Week 8 : Production

 Development Blog Week 8 - Horror Level Design

Welcome back to Week 8 of my Horror Level Design development blog. This week I have been adding area gating to portions of the level to make it clear for where the player is supposed to go. I have done this by including items and small gameplay elements which help me to visualise how it will work in practice.

This week I firstly replaced the last of the bathroom blockouts with assets. There is no longer and blockout pieces present within the level as all of them have been replaced with assets I have created. I also added a post processing volume around the the building and increased the grain, this gives more of a horror feeling to the level.


After I had replaced the blockout pieces I moved back downstairs to work on the security room located off of the main corridor. I wanted to add more creative elements to the level in which the player will have to find to progress. Doing so, I created a moveable locker in which the player can interact with. This locker moves out of the way of the ventilation shaft in which the player can move into to access the communal room.


I created a blueprint in which the destination point would be set, this then moves the locker to the specific location of my choosing. I am therefore able to use this throughout the level and add it dynamically.

This is an example of how the locker system works. The player interacts with it and then it moves out of the way. There will be hints located within the room guiding the player.

I also added a system in which the player has to find the hidden key card located in one of the bedrooms on the bottom floor. This then gives access to the security room, the door then shuts behind them and it cannot be opened again. There are hints that there is a dark presence located in the building, therefore it is that force keeping the doors locked.

This shows the other side of the ventilation system that moves from the security room. The player is able to walk out, however as I have removed the jumping mechanic from the game they are not able to retrace their steps and go back into the security room once they have dropped down.

I then added a cutscene element into the level. This helps give the player a sense of fear and like there is something watching them. The cutscene can only be played once and the door cannot be interacted with during this cutscene, even if they have found the key in the room before it plays.

This is the cutscene that plays once the player is within the area. It helps add suspense and reinforces the idea that the player is not alone here.

Thank you for reading this weeks development blog. Next week I will be focusing on adding more cutscenes to the first floor. I will also be implementing more area gating so that the player feels trapped, however they will still have a way out of the building.



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