This is a solo project of mine that I have started on summer of 2023 but was put into hiatus because of my university work.
Timeline: June 6th 2023 - hiatus
Roles: Game Developer
Genre: Horror
Engine: Unity
Description: The story of our game begins with the player waking up from their mother knocking on the door saying that they will be going away for a business trip. The player has to make it to the convenience store and buy dinner but something unexpected will happen.
Responsibilities Include:
Creating the narrative.
Designing the level.
Programming using C#.
Mimic a style from a genre of games.
Table of Contents
I had this horror game craze and happen to stumble on these types of VHS horror style game that were pretty scary.
I love their idea of converting a real life horror story into a game and this inspired me to create my own.
Movement
The player can freely move or look around by using the mouse and keyboard.
Interaction
The player can interact with certain items or preform actions by pressing E from a appropriate distance.
In this level there are 3 acts in total, with each act marking the progression of the game.
Act 1:
The player are informed of what is going on and knows that they needed to go to a convenience shop for food.
They player can ignore that and freely roam around but if they go outside the intended area, a pair of hands reaching from behind to kill them.
There is one building in particular that gives a little context as to why the player is killed if they explore it, but that will still end up of their death.
Act 2:
The player enters the convenience store but there will be no cashiers to encourage the player to explore around.
If the player decides to explore the store, they will eventually stumble across a locked and the longer they stay, the more blood will be spilled past it.
There will be a key hidden behind the cash register to unlock this door and when unlocked the player would see a pair of hands reaching from behind to kill them.
If the player decides to pay through self cash-out, while they are walking back home footsteps will be heard behind them and if the player looks behind them more than 3 times, the man will appear in front stabbing you.
Act 3:
The player has returned back to their home and now needs to heat up their food. As soon as they heat up the food the electricity would be cut and they would have to go outside to turn it back on.
Upon exiting the house reaching the bottom of the staircase to turn back on the electricity, the player would see the security guard when walking back.
A dialogue conversation will be prompted and the security guard will tell the player that a fugitive nearby has escaped and that they should be careful.
Upon exiting the conversation, the player walks back to their home to resume heating the food to eat it in front of the TV.
While the player is eating, they would hear a glass shatter in the bedroom.
If they go investigate or try to leave the house, the man would kill them, but if the player calls the police and hide they will win and credits will roll to inform player about what happened.
The goal is to tell the story of this game without being too direct about it.
I didn't the player to compete this game without the idea as to why they are being killed in the first place.
To achieve this, I made sure each interaction builds onto the story and players are rewarded with more contexts of the story if they explore around.
For example, the mental asylum is there to give a context as to why the player is killed in the first place or world elements such as police siren in the background and breaking news on TV during Act 3.
I want to make this experience into where death is not treated as a negative impact but a positive one where the player understands what to do next and what is going on.
Right now the game is still in its early prototyping phase and I would like to implement all the finished design features.
If I am happy with this game I would like to learn the process and publish it on Steam.