Overview (Click here to go to itch.io game page)
You are trapped in a mysterious library. The only way out is to deliver two strange books. However, your ability to walk has been made more difficult by the presence of a horrible nightmare. Deliver both books and make sure you are not caught by the nightmare in this bizarre library world.
This is my first published game that you can go download and play here. After a couple of months of learning Unreal Engine, my best friend and I decided to jump into the fray and make our first game.
Looking back at this project, I must say I’m really proud how it went and even if it’s already old, I can say the original design really stands out to me, even today.
Company:
Self-employed
Roles:
Gameplay Programmer
Technical Designer
Platforms:
PC
Tools Used:
Unreal Engine
Miro
GitHub Desktop
GIMP
Blender
Duration:
2020 – 2021
Team Size:
2
Walk Pattern Mechanic
Designed and implemented the walking mechanic that forced the Player to take one step at the time. Switching between two inputs in a specific order. When failing to do so, the Player would fall into the ground and lose time.
Monster NPC Behavior
Worked with Unreal Engine’s AI Behavior System to create the monster that would follow and hunt the Player inside a maze-like library. The AI Behavior would follow and teleport in front where the Player can’t see.
+700 Downloads on itch.io
Given this was our first game, without any kind of publicity at all, we were excited when the game got really popular on itch.io and also several videos on YouTube were created based on our game.
Feature Highlights
Walk Pattern Mechanic
Horror and Control
When creating our first game we really wanted to make something small but that is also interesting to us. We are big fans of the horror genre and when thinking about what has been done before, the concept of a monster following the Player was something simple.
Horror games most of the time take control from the Player and make the game scarier, like tank controls in the original Resident Evil or not being able to fight back the monsters like in Outlast.
Here we wanted to take on the monster follower type of horror game, but to us the fact that you couldn’t fight back and had to hide was a problem.
This is how the Walk Pattern Mechanic was born. There is a monster following and you can’t hide. You can walk as fast as you can, we are not going to take that away from you. However, if you make a mistake, it will be costly and perhaps your last.
I think at the beginning the Player will have to get used to this new mechanic. This is why at the start, there is no monster, so the Player can practice.
Practice enough and you will be able to beat the monster without the need of long wait times of hiding or not being able to fight back.
This is to me the biggest highlight of the project.
Monster NPC Behavior
Where is it coming from?
When implementing the monster, we knew the Player would be able to outrun it if they are fast enough. However, the Walk Pattern Mechanic takes dexterity to do it successfully, and now the Player needs to take into account two new things:
1. How do I get out of this maze?
2. Is the monster behind me or where is it coming from?
The Player needs to manage pressing the keyboard keys Q and E successfully and also find the exit of the maze. This on its own is easy to do and with practice it will be a breeze.
In order to combat this, I designed and created AI Behavior that allows the monster to teleport in front of the path the Player is taking.
This location is hidden from the Player and they will notice the monster is in front of them. The Player will need to quickly turn (without failing the Walk Pattern) and find another path.
While testing and watching other Players in YouTube videos we found that this really work well and mitigated the effect of the Player being too good to outrun the monster. Plus added extra jump scares.
Check out my other Portfolio highlights
Third Person Adventure Template
Type: Personal Project
Role: Technical Designer
From: 2023 – Present
Designed and created a template with reusable and modular systems and tools with the goal of creating full videogames and improve development time.
realworld one (VR Experiences)
Type: Professional Experience
Role: Technical Designer
From: 2021 – 2023
Designed and developed Client/Server multiplayer experiences where Players join a VR environment and complete training simulations.
Leonardo Ramírez | UNREAL ENGINE TECHNICAL DESIGNER 