NOCTOPHOBIA

A 2D Hide and Seek Horror Game Developed Using the Unity Engine.

Course Game of the Year Award.

Final Mark: 90%

Roles

Gameplay Design
Narrative Design
Environmental Artist
Producer

Skills

Communication
Team Organisation
Task Management
Libresprite
Tilemapping
Playtesting Iteration

Concept

The first group project of University involved a five-person team tasked with creating a 2D game of any kind. Our game, Noctophobia, was originally an auto-running, rhythm-based horror game, which became slowly more grounded as a Metroid-vania style, Little Nightmares-inspired 2D platformer. The game centers around Charlotte, a young girl who is lured from her bed in the middle of the night by nightmarish monsters.

At its earliest stages, Noctophobia was centered around hide-and-seek gameplay built around the player taking calculated risks and well-timed manoeuvres to outsmart enemies with unique behaviour patterns and detection abilities. One prevalent topic in pre-production was the importance of game feel and immersion - thus, we removed any combat options and focused on a child's impulse to run away to safety.

We developed the game as a team of five, each taking responsibility for various aspects of the game's design and production. We were given a 12-week deadline.

The Noctophobia reveal trailer, edited by our lead programmer.

Pre-Production

We spent around three weeks in a pre-production phase in which we held various brainstorming sessions and one-on-one meetings. As the game's primary Producer, I established communication channels between the team, shared workspaces, and workflow organisation. We collectively designed an extensive Game Design Document outlining the game's various aspects and our design intentions.

Structure & Development

With the design document in place, we set to work in full production utilising Kanban workflow with weekly sprints and stand-ups. With a shared workspace at the university and an open method communication through a dedicated and organised discord, we prioritised our demo levels and playtesting sample first, focusing on effectively communicated core gameplay mechanics that illustrated the game's potential.

My primary role had been to organise pre-production paperwork and a production schedule. Once we entered full production, I fell into a role as an environmental artist to support the art team, who were focused on character design. In this time, I developed the core tilesets for all the game's levels which would later be adapted by one of our character artists for the "Nightmare" levels.

A video game clip of a young girl being devoured by a monster.

To maintain the theme of "nightmares," the game always cuts to black right before Charlotte is killed by any monster or fall. It also meant we didn't have to animate the gruesome deaths of an 8 year old - which is definitely a plus.

A man with headphones plays a video game on a laptop.

Shane Ferry of Night Dial was one of many game developers to play test Noctophobia at Play My Demo.

Playtesting & Play My Demo

We organised several scheduled playtesting sessions at the University to test the core gameplay loop and player interactivity. Initial feedback was critical of the character's movement and some aspects of the level design, which became priority as we moved forward. With those issues resolved, the team took Noctophobia to a Play My Demo event in Belfast organised by the NI Game Dev Network. Public playtesting led to valuable feedback and design ideas coming directly from other developers, which influenced several quality of life changes.

Gameplay Mechanics

Charlotte has several hiding options: we created a background-based interactive sprite which would allow her to hide from monsters in cupboards and behind curtains. Then, we developed a "layer-switching" mechanic that would allow Charlotte to step into the foreground and hide behind objects such as kitchen counters, sofas and chairs.

This layer-shifting was also used to navigate levels, uncover hidden paths and objects, and to climb background platforms.

A young girl crouches by an open cabinet.

Now you see her.

Now you... well, you still see her, but a whole lot less.

A tall, dark man hides behind a curtain.

The Hider.

A tall creature with a white face and dark hood lurks in a shadowy room.

The Lurker.

An eye-less creature with exposed flesh.

The Seeker.

Our enemies were also designed with unique behaviours and methods of detection, to keep players on their toes. We tested these behaviours thoroughly and attempted to predict player reactions and behaviour patterns that might influence our level design. The "Lurker" is a simple enemy that chases Charlotte on sight, but can be outrun. The "Seeker" is a blind enemy that can hear Charlotte if she runs or pushes objects, causing it to sprint in her direction. The "Hider" is my personal favourite; a shadowy enemy that occupies hiding places Charlotte might try and use, catching her if she does.

Subliminal Narration

As the game's primary Narrative Designer, I prioritised the relationship between the protagonist's actions and the antagonist. As our protagonist was an 8 year old girl, her goal became to return to a place of safety and hide from the monsters in her home. By comparison, the monsters were silent antagonists and we had one narrative method through which to speak to the player: the Objective text.

Initially, I designed the Objective to guide the player through early levels as is expected. We then subverted that expectation by having the Objective attempt to lure Charlotte into dangerous situations, then it became aggressive toward her as she began to defy it. Finally, as the game nears its conclusion, the Objective would reveal its true form and chase Charlotte.

A young girl runs toward a floating ghost in a large play tent.

Later levels introduced a collection of floating ghosts to serve as narrative guides for the player, when the Objective becomes a clear antagonist.

A young girl climbs a perilous, slimy chasm being chased by tentacles.

The final level of Noctophobia sees Charlotte chased by the Objective having revealed its true form.

Finalé

There were concerns in our early stages of development that we wouldn't be able to maintain the scope of our project. Despite its 12-week deadline, we had planned for ten levels and a three-act narrative structure - which we maintained and upheld. The average completion time for our game was 45 minutes to an hour, culminating in a tense vertical chase through a warping level which being chased by a malevolent UI-turned-enemy. Through effective team communication and organised workflow, dedication and playing to our strengths, we developed the game we had planned despite its amitious nature.

Summary

Noctophobia later won Game of the Year for our University course, as determined by external judges from the games development industry. Our lead programmer was awarded Best Programmer, our lead artist won Best Artist, and our character designer won the Rising Star award. I was also recognised with the Student of the Year award, which was partially accredited to my leadership and teamwork on Noctophobia. After the assignment, we continued to fine-tune Noctophobia was the hopes of a public release that is still on the horizon yet.