Team Updates 1/13-1/19:
Overall Game Draft:
Game Pitch Overview: A psychological horror adventure/story game set in the early 2000s in an abandoned UCSC.
Core Gameplay:
A map that changes/alternates with time
Puzzles to progress the story
Cloning that explains how the player dies and continues
Requirements:
Supports 3 languages
Save Player Progression
Color Blind Mode
Playable in Web Browser
Narative:
Developed and iteratively refined the game's narrative by creating a detailed script document. This involved establishing the initial story direction, incorporating feedback, and making significant changes to align with the evolving vision of the game, updating all relevant documentation to reflect these adjustments.
Player Movement:
The WASD control scheme for player movement was refined, enhancing the character's responsiveness in the game environment.
Interaction Button:
Integrated into the player movement script, the interaction button allows seamless interaction with game objects, tested and confirmed through the extendable "Interactable" class.
Cloning/Dying Mechanic:
Enhanced the game by implementing a mechanism where the player character dies upon contact with spikes, creating a clone at the point of death. This clone marks where the player last died, providing a safe zone from spikes when revisited.
Further development is focused on improving camera transitions and resetting game elements upon death to enhance gameplay continuity.
Interactables:
Developed key elements of the game's environment by creating basic structures such as walls and floors, and adding interactable components like locked doors for puzzle scenarios.
Map Movement:
A rotating puzzle mechanic was also prototyped, involving alignment tasks to solve puzzles, enhancing the interactive experience of the game.
Ongoing adjustments and enhancements to map navigation and environmental interactions are being planned, especially focusing on integrating existing and new trap mechanisms with the overall game design.
Puzzle Rough Draft:
Drafted an initial puzzle involving a pressure plate and an electric fence, which creatively uses the game mechanic of character death to solve challenges. This puzzle exemplifies the type of creative problem-solving and gameplay integration aimed for future puzzles, with plans to streamline the code for easier adaptation and implementation of unique puzzles.
Team Updates 1/20-1/26:
Dark Effect Implementation:
Developed and implemented a "Make Darkness Effect" by creating a sprite mask that centers around the player and activates within dark zones to enhance the atmospheric conditions of the game.
Also, integrated a new script "DarknessCheck" to manage the state of darkness for all entities entering the area, ensuring smoother transitions between light and dark states.
Flashlight Functionality:
Introduced a flashlight mechanic, featuring a directional light source that illuminates dark areas. This tool is activated by the player using the "F" key and aligns with the player's movements, providing crucial visibility and interactivity within the game's darker segments.
Enhanced Navigation and UI Integration:
Refined player navigation and interaction mechanisms by integrating enhanced UI elements, including a new calendar system for better day management and responsive camera transitions that follow the player’s movements more smoothly.
Player Respawn Logic:
Updated the player respawn system to allow dynamic and strategic respawning. This includes the creation of a clone at the point of death, which marks a safe zone, enhancing gameplay strategy and continuity.
Interactables:
Advanced the interaction system by incorporating objects that players can carry and interact with, further enriching the puzzle-solving aspects of the game. These interactable objects are key components in various game scenarios, adding depth to the gameplay.
AI Pathfinding Optimization:
Optimized AI pathfinding by implementing a more robust and flexible navigation system, which supports complex movement patterns and interactions within the game’s environment.
This system is crucial for the AI’s ability to navigate and interact seamlessly in dynamically changing game scenarios.
Dragging Bodies Mechanic:
Integrated a new gameplay feature that allows players to drag bodies within the game environment, adding a strategic layer to how players interact with the game world and solve puzzles.
Dialogue System:
Developed a dialogue system to facilitate interactions between characters and the game environment, enhancing the narrative depth and player engagement through conversational exchanges. This system supports dynamic dialogue options that reflect player choices and influence game outcomes.
Environmental and Character Design:
Initiated the first rough drafts of the game's environment, focusing on laying out basic structural elements and designing the initial set of interactive components.
This phase included the creation of assets such as trees and the main character, setting the foundational visual and functional aspects that will define the game's world.
Sandbox Integration:
Successfully combined all existing game elements and functionalities into a unified sandbox environment, ensuring that all components work together seamlessly.
Team Updates 1/27-2/26:
Fog Effect Implementation:
Enhanced the environmental immersion by introducing a dynamic fog effect. This effect is triggered when players enter specific zones, causing a UI object to gradually increase in opacity, simulating increasing fog density. Plans are in place to refine the transition effects to smooth out the experience following player's death within the fog.
Interactable Notes:
Advanced the narrative components of the game by developing scripts that manage interactions with notes. These scripts enable notes to appear under specified conditions, adding depth and interactive storytelling elements to the game.
Underground System:
Created a functional underground tunnel system that supports connections on the map.
Puzzle Integration:
Initiated the game's interactive puzzle element by integrating various components into a coherent first puzzle. This task involved significant troubleshooting and adjustments to ensure seamless operation and integration of different scripts.
Created assets including deer, flashlight, various doors, game logo, locked box, note, key, desk, character perspectives, character portrait, grabbing action, electric fence, shed interiors, pressure plate, and character shadow.
Implemented a system to manage map zones with visual indications and integrated notifications for zone statuses.
Developed and integrated UI elements to manage fast travel within the game. This system notifies players of travel eligibility based on their current location and other game dynamics, thereby supporting strategic planning and movement.
Finalized a turret defense mechanism that is contingent on power availability and player visibility. This system challenges players to strategically manage their visibility and resources to navigate past defensive obstacles.
Enhanced NPC interactions to ensure functionality.
Carryable Objects:
Implemented mechanics for interacting with and manipulating objects within the game environment. This feature allows players to carry and place objects, which plays a crucial role in solving puzzles and navigating obstacles, adding a layer of strategy and interaction to the gameplay.
Background
This project is a collaborative effort by students from the University of California, Santa Cruz, as part of their CMPM 171 course, which is the capstone class for the Computer Science and Game Design program. The students are tasked with applying their cumulative knowledge and skills in game development to create an interactive, engaging game.