DLOG 5: New Beginnings

Welcome back to my Developer Log (DLOG) series where I drive deeper into the projects I have been working on to give some interesting insights into the development process.

In this log we are taking a look into my first group project, this project has been in the works since May and I am finally able to share some exciting insights into the project and it's development progression.

A Kind Of Monster is a 3D, First Person, Horror where you play as the monster. In our take on the horror genre the group wanted to flip the script on what usually makes you scared. With the project set in a world where the monsters under your bed, in the closet and from the shadows are real, we wanted to keep the element of fear, shock and surprise, while delivering a new take from a fresh perspective.

Not wanting to give too much away about this early development project I wanted to share with my progress and contributions to the group. In this project I am the Project Manager, having released my own project before to help guide the team on structure, collaboration and time management.

With my previous project being an all rounder to help identify what I most enjoyed about development, this project has allowed me to fully settle into what roles I most enjoy about game development, level design, programming and UI/UX.

Key Roles

Level Design

From the jump I was involved in the concept of the project, including the art work and level design, I have developed the floor plans, white-boxed the level, sourced assets and built the level from scratch.

Unity 6 in Engine Scene

Designing the demo level for the vertical slice as well as the main menu scene, responsible for overall theme and scene consistency - lighting, atmosphere etc.

Programming

Having previous experience with programming for my own project I was able to take these skills to the next level, taking on the AI within the level, the game state manager and the UI to bring a better and more advanced take on my previous attempts.

AI

The AI within the current build of the game is a limited patrolling AI using the nav-mesh tools within Unity 6, building on my previous AI I have added patrolling pathways to cover the area the player must avoid in order to keep monster kind a safe and secret. Adding noise tracking using various audio trigger points around the level to create a unique and dynamic world.

Player hiding from patrolling AI

Game State Manager

Programming the scene to all link and flow from the main menu, pause menu access, and endings including cutscenes depending on decisions made within your game. For this I had to take on different scripts, initialing I had three scripts all controlling various elements of the game state, but eventually I scrapped that idea and moved to a central script that allows for alignment with our future development goals.

UI/UX

With my previous project I loved the UI development, being able to create various pop-ups to enhance and advance the players experience. My goal for this project was to take that a step further, the team came up with concepts for inclusions, which included a highlighting system for interactable objects, audio ques, a fear state bar, objectives that display on button press as well as colouring system for interactables.

Another area of the UI/UX I took to handling was the main menu and pause menu systems. I wanted there to be consistent font's across the games for players, I wanted there to be easy to read settings and guides, as well as immersive menus.

For my previous project I had a limited main menu and quitting system so for this project I wanted to test my skills and create a scene to add to the world of the game, adding to this I wanted an actual pause menu, with the users being able to view controls at any time, to be able to return to the main menu or quit as and when.

A Kind Of Monster is still in production, so I will follow up with another dlog when I can share more information. For now, I want to thank you for reading and please remember to check out my other projects and dlogs, stay up to date with my projects and journey and remember to check back for the next dlog.

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