Beware

I worked directly on Beware as a Systems Designer and Programmer. In addition I fulfilled both project and repository management roles throughout the game's development.

Features I Developed:

• Custom Color Shader: Beware has a unique visual style of monochromatic with red as the only visible color.

• Photo Verification: Mechanic to look for key features of the game's antagonist when the player takes a photo. 

• Distracting Rocks: Simple throwable rocks to distract the main antagonist.

Beware was developed for the Game Studio II class at Champlain College. I and seven other students of varying disciplines (4 Designers, 2 Artists, 1 Programmer, and 1 Business total) developed the game over the course of one semester to learn about both game development and teamwork. We were given a set of constraints at the beginning of our project from which we quickly formed our game around.

We dedicated designers to each of our major features: the bear, the level, the narrative, and the gameplay. I handled the gameplay systems as they suited my skillset and passion the best. The two major gameplay challenges we had were how to give the player agency in the stealth system and how to verify and grade photos of the bear (the players main objective). 

The rocks were introduced to solve the agency in stealth. They spawn randomly on the path in the level and each time the player picks one up another is placed.  The player is able to throw them and, on impact with the ground,  they make a noise and attract the bear to their location.

The photo verification system was a more complex challenge. We needed something specific enough to a clear goal, yet not so specific that it was unreasonably difficult to achieve. My solution involved 3 distinct areas of the bear that must be captured in a photo to count for full completion. The implementation for this solution is quite easy as it is 3 spheres that the camera checks with a raycast when taking a photo. These spheres are larger than the bear model so they count as being in frame from a variety of angles but not all.

Outside of gameplay I also had the skillset to undertake our unique visual style. since one of our restrictions was a game compatible with all colorblind players we decided that a black and white game would be a striking style to have and would match well with the horror theme. We added the red in to provide a visual flair and if there is only one color then there is no worry with it being mistaken for another. The effect is done in post processing. It isn't so simple as letting only red light through as that provides the same effect as wearing red tinted lenses. Instead the shader has to verify whether or not an object/pixel is primarily red and then allow that light through. The grass for example is green and should be rendered in black and white. The campfire in the game is predominantly red though, and as a result it casts its red glow across the surrounding area vividly.

Beware was made with Unreal Engine 5 and I managed the repository for our team. We used SVN and, after the learning process, experienced few merge conflicts and issues with my guidance.

Beware - Itch.io