 100. This made player dynamics much more interesting.
The X on the diagram mark all of the waypoints that the AI enemy will patrol to and from.
The O on the diagram mark all of the hiding spots available for the player to be safe from the monster.
The triangle on the diagram represents the three keys that the player would have to collect and try on the exit door to advance in the game.
The game difficulty went through some iterations. Originally the monster was too slow and the game was too easy so we increased the monster's movement speed as well as its detection radius.

Reflection

This experience was extremely rewarding and I am very grateful to have been a part of it. I was lucky enough to work with fantastic teammates who were collaborative, committed, thoughtful, and fun. This game is my most polished and extensive game in terms of content and quality and I learned a lot throughout the entire process. Working on this game forced me to embrace the development process and be patient with iteration and figuring things out. I focused and sharpened my skills on designing for player experience and the many aspects of that. I learned how to brainstorm, prototype, test, and edit ideas and game mechanics.

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